#i hope my new laptop handles it well! it has a much better graphics card and was silly expensive so... fingers crossed aha | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thebookworm0001 · 4 years ago

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Words cannot express how much i want either a gaming laptop or a pc

Friend, I understand you completely. It’s why I saved up for a long time to build my own. Did you come here for a how-to on how to build one for yourself? Probably not! But I’m gonna tell you how anyway because it is significantly cheaper to build yourself a pc than to buy one (and laptops are even more expensive).

So! You wanna build a computer? Here’s what you need:

-Motherboard. All the things plug into this. Very Important. Do not break. When handling, touch metal beforehand so you don’t shock it with static and fry it. Comes in 3 sizes aka form factors: ATX (standard). mATX (smaller). itx (holy shit its tiny) smaller=/=cheaper! all pretty much have the same layout and all come with a manual. front panel connectors are a bitch.

-CPU. Your processor! The thing that processes all the ones and zeros into shit you actually understand. Very expensive. Very delicate. Do not drop. Needs something to keep it cool. Lots of cpus will come with a cpu fan in the box but not all. They touch the cpu with a weird paste called thermal paste that helps heat go away. Fans or liquid cooling will screw into the motherboard over the cpu.

-GPU. The most expensive part of your build, probably. If you’re building a gaming pc it’ll probably be ~1/3 of your budget. It’s the thing that makes everything pretty and visible. Gotta have a graphics card to see what the ones and zeros are doing. Two brands rule the GPU market: Nvidia and AMD. Idk if one is better than the other but I went AMD because i could get a better one for cheaper so.

-RAM. Your computer’s short-term memory. Lots of RAM means more tabs of Google Chrome open at a time. 16 gigs will get you through just about anything. 32 is generally overkill. 8 is less than you want for a dedicated gaming pc since most newer games have a higher RAM demand.

-Storage. Comes in two forms: a physical hard drive (reliable but kinda slow at this point when compared to an ssd. definitely your cheapest option) or a solid-state drive (smaller than a HD. much faster. more expensive. generally comes either as a 2.5″ brick-looking thing or a stick called an m.2 which is even more expensive and even faster) You want enough of this to store your operating system and games on. Lots of people go with a base of 1 TB (1000 gigabytes) because games take up a lot of room. 500 can get you through if your library is smaller or you don’t mind rotating games on and off the computer. can get one big storage thing or as many as you want. some people have a smaller ssd to hold the operating system and frequently used games (so they load fast) and store everything else on a much larger hd.

-Power Supply. Pretty self explanatory. The thing that powers all the other things. You want one that gives you enough power for all the parts to work at the same time at max capacity. Don’t cheap out on this they can do weird shit like explode and break all your parts. Come in three types: non-modular, semi-modular, and modular. it just determines how many power cords are permanently attached to the power supply. non-modular are cheaper, but tend to have mustard-and-ketchup colored cords (not pretty) and they can be a pain to manage. you gotta hide those extra cords you aren’t using somewhere (which is why people like cases with a ‘shroud’ or little box that hides the power supply). Modular are more expensive but it’s really nice to only plug in the cables you need.

-Operating system. Yeah you built the computer but you gotta have a thing that lets you interact with it. Windows is the most common. You can also get it for free. Kinda. Gotta flash drive? Go here and download the windows installer, stick the usb into your new computer and BAM! Windows is installed. You’ll have a nasty watermark and be unable to put your own background on it without an activation key (~$130 for Windows 10) but you can use it.

-Case. The thing you put everything else into. Can be plain black boxes or wierd illuminati pyramid things. Make sure the size matches up with your motherboard form factor. There are these little screws called standoffs in the case that secure the motherboard to it. The standoffs have to match up or the motherboard won��t fit. Power supplies and graphics cards also have to fit inside the case - make sure it’s big enough. Those dimensions will be listed with the info for the case and the individual parts. Case can come with fans or without. (You need fans. They keep your parts from heating up - which kills them. there’s also water cooling but its more expensive and scares the heck out of me. most cases only really need the fans that come with but you can add more.)

That’s it! (well. plus a monitor and keyboard and mouse and speakers/headphones but those aren’t the computer. also optional: rgb - the fun lights that make your case look like a unicorn barfed inside it. can be part of your fans or just strips of lights. lots of gaming motherboards have rgb built in. i like rgb.)

Sites like https://pcpartpicker.com/ will help you figure out the parts you need and if they’re compatible. Because it sucks to buy your parts and realize they don’t go together. The big ones? Motherboard and cpu. CPUs are generally made by either Intel or AMD. Currently, AMD is the best bang for your buck. Motherboards are designed to work with one brand of cpu - and generally specific chipsets. Motherboards will tell you the chipsets or series they work with (eg a 3000 series chipset which means it can work with any ryzen 3000 cpu like a Ryzen 5 3600 or 9 3900x). Motherboards will also only work with specific RAM depending on your CPU. There’s a support page on their sites that gives cpu and ram compatibility. RAM support pages show up like this:

which sucks (this is for the B550M AORUS ELITE (rev. 1.0) board from Gigabyte)

just google that module pin and the right shit will pop up. that first one is the VENGEANCE® LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 4000MHz C19 Memory Kit - Red (aka corsair’s vengence lpx line of ram with 4 8gb sticks of ram that run at 4000 megahertz in a fancy red case - you can see all that info in the pin number if you pay attention but its easier to google. the faster the ram [that MHz number] the more expensive. the more gigabytes the more expensive. ram also comes with rgb options. they are more expensive.)

Always makes sure stuff is compatible. Pcpartpicker will tell you if something isn’t. It’s very helpful. but also check the motherboard support lists. nothing else has compatibility issues generally: manufacturers want you to be able to use whatever parts you can get with their stuff so you keep buying from them.

sites like https://benchmarks.ul.com/ https://www.gpucheck.com/ and https://www.userbenchmark.com/ are great for comparing. wanna know if you can get a cheaper part that works just as well? go to these places.

benchmarks.ul

gpucheck (RX Vega 56 vs AMD Radeon Rx 5600 xt)

userbenchmark (Jedi: Fallen Order recommended parts vs my own build)

Newegg.com is a really great place to buy your parts and it usually has the cheapest prices. Make sure to shop around though. pcpartspicker is pretty good about telling you where the best prices are, but sometimes amazon or newegg will drop their prices randomly. also with the plague times, prices and availability are fucking weird right now. stuff will be out of stock for weeks. just. pay attention and check frequently.

I really like this video for trying to figure out budgets. Only have $300 to spend? They got you. Have $3000? They’ve got a guide for that as well. There’s a ton of budget build guides out there but this is the most recent one I like. Motherboard prices could be down a bit due to the very recent release of the b550 chipset, but again, plague times are making computer parts more expensive. That channel has a ton of reviews actually (and step-by-step guides for building) and is geared toward the gaming-minded so if they say a laptop or prebuilt computer is good and fits your budget, check it out. Prebuilts make life easier for you, but you can end up getting a less-than-stellar quality with the additional cost of construction. plus building your own means you know exactly what to do when it comes time to upgrade your parts.

once you put everything where it should go, turn it on! it might not work, that’s okay. you might not have plugged something in all the way! or maybe a part was dead on arrival. get that fixed and install your operating system. once that’s done - get connected to the internets (if you don’t have a wifi card installed you gotta plug that sucker into the wall via an ethernet cable) and start downloading drivers from the motherboard manufacturer’s website and the gpu manufacturer’s website. your motherboard might come with a dvd of them but if you don’t have an optical drive (dvd player) that doesn’t help you. update your operating system. then download your games and play! (you can also do this thing called overclocking where you go into the bios when your computer is loading and max out all your hardware’s settings but that isn’t necessary for casual gameplay and can also void your warranties)

i hope you enjoyed that infodump you didn’t ask for!

#in which i explain how to build a computer even though no one asked #thatfluffybabyduck #hannah answers asks

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littlexredxwolf · 6 years ago

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Beauty and the beast

Fandom: Marvel/Disney Prompt: It’s beauty and the beast, with a twist. Word Count: 5,067 Character: Bucky and Reader. Warnings: None Author note: originally posted on impala-imagines, awfully written but amusing. Credits: I do not own marvel, i do not own this story and I do not own Disney.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young Sergeant lived in a war filled world although he didn’t have much, the Sergeant was sweet, kind, caring. But then, winters night, a mission came to his team and caused him to go against those who would turn the world to hell. The Sergeant fell from the train that night and was found by a hideous scientist, who offered him a single rose as an agreement to work for Hydra. Repulsed by their haggard appearance, he sneered at the gift and turned them away. But they warned him not to be deceived by appearances for beauty comes from within, when he dismissed them again they stepped away to let him die. The Sergeant tried to apologize, but it was too late for they had seen there was no desire to live in his heart, and as punishment they turned him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful memory wipe on him. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his home with a computer as his only window to the outside world. The rose the scientist had offered him, was truly an enchanted rose, and would bloom until his twenty first year. If he could to love another and earn that person’s love in return, by the time the last petal fell then the spell would be broken, if not he would be doomed to remain a beast, for all time. As the years past, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a Beast?

Leaving your home early that morning, you carried your bag and made your way toward the apple store. As you reached the edge of the town center, you saw the baker and gave him a smile. “Good morning Y/N, where you off to?” The baker questioned looking at you with a curious smile. “To get the new Ipad, it’s out today and it has better battery and, and-.” But the baker wasn’t interested, he was just making idol chitchat. “That’s nice. Marie, the baguettes, hurry up!” Excited, you shrugged it off and carried on walking passed the hair dressers, where old ladies were already having their hair done. You knew they would probably be gossiping about you always, calling you funny, strange, and that you were dazed and distracted. You noticed someone else commenting say you were never part of the crowd and another saying about how your head was in the clouds. But that didn’t matter, you were on a mission and you didn’t care.

“There must be more than this Proventil life.” You uttered to yourself shaking your head softly. Pushing the door open to the apple shop open, you walked inside and gave a giant smile to the owner. “Ah Y/N.” The store owner said looking at you with fond eyes as he always did whenever you came in. “Good morning, I’ve come to get the new IPad.” You were practically bouncing as you looked around the shop. “Already? Well you’re early.” He pointed out glancing at his watch. “Oh I couldn’t sleep last night, is it here?” He nodded before going out the back to get you the iPad you’d ordered weeks ago. “I’ll pay on this one.” Biting your lip, you knew you might be maxed out, but you had to hope as you handed over your card. “That one, but you’ve maxed it out twice.” Your shoulders slumped at the thought of not getting the IPad. “I know, but it’s the one with the best limit on it.” The man thought for a moment, looking at you, before he smiled. “Well if you want it this much, it’s yours.” A look of complete shock appeared on your face as he spoke, you couldn’t believe it. “But sir?” You tried to hand it back, but he pushed it toward you. “I insist.” Jumping the counter, you hugged him tightly and smiled. “Why thank you, thank you so much.”

Leaving the bookshop, you took your iPad out of its box and turned it on as you started to walk, getting the settings how you wanted them, you had a dreamy look on your face as you looked deeply at the iPad. You knew no one else understood you, but that didn’t matter at all. “Oh isn’t this amazing! It’s my favorite one so far, because it has better graphics, a quicker speed and connects to wifi so easy. But I won’t discover all the secrets with this low battery.” You carried on walking, not paying attention to anyone, or anything. You didn’t care what people said to you as you walked. Not even noticing Tony Stark and Bruce Banner talking, Tony turned to Bruce with a wide grin on his face.

The pair of men stood together, discussing a mission they’d had the night before. “Wow, you didn’t miss a bad guy Tony, you’re the greatest Avenger in the whole world! No bad guy stands a chance against you, and no girl for that matter.” Bruce said grinning at Tony. “It’s true Bruce, and I got my sights set on that one!” He pointed at you as you walked past, pushing buttons on your tablet. “That one, you mean the scientists daughter?” Bruce looked shocked, surprised that he’d even go for recluse like you. “She’s the one, the lucky girl I’m going to marry!” “But she’s-” “The most beautiful girl in town!” “I know but-“ “That makes her the best, and don’t I deserve the best?” Tony made his way through the crowds as you carried on looking at your IPad, making your way back home. Not noticing a single thing. No one really understood you at all, or how you operated. Computers made you safe, they always had, you were able to hide behind them and not have to face the world out there.

“Good morning Y/N.” Looking up from your Ipad you smiled softly. “Good morning Tony.” Reaching over, he took the Ipad from you. “How can you like this, it’s apple.” Taking it back, you glared. “Well, some people enjoy good quality.” You replied. He rolled his eyes as he watched you, suddenly Bruce was beside Tony too. “What do you say, you come and take a look at Stark tower and see some of my computers.” Moving away from him you shook your head. “Maybe later, I have to get home and help my father.” You said quickly, turning on your heel, you rushed off back home, not daring to look back.

Opening the front door, you rushed inside and looked for your father, finding him in his lab you smiled gently. “Hello Papa.” You exclaimed rushing down. “Hello sweetheart, did you have a good time in town today?” He asked causing you to show him your Ipad. “I got the new Ipad… Papa, do you think I’m odd?” You asked tilting your head. “My daughter odd, no… why do you say that?” You shrugged a little bit and watched him adding chemicals. “It’s just that I don’t really fit in here, everyone else likes none apple products.” Walking around, he placed his hand on your shoulder and smiled. “This invention will be the start of something new, just you wait and see.” Glancing at the time, your father rushed off to get changed and get ready to leave.

“Goodbye Papa, good luck!” You waved him off as he headed off in a cab. “Goodbye Y/N, take care while I’m gone.” Once your father was gone, you were upstairs on the internet enjoying the things you spent most days doing, you lost track of day and night until finally you heard a knock at the door. Getting up, you walked downstairs and opened the door to find Tony stood there. “Tony, what are you doing here?” He forced his way inside and smiled. “Just picture it Y/N, my penthouse, my latest news reports on the tv, while the little ones play with the dogs. We’ll have six or seven.” Looking at him confused, you raised an eyebrow. “Dogs?” Laughing softly, he shook his head. “No y/n, strapping boys like me. So what do you say?” Stepping back slowly, you took hold of the door handle and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Tony, I just… I don’t deserve you!” Swinging the door open, you watched him fall flat on the ground as you moved to slam the door shut.

Storming back upstairs, you sat down at your computer and carried on skyping with a friend from across the sea. “He asked me to marry him, can you believe it? Me the wife of that boorish, brainless!” You started to imagine how awful it would be and cringed, even the thought of it made your stomach twist and turn, a sick feeling inside your stomach. “I just want someone to understand me, is that too much to ask?” It was then that your laptop started beeping. Getting up, you rushed over to it and opened it, your father’s GPS. “Oh no, Papa.” Writing down the location, you grabbed your things and headed out to try and find him. Your heart racing as you got into a cab and told him the location. “Hang in there Papa, I’m coming!”

The cab refused to go any further, leaving you at the end of a long winding path and screeching off before you could even think about changing your mind. Taking a deep breath, you walked slowly through the gates and noticed your father’s name badge. “Papa?” You rushed over and picked it up, looking at it and then looking around. Standing up, you looked up at the towering castle in front of you, it looked pitch black, uninhabited, looked as if nothing or no one had been in there for years and years. Taking a very deep breath, you touched the door and slowly opened it. It was even creepier from there. You took your time, gently edging in through the door, closing it behind you, you began to search. “Hello? Is anyone here? Papa?” You noticed a light on the steps and rushed after it, running up to find who or what it was? It led you to a room on the first floor.

“Hello?” You called out softly, until you heard the voice that you needed to hear. “Y/N?” Rushing across the room, you ran to him and hugged him through the bars. “Papa, oh your hands are like ice.” You said cupping them trying to warm them up. “How did you find me?” You shook your head. “It doesn’t matter.” Your father seemed to straighten up and look at you seriously. “You need to leave, go no. Not a minute to loose!” You found yourself snapping at him with anger. “No, I’m not leaving. Who done this to you!” Suddenly, you felt yourself flying across the room and landing on the ground, slowly looking up, looked around the darkness. “Who is there? Who are you?” A guff sandpaper like voice replied to you, causing you to swallow hard. “The master of this castle.” You slowly stood up, your eyes fixed on the location. “Please let my father go, can’t you see he’s sick.” The man yelled back at you. “Well he shouldn’t have trespassed here!” You paused for a moment, looking between your father and the figure.

“Take me instead.” There was a sound of a snigger coming from the man. “You?” He paused for only a minute. “You would take his?” You nodded gently. “Come into the light.” Slowly, the man walked into the light, you too in the tall figure with long hair and a metal arm and gasped. “You have my word.” You whispered, he moved to open the door for your father and he rushed to you instantly. “No, Y/N. I’m old I’ve lived my life.” You went to hug your father but he was dragged away instantly. “No, wait!” You screamed, watching your father leave with the monster. You crumpled on the floor and sobbed softly, the thought of never seeing your father again, never getting to be with him again and never even getting to say goodbye.

“Come, I’ll show you to your room.” Your head shot up at the voice in the doorway. “My room, but I thought…” “Do you want to stay in the tower.” You slowly shook your head, then got up and began to follow him. “This place is your home now, you can go anywhere you want, except the attic.” Looking at him curiously, you tilted your head ever so lightly. “What’s in the attic?” “It’s forbidden!” He snapped back at you causing you to nod slowly. You followed him to a room, where he opened the door and you slowly walked inside. “You will join me for dinner, that’s not a request!” The door slammed behind you, causing tears to prick your eyes. Rushing across to the bed, you threw yourself down and began to cry, just wanting everything to go back to the way it was before.

Meanwhile back at Stark Tower, Tony was licking his wounds, feeling awful about the fact that he’d been rejected, he couldn’t believe it. He was furious that you could say no to him. The avengers were busy throwing a party to celebrate their latest mission success, when suddenly Your father ran inside. “Someone, someone help me. He’s got her, he’s got her locked in the dungeon.” “Who?” “Y/N!” Tony stood up and adjusted is blazer. “Woah, slowdown, who has Y/N locked in a dungeon?” Taking a deep breath, your father looked at everyone. “A beast, a horrible monstrous beast!” Everyone stopped and looked at each other, before starting to chuckle. “Was it a big beast?”

“Massive!”

“With sharp cruel fangs?”

“No, a metal arm! Will you help me?” Tony quieted everyone down and smirked. “We’ll help you out.” Security escorted him out, as Tony looked at Bruce. “Bruce, I’ve been thinking. That wacky old coot is Y/N’s father and his sanity is only so/so. Now the wheels in my head have been turning, since I looked at that loony old man, I promised myself I’d be married to Y/N and right now I’m creating a plan!” With his spark back in his eye, the party carried on into the night, everyone, especially Tony celebrating.

You refused to go to dinner with the man who had you, you refused to even speak to him when he came to see you. The servants were kind to you however and when you finally snuck out, they fed you and entertained you for a little while. “Would you show me around?” You asked, they nodded and started to lead you around the massive house, as you passed a flight of stairs, you glanced up. “What’s up there?” A servant grabbed your hand and made you start to walk. “Nothing, nothing of interest in the attic.” You couldn’t help but glance back, curious as to what was up there. “Come, let us show you the computer room.” That perked you up, turning to look at them with a grin and an excited bounce in your step. “You have a computer room?” They started to lead you away, but you couldn’t help but glance back, after a moment you managed to turn around and rush off up the stairs leaving the servants to talk.

Slowly you made your way up the steps to the attic. A gentle cough came from your lips as you looked around, the dust was thick and it looked as if the place had barely been used for years. You edging into the room, you noticed a picture slashed and walked over, lifting it up to look at the handsome man in the picture. Looking away, you noticed an old army uniform, the only thing that hadn’t got a single piece of dust on it. Reaching over, you touched it gently, before you noticed the only form of light in the room. Slowly, you turned around and looked at the rose. Walking slowly over, you lifted the glass off and reached out to touch it.

A growl caused you to turn around, the beast placing the glass back over the rose and glaring at you. “I told you never to come here!” He snapped, looking at you as your heart started to pound heavily in your chest. “I’m sorry.” Lifting up something, he threw it across the room, smashing behind you. “Do you realize what you could’ve done. Get out!” Fear filled your eyes as you turned and ran, going as fast as your feet would carry you, you ran down past the servants. “Y/N?” Looking back at them, you shook your head. “Promise or no promise, I can’t stay here another minute.” Flying out of the door, you rushed off into the wilderness outside the gates and began to run, not caring that it was pitch black, you’d find your way, you had to find your way.

You ran through the wilderness, panting hard as you raced down a hillside, trying to find A road to follow back to civilization. As you ran down the hill, your foot caught on a branch and you tumbled down and started to roll, catching speed, unable to slow down until finally you reached the bottom of the hill. Laying down on the ground, you let out a soft groan. Laying there in the dark, looking through the canopy of trees toward the moon, you let out a gentle gasp as you regained your breath. As you lay there, you listened to the silence, until the sound of a howl caught your ears. Pulling yourself up, you began to run, not sure where to go, but trying hard to escape the wolves that had picked up your scent and were chasing after you.

Rushing through a ticket, you found yourself being caught on branches, some trying to take your legs out from under you, others ripping at your clothes trying to keep you from running away from what hunted you. Managing to get through with an almighty heave, you toppled to the ground once again, just in time to see glowing eyes coming toward you. You swallowed hard, trying to find the will to push yourself back up, but you were tired and in pain. Just as the first wolf lunged at you, it was scooped up and thrown, followed by another one, and another until they ran off in pain. Looking up, you stared shocked at the man in front of you, he didn’t speak, just stood there for a moment, before falling down. Rushing over, you helped him up and the pair of you slowly made your way back to the house.

Once you were inside, you ordered the staff to get you some hot water and a cloth as you helped him take a seat beside the fire. “Thank you.” You commented taking the warm bowl. “Stay still, this might hurt a little.” You explained as you began to clean his wounds. A growl left is lips, causing you to shy away from him. “That hurts!” He yelled loudly at her. “Well if you hold still it wouldn’t hurt as much!” You snapped back at him. “Well if you hadn’t run away, this wouldn’t have happened!” He quickly retorted. “Well if you hadn’t frightened me, I wouldn’t have run away!” He slowly opened his mouth, is eyes looking at you trying to find something to say. “Well you shouldn’t have been in the West Wing!” Looking up at him, you glared slightly. “Well you should learn to control your temper!” He stared at you, not a single world leaving his mouth as he looked shocked. “Now hold still, this might sting a little.” Your words came out tenderly, causing him to grit his teeth and bare the pain as you cleaned him. “By the way, thank you for saving my life.” There was a moment of silence, he stared down at you, surprise on his face. “You’re welcome.”

“I don’t usually leave the S.H.I.E.L.D at this time of night, this better be good boys.” Bruce and Tony looked between each other and nodded. “Yes, we do.” Pulling out a small file, they slid it across the desk. “I believe he’d working for Hydra; I’d like to get him investigated. Then what?” Nick asked looking between the two men. “Then, I would like to bring him in for questioning…” Tony explained looking at the man with the eyepatch in front of him. “Then what if he’s not?” Tony shrugged his shoulders a little. “Y/N will do anything to try and protect her father “So you’re doing this to get a girl.” There was a glint in Tony’s eye as Nick caught on. “Alright, I’ll play along.” Nick agreed with a smirk. The men left and made their way to Your house and banged on the door, ready to arrest your father, however, there wasn’t anyone there. “Bruce, you stay here, and wait till they return. Don’t move from this spot!”

Time rolled on and you and the beast began to bond, you found yourself finding a sweet side to him, you’d play outside in the garden together, and before you knew it, you were falling in love with him. Your eyes glanced at him for a moment, before hiding yourself. You felt conflicted, panicked, worried about what this would mean for the two of you. “Y/N, come on, I have something I want to show you.” Poking your head out, you got hit in the face with a snowball, chuckling softly, you threw one back and then dodged and hid, and gathered more snow, throwing it and hitting him before he was even able to gather the snow to throw again. “Come on, it’s time for a surprise.” Taking hold of your hand, he led you inside and glanced at you with a small smirk. Leading you through the castle to a room. “Close your eyes.” You looked at him a little skeptically, but then closed your eyes, slowly he led you inside and pulled the curtains back. “Can I open them?” He laughed softly and nodded. “Yes, open them.” You let out a gentle gasp as you moved your hands away from your eyes and began to look around shocked. “I’ve never seen so many books in all my life.” His hand moved to touch your cheek and he smiled. “I know it’s not a computer, but I thought you might like these.” You flung your arms around him and hugged him tightly. “It’s wonderful! Thank you so much Bucky.”

That night, both you and Bucky dressed in beautiful, clothes sort of like a first date. You had the most beautiful elegant 1940s dress and Bucky had a suit on, he didn’t know why but it was always what he’d been into. The pair of you met at the top of the stairs and you smiled at each other, you curtsied and he bowed, before escorting you downstairs to the ballroom. After dining on all of your favorite foods, you stood up and rushed over to him and held out your hand. “Dance with me?” Looking nervous, he slowly stood up and took your hand. “I don’t know how.” Ignoring him telling you this, you guided him to the floor and placed his hands in the right places and took hold of his hands and began to lead, showing him how to dance. You moved to the beat, all the way till he figured out what he was doing and took control, leaving you able to rest your head on his shoulder, it didn’t bother you that you could feel is metal arm through his jacket, his metal arm didn’t bother you at all.

The pair of you retired outside to spend some time getting fresh air, Bucky slowly turned to look at you. “Y/N, are you happy?” You nodded softly, looking up at him with fond eyes. “Yes, I… I just wish I could see my father one last time.” Bucky thought for a moment, and took your hand and rushed upstairs with you to the attic. Picking up a small tablet, he opened something and handed it to you. “This will show you whatever you want, just type in the words.” Nodding softly, you typed in the words and watched as a satellite zoomed in on an area not far away. “My father, he may be dying and he’s all alone!” You jumped up fear in your eyes. “Then you should go.” Turning around, you looked at Bucky. “What?” You spoke in a half whisper. “You’re free.” Hugging him tightly, you let out a soft sigh. “Thank you for understanding.” You went to hand back the tablet, but he shook his head. “Take it, so you always have a way to look back and remember.” Looking at him once again, you then turned and ran off.

You found your father and got a cab home. “Don’t worry Papa, I’ll look after you.” You said as you helped him inside and got him into bed. “How did you escape?” He asked, looking down at him you smiled softly. “I didn’t, he let me go. He’s different now Papa, he’s changed somehow.” You explained as you made him some tea. The sound of someone knocking on the door caused you to look around. “I’ll get it.” Slowly opening the door, you looked up to see Nick Fury and several different agents. “Yes?” He smirked softly. “I’m here to pick up your father, he’s suspected to be working for Hydra.” You shook your head. “No, my father would never!” You yelled. “He was raving about some sort of creature; he must be working for them and created it!” Tony shouted from the street, a mob was starting to form around. “I can clear up this little misunderstanding… if.” You looked at Tony curiously. “If?” He smirked and leaned closer. “If you marry me.”

“Never!” Men forced themselves past you and went inside to get your father, running inside after them you grabbed the tablet. “My father doesn’t work for Hydra; I can prove it!” Grabbing the tablet, you rushed outside and turned it around to show everyone. “He’s a human, my father doesn’t work with humans!” You shouted, showing everyone. But there were gasps as they saw the dark look in his eyes, the metal on his arm. “Is he dangerous?” You shook your head. “No, he’s kind and gentle, he’s my friend.” A glare appeared on Tony’s face as he moved over and snatched the tablet away. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have feelings for this monster.” You pulled away from him. “He’s no monster Tony, you are!” A sneer appeared on his face. “She’s as evil as her old man!” He snapped. “The beast will make off with your children, he’ll come after them in the night!” Gasps spread through everyone as they looked around and Tony started to rile them up. “Lock them in!” He ordered, you were dragged and thrown inside your house with your father, guards stood on the door and refused to let you out.

The mob started to make their way toward Bucky’s house, anger on their faces as they went together. “We won’t rest until he’s dead!” They announced as they made their way off. Unaware that your father was sneaking you through the cellar and out of a small window so you could make off after the mob and try and rescue the beast. The mob drew close to Bucky’s house, Tony leading them in his super suit. “Take whatever you can find, but remember the beast is mine!” He announced as they moved and blew the doors open. Everyone stopped as they found a silent entrance. Suddenly the servants burst out and began to fight with everyone. They were all clearly going to protect their leader for as long as they could.

Tony slipped through and made his way up the stairs, searching for Bucky bursting into the attic, he found him and hit him out of the window. “Get up, you worthless piece of shit, get up.” He snarled at him. “Were you in love with her you beast? Did you honestly think she’d want you, when she had someone like me?” He moved and smashed into him once again, an angry glare on his face, causing him to end up close to the edge of the roof. “No! Tony, please, no!” You screamed as you arrived, it was then Bucky moved and pushed himself up and began to fight against Tony, they collided hard as Tony flew into him and Bucky stopped him with his suit. Running through the house, you made your way up to the attic and out onto the roof. “Stop it, please.” You arrived just to see Bucky holding Tony over the long drop, he suddenly changed and dropped him down onto the pavement. “Get out!”

Bucky turned around and started to make his way up toward you, but then suddenly Tony hit him. Bucky fell backward, you caught him and held onto him, trying to pull him up. Tony slipped and plummeted toward the earth, his suite failing as he did. You pulled Bucky up onto the ledge and lay him down. “No, please don’t leave me.” You uttered, your fingers touching his cheek. “At least I got to see you one last time.” He whispered as he gasped for breath. The petal fell from the rose as tears trickled down your cheeks. “Please, don’t leave me. I love you.” Suddenly everything started to change, you stepped back as light flooded around Bucky, his body moved into the air and something happened to him, before gently lying him back down.

You watched, mouth open as he pushed himself up and turned to look at you. “I remember.” He whispered. “I remember everything.” He moved over to you and scooped you up in his arms and kissed you deeply, spinning you around as he did. “I love you Y/N, you broke the spell.” He said holding you in his arms. “I love you too Bucky.” You stood looking up at each other, smiles on your faces as you knew this was the start of a beautiful new adventure.

#bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes au #marvel one shot #bucky barnes #marvel #avengers

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namisiaa · 7 years ago

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Wow, I'm not alone! I have to do the same thing! My monitor shows colors incorrectly so when I see it on another computer or phone, it looks completely different! I have to go back and forth to make sure it's how I want it to look. It's so frustrating!

Yeah, it's really terrible xD. Especially that mine has problems with blue palette, so everything looks more red on my phone, thant's why many times faces in my colorings looks like people had too much sun xD. Well, I'm ordering new laptop in next 12 hours and I'll probably get in in friday, so next weeks coloring will be made using new one. I hope it will help me improve (and I also hope for end of the tablet problems wirh drivers that I have only on this laptop I'm using now xD). So tbh it's pretty big deal for me. I choosed a laptop a way better (and more expensive xDDDD) that I need just to be sure EVERYTHING will be okay, because with this last one... I have it for almost a year and it wasn't good year - I learned that I shouldn't buy too cheap stuff if it comes to something that important as laptops.Omg, I'm sorry, I lost a subject a bit, butnI'm really excited about xD. Anyway, you can try to change colors options in Windows system or in your graphic card options. You can also try to download some program which will calibrate the colors for you - it helped me a bit, but ofc those programs can't do more than your pc can handle, so no miracles there. Just some small changes, but it's always something. For me it also helped to look at the screen from different angle (really annoying but a bit less), but ypu can't be 100% sure about the results. Well... it is how it is.I can also reccomend you (no matter if you have laptop or regular PC(screent actually)) and if you will be changing it, to check one of the pages that tests electronics (unfortunatelly idk any in english, sorry :(). But those pages are making tests for every aspect of the PC/laptop and they are mostly wrote in the language you can understand (at least the last paragraf is a shorcut of the whole article and it's written like "good colors, great fraphic card, but it's very noisy"). That will help you choose new one better. Also is always good to go to the store and ask to turn the computer on so you can check the color differences. I used for this my dA acc with my latest coloring of Sieglinde (becauae the color were VERY different between my laptop and my phone) and this new one's differece is very small and it's before the colors calibration. Okay, so I guess this is is. Sorry for every typo (kinda my thing xD), but I'm SO REALLY TIRED today, I don't feel like reading what I wrote. Really sorry, I'll try to correct it tommorow xD.

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tech-battery · 4 years ago

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HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 review: A good laptop with better competition

The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 (dw0097nr) is a competent convertible laptop for handling the day-to-day workload of a work-from-home or distance-learning experience. It also offers some unique features, including a rare cellular option and a full-sized SD card slot. The USB-C and HDMI ports allow for two additional displays, including 4K support. While these attributes work in the Pavilion x360’s favor, its middling performance and underwhelming battery life make other laptops we’ve tested in its price range seem like a better deal.

This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best laptops. Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them.

As a convertible, HP’s Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 rotates easily into tent mode. The hinge is engineered well, preventing the laptop from sagging, even as it approaches a 180-degree angle.

HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 basic features

HP’s Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 hasn’t been on the market for long, but you may find that you’ll have a difficult time buying one—evidence of the buying spree brought on by the need to work/study from home during the pandemic. The laptop is currently available for $700 on HP.com, but in the course of the review it was sometimes sold out.

In case you can’t find it, HP representatives recommended some virtually identical alternatives. The $650 HP Pavilion x360 Laptop 14t-dw000 lacks the Optane memory option and LTE WWAN. The $586.95 HP Pavilion x360 14t-dh200 is even more similar, though it also lacks WWAN options and you’ll need to pay a bit more for the 1080p display option. Both the 14t-dw000 and 14t-dh200 were in stock at press time, however, and should offer comparable performance.

Keep in mind that in all these machines, the processor’s “G1” suffix denotes the minimal amount of graphics capability provided. Higher-end members of Intel’s 10th-gen Ice Lake family offer more visual horsepower.

Here are the specs for the unit we tested:

Display: 14-inch (1920x1080, WLED) multitouch, 250 nits (rated)

Processor: Intel Core i5-1035G1

Graphics: UHD 620

Memory: 8GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)

Storage: 256GB SSD+16GB Optane

Ports: 1 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps, charging, display), 2 USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (formerly USB 3.1, 5Gbps), 1 HDMI 2.0, SD card slot, 3.5mm jack, SIM slot (as reviewed)

Camera: 720p (user-facing)

Battery: 41.3Wh (reported), 43Wh (rated)

Wireless: WiFi 6 (Intel Wireless-AC 9461 802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5, with Connected Modern Standby; Intel LTE (XMM 7360) SIM slot (as reviewed)

Operating system: Windows 10 Home

Dimensions (inches): 12.76 x 8.70 x 0.74 inches

Weight: 3.55 pounds

Color: Natural Silver (Exterior)/ Ash Silver (Interior)

Price: $700

Overall build quality and display

HP’s Pavilion x360 14 emerges from its box a bit on the heavy side, though that’d only be an issue if you actually traveled with it. Our review unit boasts the rather generic Natural Silver exterior. A narrow band of silver runs around the edge of the Dark Ash Silver keyboard deck.

Because the Pavilion is a 360-degree convertible, it flips smoothly from clamshell back into tent mode, supporting its own weight. During a year when we’ve been stuck inside most of the time, I’ve grown to appreciate laptops that can serve as portable entertainment centers during off hours.

Above the keyboard lies an unobtrusive grille from which the Pavilion x360 14 vents its warm air. The laptop puts out a steady whoosh of fan noise, even occasionally during routine tasks such as typing this review. It’s both soft and fairly constant enough, however, to fade into the background as white noise.

HP’s display is passable, a common quality level among lower-priced laptops. Its backlight has a top brightness of about 250 nits, the bare minimum for what we consider to be sufficient for indoor work. My downstairs office gets minimal outside light, and I found the display to be just slightly on the dim side. Color fidelity seemed adequate, however, with sufficient viewing angles from either side. Just don’t expect to use it outdoors.

At this price point, a laptop’s aesthetics should be a bonus, not part and parcel of the experience. No one can help but notice, though, the wide lower display bezel of about an inch and a half. Though the side (quarter-inch) and the top (three-eights of an inch) bezels are slimmer, the overall effect is that the display feels a bit cramped.

Fortunately, the available ports adorning the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 make it easy to expand beyond the built-in display. HP includes both an HDMI 2.0 as well as SuperSpeed 10Gbps (formerly known as USB-C 3.2 Gen 2).

Unfortunately, though the HDMI 2.0 cable supports a single 4K monitor at up to 60Hz, the Core i5-1035G1 couldn’t manage to push my external 4K display beyond 30Hz. For those with sensitive eyes, the slow refresh rate can look jarring. Anything with motion—video, for example—can look jerky and, over time, can fatigue your eyes. Even typing on an otherwise static screen can be wearing. This problem, however, completely goes away if you have an external 1080p monitor, which the Pavilion x360 14 powers at a comfortable 60Hz.

HP supplies a 45W power supply inside of the box, which uses a round “barrel” connector to charge the laptop. Alternatively, you can use a third-party charger to charge the laptop via the USB-C port.

Typing, audio and camera

I tend to prefer keyboards with more pronounced key travel, so the shallow keyboard on the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 wasn’t especially comfortable over prolonged use. I almost always write a laptop review on the keyboard of the device that I’m reviewing, and I’ll be happy to go back to something which allows my fingers more flexibility.

My only other complaint is that the individual keys aren’t especially large. Otherwise, the Pavilion’s keyboard provides a comfortable typing experience. Its only other quirk is the column of Home, Pg Up, and related keys that runs along the right side of the keyboard, rather than the lower right-hand corner (as is more common).

Laptop audio is rarely good, and the Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 failed to convince us otherwise. Its speakers are thin, tinny, and generally unpleasant for listening to music or other audio, possibly because of the lack of low-end boost. Mid- to high-pitched music, like Molly Sandén’s “Husavik (My Hometown),” for example, sounded pretty good.

Normally, audio enhancement technologies help somewhat. Bang & Olufsen tuned the speakers and provided an audio utility conveniently designed with an equalizer and noise cancellation for the available microphone. But even headphones can’t really help; your best bet is to boost the bass as much as possible.

The same utility manages the microphone’s noise cancellation, which I found to be somewhat hit-and-miss. The B&O utility can be configured to filter out everything but your voice. It did a superb job at filtering out the back-and-forth of baseball announcers calling the game while I recorded my voice. One consequence, though, is that my voice’s volume levels fluctuated unexpectedly, which would be noticeable on a Zoom call. Using a headset should bypass all these limitations.

The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 uses a 720p camera (as most laptops do), and I was pleased with its color fidelity. Unfortunately, there’s no Windows Hello capability at all—no depth camera, and no fingerprint reader either.

You may notice that this laptop includes an SSD plus Intel’s Optane Memory technology, which Intel designed as a sort of cache to improve app loading times. In general, the quick access to data that any SSD offers, relative to an old laptop with a spinning hard drive, will be noticeable. Don’t buy this laptop for the additional Optane capabilities, however, as it doesn’t make a meaningful difference.

A mix of bloatware and useful utilities

HP’s consumer laptops tend to ship with a hefty serving of bloatware, extra apps that HP preloads in hopes you’ll try them. HP JumpStarts, an app that lives on the Taskbar, serves as a gateway to the HP Support Assistant plus other offers: a one-month trial of Microsoft 365 for new customers, free games from WildTangent, and more. Amazon and Dropbox have shortcuts in the Taskbar. Separate apps in the Start menu offer 25GB of Dropbox storage free for a year, and there are shortcuts to ExpressVPN, Spotify, Netflix, and more. The Pavilion also ships with a three-month subscription to McAfee Personal Security.

HP offers a wealth of its own utility software, most of which serves a useful purpose—but there’s just so darn many of them! The HP Support Assistant, for example, includes useful driver updates for various components within the system, but it’s separate from Windows Update, and that’s distinct from the app-specific Microsoft Store. Dig though and you’ll be rewarded, as there’s a terrific amount of information and diagnostics available.

We didn’t test one aspect of the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14: its cellular capabilities. I normally plug in a SIM and drive around my Bay Area town, testing throughput and coverage. Unfortunately, wildfire smoke levels were at unhealthy to toxic levels during my testing period, making drive tests inadvisable. I live at the periphery of a cell-phone tower’s range, which also wouldn’t be a fair test of the Pavilion x360’s abilities.

Performance is merely average

Our performance assessments takes into account repeatable benchmarks as well as direct experience. As part of the review process, I used the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 for about a week, running it with dozens of Edge tabs open, alongside apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. With fifty or so tabs open, including streaming video from a MLB playoff game, I noticed a bit of input lag in how the Pavilion responded. Under the same conditions, but with an additional Zoom call running, I noticed that the laptop’s display fuzzed slightly, and briefly, as if the GPU couldn’t quite handle the load. That’s my everyday, work-at-home environment, though, and overall the Pavilion handled it very well. Streamed videos from YouTube and Netflix worked fine on the Pavilion’s own display.

Attaching an external 4K monitor created a few hiccups, and not just with YouTube streaming (where downsampling and upsampling resolutions sometimes resulted in choppy video). The Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 actually crashed twice when I was playing back YouTube videos in Edge, switching playback resolutions, and dragging videos back and forth to an external monitor. The bug wasn’t completely repeatable, but I also experienced it while highlighting fields in Excel, after I had updated the graphics driver. HP didn’t have any advice for us by press time, but to be fair, secondary displays can introduce complexities.

What follows are results from our suite of synthetic and real-world benchmarks. We compared the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 to its competition within the budget and mid-range laptop PC category. Its results are highlighted in red, below.

PCMark 8 Work/Creative: Everyday tasks

UL’s PCMark 8 Work test measures how well the laptop handles office tasks, from spreadsheets, word processing, and VoIP calls. Most laptops perform competently here, and any score over 2,000 is a good thing.

The PCMark 8 Creative benchmark assesses the laptop’s ability to perform more intensive tasks like video editing and photo manipulation, leaning more heavily on the integrated GPU for some light gaming. You shouldn’t expect to do much of the latter with the Pavilion x360 Convertible 14, though we’ll look at this more closely with the 3DMark test a bit later.

Cinebench: CPU performance

We use Maxon’s Cinebench test to look at the raw output of the CPU. The R15 test is older, meaning we have a broader base of laptops for comparison. It’s also a fast test, providing a snapshot of how the PC manages a “sprint” of processing demand. We use the multi-thread benchmark to evaluate how well the laptop does with all cores enabled. The single-threaded test, while applicable to most mainstream tasks, tends to yield pretty much the same result regardless of CPU.

The Core i5-1035G1 inside is a quad-core processor, with eight processing threads. While its score is acceptable, it’s the slowest of all the compared laptops with the same CPU.

HandBrake: Sustained CPU workload

Where Cinebench is a sprint, HandBrake is a prolonged CPU test, where we transcode a movie into a format appropriate for an Android tablet. It’s useful as a measure of how well the laptop is thermally managed: An overheated laptop will have to clock down to avoid exceeding its thermal limits. Conversely, a well-cooled laptop will be able to run in an elevated turbo mode for longer, completing the job faster. It’s here that a well-designed laptop with a slower CPU can compete with a faster processor in a poorly-designed notebook PC. The Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 again posted a lower score against the competition.

3DMark Sky Diver: Graphics performance

The 3DMark Sky Diver test is where we can examine the laptop for its gaming abilities. Let’s be clear: The “G1” designation is Intel’s signal that its graphics capabilities represent the least of Intel’s Ice Lake offerings, so we’re not expecting too much here. This is clearly not a gaming PC, and its mediocre score attests to that.

Battery life (video rundown test)

We end with battery life, an ordinarily critical aspect of a laptop that doesn’t mean quite as much with a global pandemic keeping us close to home. Nevertheless, it’s good to know whether you’d have the battery life to work outside, stop at a sidewalk cafe, or just crash on the couch for a change of scenery.

The Pavilion x360 Convertible 14’s 43Wh battery is on the small side for a laptop of its size, and that hurts it here. The laptop’s lackluster seven-plus hours of life might have been par for the course 18 months ago, but many laptops we see nowadays easily exceed 10 or more hours.

Conclusion: Good but not great

The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 should suffice for working or learning from home. In our real-world use, it never felt especially poky. However, the numbers don’t lie: You can do better. From a performance standpoint, this is really the moment for AMD-powered laptops, such as the $655 Acer Swift 3. Acer’s recent $650 Spin 3 also compares favorably. If performance isn’t your priority, you might still have regrets about the battery life or the dim display.

There are always going to be trade-offs in low-priced laptops. The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 just toes that line between acceptable and unacceptable compromise.

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nothingbythebook · 5 years ago

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It’s been a rough week, and I’m seeking solace in solitude… and the library.

My hometown boasts the second most used public library system in North America, and we’ve recently received what is probably the most beautiful public library in the world. Designed by American-Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta and Canadian firm DIALOG after the two firms’ joint bid won a design competition in 2013, the new Calgary Central Public Library was recently named one of Time Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places to Visit in 2019.

The building is so beautiful, the first time I walked through it, I burst into tears. It has quickly become the meeting place in Calgary. When I’m not sure where to meet someone, or what we should do, I almost invariably say, “Let’s meet at the library, and go from there.” And I’m not the only one—the library is teeming with people, always.

Books are dying, literacy is dying, culture is dying? Please. Not in Calgary, not at our library.

When I visit the library on my own, as today, I have a series of rituals and routines I follow. First, I walk as high up the four floors as I can without taking the stairs or elevator, on a walk-through ramp that curls along the side of the library. I walk past the incredible children’s area and the cafe—at our library, you can make all the noise you like, kiddies, and also, you can eat and drink, and be merry. And I look at the curated book displays and games and everything, but I don’t handle any books, I don’t stop. I make my way to the very top, and to the reading room.

The reading room is my favourite room in the library and the only “quiet” space: this is the place to come and work, not talk. So I set up my computer, and I write.

When I need a break, I pause, get up from my desk, and walk around the reading room, which showcases the librarians’ choices of books, arranged my topic. There’s usually a Wild West section (we do live in Cowtown after all). And Banned Books. And Graphic Novels. And, and, and…

I let myself pick up a few books and leaf through them, and I might take a photo for future reference. I’m not allowed to read these books. Not yet. I’m still writing.

I go back to my work space. Write. Pause. Browse. Write. Pause. Browse.

When I’m done writing (and I always stop just before I’m empty), I pack up, and start the slow walk down.

Now, I’m allowed to pick up books… and perhaps to take a few home.

Today, though, I’m walking and I don’t have a bag, just my small laptop briefcase. Today, I will not take out any books.

Among the many, many things I love about the library—among the many, many reasons why I think libraries will save the world—is… think about it, I can leave this place with a hundred books. For free.

Calgary Public Library cards are free, by the way. There used to be a nominal $10 application fee for adults. The library eliminated this a few years ago, because access, knowledge, freedom.

There are a dozen, perhaps more, meetings and programmes running in the library at any given time. The library offers free programming on—god, everything. Financial planning, coding, lego building, science, fashion—and, of course, literacy.

It has artists in residence and writers in residence.

And new art in its public space.

Today, I get to “meet” photographer Samuel Obadero, and his exhibit, “The Forgotten Ones.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I also spend some time in the Create Space area, pondering some tough questions.

The Create Space is part of the library’s commitment to “Supporting brave conversations and generous gatherings that build understanding.”

You know. The conversations that will change the world.

I get sidetracked by books—thoughtfully curated by the librarians. This one catches my eye:

But it’s a brick. And I’m walking. And I am not getting any books today. I snap a picture to place a hold on it in the future.

I am not getting any books… Damn. Wait…

Well… but these are very light.

I get books.

I pass a group of citizens and tourists getting a tour of the library. It ranges in age from teenagers to octogenarians, and the enthusiasm with which they listen to the (ridiculously enthusiastic) tour guide makes my heart sing.

A family of five, Calgary locals, is visiting the library for the first time today. The father is trying to muster them along, because he wants to get to the reading room. But he’s lost the mother to a bookshelf, and the kids are staring, wide-eyed, at the balloon arch near the cafe.

I think about taking my books to the cafe. But not today. Not today. I still have to visit the drinking birds, massive sculptures by Los Angeles-based artist and teacher Christian Moeller.

The birds make me happy and give me hope, in much the same way the library makes me happy and gives me hope.

As Sadie Trombetta writes in her March 20, 2017 article in Bustle, 7 Reasons Libraries Are Essential, now More Than Ever:

“…libraries have become centers for the movement that supports women, immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and those facing religious persecution. They are free public spaces that allow everyone to feel safe and to find opportunity.”

As I leave the library, hordes of people are coming in. Citizens, tourists. Young people, old people. White people, brown people. Queer people, straight people. Rich people, poor people.

Moeller’s Drinking Birds bop to welcome them.

[there really should be a Drinking Birds photo here, shouldn’t there? But I didn’t take one and I don’t steal images. So, imagine it… or Google “Calgary Public Library Drinking Bird Sculpture”]

I smile at strangers and they smile back.

In this moment, in this place and space, there is safety, peace, knowledge, potential… hope.

I am so happy, I almost cry.

xoxo

“Jane”

For some better photos of the library than mine, check out this fan-feature on the library in Avenue Magazine: https://www.avenuecalgary.com/city-life/inside-calgarys-new-central-library/

And, of course, the Time Magazine article: https://time.com/collection/worlds-greatest-places-2019/5654128/central-library-calgary-canada/

If you want to save the world, fund libraries, use libraries, love libraries It’s been a rough week, and I’m seeking solace in solitude... and the library. My hometown boasts the second most used public library system in North America, and we’ve recently received what is probably the most beautiful public library in the world.

#Calgary Public Library #libraries #literacy #safe spaces

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goadapter-blog · 6 years ago

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Asus S451LB Review

Asus introduces a completely new 14-inch laptop computer having a touchscreen,upper-range configuration,and classy appears to be dubbed VivoBook S451LB.The bundle produced a superb impact within the take a look at,although we anticipated far more through the display and storage product.The class of smaller sized,14-inch laptops isn't a rarity any longer on present-day market.The shopper instantly gains from dropping price ranges and an ever-increasing selection.Though suppliers now emphasis more around the 13-inch classification and often adhere to Intel's ultrabook specs,the 14-inch market will however only come into problem for purchasers who discover a 15-inch system a tiny bit way too unhandy.In addition to the far more compact proportions and also the reduced pounds when compared with conventional laptops,the suppliers also endeavor to differ in other regions. Very high-quality metal casings ad883020 ended up reserved for quality laptops right up until a handful of years ago.Asus now presents a device from the seven hundred Euros range that includes this special take care of.The core factors in the new Asus S451LB are very little unique,although the machines is during high-end.A traditional HDD and touchscreen are set up alongside an Intel i5 dual-core and devoted Nvidia graphics card.As a result,swift performing and multimedia compatibility are ensured,and our knowledge displays that game titles really should operate effortlessly in medium to higher options along with the integrated CPU/GPU array.Immediate contenders from your 14-inch sector having a equivalent configuration 1st have to be discovered.The focused graphics card in Asus'laptop is frequently the main reason for excluding probable contenders with an aluminum casing.They frequently do not sport a devoted graphics memory,and only Intel's integrated Hd graphics is set up.The purchase costs range noticeably.Apple's lowest-priced MacBook Professional thirteen Retina Adapter Mac Mini is plainly with the higher finish of the hardware class which has a price of 1199 Euros,but it really has the track record for just a excellent build as well as reasonably new Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 on its aspect.The IdeaPad U430 and ThinkPad S440 from Lenovo that we now have examined seem far more reasonable.Acer's Aspire S3-392G from your 13-inch sector would arrive into issue.All characteristic focused graphics,metal casing,and touchscreen with Windows eight.We examine all areas in the Asus S451LB within the evaluate under.

Design

With a brushed-metal lid that offers it the appearance of a considerably pricier equipment.As well as peak - a mere 0.97 inch thick - helps make it glimpse eminently totable,the kind of svelte device you might just toss into a bag.Nevertheless the VivoBook S451LA weighs 4.8 lbs .,which is effectively around the onerous facet.The notebook includes a 14-inch touchscreen,which appears to be rad.But then you certainly open up it up,and find out that it offers a measly 1,366x768 pixels of monitor samsung a5814_dsm real estate,and it is also not great: viewing angles are incredibly restricted,with colours inverting and looking washed out along with the smallest shift in angle.I come across myself regularly adjusting the hinge,hunting for that legendary fantastic angle the place I'm able to sit comfortably and nevertheless see obviously - this will likely demonstrate problematic in the event you want to transfer about much.Having said that,it really is a touchscreen.It's responsive and handles Windows 8's gestures with aplomb,but its hinge isn't extremely rigid,wobbling somewhat annoyingly as I tap by menus.I have grown accustomed to glass or matte touchpads,hence the extremely glossy one on this VivoBook feels somewhat far too slippery for my taste.Gestures are problematic,since the touchpad is occasionally imprecise.This is certainly compounded because of the extra tips included to emulate Windows 8's contact gestures: swipe in within the proper fringe of the touchpad,and you will carry up the charms menu.Swipe in with the left to speedily swap amongst functioning apps,even though swiping down through the touchpad's prime edge 776620 001 phone calls up Windows 8's context-sensitive menu bar.You'll also have the normal pinching and panning to control photographs that we've arrive at hope from fashionable machines.My fingers have admittedly grown accustomed to sliding alternatively lazily across the MacBook Air'stouchpad,but obtaining Asus'gestures to work necessitates a little finagling,with swipes that happen to be too quick or not shut more than enough to your edge only failing to sign-up.Thankfully,a lot of this is certainly customizable: fireplace up Asus'Smart Gesture menu and you can disable almost each touchpad function and permit some new kinds,including three- and four-finger gestures.Factors do not get significantly better around the keyboard.The chiclet keys are suitably huge and cozy adequate to variety on,but they are also quite shallow: my fingers are continually bumping in to the laptop's body,which does not essentially have an impact on accuracy asus adapter ad890026 but is quite bothersome.Worst of all,the keyboard isn't backlit.I'm a able touch-typist and would not go as far as to contact backlighting required,but I'd be hard-pressed to endorse any notebook keyboard that will become all but invisible should you opt for to operate or perform in dark spaces.You will also need to keep down a Operate important to entry media controls and also the like - many keyboards give those people vital controls priority,so it's a shame Asus hasn't adopted accommodate.The remainder of the VivoBook S451LA's hardware just isn't amazing,but par for that system at this price tag.It is really run by a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-4200U processor,with 6GB of RAM.

The keyboard that Asus installs options the pleasurable,typical dimensions with letter keys of 15 x fifteen mm.Nevertheless,it does not have a very backlight.The keyboard's appears to be like once again almost match Apple's style,notably while using the aluminum body.It can be seamlessly embedded into the casing,and that is also to generally be dust resistant in addition to the beneficial structure element.The stroke noise is agreeable,plus the keys will not create a clatter sounds even though typing energetically.The strain point is fairly weak but nonetheless sufficient to stop typos when typing for for a longer time periods.Like most 14-inch laptops,a dedicated amount pad just isn't mounted.The ClickPad ads 40fsg 19 is incredibly big using a diagonal of twelve.five centimeters,and its silver color merges pretty properly from the aluminum seems to be.The color is identical using the laptop's floor.Compared with the impeccable aluminum surface area,it often feels "sticky" and will function a fairly rougher floor.The mouse keys are included in to the touchpad and therefore are only visibly separated by a line.The strain position is nice and only performs mouse clicks dell la65nm130 after they are genuinely supposed.The pad responds right away and without having "lead-time" to finger gestures.Regrettably,it's a tiny bit imprecise and use is not really genuinely pleasing. Employing an external mouse is recommendable during the extensive operate because it might generally take place that more compact gestures are not detected accurately.For instance,the mouse cursor moves 1 mm upward rather than adhere to the finger's motion of one mm into the right.Asus must rectify this to ensure the user discovers the total diversity of multi-finger gestures that could be in particular exciting with Home windows 8.one.Asus treats its new VivoBook into a monitor with - in keeping with Asus - a whole new touchscreen technology.It constantly responded reliably and pleasantly to the touch,and it could even at times compensate for your rather imprecise touchpad.Performing with it and navigating via Windows is entertaining,particularly while in the tile mode of Windows 8.1.The single icons medion e2228t adapter are pretty much also modest in desktop mode,but it remains to be doable to work with them.The utilized hinges are absorbing more than enough to lower aggravating teetering when inputting about the touchscreen.Even so,more robust and regular rapidly clicking results in thescreen to wobble a little bit.Asus touts a exclusive touchscreen having a increased accuracy through the use of downscaled actuators.This may be correct in idea,but there are no subjective pros in functional use.

Performance

Although touchscreen technologies is by now pretty widespread in notebooks,several buyers usually are not nevertheless accustomed to the novelty and may really feel confused.But it's just a make any difference of time to adapt and recognize the amount this type of display can make a big difference inside a laptop computer,for the reason that it innovates the way in which to use the notebook and perhaps would make it much easier to work with,too as supplying a far more interactive practical experience with the written content.The mouse Lenovo SA10L79751 Adapter is usually replaced for many essential capabilities,though the peripheral remains to be far more practical to the variety of texts,one example is.The S451LA,like every notebook,has its individual mouse: the touchpad,that is aspect on the keyboard.A destructive issue in the gadget is the fact this feature has at times locked inside the decreased left corner in the delicate machine.The keyboard from the model is "chewing gum" form,which is,its keys are near to the bottom include,which assures smoother and a lot more silent typing.The webcam has wonderful good quality,for making 720p graphic.The audio from this VivoBook options good quality,high-definition audio with headphones only,thanks to Sonic Learn seem technologies,that's by now built-in.The Intel High definition Graphics 4000 graphics card with the design is previously a bit outdated together with the presence from the High definition 5000 and Intel Iris within the most recent chips of Intel,however it is sufficient for your common usage of the day to working day,not merely is not really perfect to rotate hefty game titles,for instance.The i7 processor is a really quick CPU for that notebook,that is a moreover stage,but it has its pro and counter.The advantage may be the pace,more stream within the utilization of the systems,however the drawback Sony VGN-A417 Adapter is definitely the higher battery consumption.The S451LA arrives with Home windows 8 operating system,that's minor intuitive,but just know the operation to learn the features effortlessly.Home windows 10 is scheduled to hit the industry during the first fifty percent of 2015 with new desktop attributes.You are able to trust in the VivoBook's 1.6-GHz Intel Main i5-4200U processor with 6GB of RAM after you really need to crunch quantities,view movies or produce a report or two.The notebook experienced no complications streaming a full-screen episode of "House of Cards" on Netflix,with 8 open up tabs in Mozilla Firefox,Google Chrome and Internet Explorer,all although jogging a full-system scan.The laptop computer scored 2,782 on PCMark7 exam,which predictably blew with the two,417 scored via the Dell Inspiron 14R's 1.7-GHz Intel Main i3-4010U CPU.Having said that,the ASUS acquired trounced through the Lenovo IdeaPad U430 Contact and Toshiba Satellite,which scored three,785 an four,316,respectively.

The processor and graphics card Accu CS03046XL-PL both clock nearly their greatest level of 2.6 GHz and 1033 MHz in battery manner making use of Windows"High Performance" environment.The total program overall performance is on the high stage subjectively.An evident general performance furthermore is found especially when in contrast which has a funds notebook.Specially processor-intensive purposes,such as unpacking data files or installing computer software,are plainly more quickly and smoother. Sad to say,Asus only installs a traditional really hard travel in place of a swift SSD.Laptops that has a common HDD will seem to some degree slower once the person has gotten utilized to an SSD system.Nonetheless,the running speed AD887020 is all through over a large standard.Our PCMark benchmarks ensure this with scores which might be inside the same assortment as laptops centered on comparable components.The PCMark 7 scores amplified by as much as 74% once we put in an SSD into a related check program.This is certainly also really observed in program use and would add towards the VivoBook S451LB's impact.Asus clearly lags at the rear of SSD ultrabooks employing likewise potent factors Adapter Apple A1185 from the PCMark scores because of into the absence of an SSD.As expected,the battery runtime on the Asus S451LB plainly assorted depending upon the solitary load problem.In the event the graphics card is fully loaded,the facility requirement is at least 5 situations as higher as during the strength frugal place of work mode.The way too small,even to get a potential gaming laptop,forty six Wh battery sets the boundaries in this article.Even though adequate for office manner,it is actually certainly way too small in gaming use.This is often a little bit better with Lenovo's IdeaPad U430,but only marginally.Listed here,the customer should make your mind up in between useful dimensions fused with short-term nevertheless excellent performance,or maybe the gaming category with considerably much larger dimensions and higher pounds but additionally more robust batteries and consequently for a longer time runtimes even in the course of load.A mixture of equally is rarely probable.Nevertheless,Asus'VivoBook S451LB,such as other contenders,nevertheless delivers the most effective of both worlds.The battery in Asus'laptop adp 33aw c lasted for just above eight hours in idle manner; the Lenovo S440 is better.Idle manner is ascertained employing Battery Eater's Reader's exam.The display screen is ready to bare minimum brightness,the energy-savings profile is enabled,as well as the wireless modules are off.

Verdict

Small proportions fused with superior and,for this category, over typical large efficiency.As 1 of the few laptops through the 14-inch category,the Asus VivoBook S451LB gives large processor functionality And a potent,dedicated graphics card,and it is actually convincing simultaneously.The CPU/GPU array is actually well-implemented.An important unfavorable position for us is the difficult travel.It can be not simply fairly loud and makes a dependable clacking noise when working,it slightly slows down the system significantly in copy or installation processes.An SSD or SSHD would've appeared far better from the S451LB,and it will have rounded from the overall deal of the specified effectiveness,aluminum casing,and helpful measurement more.However,the device is often advisable to any person on the lookout for prime processor and graphics effectiveness in the helpful measurement for just below seven-hundred Euros,and who're ready to shell out a bit a lot more for aluminum rather than plastic with this selling price vary.Nonetheless,consumers really should also appear closer at Lenovo's IdeaPad U430 Touch,then decide their favored.

If your spending plan is tight along with your wants are very simple,you may also think about a Chromebook - we liked the Acer Chromebook C720p.It even features a touchscreen! With products just like the Microsoft Surface area Professional 3 or Lenovo Yoga 2 Professional I drop into a type of rhythm,gliding involving touchpad and display devoid of substantially in the strategy for mindful work.I have always felt that is the best way to tackle Home windows 8,since the OS opens up new - and usually more quickly - solutions to get close to without mucking up what will work,what's common.But you genuinely require a touchscreen,and when you're likely to get a hybrid structure,you absolutely need to nail the basics.Asus Adapter Asus S451LA hasn't carried out that listed here.For the same selling price,you'll be able to pick up the Lenovo IdeaPad U430 Touch,which features a brighter display screen by using a higher resolution and for a longer time battery existence,all inside of a additional eye-catching chassis.Total,the V45iL is often a superior middle-of-the-road choice for mainstream users who want to do a little little bit of almost everything - especially people that want a DVD drive.But it isn't really our best choice.

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the-fitsquad · 6 years ago

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Organization Want To Set Up A Shenzhen Workplace In China?

Dave Evans develops Linux NTP Server synchronisation systems to ensure precise time on PC’s and pc networks. • Ask departing guests regardless of whether they have incurred any charge obtain or lengthy distance calls that do not seem on the folio. CAD programs are normally provided in software program packages, such as Autodesk. When trains get to Aquia Landing, they will spot the cars according the “When Empty return to” directions on the bill. All in all, a effective processor and graphics processor, a bright this content and vivid display along with a really long-lasting battery in the Dell Inspiron tends to make it an best decision of laptop for AutoCAD, Solidworks and other CAD applications. The Computer software Licensing Service reported that the Active Directory Activation Object could not be identified or was invalid. This pro-style setup is ideal for a gigging organist who desires simple setup and the power of a B3 (without having excessive cabinet perform, foot pedals, bench and supporting framework).

Persistent memory: Windows ten Pro for Workstations provides the most demanding apps and data with the overall performance they require with non-volatile memory modules (NVDIMM-N) hardware. The ergonomic style of workplace workstations may also exhibit amazing consideration to detail. OSHA Compliance Directive CPL 2-1.29, Interim Inspection Procedures For the duration of Communication Tower Building Activities, needs that hoists utilised to lift personnel have to be created to use energy lowering four the hoist in this incident was not. But when we overlap the constriction imposed by using only 2 RAM modules, this means that you have ten cores fighting for access to 2 RAM modules, more than 2 memory channels. All PACS workstations – are based on the same essential Pc technologies with which you are currently familiar.

All three machines are derived from the identical industrial style, which marks a adjust from the standard angular chassis of older generation HP Z Workstations. A video card driver is an crucial system that optimizes the video card so that it will output distinct benefits. Our wall mount options supply an attractive alternative to personal computer carts and desks Made especially for laptops, our Laptop Wall Mount Laptop Station mounts securely to the wall and comes equipped with a heavy-duty lock for protection even though our Guardian Wall Mount Pc Station functions a coded keypad locking program. The mixture of HP Workstation hardware and Adobe computer software assists resolve some of the toughest inventive challenges with solutions that are tuned and integrated for much better performance.

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For a good and smooth running business, standard and safe access to the information is need to, in today’s world. A strong Windows Computer that can be used to run complicated database applications is an example of a workstation. On Queue Computer has been supporting legacy workstations just like the Z820 for over 25 years. The colonial conquest and occupation put Europeans in direct handle and controlling touch with the African hinterland. If the router did not reset itself following this period of time, go ahead and energy cycle the now-updated router. Selecting the appropriate office workstations aids you steer clear of discomfort and wellness problems. The space is a utopian prototype for the push to foster a more startup-friendly environment in the US. As with the media landscape before it, one can foresee a future when a fair quantity of hardware will shift to a hyper-specialized model, with numerous customers trading in mass-developed merchandise for limited-run devices targeted toward their individual demands and desires.

An HP solid-state PCIe tough drive improves disk read-and-create speed, removing another possible bottleneck. Some are basic, elegant flat desks, perfect for spreading out paperwork, even though other people are ingeniously created with shelves of varying widths, packing the maximum storage potential into the tiniest corner. To comply with federal mandates and support the Department’s Greening Diplomacy Initiative, the Department launched an agency-wide initiative to eliminate power waste across 100 % of its workstation computer systems. This is in addition to the existing attributes that currently enable Windows 10 users to sync reminders, notifications and SMS across their devices. At that time nonetheless, such systems were very expensive, as were the laptop hardware on which PACS workstations had been run.

So, let’s take a look at HP’s Z-Series workstations. We had been able to reliably reproduce the issue on other client workstations by merely upgrading them to the Anniversary Edition of Windows 10. In area folio assessment and check out normally relies on an in space tv or guestroom phone access through an in space Tv. Guests can pick up a printed folio at the front desk on his way out. Windows 10 Pro for Workstations will be accessible alongside the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update later this year. If you have the space for all your tools and a appropriate space to operate, then it would be useful for your company, as it would enable a lot more production. The new HP Z1 Workstation is the most appealing, most powerful, and most pricey all-in-1 Computer I’ve ever noticed.

Typically, consoles consist of a high resolution show, a keyboard and a mouse at a minimum, but also provide several displays, graphics tablets,3D mice (devices for manipulating3D objects and navigating scenes), and so forth. Workstations have far more effective graphics processing units for quick 2D or 3D graphic image creation and manipulation. Ring topology is a single which all of the computer systems are connected in a loop and data is passed from one particular workstation to another. In addition, you can configure the applet to launch far more effective instance sorts (virtual computer configurations) obtainable to DNAnexus users. To help two processors, E5-2600 series processor must be selected. While we are speaking about the office furnishing, the very very first factor that comes to our thoughts the office ought to be decorated in such a way, which may possibly attract the interest of the visitors, therefore, the balanced and outstanding combinations of furniture and other furnishing items have to be accomplished to create the excellent ambiance.

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This implies that communication is limited only to other workstations on the regional network. Keep your HP Z Workstation in tune with your skilled application workloads use HP Efficiency Advisor2 to easily handle workstation settings and drivers to guarantee optimal performance and stability. 1st up HP has updated its desktop alternatives with a leading of the line Z840 tower that supports dual Intel Xeon CPU setup. The Ace Personal computer Desk combines functionality and modern day design and style with constructed-in storage, a white glass tabletop and a geometric develop for a skilled work space to blast out company reports and host consumers. In the bus topology employed a single cable or a central cable on Exactly where all workstations and servers are connected. Finally I’ll wrap items up in the third and final post with a appear at how HP handles lengthy-term assistance on mission vital workstations.

This could let Mac customers who need to run an occasional Windows app to do so with out getting to reboot very first – even though they will need sufficient RAM and processing energy to run each OS X and the virtual machine simultaneously. Buy the Important Laptop Components: When acquiring the proper laptop components for your workstation, you have to consider such features and devices as speed of the processor, motherboard, RAM, difficult drive, memory, power provide, video card, sound cards, DVD drive, and personal computer hardware and computer software. Even though an ergonomic kneeling chair might take some time to get used to, they are a healthier and less expensive selection to an adjustable workplace chair and make a excellent addition to an ergonomic workstation.

We hope you now have a greater understanding of the distinction in between desktop and workstation cards and that you will have an less difficult time producing a decision among the two when taking your wants into consideration. Designed by a group of medical researchers studying spinal cord injury, the Gravitonus ergonomic workstation comes with an on-board computer which constantly analyses physique position, measures local temperature and pressure for various physique components and gently rotates the frame accordingly. The issue lies in the truth that Windows 7’s installer is only compatible with an older kind of USB driver. The desks we produce take into account ergonomics, are manufactured to the highest standards with quality components, and delivered in a cost and time-effective manner to minimise any interruption to your business’ productivity.

The 1st BOXX workstation featuring all-new Intel® Core X-Series processors – with more quickly memory and Intel Turbo Enhance 3. – the ten-core Intel® Core i9 X-series identifies the two greatest cores to enhance, generating it excellent for multi-tasking, editing, and rendering. An error occurred in processing the dynamic disks involved in the operation. It delivers the graphics functionality and high quality demanded by many CAD, media, and entertainment applications. Featuring the most recent Intel® Xeon® processor choices, up to two graphics cards and four challenging drives with optional RAID. Amongst the ideal and most powerful workstations in the marketplace. The most essential thing is to get a pc that meets your economic wants but can nevertheless run all your applications smoothly and error-totally free.

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geekade · 7 years ago

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The Wild World of USB-C

Disclaimer: As of the publication of this article, the information within is likely either partially or completely dated. Such is the nature of consumer electronics.

Introduction

As a computer/technology enthusiast with a massively swinging love/hate relationship with electronics, I often find myself looking forward to what’s just around the corner. Certainly, as technology has (quite arguably) improved our lives, it must continue to do so with new developments and innovations, right? Well, sort of. I’m looking forward right now to USB-C, and by USB-C, I pretty much mean Thunderbolt 3, but don’t let me confuse you (which is probably what I’m about to do), because those terms are not interchangeable.

Recently, I was setting up one of my many (unnecessarily numerous) computers in my office, struggling with reaching under desks and behind PC towers and dropping lines behind immovable furniture and I was just sort of wistfully daydreaming of all of the existing technologies I wish had come to proper fruition. After that massive unnecessary hassle was wrapped up and I consoled myself with a toasted cheese sandwich, I thought along the lines of “How would I like this to be? What new thing is on its way that’s going to make this all better?” and most of it can be boiled down to USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. The good news is, it’s here! The bad news is, it’s nuts.

As it is now, we can all mostly wrap our minds around the status quo. Our computers and power bricks have USB ports and we can plug pretty much everything into those. We have to deal with different ports for different devices (phones, televisions, headphones, etc.), but again, there is usually at least some level of standardization. (I’m looking at you, Apple). We have these ports surrounding us all the time in our everyday lives and they’re fine. They’re fine!

But “What if… What if,” says the industry at large, “what if we could make ONE port that would do EVERYTHING?”

Okay. I’m listening.

“Yes,” says the industry, “USB-C will be the port to end all ports! We will have a transition period which we will handle through adapters...”

“...and then we’ll be home free in a future where anything plugs into anything and it will work!”

Not so fast. It’s understandable. Not everything can be USB-C-ready immediately. Ideally, we’d see new devices coming out like PCs and laptops with old ports and USB-C together to tide us over until most things we plug in also switch to USB-C. At least the rest of the manufacturers are taking a bit more of a paced approach with the recommended blending of old ports and new USB-C ports. Windows users can look forward to their next computer likely having USB, HDMI, and USB-C ports and they’ll be fine as long as the computer itself works. USB-C ports are showing up. New Samsung phones have them. New Google phones have them. New PCs have them. New Apple laptops have them. And they can do so much!

What Can USB-C Do For You?

USB-C isn’t just for charging your phone. You’ll be able to charge your whole laptop over USB-C too! Apple’s already doing that, so is Samsung. You can also move data over USB-C, of course, and faster than ever. But that’s not all! Eventually, you’ll be able to plug in monitors and TVs, even in 4K, with USB-C, and you can right now with the appropriate dongles (insert eyeroll emoji). What’s more, you can expect to get higher quality audio than ever before in your speakers and your headphones with USB-C, also, for now, with dongles. More dongles. And through the magic of dongles, USB-C will be compatible with anything USB-A as well. PLUS, I almost forgot to mention, it’s reversible! Upside down, right side up, doesn’t matter. The damn cable will just plug in, instead of having to flip it three times because it didn’t work that way, but it doesn’t work this way either, but it suddenly works the first way even though it didn’t the first time.

When you find yourself a USB-C port, you can rest almost 100% assured it will handle data at USB 3.0 speeds of 5 Gb/s (Gigabits per second) at least and that’s plenty fast for all common uses today like external hard drives. That USB-C port will also put out enough to charge your phone in a few hours, maybe faster. If you plug in your upcoming USB-C headphones (or your USB-C to headphone dongle), odds are, you’ll get sound. This is fine. We can deal with this. So that about wraps it up. Let’s get going toward this utopian future of a single cable and connector for everything! Not so fast there, bucko. Not all USB-C ports are created equal.

The Darkest Timeline

Sometimes, that port will look physically the same, but it will carry data at a ridiculously slower speed of USB 2.0. I have never seen this in the wild, but the same people who tell you there are monsters under your bed promise that this backward technology exists and I hate those people for the message they carry.

Sometimes, that port will look physically the same, but it will carry data at twice the speed (USB 3.1 - 10 Gb/s). It will most likely handle all of the other things the same. And in the not too distant future, that physically identical port could be carrying data four times faster than USB 3.0, when they get around to implementing USB 3.2 which works at 20 Gb/s AND does phone charging AND does audio. So what’s the big deal?

Some of those USB-C ports, like some of the ones found on some laptops, like Apple’s, will let you charge the laptop through that port IF the other end of the cable is plugged into a suitable source, like something heftier than your regular phone charging brick. But some will not. And if you’re very, very lucky, the port will be labeled in a way that will indicate whether this is possible or not. But it probably won’t be.

Some of those USB-C ports, again, like some of the ones found on some laptops like Apple’s, will support display outputs (sigh, yes, with dongles). But some won’t. And again, the manufacturers are incredibly bad at labeling things and it is more likely than not that they won’t. Like, the one on my very own computer tower here. No label. Doesn’t support laptop charging OR displays, only data.

So if you don’t care about having the fastest speeds, or plugging in external displays, or charging your laptop (which is the trickiest to not care about), you’re golden. Just find any old USB-C port and plug in. But my point, the whole point of this tedious article, is that we have been promised the world, and we’ve been let down by too many possibilities deemed optional by manufacturers and most egregiously, a decided lack of proper labeling and documentation. How are we to know that our do-anything ports can do anything or not? As if from the heavens themselves, our cries are answered. Look for a tiny lightning bolt.

The Blade of Computer Ports

Remember that Thunderbolt 3 thing I mentioned at the top? Thunderbolt 3 is another layer of technology that exists on top of USB-C and adds even more functionality. It gives you up to four times the speed of USB-C, depending on which version of USB it’s based on, at 40 Gb/s. It also allows direct PCI Express bus transfers for absurdly fast solid state storage and crazy things like high end external graphics cards. It’s compatible with any rare thing out there that is Thunderbolt 2 or 1 based as well. But maybe most importantly of all? It will support all of the features USB-C could possibly do, from fast data transfer to audio to displays to charging whatever. It does it all and then some. Nice.

Obviously this added bonus of doing everything requires more internal technology and therefore commands a higher price therefore being less common than just finding some kind of USB-C port. But if you DO get yourself a Thunderbolt 3 port, you can rest assured you’re not missing out on anything. (Aside from that whole let’s sweep this under the rug thing where the ports on the right side of the 2017 Apple MacBook Pros only work at half speed for uncertain reasons but hey who can afford those things anyway?)

As a severe sufferer of FOMO, Thunderbolt 3 is the port for me. All of the features, none of the drawbacks. It’s basically the Blade of computer ports. But until that great and glorious day when, after winning a lottery and paying off my bills, I can buy all the new computer kit I can dream of, I will continue to plug away (no pun intended) at my aging workstation with its tangled rat’s nest of myriad cables dreaming of better futures of daisy chained displays and single cable/port solutions running everything at ludicrous speeds. My only hope is that in this rambling rant produced of a sleep-deprived mind, a warning about the caveats of new technologies in transitional periods might have gotten across and given you a reasonably entertaining heads-up at what might turn up missing in your next PC.

Will you be desperately badly off if your ports are only USB 3.1 and not USB 3.2? No, probably not. Does it matter if the USB-C on my desktop computer can’t charge my new laptop directly? No, probably not. But the whole point is that we’ve been shown a giant feature set, and manufacturers are cherry-picking whatever capabilities they feel like selecting and then just tossing them in and touting the virtues of just “having USB-C.” If there is a particular feature you are looking forward to, you’ll have to dig around in specifications or reviews to find out if that is, in fact, included.

#tech #articles

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baerverteidiger · 8 years ago

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Help you Understand Hardware

I figured I’d write out an explanation of what to look for and pitfalls to keep your computer working. (For all practical purposes I’m going to help and give advice with laptops in mind, but know that majority if not all the information is transferable to desktops)

First, with any computer, maintenance is very important and three major reasons why computers end up living a short life are these…

1. Not plugging your computer into a surge protector. Nobody can help when a power surge happens. Whether it’s from a terrible storm or whatnot, it’s very important to use a surge protector so electricity doesn’t fry your computer up!

2. Over-heating is another huge factor. Putting your laptop on a chill mat is very important, because the computer’s hardware needs a way to keep cool. You can think of your computer like food, the longer your preserve it in the fridge or freezer the longer the food will last. Keep in mind that a good chill mat has some type of metal top, so the heat isn’t easily absorbed and stored. Think about setting your laptop on a piece of sheet metal or on a hard plastic. Which is going to be hotter after a while? Fan placement is important too. If I were to suggest a chill mat I would suggest “” Targus Laptop Chill Mat" ““ This thing has lasted years. Probably 3+ years. I’m very satisfied and they definitely have a returning customer.

3. Static Electricity and Magnets - Keep your electronic devices away from plush blankets and anything that can generate static electricity. Keep magnets and other magnetic tools away from your computer as well. These two things can mess up your memory, your screen, and pretty much destroy your computer.

Please remember these simple safe guards, because those are the three main reasons why computers live a short life.

Next is what to look for inside the computer’s hardware. I’m going to lay it out in the most simplistic way possible.

Let’s imagine the computer as a brain. Different parts of the computer help the computer think, act, and behave differently.

1. The Processor - The processor is the neural network. Your brain has different pathways of thought and the stronger the processor the more pathways that your computer has. With a stronger processor the more efficiently the computer can focus it’s neural networks to complete a task. I’m going to use Intel’s processors to use as a reference on what to look for. Intel has “I3, I5, and I7 Processors.” The higher the number the better the processors. (Example and I7 is better than an I5 Processor) Also look at the generation of that particular processor. So if there are two different “I7 Processors”, you probably want to make a quick search on the internet to see what generation of processor you’re getting. Again if the generation number is higher the better it is. (Example: Generation 6 is bettter than a Generation 3.)

2. DDR Memory - Most computers say something similar to this “4 GB DDR3 Memory.” Please don’t get this confused with HardDrive Memory which is confusing because both have “Memory” in their name. The DDR Memory is your computer’s short-term memory. When you open an application, your DDR Memory stores the information associated with that application. This is so that you can modify and use the application instantly. Say you have a movie playing, music playing, steaming social networks, and studying on your computer at the same time. With more DDR Memory, the more your computer can juggle in it’s short-term memory.

3. HardDrive Memory - This is the long-term memory of your computer. All your photos, music, movies, games, and everything in-between get stored in your HardDrive. Most computer’s HardDrive stats look like this. (500 GB HDD) The larger the number of GB on your HardDrive the more storage that you have. By the way, 1TB is equal to 1000 GB. Later on down the road you can always buy an external HardDrive if you have used up too much of your memory on your computer. External HardDrives are really handy to transfer big amounts of information too. You can store all those movies, music, and pictures that you have and easily take that external HardDrive to a friend’s house and look at them on their computer. :-)

4. Video Cards - Your computer’s video card is like the part of the brain that processes your sight. The better your video card the better graphics you get and the better you can see fancy things on your screen. A lot of laptops have intergrated video cards, which means that your “Processor + DDR HardDrive” is equip to handle your graphics. The performance of an intergrated video card isn’t as powerful as dedicated video card, but most laptops are this way to save on space. Shrug. I get plenty good graphics on my laptop, but when it comes to playing video games, my processor can suffer from too much visual information to process. Treat your computer with love and care.

5. Laptop and Computer Screens - Your computer screen is like your eyes. Even if you have a great processor and video card you won’t be able to see great things if you don’t have a good screen to see them on. You should look the size of screen that you want first. The size of the screen is measured in a diagonal from one corner of the screen to the opposite diagonal corner. The next thing that you really NEED to look at is what type of screen your buying. I want to warn you not to buy Plasma Screens. Plasma Screens get a thing called screen burn, which causes an image to be permanently embedded into your screen. For instance, if you always have Facebook open on a plasma screen there is a really good chance that you will have the Facebook Logo slightly visible on your screen at all times. Like if you’re watching a movie you’ll be able to see that distinguished F on the top left corner if you look close enough. I suggest buying an LCD or an LED Screen. When looking at the stats on the screen you need to look at the resolution to see how powerful your screen is. Do a little research on the internet for screen types and possibilities to make sure you are getting something you want. Glossy Screens vs. Matte Screens is just another thing to research too.

6. Operating systems - Windows vs. Apple. These are personal preferences, but the hardware for the two are different and have different names. You’ll definitely need to study more into Apple hardware, because I didn’t cover any kind of information on Apple. I prefer Windows, because I think that there is more much functionality and it’s easier to use. Other swear by Apple, so don’t take my word for it. Do some studying into the operating systems on the internet and you’ll find all kinds of reviews and information.

For the most part, these are the more important things to look for when deciding to invest into a new computer. This was only a guide to the hardware of the computer. I didn’t even touch turning on the computer and operating through virus protection, malware, and other basic do’s and do not’s of your computer.

I hope you found this helpful and it makes the buying process of your next computer a little easier. Please go and look further into each topic, that way you have a more educated decision.

#myself #baerverteidiger

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