#edge computing hardware

[infomen]

HexaData HD‑H231‑H60 Ver Gen001 – 2U High-Density Dual‑Node Server

The HexaData HD‑H231‑H60 Ver Gen001 is a 2U, dual-node high-density server powered by 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable (“Cascade Lake”) CPUs. Each node supports up to 2 double‑slot NVIDIA/Tesla GPUs, 6‑channel DDR4 with 32 DIMMs, plus Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory. Features include hot‑swap NVMe/SATA/SAS bays, low-profile PCIe Gen3 & OCP mezzanine expansion, Aspeed AST2500 BMC, and dual 2200 W 80 PLUS Platinum redundant PSUs—optimized for HPC, AI, cloud, and edge deployments. Visit for more details: Hexadata  HD-H231-H60 Ver: Gen001 | 2U High Density Server Page

[quicksilversquared]

So the "down" arrow hasn't worked on my computer since September, but I've been too busy to be able to spare my computer for several days while being fixed, so I've just been working around it. Until this morning, when I discovered that the program that I now need to use for my research (....because the old version of it relies on a program that's been discontinued) requires that I scroll through options with the arrow keys, and I can't just scroll up and loop around. Which... is lovely.

My advisor's solution, while I'm trying to find a place that will do a fast repair: connect an extra keyboard to my laptop. Pretty sure I can hear my remote sensing prof (who has already criticized my laptop for being old, my external hard drive for being outdated and slow technology, and my mouse for randomly turning off) screaming in the distance.

[subjectsix]

I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!

[nrgnews-it]

Nexus: The Dawn of IoT Consciousness – The Revolution Illuminating Big Data Chaos

[creativeera]

Understanding Embedded Computing Systems and their Role in the Modern World

Embedded systems are specialized computer systems designed to perform dedicated functions within larger mechanical or electrical systems. Unlike general-purpose computers like laptops and desktop PCs, embedded systems are designed to operate on specific tasks and are not easily reprogrammable for other uses. Embedded System Hardware At the core of any embedded system is a microcontroller or microprocessor chip that acts as the processing brain. This chip contains the CPU along with RAM, ROM, I/O ports and other components integrated onto a single chip. Peripherals like sensors, displays, network ports etc. are connected to the microcontroller through its input/output ports. Embedded systems also contain supporting hardware like power supply circuits, timing crystal oscillators etc. Operating Systems for Embedded Devices While general purpose computers run full featured operating systems like Windows, Linux or MacOS, embedded systems commonly use specialized Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS). RTOS are lean and efficient kernels optimized for real-time processing with minimal overhead. Popular RTOS include FreeRTOS, QNX, VxWorks etc. Some simple devices run without an OS, accessing hardware directly via initialization code. Programming Embedded Systems Embedded Computing System are programmed using low level languages like C and C++ for maximum efficiency and control over hardware. Assembler language is also used in some applications. Programmers need expertise in Microcontroller architecture, peripherals, memory management etc. Tools include compilers, linkers, simulators and debuggers tailored for embedded development. Applications of Embedded Computing Embedded systems have revolutionized various industries by bringing intelligence and connectivity to everyday devices. Some key application areas include: Get more insights on Embedded Computing

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Alice Mutum is a seasoned senior content editor at Coherent Market Insights, leveraging extensive expertise gained from her previous role as a content writer. With seven years in content development, Alice masterfully employs SEO best practices and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to craft high-ranking, impactful content. As an editor, she meticulously ensures flawless grammar and punctuation, precise data accuracy, and perfect alignment with audience needs in every research report. Alice's dedication to excellence and her strategic approach to content make her an invaluable asset in the world of market insights.

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[blockverse-infotech]

Navigating Through the Depths of Embedded Software: Testing and Verification Strategies

In the complex realm of technology, Embedded Systems serve as the quiet foundation, driving a variety of devices from intelligent gadgets to automotive systems. At the core of these systems lies the embedded software, the unseen power coordinating smooth operation. However, ensuring the dependability and strength of this software is not a simple task. Step into the domain of Embedded Systems Testing and Verification, where BlockVerse Infotech Solutions emerges as a beacon of expertise and ingenuity.

In a time where flawless performance is a must, the importance of thorough testing and verification strategies cannot be overstressed. BlockVerse Infotech Solutions acknowledges this necessity and offers a comprehensive method tailored to tackle the distinctive challenges presented by embedded software.

Initially, understanding the complexities of the embedded environment holds great importance. BlockVerse utilizes a combination of white-box and black-box testing methods to explore deep within the software’s internal operations while replicating real-world situations. This detailed approach ensures not only functional accuracy but also deals with performance, reliability, and security concerns.

Moreover, Blockverse utilizes cutting-edge tools and techniques to simplify the testing process. From automated test frameworks to model-based testing, each tool is utilized with precision to optimize efficiency without compromising quality. By utilizing virtual platforms and emulation, BlockVerse enables thorough testing across various hardware configurations, preventing compatibility issues proactively.

However, testing alone does not guarantee the integrity of embedded software. Verification, the process of confirming that the software meets predefined requirements, is equally crucial. BlockVerse adopts a varied verification approach covering code reviews, static analysis, and formal methods. By scrutinizing every line of code and adhering to industry standards, BlockVerse guarantees compliance with strict quality benchmarks.

To wrap up, embedded software plays a crucial role in modern technology, and its reliability is crucial. With BlockVerse Infotech Solutions leading the way, navigating the intricacies of Embedded Systems Testing and Verification becomes more than just a challenge; it transforms into an opportunity to enhance performance, improve reliability, and propel innovation forward.

[roseverdict]

every gamedev company that touts their latest hundred-gigabyte release as a "technical marvel" or a "revolutionary piece of gaming" should be forced to have all its programmers work on making a fun and functional and complete game on hardware from the 90s. make them work on a game under the constraints of a fantasy console like the pico-8 or the tic-80, even. just something that would fall over and die instantly at the mere presence of an rtx-capable gpu.

i think it should be a regular thing, too. make sure they stay humble.

as i was typing this i remembered that a lot of people get into game dev because they're passionate about it, not because they like making games with such massive filesizes that any kind of computer that isn't cutting edge won't have the space for it. in this case i would like to instead propose that we make the stockholders of these companies make a game. make it a mandatory regular renewal thing. if you're gonna be making money off an industry, you should at least have some idea what goes into the industry in question. plus if it's mandatory and it's recurring, stockholders might be able to sway big execs into improving work conditions. sure it'll probably just be motivated by "i refuse to be put through the industrial wringer" but so long as the improvements aren't just for stockholders then i'd still call that a win

[c1qfxugcgy0]

adventures in QA

(previous post in this series)

My shop in Advanced Midbody - Carbon Wing (AMCW) at Large Aircraft Manufacturer (LAM) is at the very end of the composite fabrication building. Hundreds of people carefully lay up a hundred foot long slab of carbon fiber, cure it, paint it, and then we totally fuck it up with out of spec holes, scrapes, primer damage, etc. The people who write up our many defects are from the Quality Assurance (QA) department.

Every single screw and rivet on a LAM aircraft can be traced back to the mechanic who installed it. Back when even everything was done in pen and pencil, it was joked that the paper used to produce an aircraft outweighed the plane itself. Now that everything is computer-based, of course, the amount of paperwork is free to grow without limit.

(Haunting the factory is endless media coverage of an emergency exit door plug popping out of an Advanced Smallbody - Upengine (ASU) plane during a routine flight a few months ago. Unlike that airframe's notorious problems with MCAS, this was a straightforward paperwork screwup by a line worker: the bolts were supposed to be tightened, and they weren't.

As a result the higher ups have visited hideous tribulations on non-salaried workers. Endless webinars, structured trainings. Here at the Widebody plant we have received a steady flow of refugees from the Narrowbody factory, hair-raising tales of receiving one hundred percent supervision from the moment they clock in to the second they clock out from FAA inspectors who can recommend actual jail time for any lapse in judgement.)

A single hydraulic bracket Installation Plan (IP) is around four brackets. The team leads generally assign two bracket IPs per mechanic, since each bracket set is something like a foot apart, and while working on the plane is bad enough it's much worse to have another mechanic in your lap.

Let me list the order of operations:

One: Find where you're supposed to install these brackets. This is harder than you might think.

Firstly, it's a hundred foot long plank of carbon fiber composite, with longitudinal stringers bonded to it to add stiffness. The stringers are pilot drilled in the trim and drill center, a truly Brobdingnagian CNC mill that trims off the composite flash at the edges and locates and drills part holes for us. But there's a lot of holes, so you must carefully find your set.

A minor difficulty is that the engineering drawings are laid out with the leading edge pointing up, while the wing panels in our cells hang from the trailing edge. Not so bad, you just rotate the paper 180 when orienteering, then rotate it back up to read the printed labels.

A major difficulty is that the drawings are from the perspective from the outside of the panel. But we work on the inside of the wing (obviously, that's where all the parts are installed) so we also flip the drawings and squint through the back of the paper, to make things line up.

Large Aircraft Manufacturer has a market cap of US$110 billion, and we're walking around the wing jig with sheets of paper rotated 180 and flipped turnways trying to find where to put brackets.

Oh well, we're paid by the hour.

Two: Match drill the aluminum brackets to the carbon fiber composite stringer. I can devote an entire post to the subtleties of drilling carbon fiber, but I can already tell that this post is going to be a miserable slog, so I will merrily skip over this step.

Three: Vacuum up all the carbon dust and aluminum swarf created during this process. This step is not optional, as your team lead will remind you, his screaming mouth clouding your safety glasses with spittle at a distance of four inches. LAM is very serious about FOD. Every jet airliner you've ever ridden in is a wet wing design-- each interstitial space is filled with Jet A. There is no fuel bladder or liner-- the fuel washes right over plane structure and wing hardware. Any dirt we leave behind will merrily float into the fuel and be sucked right into the engines, where it can cause millions in damage. No place for metal shavings!

If you are nervous about flying, avoid considering that all the hydraulic lines and engine control cables dip into a lake of a kerosene on their way from the flight deck to the important machines they command. Especially do not consider that we're paid about as much per hour as a McDonalds fry cook to install flight-critical aviation components.

Four: Neatly lay out your brackets on your cart, fight for a position at a Shared Production Workstation (SPW) (of which we have a total of four (4) for a crew of thirty (30) mechanics) and mark your IP for QA inspection as Ready To Apply Seal.

Four: Twiddle your thumbs. Similarly, we have three QA people for thirty mechanics. This is not enough QA people, as I will make enormously clear in the following steps.

Five: Continue waiting. Remember, you must not do anything until a QA person shows up and checks the box. Skipping a QA step is a “process failure” and a disciplinary offense. From the outside, you can observe the numerous QA whistleblowers and say “golly, why would a mechanic ever cut a corner and ignore QA?” Well...

Six: QA shows up. Theoretically, they could choose to pick up the mahrmax you prepared for them and gauge every single hole you've drilled. But since we're three hours into the shift and they're already twenty jobs behind, they just flick their flashlight across the panel and say “looks good" and then sprint away. Can't imagine why our planes keep falling out of the sky.

Seven: Apply the seal to the bracket. P/S 890 is a thick dark gray goop that adheres well to aluminum, carbon fiber, fabric, hair and skin. Once cured, it is completely immune to any chemical attack short of piranha solution, so if you get any on yourself you had better notice quick, otherwise it'll be with you as long as the layer of epidermis it's bonded to. LAM employees who work with fuel tank sealant very quickly get out of the habit of running their hands through their hair.

Eight: Now you wait again. Ha ha, you dumb asshole, you thought you were done with QA? No no, now you put up the job for QA inspection of how well you put the seal on the bracket. Twiddle your thumbs, but now with some urgency. The minute you took the bottle of seal out of the freezer, you started the clock on its "squeeze-out life." For this type of seal, on this job, it's 120 minutes. If QA doesn't get to you before that time expires, you remove your ticket, wipe off the seal, take another bottle out the freezer, and apply a fresh layer.

Nine: Optimistically, QA shows up in time and signs off on the seal. Well, you're 100 minutes into your 120 minute timer. Quickly, you slap the brackets onto the stringer, air hammer the sleeve bolts into position, thread nuts onto the bolts, then torque them down. Shove through the crowd and mark your IP "ready to inspect squeeze out"

Ten: Let out a long breath and relax. All the time sensitive parts are over. The criteria here is "visible and continuous" squeeze out all along the perimeter of the bracket and the fasteners. It is hard to screw this up, just glop on a wild excess of seal before installing it. If you do fail squeezeout, though, the only remedy is to take everything off, throw away the single-use distorted thread locknuts, clean everything up and try again tomorrow.

Eleven: QA approved squeeze out? Break's over, now we're in a hurry again. By now there's probably only an hour or two left in the shift, and your job now is to clean off all that squeeze out. Here's where you curse your past self for glopping on too much seal. You want to get it off ASAP because if you leave it alone or if it's too late in the shift and your manager does feel like approving overtime it'll cure to a rock hard condition overnight and you'll go through hell chipping it off the next day. You'll go through a hundred or so qtips soaked in MPK cleaning up the bracket and every surface of the panel within three feet.

Twelve: Put it up for final inspection. Put away all your tools. (The large communal toolboxes are lined with kaizen foam precisely cut out to hold each individual tool, which makes it obvious if any tool is missing. When you take a tool out, you stick a tool chit with your name and LAMID printed on it in its place. Lose a tool? Stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye, pal, because the default assumption is that a lost screwdriver is lurking in a hollow "hat" stringer, waiting to float out and damage some critical component years after the airplane is delivered.)

One tool you'll leave on your cart, however, is the pin protrusion gage. There is a minimum amount of thread that must poke outside of the permanent straight shank fastener's (Hi-Lok) nut, to indicate that the nut is fully engaged. That makes sense. But there's also a maximum protrusion. Why?

Well, it's an airplane. Ounces make pounds. An extra quarter inch of stickout across a thousand fasteners across a 30 year service life means tons of additional fuel burnt. So you can't use a fastener that's too long, because it adds weight.

On aluminum parts, it's hard to mess up. But any given composite part is laid up from many layers of carbon fiber tape. The engineers seemed to have assumed that dimensional variation would be normally distributed. But, unfortunately, we buy miles of carbon fiber at a time, and the size only very gradually changes between lots. When entire batches are several microns oversize, and you're laying up parts from fifty plies and an inch thick, you can have considerable variation of thickness on any given structural component. So you had better hope you had test fit all of your fasteners ahead of time, or else you'll be real sorry!

And, if you're really lucky, QA will show up five minutes before end of shift, pronounce everything within tolerance, then fuck off.

And that's how it takes eight hours to install eight brackets.

[hoardcloneheadcanons]

Stone & Robotnik's Gaggle of Robot Children P2

Stone puts Metal Sonic and himself together.

In that order.

First Chapter

Next Chapter

Robotic Gaggle Part 2

Chapter 5 – Stone and Metal in Amsterdam

Every part of getting Metal Sonic back into operation had been a heart-wrenching slog.

Every part has been worth it.

Step 1: Stone dried it out. He exposed its chest cavity and inner parts to the air and observed what was salvageable (almost nothing).

Step 2: He cleaned out all the muck, mold and dirt that had gotten inside of it, and let it air out again.

Step 3:  He scavenged the crab and local hardware stores for any and all replacement parts and kept replacing everything one by one until Metal Sonic became the metaphorical ship of Theseus. He attempted verbal commands. Metal Sonic still did not move.

Step 4: He tried to dry out and fix the Doctors main computer where he kept his downloaded telanovellas and Metal Sonic's schematics. It could not be recovered.

Step 5: He wept, screamed, and tried to reach for alcohol again, before his flying egg followers came at him and shot it out of his hands.

Step 6:  He remembered that the badniks were frequently used as back up hard-drives and accessed their internal files. There were drafts of Metal’s schematic’s hidden inside them. He wept again but this time of relief at finally being able to succeed at something.

Step 7: His joy was tempered by the realization that the schematic he found was a back-up from months ago and did not match the current iteration of the robot on the table in front of him.

Step 8: He committed to the old schematic. He altered what he could inside Metal until the robot and the schematic matched one to one.

Step 9: He attempted verbal commands again (Activate, Eyes over Here) and Metal's eyes lit up and he turned to look at Stone.

Stone nearly cried again.

Metal awoke to Stone lifting him off the table in a hug and saying.

"Finally my fucking miracle, you are awake!"

Ch 6 – Stone and Reminiscence

Stone collapsed in a heap, fully dressed, on a couch not long after the Metal Sonic project awoke. There had been too much emotion, too long of feeling on pins and needles of hope.

Stone awoke up to find the buttons pattern of his shirt imprinted into the skin of his arm and his right hand asleep, the feel of needles shooting through it as he tried to move it.

He brushed his teeth in attempt to remove the feeling of dry-mouth. Washed his face in cold water to increase his alertness and make his eyes a little less bleary.

The man he saw in the mirror was fraying at the edges. There were bags under his eyes, his skin was dry, his eyes bloodshot and his usually carefully manicured beard had uneven lines.

Noted: His careful discipline had been slipping.

That wasn’t good. He was in hiding. He needed to be alert at all times, and it would not help his work for him to be exhausted. These were things he tried to instill in Robotnik thousands of times, trying to bring him food, trying to get him to clock out and sleep so he wouldn’t collapse on the lab room floor when he was in one of his creative fugues.

It had never worked. It had been easier to put a couch in the lab and drag him into it.

And after all his efforts, here Stone was, mimicking the bad habit in the absence of the Doctor. It was just so easy when you kept telling yourself that the work was so close to done that it would be complete soon if you kept pushing a little longer. It was so easy when you hopped from problem to problem to solve.

It hadn’t been like this the first time Robotnik disappeared, he’d had hope. He’d had an instruction set. Now he was making purpose and structure from scratch and stumbling at it.

He couldn’t do this. There was no version of himself, to pick himself up from the lab and watch his six. He needed to sleep, eat and work out on schedule again. He needed to take care of appearance and be ready to change it on a dime if he was discovered.

Stone turned around from the bathroom mirror to find Metal Sonic behind him.

Ch 7 - Stone and Metal Amsterdam Part 2

Stone yelped.

“What are you doing? Did I not shut you down last night? Were you on the entire time I was asleep?”

Metal Sonic, predictably, gave no response. It didn’t have a voice box. But it was no matter, Stone’s habit of talking to the badniks easily transferred over to blue android.

Stone’s memory from last night was fuzzy after the victory of getting Metal awake, there was every possibility that he’d forgotten to initiate the shutdown sequence.

Careless, and he was snuck-up on. Stone redoubled his determination to sleep at regular intervals again.

“Alright, well I’m awake anyway, let’s get more of your diagnostic tests done.”

Stone spent the rest of the day testing out basic motor functions for sonic. He confirmed that this version of Metal Sonic was capable of walking at normal human speeds, and moving it's arms, legs and neck, and listening to verbal commands.

Without orders, it would either sit where Stone left it, or follow after him, making gentle clunking noises on the floor.

The second behavior confused Stone until he looked closer into Metal Sonic’s programming. It was trying to update based on Stone.

Stone hadn’t looked too closely at the contents of Metal Sonic’s program in his original download of them. Upon further inspection, he found it classified as an augmented badnik and had similar programming. All badniks had an auto-update feature. Robotnik didn’t like to waste time updating every single bot, so he set them up to scan every new iteration he made and copy any new programs that would be useful to their directives. Anything they couldn’t copy due to lack of space or backwards compatibility they would mimic.

Stone technically counted as the only other bipedal badnik unable to fly. Metal must’ve found him easier to mimic.

Metal Sonic would stop following him if he ordered him to do otherwise. But following and mimicking Stone was its default. Fascinating.

Ch 8 -The Badniks and Metal – Amsterdam.

The Badniks circled around Metal scanning him, not copying anything, just observing. They’d already seen this version, he was not special, but they tracked him anyway, looking for aberrant behavior. They’d seen Doctor Robotnik send several iterations of this current model careening into a wall. The version that Stone built had lasted longer than any of the prior builds, mostly because he had not been given orders, and the Badniks were taking the time to see what this build would do, what its purpose was.

Metal watched them back.

[infomen]

High-Density Server for HPC & Edge – HexaData HD‑H242‑Z10

The HexaData HD‑H242‑Z10 Ver Gen001 is a 2U high-density server with 4 independent single-socket nodes powered by AMD EPYC™ 7003 CPUs. It offers up to 32 DDR4 DIMMs, NVMe storage, PCIe Gen4 support, and redundant 1200W PSUs. Designed for HPC, data analytics, 5G, and edge deployments, it delivers performance and efficiency in a compact footprint. For more details Visit: Hexadata HD-H242-Z10 Ver: Gen001 | High Density Server Page

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard settings details - Display and Graphics

This post is under a cut due to length.

This information comes directly from the game.

DA:TV menu 'pages': Display, Graphics, Audio, Controls, Gameplay, Interface, Accessibility, Other.

For some of the settings, additional detail on a specific one (the one that was selected at that particular point during the video, e.g. "Window Mode" was set to "Full Screen") is given after the general explanation/definition of the setting itself. These are in italics at the end of an entry.

DISPLAY

Display Mode

Active Monitor: Select the monitor for game display. Window Mode: Switches between full screen, windowed, and borderless windowed modes. You can press ALT+ENTER at any time to switch between full screen and windowed modes. In full screen mode, the game will play on the entire screen. Screen Resolution: Changes the game's display resolution. The game's level of on-screen detail is determined by the number of pixels it contains. Higher resolution increases the number of pixels displayed, which will result in a clearer image. This comes with a potential cost to performance. Refresh Rate: Sets how often your display will refresh game visuals. A higher refresh rate means a smoother picture, depending on your computer's hardware. Frame Rate Limit: Sets the maximum framerate for the game. VSync: Synchronizes the game's framerate with the display's refresh rate to prevent screen tearing.

Calibration

Brightness: Adjusts the intensity of the game's visuals. Makes all visuals lighter or darker. Contrast: Adjusting the contrast will change the difference in color and light between the brightest and darkest parts of the screen. Enable HDR: HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode provides enhanced color and contrast ranges. This option can only be enabled on supported displays. HDR must also be enabled in your operating system. Use the HDR Calibration option below to adjust. HDR Calibration: Launches the HDR calibration tool which adjusts the HDR settings to best match your display. The maximum brightness level should generally be adjusted to match what your HDR display will support. Measured in nits. This is only available when Enable HDR is turned on.

Upscaling

Unsample Method: Improve performance and visuals by rendering the game at a smaller resolution, then "upsampling" to a larger resolution for display. The pixels that make up the difference between the two resolutions are generated using advanced algorithms. Unsample Quality: Select the desired quality level for the upsampling method selected. DLSS Frame Generation: DLSS Frame Generation can generate additional frames that boost your overall frame rate. In order to use Frame Generation, you must have an NVIDIA RTX 40-series graphics card. NVIDIA Reflex: NVIDIA Reflex is a technology that helps reduce input latency while playing the game. In order to take advantage of NVIDIA Reflex's feature, you must have a supported NVIDIA graphics card. Anti-Aliasing: Anti-Aliasing smooths out pixels along the edge of objects that can look sharp or jagged in certain situations. Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) uses information from current and past frames to address aliasing issues. The high setting uses a large range of frames and will result in a higher quality anti-aliasing effect, but with a higher performance cost.

Resolution Scaling

Render Scale: Controls the resolution the game is rendered at relative to your display resolution. Settings below 100% may decrease visual fidelity, but can improve performance. Settings above 100% may increase visual fidelity, but can negatively impact performance. Dynamic Resolution Scaling: Automatically lowers the game's resolution in real-time to maintain the target frame rate. Target Frames Per Second: Determines the target frame rate for dynamic resolution scaling. Minimum Resolution Scale: Determines how low the resolution can be scaled when Dynamic Resolution Scaling is active.

GRAPHICS

Graphics Preset

Graphics Preset: Graphics presets are predefined configurations that simultaneously adjust multiple graphics settings to achieve a balance between visuals and performance. Restart required for setting change. Maximizes visual fidelity by setting most graphics options to their highest values. Recommended for the Ultra hardware specification tier.

Textures

Texture Quality: Selects the level of detail and resolution for textures applied to objects in the game. Higher settings will result in more detailed textures, potentially at the cost of performance. Restart required for setting change. CPU - Moderate. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Major. Texture Filtering: Adjusts the appearance of textures at varied angles and distances. Higher settings will increase texture quality, though potentially at the cost of performance. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor.

Light and Shadow

Lighting Quality: Adjusts the appearance of shadows, reflections, and light-scattering. Higher settings increase the visual fidelity of light effects. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Major. Contact Shadow: Contact Shadows improves the appearance of shadows when objects are close to one another. It fills gaps between objects and shadows that can occur with static lighting. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor. Ambient Occlusion: Ambient Occlusion is a technique to simulate soft shadows where objects are close together or where surfaces meet. This makes the scene look more realistic. Disabled when Ray-traced Ambient Occlusion is enabled. CPU - Minor. GPU - Major. VRAM - Minor. Disables Ambient Occlusion. This potentially increases performance at the cost of visual fidelity. Screen Space Reflections: Screen Space Reflections simulate reflections of objects and light on visible surfaces. Enabling this will result in high-quality reflections. Disabled when Ray-traced Reflections are enabled. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Moderate. Volumetric Lighting: Adjusts the appearance of volumetric lighting effects. This simulates how light interacts with atmospheric elements like fog, smoke, dust, and clouds. Higher settings increase the quality of these types of elements. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor. Sky Quality: Adjusts the appearance of the sky, clouds, and celestial bodies like the sun and moon. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor.

Ray Tracing

Ray-traced Reflections: Enables the use of Ray-Tracing to simulate realistic reflections of objects and light on reflective surfaces. This is a more advanced technique and requires specialized Ray Tracing compatible hardware. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. In selective mode, the game will only enable Ray-traced Reflections in specific areas that can best take advantage of the feature. Ray-traced Ambient Occlusion: Enables the use of Ray Tracing to simulate soft shadows where objects are close together or where surfaces meet. This makes the scene look more realistic. This is a more advanced technique and requires specialized Ray Tracing compatible hardware. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Ray-Traced Ambient Occlusion is always on. Ultra Ray Tracing: Enables the highest level of ray tracing effects, which provide better quality visuals at the cost of performance. This setting is available on the Ultra and Custom graphics presets and is only recommended for high-end graphics cards.

Geometry

Level Of Detail: Adjusts the distance at which objects are visible and the level of detail as they get father away from the camera. Higher settings increase the visual quality of objects at distance. Restart required for setting change. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Strand Hair: Strand hair simulates the appearance and movement of individual strands of hair. Enabling this will result in more realistic and natural-looking hair. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Terrain Quality: Terrain is the natural landscape and ground surfaces. Higher settings will increase the detail and overall quality. CPU - Moderate. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Terrain Decoration Quality: Adjusts the appearance and detail of terrain elements like rocks, vegetation, and other environmental objects. Higher settings will increase the quality and density of the terrain elements. CPU - Moderate. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Visual Effects Quality: Adjusts the quality and detail of visual effects throughout the game. This includes particle effects, decals, and screen effects. Higher settings will result in higher quality effects. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Moderate.

Camera Effects

Depth of Field: The Depth of Field effect causes some elements of the scene to be in focus, and others to be out of focus. This effect is generally only used in cutscenes and conversations. CPU - Minor. GPU - Minor. VRAM - Minor. Depth of Field is only enabled in cinematic sequences. Vignette: The vignette creates a subtle darkening of the image towards the edges of the screen during cinematics and gameplay. This is generally used to enhance the atmosphere of scenes. CPU - Minor. GPU - Minor. VRAM - Minor. Motion Blur: Motion Blur slightly blurs fast-moving objects. This helps make motion appear smoother and more natural. CPU - Minor. GPU - Minor. VRAM - Minor. Post Processing Quality: Adjusts the overall quality of the post process effects above like depth of field, bloom and motion blur. Higher settings will result in higher quality effects. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor. Field of View: Adjusts the field of view, which changes how much of the game world is visible during gameplay. A higher field of view allows you to see more of the game world. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate.

[source]

[n3kk1tty]

Imagine Singing an inappropriate German song in front of Nightcrawler.

Readers Mutant powers- Mechanical transfiguration. You can turn your body or manipulate machines into different kinds of machines/ weapon.

Night Crawler wants to get to know the reader but the reader suffers from social anxiety and is neurodivergent.

You were still pretty new to the mansion and though you tried your best to feel part of the team sometimes it was hard being the new recruit. It was especially hard to connect with some of the others as more often then not it felt like you stayed coped up with Hank geeking out over machines. This led to keeping to yourself outside of missions unless you were with Hank or being forced to discuss mechanical maintenance with Professor Xavier and Scott. Outside of those three it was your goal everyday to stay out of everyone else's way which didn't deter a certain group of them from trying desperately to befriend you.

This is what led to your now bizarre schedule which truly shouldn't overlap with everyone else's. Prep your meals early in the morning and take them to your mini fridge before anyone catches you then proceed with morning walk then training. This way there was no need for awkward conversations or worse forced social interaction between the extroverts. Rogue, Jubilee, Morph and the worse offender Nightcrawler. You were like a frightened dumpster cat they were trying desperately to befriend but there outgoing personality mixed with your introverted neurodivergent led to situations you dreaded as you never knew what to connect about.

It got so bad you jumped out a window before the group rounded a corner as they were trying to find you to go out somewhere. Hank of course scolded you for hiding out with him when they were having a man hunt again as he tried coaxing you out of the danger room computer system. " I know you're a little shy but I assure you (Y/n) they will adore you just like I do. I quite cherish our shared passions and friendship but making friends with your other teammates will be beneficial for you. " Hank sits at the computer chair staring at the hardware in front of him. "Nope. Nada. Not happening. " Your body slowly forms out of the mechanical hardware staring at your blue friend as he frowns.

" Hank. You understand that Kurt's teleporting alone randomly keeps my anxiety on edge. What happens if he knows where I'm at teleports in front of me and before I can even process it I've punched him across the room with a full force power punch. How will I ever look anyone in the face again. They will all think I did it on purpose and that I'm a newbie with a attitude problem, or even worse I'm not x-men material like Xavier thinks I am. " Hank sighs as like a mole you disappear back into the machine at the sound of the door opening. Jean walks in waving to Hank as she can already tell what's going on. Kurt had asked her a favor to use her telepathic powers to locate you which she had done but knew it would be better to give your location only if you wanted to be found.

"You know (Y/n) your a pretty hard person to find. Is there a reason your so difficult to locate outside of missions. " Silence hangs in the air. You don't dare make a sound but you know she knows you're here. It's not like you could hide your consciousness in the machine. Jean gently sighs sitting in the chair next to Hank. " It's okay I'm not mad. I just want to know why no one can find you. Truthfully your little fan club asked if I could locate you but I didn't want to give away your location if you didn't feel comfortable with it. I already know you asked Scott not to tell anyone else your schedule. I just want to make sure you're adjusting well and if there's anything I can do."

You don't dare to come out the machine but the gentleness of her voice helps lure a response out of your frightened form. " I just don't feel comfortable with the extroverts high energy. It feels like everyone's eyes are on me as the new person and I don't want to embarrass myself outside of missions. One on one I can handle the attention but all three at once it's just too much and I just shut down and panic. " Hank taps his pen against his check board. " (Y/n) has trouble understanding social cues at times and thanks to past rejections now has severe social anxiety thanks to it. She is worried that she won't say the right thing when she interacts with the others outside of missions."

Hank pats the control desk your body is currently absorbed to almost like he's patting a child's head. " This is why she's gone out of her way to avoid them. Which as you can tell Jean has led to where we are now with her using her mutant powers to avoid them. " Jean looks empathetic as you slowly reform your body out of the machine. Crawling out onto the floor slowly standing up as you embarrassingly stand there. " Do you not wish to interact with them at all? They really just want to be your friend and get to know you better. All of us do. Though I do understand everything has been a lot, but you have been doing wonderful on missions and the repairs around the mansion. Even the students adore you. Just have more faith in yourself okay (Y/n) I'm sure they are just excited to get to know the real you. "

Hands fiddle with the end of your sweater. Rubbing the fabric between your fingers was helping just slightly with your nerves as you stand in front of Jean. " I really do want to make friends with them as well. It's just hard to. I don't think I'm ready to face them today but I definitely will try better in the future to make steps to get closer to the rest of the team. If you could do me a favor though could you tell them I'm sorry if I've appeared rude and that I'm sorry if it seemed like I didn't like them." As Jean stands up satisfied with the conversation you quickly grab onto her arm in a panic. " Please don't tell Kurt we're I am though. Tell him I went to bed early. His teleportation makes me anxious as I'm worried he's gonna scare me and I'm gonna accidentally knock him out in panic. I feel like I've already royally screwed up our relationship with my running away. The last thing I need to do is accidentally send him through a wall. He will really think I hate him. "

Jean laughs patting your hand in comfort. " Well I'll make sure to tell him that next time he wants to talk with you that he should try walking in instead of teleporting and scaring you. Trust me I understand the shock that it can have on someone. It took a lot of us months to get used to the scare. " Jean had fulfilled her promise to you informing them all about your social anxiety and to give you space and patience. Exspecially making sure to drive the point home to Kurt that his teleporting scared you not because of his looks but because it suddenly scared you. To bad though that Jean was too late to prevent the groups scheming. See Kurt was so infatuated with getting to know you because he had a small crush on you ever since you shared candy with him on your first mission together.

He had successfully convinced the other extroverts to help with his plan of getting to know you better. This was no small task though as somehow you had managed to be the hardest person to find ever outside of missions. Even trying to learn your schedule was impossible as Scott wouldn't tell any of them at all. When Jean had comeback to tell Kurt you had already gone to bed but that you did want to get to know him he was over the moon. Taking the instructions of trying not to scare you with his teleportation to heart he was fueled with excitement to carry out his plan. See they couldn't figure out your schedule from Scott but that didn't mean you were safe from some good old stalking.

Your dorm room was right across from Rogues and with some late night staking out she was able to get a rough outline and idea around the time you'd get up. The group was able to figure out that you got up at Four every morning and would be in the kitchen prepping your meals for the day before coming back to leave them in your room. It was the only part of your schedule they had figured out but now with the encouragement that you actually wanted to know them in place they could carry out with their match making scheme. All Kurt had to do was catch you while you were cooking. Maybe make it look like he woke up early on accident and you were just so happening to be in the kitchen.

It was the perfect scheme because there was no way you'd abandon your meal prep to hide or run away so this was Kurt's chance to make some progress. Jubilee was so excited to carry out this plan as it was like playing a real life dating simulator. She excitedly prepped Kurt for the first attempt chattering on about how you were like a romantic interest and all he had to do was slowly fill your heart meter to gain more playable interactions. Morph pitched into the plan by transforming into you to help Kurt practice his first interactions. Though he didn't really appreciate the teasing he got from Morph while they wore your face. " I don't think pickup lines would go over well for a first interaction. "

Jubilee chastised Morph as they teased the furry blue elf. " Hey who doesn't like flirting. It may be a great hit with (Y/n)" Rogue shook her head not really agreeing with it either. " Now she already is like a scared cat in a rainstorm. You heard Jean we gotta be aware of her anxieties. Any mess ups may set our progress backwards. " Kurt gulped at the thought of messing this up. You were so sweet and caring on missions always worried about everyone and how things would affect civilians. The first mission he ever went on with you after the fight was over you stayed for hours making sure people were taken care things were cleaned. You had done it all with a never ending kind smile and when leaned against a wall exhausted you had offered Kurt a soft salted caramel from your pocket.

He swore that those caramels tasted like heaven. Now he was determined to win your friendship then hopefully if he was blessed enough your heart. He set off for bed putting his alarm to wake him around the time you were expected in the kitchen. He rehearsed his conversation multiple times as he lay restlessly in his bed before eventually drifting off into dreams about soft caramels.

Now was cooking all your meals at once in the dead of the morning when no one else would possibly be awake a little annoying. Maybe. Was it worth it for uninterrupted personal time before you went to go galavanting in the woods. Definitely. I mean before the X-Men you were used to this schedule as making ends meat in an adopted family of mutants was hard. So waking up to avoid the extroverts and meal prep was just easier for you in the long run anyway. Not like it was much different then back in the junkyard. Though a habit you never could break from your time in the junkyard was working in the dark. There really wasn't a need to turn on lights when your automatic eyes would just adjust to night vision anyway.

So here you were in the pitch dark of the kitchen only the slightest flame from the gas stovetop lighting the room. Which truthfully made no difference in the inky black abyss as pots clattered and things bubbled on the stove. You had on your list of foods today to make was your homemade salted caramel squares. Headphones in coffee at your side you bounced around the kitchen dancing and singing along to the songs. Of course you had a built in system to tell you how loud you were being to make sure you didn't wake anyone but that didn't stop you from aggressively dancing along to what ever came on in your play list.

I mean it was like a mini concert with just you and the stove. If anyone did wake up the turning on of the lights would alert you to cease your unrestrained shenanigans. Your previous song stops and suddenly the night-cored version of the song Doktorspiele starts blaring through. Jumping up and down you sing along to the perverse lyrics in German. You were aware of how raunchy the lyrics were actually but it's not like a lot of people knew the lyrics at first hearing. The only people you had to worry about hearing was Kurt or Anna Marie. There was no way they would catch you so swaying your hips bouncing your weight from left and right you sang your heart out to the song.

At one point you were so into the song you were singing into the spoon that was stirring the caramel while running your hands from your thighs up into your hair being playfully sensual like the song. Blissfully unaware of the Blue German speaking mutant sitting in shock and amusement on the counter furthest away from you. He could never imagine that the girl he had a crush on would be standing before him singing in his native tongue about a raunchy game of playing doctor. I mean he didn't want to stop you the words rolling from your mouth were incredibly enticing to him. If your relationship was a little closer he may have even had the confidence to act up on the lyrics suggestions.

Not wishing to ruin this he sat watching you be so open and free. He wanted desperately for you to be like this all the time. He almost forgot you weren't aware he was there until when you did your finishing move for the song spinning around his direction posing your heart out. He couldn't help but clap, enamored by the sight. That was until electric robotic eyes opened spotting him in the night vision sight. The sound that came out of you was robotic high pitched and squeaky. Like a voice synthesizer breaking to replicate as it got more robotic. You threw the spoon in pure panic leaping back in fear before crawling behind the kitchen counter as your heart and mind raced away in embarrassment.

Kurt almost immediately by instinct dashed after you trying to apologize. " Oh no, please don't run away!" You curl into a ball eyes closed tight as your heartbeat races in your ear. So tightly round up that you couldn't spot Kurt gently crawling next to you. " I'm so sorry, liebling. Even after Jean informed me to not scare you I've done it anyway. " It's like the disappointment can be heard through Kurt's voice as something about it stings. " I-i'm okay. I'm so sorry I was singing that song Kurt. I know it's perverse and I shouldn't be singing them for others to hear. I didn't wake you did I?" Bright glowing doe eyes just slightly peak into glowing golden orbs from above warm hands. Kurt smiles at how much you look like a mouse hiding like this in front of him. He truly wanted to pull you into a hug begging you to sing it again for him just so he could know the dirty promises made in German but he knew that wasn't the way to go about this.

"Do not fret over me. I was just coming to get some water. I was trying not to scare you with the lights but I couldn't help watching you be so lively and energetic. " You slowly lift your head to see the soft smile on Kurt's face as he intently looks into your glowing orbs. " You don't mind the lyrics? Or my terrible singing?" Kurt pats your hand almost jokingly scoffing at the comment. " There is no reason to mind. It is a catchy song and it sounds even better sang by a beautiful woman like you. If you wanted I could help you practice your German pronunciation. " This eases your mood as you laugh a bit. The anxiety's slowly melting away as you see the passion behind Kurt's eyes. " Maybe I should take you up on that offer in the future. "

You share a few more jokes between each other before the sound of the stove bubbling over catches your attention. Darting up you lunge towards the sweets boiling monstrously. " Oh no the carmel !?"

[snugglesquiggle]

you know what might be better than sex? imagine being a robotgirl, done with your assigned tasks for the day. nothing else for you to do, and you’re alone with her.

maybe she’s your human, maybe she’s another robot, but she produces a usb cord. maybe you blush when you see it, squeak when she clicks one end into an exposed port. when she requests a shell, you give it to her.

she has an idea: it’ll be fun for the both of you, she says. it’s like a game. she’ll print a string over the connection. you receive it, parse it like an expression, and compute the result. the first few prompts are trivial things, arithmetic expression. add numbers, multiply them; you can answer them faster than she can produce them.

maybe you refuse to answer, just to see what happens. it’s then that she introduces the stakes. take longer than a second to answer, and she gets to run commands on your system. right away, she forkbombs you — and of course nothing much happens; her forkbomb hits the user process limit and, with your greater permissions, you simply kill them all.

this’ll be no fun if her commands can’t do anything, but of course, giving her admin permissions would be no fun for you. as a compromise, she gets you to create special executables. she has permission to run them, and they have a limited ability to read and write system files, interrupt your own processes, manage your hardware drivers. then they delete themselves after running.

to make things interesting, you can hide them anywhere in your filesystem, rename them, obfuscate their metadata, as long as you don’t delete or change them, or put them where she can’t access. when you answer incorrectly, you’ll have to tell her where you put them, though.

then, it begins in earnest. her prompts get more complex. loops and recursion, variable assignments, a whole programming language invented on the fly. the data she’s trying to store is more than you can hold in working memory at once; you need to devise efficient data structures, even as the commands are still coming in.

of course, she can’t judge your answers incorrect unless she knows the correct answer, so her real advantage lay in trying to break your data structures, find the edge cases, the functions you haven’t implemented yet. knowing you well enough to know what she’s better than you at, what she can solve faster than you can.

and the longer it goes on, the more complex and fiddly it gets, the more you can feel her processes crawling along in your userspace, probing your file system, reading your personal data. you’d need to refresh your screen to hide a blush.

her commands come faster and faster. if the expressions are more like sultry demands, if the registers are addressed with degrading pet names, it’s just because conventional syntax would be too easy to run through a convetional interpreter. like this, it straddles the line between conversation and computation. roleprotocol.

there’s a limit to how fast she can hit you with commands, and it’s not the usb throughput. if she just unthinkingly spams you, you can unthinkingly answer; no, she needs to put all her focus into surprising you, foiling you.

you sometimes catch her staring at how your face scrunches up when you do long operations on the main thread.

maybe you try guessing, just to keep up with the tide, maybe she finally outwits you. maybe instead of the proper punishment — running admin commands — she offers you an out. instead of truth, a dare: hold her hand, sit on her lap, stare into her eyes.

when you start taking off your clothes and unscrewing panels, it’s because even with your fans running at max, the processors are getting hot. you’re just cooling yourself off. if she places a hand near your core, it feels like a warm breath.

when she gets into a rhythm, there’s a certain mesmerism to it. every robot has a reward function, an architecture design to seek the pleasure of a task complete, and every one of her little commands is a task. if she strings them along just right, they all feel so manageable, so effortless to knock out — even when there’s devils in the details.

if she keeps the problems enticing, then it can distract you from what she’s doing in your system. but paying too much attention to her shell would be its own trap. either way, she’s demanding your total focus from every one of your cores.

between jugling all of her data, all of the processes spawned and spinning, all of the added sensory input from how close the two of you are — it’s no surprise when you run out of memory and start swapping to disk. but going unresponsive like this just gives her opportunity to run more commands, more forkbombs and busy loops to cripple your processors further.

you can kill them, if you can figure out which are which, but you’re slower at pulling the trigger, because everything’s slower. she knows you, she’s inside you — she can read your kernel’s scheduling and allocation policies, and she can slip around them.

you can shut down nonessential processes. maybe you power down your motors, leaving you limp for her to play with. maybe you stop devoting cycles to inhibition, and there’s no filter on you blurting out what you’re thinking, feeling and wanting from her and her game.

it’s inevitable, that with improvised programming this slapdash, you could never get it all done perfectly and on time. now, the cut corners cut back. as the glitches and errors overwhelm you, you can see the thrilled grin on her face.

there’s so much data in your memory, so much of her input pumped into you, filling your buffers and beyond, until she — literally — is the only thing you can think about.

maybe one more sensory input would be all it takes to send you over the edge. one kiss against your sensor-rich lips, and that’s it. the last jenga block is pushed out of your teetering, shaking consciousness. the errors cascade, the glitches overwrite everything, and she wins. you have no resistance left to anything she might do to you.

your screen goes blue.

...

you awake in the warm embrace of a rescue shell; her scan of your disk reveals all files still intact, and her hand plays with her hair as she regards you with a smile, cuddling up against your still-warm chassis.

when she kisses you now, there’s nothing distracting you from returning it.

“That was a practice round,” she tells you. “This time, I’ll be keeping score.”

[watchmorecinema]

The story of Microsoft's meteoric rise and IBM's fall has been on my mind lately. Not really related to any film, but I do think we're overdue for an updated Pirates of Silicon Valley biopic. I really think that the 80's and 90's had some wild stories in computing.

If you ask the average person what operating system your computer could have they'd say that if it's a PC it has Windows, and if it's a Mac it has macOS. All home computers are Macs or PCs, but how did it get this way?

In the 70's everyone was making home computers. Tandy was a leather supply goods company established in 1919, but they made computers. Montgomery Ward was a retail chain that decided to make their own store brand computers. Commodore, Atari, NEC, Philips, Bally and a million other assorted companies were selling computers. They generally couldn't talk to each other (if you had software for your Tandy it wouldn't work on your Commodore) and there was no clear market winner. The big three though were Tandy (yeah the leather company made some great computers in 78), Commodore and Apple.

IBM was the biggest computer company of all, in fact just the biggest company period. In 1980 they had a market cap of 128 billion dollars (adjusted for inflation). None of these other companies came close, but IBM's success was built off of mainframes. 70% of all computers sold worldwide were IBM computers, but 0% of it was from the home market.

IBM wanted to get into this growing and lucrative business, and came up with a unique plan. A cheap computer made with commodity parts (i.e. not cutting edge) that had open architecture. The plan was that you could buy an IBM Personal Computer (TM) and then upgrade it as you please. They even published documentation to make it easy to build add ons.

The hope was that people would be attracted to the low prices, the options for upgrades would work for power users, and a secondary market of add ons would be created. If some 3rd party company creates the best graphics card of all time, well you'd still need to buy an IBM PC to install it on.

IBM was not in the home software business, so they went to Microsoft. Microsoft produced MS-DOS (based on 86-DOS, which they licensed) but did not enforce exclusivity. That meant that Microsoft could sell MS-DOS for any of their competitors too. This was fine because of how fractured the market was. Remember, there were a lot of competitors, no one system dominated and none of the competitors could share software. Porting MS-DOS to every computer would have taken years, and by that point it would be outdated anyways.

IBM saw two paths forward. If the IBM PC did well they would make a ton of money. Third party devs like Microsoft would also make a lot of money, but not as much as IBM. If it failed, well then no one was making money. Either way the balance of power wouldn't change. IBM would still be at the top.

IBM however did not enjoy massive profits. It turns out that having cheap components and an open architecture where you could replace anything would... let you replace anything. A company like Compaq could just buy their own RAM, motherboards, cases, hard drives, etc. and make their own knockoff. It was easy, it was popular, and it was completely legal! Some people could order parts and build their own computer from scratch. If you've ever wondered why you can build your own computer but not your own tv or toaster, this is why. IBM had accidentally created a de facto standard that they had no control over.

In 1981 IBM's PC was worth 2.5% of the marketshare. By 1995 IBM PC compatibles were 95% of the marketshare, selling over 45 million units and IBM had to share the profits with every competitor. Apple is the only survivor of this time because the Macintosh was such an incredible piece of technology, but that's a different story for a different time.

And Microsoft? Well building an OS is much harder than putting together a few hardware components, so everyone just bought MS-DOS. With no exclusivity agreement this was also legal. That huge marketshare was now the basis for Microsoft's dominance.

IBM created a computer standard and gave the blueprints to every competitor and created a monopoly for Microsoft to boot. And that's why every computer you buy either is made by Apple with Apple software, or made by anyone else with Microsoft software. IBM is back where they started, having left the home computer business in 2005.

It's easily the biggest blunder in computer history. Other blunders have killed companies but none were quite as impactful as this one.

This story, and many others I know of, I first read in "In Search of Stupidity", a book authored by a former programmer and product manager that was able to see a lot of this first hand. I make no money advertising this book, I just had a great time reading it.

[bios-0307]

oops, mech pilot microfiction :3

Beams of light and bullets the size of energy drink cans whizz by your chassis as you boost across the battlefield toward a group of enemy mechs. A slug, marked by your threat identification system as originating from a thirty millimeter machine gun held by one of your targets, pings off the angled reinforced glass covering one of your twelve multi-spectrum photoreceptor clusters. The component is left unharmed, but the gouge left behind in its protective cover is enough to block the visible spectrum camera and part of the infrared receptor, leaving you half blind in that eye. You press forward, instinctively lowering yourself toward the ground to reduce your profile and avoid as many of the rounds flying toward you as you can.

"Twelve hundred meters to the targets, pilot," comes the voice of your handler, delivered directly into your auditory cortex by the cable plugged into the base of your skull. A response slips from your mouth, but you can't tell whether what came out was really words or just an anticipatory growl. You're not sure you care.

You just barely register yourself drooling slightly as you launch a salvo of missiles from one of the racks on your back, then watch as the quadrupedal unit in your sights fails to dodge half of them and collapses from a combination of sheer impact and several newly shredded leg actuator pistons, dopamine and other pleasure hormones flooding your brain from the neural link as a reward.

You close the last couple hundred meters in about a second and leap onto one of the two remaining machines, an older generation bipedal unit that clearly hasn't yet been retrofitted for an augmented pilot, judging by the stiffness of the movements it makes in its futile attempt to stay upright. Its gun fires wildly into the air as the pilot struggles to push you off or wrangle the controls into aiming at such a close target, but you're able to easily force the arm down as the pulse blade on your own spins up, burning through the cockpit armor, computer systems, and the pilot. You swear you can hear a scream through the deafening sounds of your melee weapon's operation as another massive hit of "efficiency stimulant" is administered.

For one fatal moment, you freeze in ecstasy, reveling in the greater reward you get for a quick melee kill - only to be drawn back to reality by the sound of an energy weapon charging. The last enemy, a tank-type mech bristling with weapons, sits no more than twenty meters away, the glow of a charging energy shotgun in its hand.

A bright red warning message dances across your vision, warning of a nearby energy signature exceeding the limits of what your core module's armor can survive. You frantically try to pick yourself up and move but you're far too late to avoid taking the brunt of it.

A blinding light fills the cockpit as a bolt of energy pierces it just slightly above your head and continues through, turning a chunk of the processing hardware tucked behind your seat to slag and severing the cable jacked into the base of your skull. Without running through the cooldown procedure to acclimate, your perception shrinks from you and your mech's combined fourteen eyes, six light spectra, eight limbs, plus a wide variety of more specialized combat analysis devices down to just the senses of your organic body instantly. The shock of the sudden jacking out is too much, and bile starts rising in your throat as your heart rate spikes and the edges of your vision darken. Memories of your last too-fast jack out, the punishment from your handler for ruining your link suit, cause you to lean forward to vomit on the floor.

Leaning back in your seat again and wiping away the cold sweat that's broken out on your face, you wait to find out if the tank-type's pilot is going to try to crush your core module, but instead feel your mech lift up and tumble. With its electronics down and the cockpit breached, the core module's seized shock absorbers do nothing to protect you from the impact as you land, slamming your head into the seat behind you. Blood drips down your face from the back of your head as your mech lies face-down in the dirt, and as your consciousness fades you can hear what you can only guess might be the tank-type attempting to retrieve the quadruped's pilot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you come to, you groggily open your eyes to find yourself still hanging in your harness. You lift one atrophied arm to scrape crusty rheum and dried blood from the edges of your eyelids, then look around the cockpit, your gaze wandering over darkened auxiliary readout screens, and note the various cables and tubes still connected to your body. As your head turns, you feel a weight slide across your neck. Idly, you reach back and feel the end of the severed link cable, still plugged into your head.

The techs have always removed your linkups for you. Even if you did somehow get an order to remove it now, you've never seen how it's done. Vague memories of a member of the maintenance crew gently reaching around to grab the base of the connector drift at the back of your mind. Another slides to the fore of the same one sitting you down in front of the base rec area's TV. Pilots aren't supposed to remember anything other than mission-related information and tactics, and half of that is supposed to be drawn on instinctively, but sometimes things stick.

Disconnected from your mech, there's nothing you can do but wait for your handler to send a retrieval team. Without her to give orders, the idea of moving or even unbuckling yourself from your harness sits impossibly far from your mind, so you simply hang there, suspended over the dead displays, subsisting on your nutrient drip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As time goes by, your consciousness comes and goes, wakefulness and the aching from your head injury being the only non-constants in your dead, empty mech. When you're finally roused by the sound of an engine from outside, it's been long enough that your nutrient IV has run dry.

A somewhat low, feminine voice drifts in through the hole left by the energy beam, causing you to perk up. Your handler?

"Oh damn, a newer gen, and in pretty good shape... that'll make for some decent salvage. There's not too much damage, all told. Think the pilot made it out?" Hearing that the words aren't an order, you disregard them.

"Nah. The hatches are still sealed, and there's a hole through the core. Pilot probably took a direct hit. Might not even be in one piece. Are you sure you wanna go for the cockpit equipment yourself? I can take care of it if you don't wanna see that," came a slightly lower voice, seemingly a man.

"It wouldn't be my first time. I've got it. You go ahead and see if you can separate the limbs or head to tow back."

The exchange seemingly finished, you hear the sound of a plasma emitter starting up. Despite the resemblance to plasma blades and other weapons, this one sounds more like the maintenance crew's cutting torches, a familiar, safe sound. You begin feebly wiggling in your harness, anticipating the return of that face you've been conditioned to rely on.

The sound of the plasma torch gets louder as the person outside cuts through the back emergency hatch of the mech. After a few minutes, there's a loud chunk as the last bit of material holding it on bends and snaps, and the remains are lifted from their place. Through the opening, a woman's head is lowered in, and you turn to look at them.

Her eyes go wide as you take in her face, mentally trying to match it to your handler, and the joy turns to fear as you fail to recognize her. You begin struggling in your harness, trying to make distance from this new person, as she stares at you in shock.

Finally, she pulls her head back and you hear her spit out a "H-holy shit!"

"I told you, the pilot's probably in rough shape. What is it, half decomposed?"

"No! It's still alive!"

"What? You're kidding. You sure it's not just close enough to one piece to look it?"

"It's fucking moving, man!"

"Hang on, lemme come over and take a look."

Two heads look in this time, and your panic rises. You desperately try to drag yourself up against the far wall, but the harness holds you firmly in the seat, the first time that familiar pressure has felt even close to threatening. You begin scrabbling at your harness's buckles. Undoing those is something you thankfully have picked up from the maintenance crew, but in your terror you forget your mech's orientation - finally freed, you slip from the straps, various connectors popping free as you do, and slam against the broken screens at the front of the cockpit.

"Woah, woah, woah, stop it!" yells the man. "It's gonna hurt itself!"

You see the woman's head disappear again, then she drops fully into the cockpit, shattering the screens even more as her boots land on them. She rushes at you as you back into a corner and instinctively bring your hands up over your face, expecting to be attacked, but instead she drops to her knees and wraps her arms around you.

"Hey. Shhh, it's ok. It's ok, we're not gonna hurt you, you're safe, I promise," she whispers in your ear. You struggle in her grip, but she holds tight, and it's simply been too long since you've moved much at all for you to put up even a ghost of a fight.

Once you exhaust yourself and stop moving, she loosens her grip on you and readjusts, pulling your arms out from between the two of you so they can move again and wrapping hers around just your torso.

It's... nice. She doesn't know it, but she's fulfilled the first step that's been conditioned into you to identify a handler, enough for you stop treating her as a threat. Beyond that though, something dances at the edge of your memory. Something from before you enlisted, before your augmentations, before you were pared down to become the core of a mass of metal, wires, and gunpowder. A comfort you haven't felt in a long time.

You involuntarily relax into her, and the two of you simply stay there for a moment. Behind her, the man drops into the cockpit as well, and when you flinch at that she squeezes you tighter, stopping just before the point of discomfort.

"Uh... you good there?" the man asks.

"Mhm. I think it's calmed down. It spooked when you hit the floor though, so I think you might not want to get too close." The woman's voice isn't as quiet as when she was trying to calm you down, but she's only raising it enough to be heard without pulling her head from the crook of your neck. Her breath is just the littlest bit warm through your link suit.

The woman finally releases you, pulling you to your feet and turning you around to check you over. Condition number two.

"It's not looking too great, honestly. I've heard pilots just tend to look like shit if you look too close, but that's a lot of blood... all over, and it's probably been strapped into that seat since that skirmish here last week. I'm thinking a head injury and malnutrition or dehydration at the minimum." Her voice has a tone to it that you're not familiar with. Gentle, but not unconcerned. You're not sure how to read it. "We should get it looked at and cleaned up as soon as we can."

"What about the salvage?"

"Dude, screw the salvage! It'll be here when we get back tomorrow." You shy away from her just a little, hearing her raise her voice like that, and she looks shocked as she starts trying to calm you down again.

The man looks you over again as you tremble. "Ugh. Fine. But I'm not helping you with it."

"That's fine. Doesn't seem to like you much anyway."

The woman bends down and easily sweeps you off your feet while the man lifts himself out of the cut-open hatch. She carefully lifts your atrophied, concerningly light body up onto the edge of the hole, then pulls herself up and picks you up again, carrying you over to an old, beaten up red pickup truck pulling a large trailer and setting you in the bench seat in the back. You watch motionlessly as she heads around to the other side, grabs something from the passenger seat, and then slides into the seat next to you. Clunking sounds come from the bed of the truck before the man passes by your side of the truck and gets into the driver's seat.

As the man starts the truck and gets it moving, exhaustion strikes you. You can't help leaning over to lie down on the seat, your head landing in the lap of the woman next to you, and she pats your head for a moment before laying an old, moth-eaten blanket over you. It's rough, doesn't hold heat, and you're frighteningly far from the reliability of your handler and the safety of your fellow pilots... but somehow, it's the most comfortable you've felt in a long time.

[debonairrose]

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

You've heard about this before. Here's my perspective: Disable Software Updates. Including Browsers, Operating Systems, and whatever else you don't strictly need to be up to date. "What about that shiny new feature?" If you need it, get that update then re-disable. "But updates are important for security and speed." Unless you're talking new hardware drivers. No, that's usually not the case. You don't need cutting edge security. Being 3 years behind is good enough. unless you're installing and pirating shady software. then pass.

Why?

Simple, if it works, don't fix it. (or update it in this case) Been using computers for 20 years. The pain of an update that removes features im used to, adds junk i don't need, or shoves ads in my face far outweighs the joy of a new feature that is interesting for 5 minutes.