#Latest Computer Peripherals

[mostlysignssomeportents]

There Were Always Enshittifiers

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in DC TONIGHT (Mar 4), and in RICHMOND TOMORROW (Mar 5). More tour dates here. Mail-order signed copies from LA's Diesel Books.

My latest Locus column is "There Were Always Enshittifiers." It's a history of personal computing and networked communications that traces the earliest days of the battle for computers as tools of liberation and computers as tools for surveillance, control and extraction:

https://locusmag.com/2025/03/commentary-cory-doctorow-there-were-always-enshittifiers/

The occasion for this piece is the publication of my latest Martin Hench novel, a standalone book set in the early 1980s called "Picks and Shovels":

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels

The MacGuffin of Picks and Shovels is a "weird PC" company called Fidelity Computing, owned by a Mormon bishop, a Catholic priest, and an orthodox rabbi. It sounds like the setup for a joke, but the punchline is deadly serious: Fidelity Computing is a pyramid selling cult that preys on the trust and fellowship of faith groups to sell the dreadful Fidelity 3000 PC and its ghastly peripherals.

You see, Fidelity's products are booby-trapped. It's not merely that they ship with programs whose data-files can't be read by apps on any other system – that's just table stakes. Fidelity's got a whole bag of tricks up its sleeve – for example, it deliberately damages a specific sector on every floppy disk it ships. The drivers for its floppy drive initialize any read or write operation by checking to see if that sector can be read. If it can, the computer refuses to recognize the disk. This lets the Reverend Sirs (as Fidelity's owners style themselves) run a racket where they sell these deliberately damaged floppies at a 500% markup, because regular floppies won't work on the systems they lure their parishioners into buying.

Or take the Fidelity printer: it's just a rebadged Oki­data ML-80, the workhorse tractor feed printer that led the market for years. But before Fidelity ships this printer to its customers, they fit it with new tractor feed sprockets whose pins are slightly more widely spaced than the standard 0.5" holes on the paper you can buy in any stationery store. That way, Fidelity can force its customers to buy the custom paper that they exclusively peddle – again, at a massive markup.

Needless to say, printing with these wider sprocket holes causes frequent jams and puts a serious strain on the printer's motors, causing them to burn out at a high rate. That's great news – for Fidelity Computing. It means they get to sell you more overpriced paper so you can reprint the jobs ruined by jams, and they can also sell you their high-priced, exclusive repair services when your printer's motors quit.

Perhaps you're thinking, "OK, but I can just buy a normal Okidata printer and use regular, cheap paper, right?" Sorry, the Reverend Sirs are way ahead of you: they've reversed the pinouts on their printers' serial ports, and a normal printer won't be able to talk to your Fidelity 3000.

If all of this sounds familiar, it's because these are the paleolithic ancestors of today's high-tech lock-in scams, from HP's $10,000/gallon ink to Apple and Google's mobile app stores, which cream a 30% commission off of every dollar collected by an app maker. What's more, these ancient, weird misfeatures have their origins in the true history of computing, which was obsessed with making the elusive, copy-proof floppy disk.

This Quixotic enterprise got started in earnest with Bill Gates' notorious 1976 "open letter to hobbyists" in which the young Gates furiously scolds the community of early computer hackers for its scientific ethic of publishing, sharing and improving the code that they all wrote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists

Gates had recently cloned the BASIC programming language for the popular Altair computer. For Gates, his act of copying was part of the legitimate progress of technology, while the copying of his colleagues, who duplicated Gates' Altair BASIC, was a shameless act of piracy, destined to destroy the nascent computing industry:

As the majority of hobbyists must be aware, most of you steal your software. Hardware must be paid for, but software is something to share. Who cares if the people who worked on it get paid?

Needless to say, Gates didn't offer a royalty to John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, the programmers who'd invented BASIC at Dartmouth College in 1963. For Gates – and his intellectual progeny – the formula was simple: "When I copy you, that's progress. When you copy me, that's piracy." Every pirate wants to be an admiral.

For would-be ex-pirate admirals, Gates's ideology was seductive. There was just one fly in the ointment: computers operate by copying. The only way a computer can run a program is to copy it into memory – just as the only way your phone can stream a video is to download it to its RAM ("streaming" is a consensus hallucination – every stream is a download, and it has to be, because the internet is a data-transmission network, not a cunning system of tubes and mirrors that can make a picture appear on your screen without transmitting the file that contains that image).

Gripped by this enshittificatory impulse, the computer industry threw itself headfirst into the project of creating copy-proof data, a project about as practical as making water that's not wet. That weird gimmick where Fidelity floppy disks were deliberately damaged at the factory so the OS could distinguish between its expensive disks and the generic ones you bought at the office supply place? It's a lightly fictionalized version of the copy-protection system deployed by Visicalc, a move that was later publicly repudiated by Visicalc co-founder Dan Bricklin, who lamented that it confounded his efforts to preserve his software on modern systems and recover the millions of data-files that Visicalc users created:

http://www.bricklin.com/robfuture.htm

The copy-protection industry ran on equal parts secrecy and overblown sales claims about its products' efficacy. As a result, much of the story of this doomed effort is lost to history. But back in 2017, a redditor called Vadermeer unearthed a key trove of documents from this era, in a Goodwill Outlet store in Seattle:

https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/5vjsow/found_internal_apple_memos_about_copy_protection/

Vaderrmeer find was a Apple Computer binder from 1979, documenting the company's doomed "Software Security from Apple's Friends and Enemies" (SSAFE) project, an effort to make a copy-proof floppy:

https://archive.org/details/AppleSSAFEProject

The SSAFE files are an incredible read. They consist of Apple's best engineers beavering away for days, cooking up a new copy-proof floppy, which they would then hand over to Apple co-founder and legendary hardware wizard Steve Wozniak. Wozniak would then promptly destroy the copy-protection system, usually in a matter of minutes or hours. Wozniak, of course, got the seed capital for Apple by defeating AT&T's security measures, building a "blue box" that let its user make toll-free calls and peddling it around the dorms at Berkeley:

https://512pixels.net/2018/03/woz-blue-box/

Woz has stated that without blue boxes, there would never have been an Apple. Today, Apple leads the charge to restrict how you use your devices, confining you to using its official app store so it can skim a 30% vig off every dollar you spend, and corralling you into using its expensive repair depots, who love to declare your device dead and force you to buy a new one. Every pirate wants to be an admiral!

https://www.vice.com/en/article/tim-cook-to-investors-people-bought-fewer-new-iphones-because-they-repaired-their-old-ones/

Revisiting the early PC years for Picks and Shovels isn't just an excuse to bust out some PC nostalgiacore set-dressing. Picks and Shovels isn't just a face-paced crime thriller: it's a reflection on the enshittificatory impulses that were present at the birth of the modern tech industry.

But there is a nostalgic streak in Picks and Shovels, of course, represented by the other weird PC company in the tale. Computing Freedom is a scrappy PC startup founded by three women who came up as sales managers for Fidelity, before their pangs of conscience caused them to repent of their sins in luring their co-religionists into the Reverend Sirs' trap.

These women – an orthodox lesbian whose family disowned her, a nun who left her order after discovering the liberation theology movement, and a Mormon woman who has quit the church over its opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment – have set about the wozniackian project of reverse-engineering every piece of Fidelity hardware and software, to make compatible products that set Fidelity's caged victims free.

They're making floppies that work with Fidelity drives, and drives that work with Fidelity's floppies. Printers that work with Fidelity computers, and adapters so Fidelity printers will work with other PCs (as well as resprocketing kits to retrofit those printers for standard paper). They're making file converters that allow Fidelity owners to read their data in Visicalc or Lotus 1-2-3, and vice-versa.

In other words, they're engaged in "adversarial interoperability" – hacking their own fire-exits into the burning building that Fidelity has locked its customers inside of:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

This was normal, back then! There were so many cool, interoperable products and services around then, from the Bell and Howell "Black Apple" clones:

https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads%2Fbell-howell-apple-ii.64651%2F

to the amazing copy-protection cracking disks that traveled from hand to hand, so the people who shelled out for expensive software delivered on fragile floppies could make backups against the inevitable day that the disks stopped working:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_nibbler

Those were wild times, when engineers pitted their wits against one another in the spirit of Steve Wozniack and SSAFE. That era came to a close – but not because someone finally figured out how to make data that you couldn't copy. Rather, it ended because an unholy coalition of entertainment and tech industry lobbyists convinced Congress to pass the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, which made it a felony to "bypass an access control":

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/07/section-1201-dmca-cannot-pass-constitutional-scrutiny

That's right: at the first hint of competition, the self-described libertarians who insisted that computers would make governments obsolete went running to the government, demanding a state-backed monopoly that would put their rivals in prison for daring to interfere with their business model. Plus ça change: today, their intellectual descendants are demanding that the US government bail out their "anti-state," "independent" cryptocurrency:

https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-78/

In truth, the politics of tech has always contained a faction of "anti-government" millionaires and billionaires who – more than anything – wanted to wield the power of the state, not abolish it. This was true in the mainframe days, when companies like IBM made billions on cushy defense contracts, and it's true today, when the self-described "Technoking" of Tesla has inserted himself into government in order to steer tens of billions' worth of no-bid contracts to his Beltway Bandit companies:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/lawmakers-question-musk-influence-over-verizon-faa-contract-2025-02-28/

The American state has always had a cozy relationship with its tech sector, seeing it as a way to project American soft power into every corner of the globe. But Big Tech isn't the only – or the most important – US tech export. Far more important is the invisible web of IP laws that ban reverse-engineering, modding, independent repair, and other activities that defend American tech exports from competitors in its trading partners.

Countries that trade with the US were arm-twisted into enacting laws like the DMCA as a condition of free trade with the USA. These laws were wildly unpopular, and had to be crammed through other countries' legislatures:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/15/radical-extremists/#sex-pest

That's why Europeans who are appalled by Musk's Nazi salute have to confine their protests to being loudly angry at him, selling off their Teslas, and shining lights on Tesla factories:

https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2025/01/24/heil-tesla-activists-protest-with-light-projection-on-germany-plant-after-musks-nazi-salute-video/164398

Musk is so attention-hungry that all this is as apt to please him as anger him. You know what would really hurt Musk? Jailbreaking every Tesla in Europe so that all its subscription features – which represent the highest-margin line-item on Tesla's balance-sheet – could be unlocked by any local mechanic for €25. That would really kick Musk in the dongle.

The only problem is that in 2001, the US Trade Rep got the EU to pass the EU Copyright Directive, whose Article 6 bans that kind of reverse-engineering. The European Parliament passed that law because doing so guaranteed tariff-free access for EU goods exported to US markets.

Enter Trump, promising a 25% tariff on European exports.

The EU could retaliate here by imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on US exports to the EU, which would make everything Europeans buy from America 25% more expensive. This is a very weird way to punish the USA.

On the other hand, not that Trump has announced that the terms of US free trade deals are optional (for the US, at least), there's no reason not to delete Article 6 of the EUCD, and all the other laws that prevent European companies from jailbreaking iPhones and making their own App Stores (minus Apple's 30% commission), as well as ad-blockers for Facebook and Instagram's apps (which would zero out EU revenue for Meta), and, of course, jailbreaking tools for Xboxes, Teslas, and every make and model of every American car, so European companies could offer service, parts, apps, and add-ons for them.

When Jeff Bezos launched Amazon, his war-cry was "your margin is my opportunity." US tech companies have built up insane margins based on the IP provisions required in the free trade treaties it signed with the rest of the world.

It's time to delete those IP provisions and throw open domestic competition that attacks the margins that created the fortunes of oligarchs who sat behind Trump on the inauguration dais. It's time to bring back the indomitable hacker spirit that the Bill Gateses of the world have been trying to extinguish since the days of the "open letter to hobbyists." The tech sector built a 10 foot high wall around its business, then the US government convinced the rest of the world to ban four-metre ladders. Lift the ban, unleash the ladders, free the world!

In the same way that futuristic sf is really about the present, Picks and Shovels, an sf novel set in the 1980s, is really about this moment.

I'm on tour with the book now – if you're reading this today (Mar 4) and you're in DC, come see me tonight with Matt Stoller at 6:30PM at the Cleveland Park Library:

https://www.loyaltybookstores.com/picksnshovels

And if you're in Richmond, VA, come down to Fountain Bookshop and catch me with Lee Vinsel tomorrow (Mar 5) at 7:30PM:

https://fountainbookstore.com/events/1795820250305

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/04/object-permanence/#picks-and-shovels

[technoarcanist]

WAR NEVER CHANGES. BUT,

WARFARE NEVER STOPS CHANGING

"I've seen countless reasons why most mech pilots don't make the cut, but one of the largest hurdles are the physical alterations. The implants and modifications done to the fleshware is so extreme that it's enough to push most would-be pilots away from day 1.

Back in the day, when mech tech was still in its wild west years, when the technology was still in its infancy, things were different. Levers, joysticks, switches, a chair, most of the first models were something between the cockpit of a construction vehicle and a fighter ship.

Pilots in those days still consisted largely of the usual suspects. Test pilots, army jocks, space force veterans looking for something new, the occasional crazy who lucked their way up the ranks. All you needed back then was to be fit enough to work complex machinery. 'Handler's wouldn't be a coined phrase for nearly a decade. I still remember being a kid and seeing repurposed older models in the mech fighting streams.

Everything changed with the Bidirectional Cerebellum Computer Interface. To say nothing of how it changed civilian life, it was a military marvel. The BiCCI saw the creation of Mechs as we understand them today. The first generation were just retrofits, older models with a pilot's chair, and even manual controls to use in an emergency, but even then we knew that was only temporary. Before long, sleek frames of sharp angles, railguns and plasma cannons were rolling off the factory floor.

Like many things, it began small, optimising first for cockpit space by removing the manual controls. Before long, my then-supervisors thought, "Why have this glass? Why not hook the pilot's eyesight right into the advanced multi-spectral camera system? Before long, cockpits were but soft harnesses made to house a living body, their very soul wired into the machinery. Obviously, for security reasons, I cannot tell you everything about how our latest cockpits work, but suffice to say we've been further blurring the line between pilot and frame ever since.

This drew a very different crowd. Out were the army jocks and powerlifters. The only ones who even dared to have the interface hardware installed into their brainstem and spinal cord were the dispossessed, the misanthropes, those who sought not to control their new body, but to be controlled by it. No AI can work a mech properly on its own, but our pilots are never really in full control either anymore. Those who do try to go against the symbiosis get a nosebleed at best, and vegetative seizures at worst.

And that was that. The only people left who pilots these things are those who had already been broken, those who sougt a permenant reprive from being anything resembling human. A lot of my department quit around this time. I've lost a few friends over it, I'm not shy to say. Did we knew we'd be bringing in the more vulnerable people? Of course we did. But, the wheels of progress must turn, as they say, and it wasn't like we were shy of volunteers.

In our latest models, we have refined an even more advanced frame. Again, security detail prevents me from divulging too much, but one breakthrough we've made is decreasing action latency by approximately 0.02s by amputating the limbs from our pilots and replacing them with neural interface pads.

Using the pads where the limbs once were, pilots are screwed directly into the cockpit, which itself can now be 30% smaller thanks to the saved space. And, of course, we provide basic humanoid cybernetics as part of their employment contract while they are with us. Not that most of them are ever voluntarily out of their cockpits long enough to make use of them. Even removing the tubes from their orifices for routine cleaning incurs a large level of resistence.

And, yes, some of them scream, some of them break, some become so catatonic that they might as well be a peripheral processor for their mech's AI. But not a single one, not even one pilot, in all the dolls i've ever trained, have ever accepted the holidays we offer, the retirement packages, the stipends.

As you say, there are those who like to call me a monster for my work. I can see why. After all, they don't see the way my pilots' crotches dribble when I tell them I'll be cutting away their limbs, or the little moans they try to hide when we first meet and I explain that they'd forever be on the same resource level as a machine hereafter.

Those who call me a monster don't realise that, even after going public with how we operate our pilots, even after ramping up mech frame production, we still have more than twice as many volunteers as frames.

Those who call me a monster cannot accept that my pilots are far happier as a piece of meat in a machine of death than as the shell of a human they once were.

Those who call me a monster never consider the world my pilots grew up in to make them suitable candidates in the first place."

-Dr Francine Heathwich EngD

Dept. Cybernetic Technologies @ Dynaframe Industries

[In response to human rights violations accusations levied by the Pilot Rehabilitation Foundation]

[redflagshipwriter]

Nest Swap 4 progress

Now with 200% more bat!

masterpost

“Alright, have a good day.” Tim handed the clipboard back to a stone-faced delivery guy and took the package from Miss Fox back to his technology lair. He got a glass of water on the way down and then went about reproducing the experiment that Tam asked for.

She wouldn't give him details. But from the instructions and reported results, Tim was pretty sure that some employee had misrepresented their process. To what end, he didn't know. He was just the science guy, not a detective guy.

Although if he had to guess he'd say that they had switched out a needed chemical to hide that the supply was lower than recorded.

But whatever. That wasn't his business.

Tim happily went about science, recreating a corrosive liquid that would supposedly eat through reinforced metal. He had to make the Wayne tech protective coating for the metal as well to do the experiment properly. When he finished that he carefully dipped metal sheets in it and set them to drip dry. Then he turned back to the acid project.

Supposedly, the acid had been a failure. Tim thought it should work. Apparently Tam did, too.

The screens around the room all went black. He wasn't even using them but it was a hard thing to miss in your peripheral vision.

Tim groaned. “What now?” He asked the room. He clanged a piece of metal to the tabletop. “I am trying to finish this.”

Had he tripped some kind of security protection? Maybe they had all gone to sleep without getting a password at spaced intervals?

To be perfectly clear, Tim did not expect any kind of response.

Therefore he was startled halfway out of his skin when a female laugh came barrelling out of the speakers of the largest mounted screen.

He crossed his arms in a sulk.

“Tim?” She asked, after she caught her breath. “You're tiny.”

His face was catastrophically cranky: he could see it reflected back in the black screen. It was a perfect replica of Janet Drake discovering after she had formatted her latest paper in Chicago Style that the publication required the savagery of MLA formatting.

She laughed again. It ended with a hiccup.

‘Whoever this is, she can see me. She must be someone who knows me if I gave her that kind of access.’

“I'm not sure we're friends,” Tim announced, because it was time to face the facts: these people all knew a version of him, and that Tim was bigger. At least like, three inches. “I'm aware that I am small. I am working on it.” He glowered at the computer she seemed to be using.

It would take what, two years top for a major growth spurt? They could just chew bubblegum until then.

“Is that what you're doing now?”

Tim sighed. “No, I'm doing something for Tam,” he admitted. He scrubbed at his face with a hand. “Probably a good time for a break.” He started to tidy up.

“Yeah, so, I guess I can tell Dick that you haven't been kidnapped by lions or whatever it is he's talking about,” the lady said. The line turned to static for a second, then back just as quickly. “You, uh, need some help?”

“Absolutely not.” Tim shook his head in a sharp, decisive Jack Drake movement. “I don't need to be babied.”

“...I can see why you think you're in danger of it.” She snorted again. “Unblock Dick, please, he's got delicate feelings and I think we both have plans for tonight that don't involve him scaling your walls to find a way in.”

“....I'll unblock him,” Tim took the L gracefully. “I appreciate your silence on this matter.”

She snorted again. “Sorry.” She didn't sound very sorry. “It's just- your little businessman voice is so funny. I'm sorry, Tim.”

He looked up at the ceiling for patience.

“Oracle out.”

All the screens returned to normal. Tim let out a big long sigh and went back upstairs, taking his empty water class with him. At least he had a name, right? Oracle. He'd gotten a call from Oracle.

He mentally arranged the facts as he trudged up the stairs.

Fact one: he had replaced a Tim, who was Tim Drake-Wayne. (Upsetting information).

Drake-Wayne had to be fundamentally the same Tim as he was, given that both Tam and Oracle had immediately recognized him.

Fact two: Tim D-W was a vigilante.

Fact three: That was really cool.

Tim reached the top and made a mental note to enroll in some martial arts classes when he got back home. If he had potential to fight crime, of course he was going to do that. He unblocked Dick: oh no, Dick Wayne. He'd blocked Robin. He felt mortified. It was so obvious in retrospect. He put the phone down on the table, stomach twisting in social agony.

The phone immediately lit up with messages.

Well. Robin should be less annoying, if he didn't wanna get blocked.

He clambered onto the counter to search through for anything that would make a good lunch.

“... I'm terrible,” Tim complained. He stuck his head fully into the cupboard as if there might be something good at the back. “This sucks!”

Alright. Something had to be done. Tim decisively climbed down, using an open drawer as a step. He shut it with his heels and then went in search of a wallet. He needed a credit card and to find a delivery service.

He was going to act on faith that big Tim D-W wasn't going to ruin his life, even though he was a loser. Tim was doing a great job keeping Tim D-W’s life afloat. That merited some payment.

He converted that payment into a huge order to a grocery delivery service. He referenced Tam’s package to get the address.

The order was simple: fruits, breakfast meat, lots of bakery bread, and sandwich fillings. He was going to have tuna salad with cucumber and lettuce. He was going to learn to make egg salad. Optimistically, he even added melty cheese to the order and a can of tomato soup mix: grilled cheese couldn't be that hard, right?

He rounded off the order with lots of individually packaged drinks: milk and juice boxes, cans of grape Zesti, and hot cocoa powder.

"…This is so exciting,” Tim said to his empty apartment. His. In a very real and meaningful way, it was his apartment. He was totally unsupervised. Neat!

The phone buzzed again. When he picked it up it said “Jason.”

Tim blue screened. Tim dropped the credit card with a clatter. It disappeared under the table and he didn't even think to look for it.

Jason. Omigod, Jason. Jason was a person who existed. He'd forgotten.

All the pieces came together in a beautiful flash of light. He wasn't in a troubled huge age-difference relationship with Bruce (21 year difference) or Dick (9 year difference) . He'd gotten married to Jason Wayne, the kid that Bruce had brought home like a day ago according to the Gotham Gazette. (3 year difference: normal.)

The phone was still ringing. Tim picked it up with numb fingers. “Hello?”

“Hey, Timbers,” said a male voice. It was low, rough, and impatient. “You freaked Dickiebird out and he's been squawking at me all day. Tell me how many pieces you're in.”

Tim looked down at his body. “Just the one,” he said, voice coming out breathy. It felt like his being was floating outside his body. Wow. This was his boy- no, husband? Holy moly. He couldn't cope with that, he had to stick with boyfriend. He bit his lip. He had to make a good impression.

“...You sound about 10 years old there,” Jason said. He didn't hide his amusement. “You been huffing helium, babybird?”

Tim went bright red at the pet name. Painfully red. His face was on fire.

Jason took his silence as a response. “Alright, alright, keep your clothes on. You must be sick as fuck, poor thing. No wonder you didn't come out to play last night.”

Tim slapped his hands on his face and tried not to hyperventilate.

“I wasn't calling for Dick, don't get it twisted.” Jason cleared his throat, tone a little odd. “I picked up on something - I think one of my ongoing cases dips into your patrol area. You gonna come out on patrol tonight?”

“...No,” Tim said. There was no way that would go well. He didn't know martial arts yet.

Jason cursed, but he didn't sound mad about it. “Fair enough,” he muttered. “Uh, think you could do some surveillance for me?”

Tim nodded. Then he felt dumb and cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

…He felt even dumber. What should he say? This was his boyfriend. The stakes were so high. He had never wanted anyone to like him more.

Jason rattled off an address. It, like everything Jason had said, was going to live inside Tim’s head forever in perfect clarity. “Thanks,” he added after, a bit begrudgingly. “This guy's real fucking sick, been making human sausage.”

Tim… wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it sounded really bad. “I'll do my best,” he promised.

“Yeah…” Jason trailed off. “Maybe you should take a nap, some meds. That's a terrible hoarse throat. Don't kick your own ass on my account, okay?”

“Okay,” Tim helplessly echoed, and hung up. He sat in silence for a solid minute afterwards.

[adafruit]

Driving HUB75 RGB Matrices on Raspi 5 with PIO 💡😎

Since the latest release of 'piolib' we can do things like drive NeoPixels on any pin on the Raspberry Pi 5

which rocks, and means we can tackle the next, more complex, project: driving HUB75 RGB Matrix displays

these require even MORE timing freakiness: using 10 pins, and 'manual' PWM means we have to constantly blit out the color dithering. Historically this was done with mmap'd memory to the GPIO controller bitbanging, which required a full core and could jitter depending on load. But now we can use the PIO peripheral! We can drive massive display arrays at high speeds and color depths using just about any pins. The future is looking bright 😎

[sloth-babied]

Stay the Night

Shuri x POC reader

Summary: You’ve been keeping it a secret that Shuri’s been your muse for a lot of your music. When you decide to show her a song you’ve been working on, she starts to piece together who you’ve been writing about.

or

Reader is a musician who stubbornly denies to one of the smartest people on Earth that she isn’t your muse.

Contains: Shy reader, tension, and angst if you really squint. No use of y/n.

Word count: 1.8k

Notes: No, I am not dead! Just burnt out, yk how it is. But I had motivation to write this, so I really hope yall enjoy! Not my best work, but it’s something. And sorry for not being active. 

(Also I recommend listening to The Internet while reading just bc that’s what I listened to, hence the title lol)

Shuri stares at you as you adjust the headphones on her head, hyper aware of the proximity between the two of you. She only nods when you ask if she’s comfortable before the heel of your palm rests on the desk. Your finger hovers over the computer keyboard, reluctant to press play.

“It’s just a draft, so you know, lower your expectations.”

“Just play the song,” she laughs lightly, very much aware that this was a first draft from the numerous times you told her before even handing her your headphones.

You murmur a quick and sheepish, “Okay,” and click the spacebar. Her shoulders bounce, entertained by your apprehensiveness.

You deeply inhale as your heart starts beating faster, in contrast to Shuri who simply bops her head gently to the rhythm, the ball of her foot tapping the wooden floor.

You rarely showed anyone your early drafts, either out of worry in case they disliked what they heard, or if their enjoyment would jinx your chances of actually finishing the track. Yeah, you can be a bit superstitious—that Shuri knows with all the wood-knocking you’ve done around her.

Which is why it was uncharacteristic of you to show Shuri your latest project. 

It presented itself as an impulsive, “You wanna hear this new song I’m working on?” and you couldn’t take it back when you were met with an enthusiastic ‘yes’.

Shuri’s brows furrow, the movement of her head much more exaggerated. 

“This is good!” She compliments you loudly, tapping on one side of the headphones. You shush her humorously, reminding her of your neighbors and the lack of soundproof foam on your walls. “Sorry,” she chuckles before whispering, “This is good,” again.

It’s mostly dark in the room, the only light source in the room coming from the computer screen. The light reflects on Shuri’s skin, her eyes closed when she isn’t occasionally stealing glances at the side of your face, curious about the words you’ve written; envious of who you’ve written it for, though she’s had hopeful suspicions.

Your eyes stay glued on the screen, too embarrassed to watch the person who was, unbeknownst to her, your muse. 

Truthfully, she had been the subject of many of your songs, released and unreleased, since you first fell in love with her. That was two years ago. Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the long day or the present time of night that made the idea of sharing your music more enticing. Or maybe, subconsciously, you had to tell her how you felt without actually telling her.

Shuri hums along to the chorus, naturally catching onto the melody and you scratch your cheek in an attempt to hide your smile. You feel giddy inside at the way her body reacts—just so in-sync like she always is with the rest of your music. 

Until the song hits the bridge. 

Through your peripheral vision, it’s hard to ignore Shuri’s head movement slowing down to a halt. You catch a proper glimpse of her, only for a second, and oh, no, her face has gone blank. You feel your chest heave and now your brain is spiraling, wondering what the hell is going on in hers.

Shuri looks off, really listening this time. She flicks another glance at you before the last chorus arrives. And when it ends, she removes the headphones at a pace that perturbs you a bit…a lot actually. You’re left uneasy when she holds your headphones on her lap. She hasn’t looked at you and she hasn’t said anything yet.

“I know it’s not great,” you scratch the back of your neck then steal the headphones from her, laying them on the desk. Aimlessly, you fumble with your laptop, laughing nervously to fill the silence. “It’s just a draft. I probably won’t even finish it.”

Shuri’s still not saying anything and, christ, is it bothering you. At this point you’d rather she say it’s downright bad instead of keeping you on edge like this. But eventually she speaks, and when you hear her say your name, you initially feel like you could breathe again because she finally said something. However, that only lasts for a second.

“Is this true?” 

Your finger freezes on the mouse. You turn your head in her direction but her gaze doesn’t meet yours. You’re unsure what to say.

“What you wrote…is it true?” 

She takes the mouse from you, the feel of her hand leaving tingles on your skin. She clicks back to the beginning of the bridge before removing the headphone jack. Your voice plays on the speaker and suddenly you’re too stunned to remind her of your neighbors.

What exactly did you write? Nothing specific, or so you thought.

Then she pauses the song, an audible click coming from the spacebar, anticipatedly eyeing you. 

You shrug as an attempt to seem oblivious. (One might call it ‘gaslighting’.) 

“I write little stories for my songs,” you try to play it off. “I mean, I guess some are real, but most of ‘em aren’t, you know?” 

“You wrote about our time at the beach.” She states plainly, leaning back against her chair. She’s referring you to the secret beach you snuck her into in your hometown—a beach only so many people know of.

You glance at the notification-free lock screen of your phone on the desk; another excuse not to look her in the eye. “I take inspiration from shit in my own life.”

“And in your last album you wrote about the time we went on that hike together.” She adds. Yikes, you were hoping she wouldn’t notice that. 

“We’re lost in the woods,

I’m lost in your eyes.”

Damn your corny attempts at being poetic. You nearly cringe recalling the moment you wrote that. 

A year ago you went hiking with Shuri, and you insisted that you didn’t need any technology to navigate your way back home. You figured you’d walk back down the trail you walked up on, until you kept passing the same tree over and over again. Shuri laughed at you the entire time, comforted by the fact that she brought her Kimoyo bead bracelet with her, as you slowly started to freak out despite your refusal to admit you were wrong and maybe a map could’ve been useful.

“I hike all the time.” No, you don’t.

“No, you don’t,” Shuri shakes her head, one side of her lips tilting upwards. She leans forward and grabs the apron of your chair between your legs, rolling you closer to her until her knee hits the edge of your seat and your thighs loosely puzzle together. 

The light from the bright red motel sign across the street peaks through each horizontal slit of the blind curtain, and the cool night breeze outside lightly blows through the half-open window, lifting the curtain only a little, red occasionally sneaking under the bottom hem of the window covering. 

With the wind entering, the room should feel cool. It’s supposed to be. Yet your cheeks flush and the heat centered around your face tempts you to remove your hoodie because it’s easier to blame a jacket than the girl who’s figured you out.

You reattach your hand back on the mouse, unsure what you’d even do with it, but Shuri’s hand covers yours, your moist palm now stagnant on the object. 

“You released a single the year we met,” she says, her voice quieter than before but louder than a whisper. She doesn’t explain further. You remember the party two years ago and you know exactly what you wrote. Who are you to fool one of the most brilliant minds on the planet?

The computer screen dims, allowing you to notice the red illuminating on the back of her hand. You see red highlight the outline of her body and she stares at the red on the edge of your face. Then she looks at your eyes, your lips, then your eyes once again. Shuri slides her palm up to your elbow, her grip neither tight nor loose. 

“What are you so afraid of?” asks Shuri. 

You had spent so much of your romantic life dejected. Countless dating apps resulting in crappy dates. Or worse: friendships. Too many “The more I get to know you, the more I get friendly vibes from you”. Too many “Honestly, I don’t think I’m ready for this,” when really they realized they actually didn’t like you. Then when you knew someone in your own life who you liked romantically, the feeling—more often than not—wasn’t mutual. 

Best case scenario, you remain friends but things are only just a little awkward. Worst case scenario, they insist that things are okay then gradually ghost you. 

At this point, you were ready to give up.

“I don’t wanna…” you trail off.

She leans closer and whispers, “What?”

You stare off at anything that isn’t her. “I don’t wanna lose you.”

She leans down and tilts her face up, forcing your eyes to meet hers. She raises her brows. “Because…?”

You tuck your chin and your brows quirk. “Because?”

“I want you to tell me why you’re afraid of losing me,” she places her other hand on your armrest, trapping you, and you start stammering. “Since you do it so well in your songs.”

You can’t get anything out, though she doesn’t look away. You feel stuck, considering the numerous things you could tell her. Alternatively, you sigh. Fuck it. 

“I think I’ve told you enough,” you inhale, cupping one hand on her jaw and the other on the back of her neck before you firmly kiss her. Shuri lets out a muffled noise before reciprocating. 

And you both think, Finally.

Her body starts to sway backwards as you press against her, however she pushes you back against your chair. Her hands grab the sides of your face—one hand under your hood and the other over—refusing to let go now that she’s on her feet. Her upper body bends down just so her lips can live on yours, and a chuckle escapes both of you when your chair rolls backwards, almost hitting the wall behind you.

Admittedly, you enjoy sitting as she envelops your lips, but you decide to stand. Your hands slide down to her waist as you slowly walk her backwards until her legs meet the edge of your bed and she ends up landing on her bottom with her elbows supporting her weight as she gazes up at you, several red horizontal lines covering her body.

God, you can’t believe this is happening. You can’t believe Shuri wants you as much as you want her. Everything feels…unreal. Dream-like.

“Come here,” she pulls your wrist and you land on top of her. The bed bounces beneath you as her hand slithers up to your neck, drawing you in for a chaste kiss. She catches you in your thoughts. “You okay?” Is this okay? 

You nod, still admiring her below you. You whisper, “I didn’t think you’d…pay attention. To what I wrote. I didn’t know you were listening like that.”

Shuri caresses your neck with her thumb. She takes note of the neon blue light illuminating half of your face from a bar sign also across the street, below the motel sign. 

She kisses your cheek, your chin, then your lips once again. “I’ll always listen to you.”

[rederiswrites]

Another one about my husband, because I entertained a friend of his with this fact yesterday: Phantom, the boy, me, we all have computers fully capable of playing the latest generation of video games. Jacob bought them as gifts, unasked in all cases, working with the bestie to get the best value per money on each build. The boy's graphics card came from a lottery the bestie won, during the period where you almost couldn't get the high end cards for love nor money. Jacob? Does not have a computer. He uses his shitty work laptop, and when something he needs is locked out on that, he uses my 7 year old laptop.

Shoutout also to the bestie, though, while I'm at it. Not only did he design the pc builds and provide high-end used parts whenever he upgrades his own setup, as well as gifting us various peripherals, most of our consoles up to and including the PS5 were straight-up gifts. And no, he's not rich. He works in a warehouse. He just has his priorities, same as my husband, and we're very blessed to be among them.

Neither of them can express an emotion to save their lives, and I have raised my own son to be different, but nonetheless, as the poem goes, I love the way men love.

[buysellram]

KIOXIA Unveils 122.88TB LC9 Series NVMe SSD to Power Next-Gen AI Workloads

KIOXIA America, Inc. has announced the upcoming debut of its LC9 Series SSD, a new high-capacity enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) with 122.88 terabytes (TB) of storage, purpose-built for advanced AI applications. Featuring the company’s latest BiCS FLASH™ generation 8 3D QLC (quad-level cell) memory and a fast PCIe® 5.0 interface, this cutting-edge drive is designed to meet the exploding data demands of artificial intelligence and machine learning systems.

As enterprises scale up AI workloads—including training large language models (LLMs), handling massive datasets, and supporting vector database queries—the need for efficient, high-density storage becomes paramount. The LC9 SSD addresses these needs with a compact 2.5-inch form factor and dual-port capability, providing both high capacity and fault tolerance in mission-critical environments.

Form factor refers to the physical size and shape of the drive—in this case, 2.5 inches, which is standard for enterprise server deployments. PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is the fast data connection standard used to link components to a system’s motherboard. NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is the protocol used by modern SSDs to communicate quickly and efficiently over PCIe interfaces.

Accelerating AI with Storage Innovation

The LC9 Series SSD is designed with AI-specific use cases in mind—particularly generative AI, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and vector database applications. Its high capacity enables data-intensive training and inference processes to operate without the bottlenecks of traditional storage.

It also complements KIOXIA’s AiSAQ™ technology, which improves RAG performance by storing vector elements on SSDs instead of relying solely on costly and limited DRAM. This shift enables greater scalability and lowers power consumption per TB at both the system and rack levels.

“AI workloads are pushing the boundaries of data storage,” said Neville Ichhaporia, Senior Vice President at KIOXIA America. “The new LC9 NVMe SSD can accelerate model training, inference, and RAG at scale.”

Industry Insight and Lifecycle Considerations

Gregory Wong, principal analyst at Forward Insights, commented:

“Advanced storage solutions such as KIOXIA’s LC9 Series SSD will be critical in supporting the growing computational needs of AI models, enabling greater efficiency and innovation.”

As organizations look to adopt next-generation SSDs like the LC9, many are also taking steps to responsibly manage legacy infrastructure. This includes efforts to sell SSD units from previous deployments—a common practice in enterprise IT to recover value, reduce e-waste, and meet sustainability goals. Secondary markets for enterprise SSDs remain active, especially with the ongoing demand for storage in distributed and hybrid cloud systems.

LC9 Series Key Features

122.88 TB capacity in a compact 2.5-inch form factor

PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 2.0 support for high-speed data access

Dual-port support for redundancy and multi-host connectivity

Built with 2 Tb QLC BiCS FLASH™ memory and CBA (CMOS Bonded to Array) technology

Endurance rating of 0.3 DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) for enterprise workloads

The KIOXIA LC9 Series SSD will be showcased at an upcoming technology conference, where the company is expected to demonstrate its potential role in powering the next generation of AI-driven innovation.

[y-0-sha]

mini store 00s

a cozy place where guys always found what they needed .

Those old CD stores also had their own charm . on one of the streets there was a rather colorful store with games (and not only video games). Of course , there were other places , but they all were not comparable to this one , this store was special . Every month guys went there to get the latest issues of comics and video games .

Showcases of 10 square meters with laid out discs , game magazines , some peripherals for computers , comics , collectible figurines , posters , and there was a monitor on which some kind of game launched by the sellers was always visible ......

[nikkeisimmer]

Oh My God...inZOI...

"Recommended System Requirements for inZOI (Life simulator from Krafton Games, South Korea)

For those wanting to experience inZOI in all its glory with high frame rates and the most detailed visuals, aim for the following recommended specifications:

CPU: A more powerful processor like the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or the Intel Core i5-10600K will deliver a smoother performance even in the most demanding scenarios.

RAM: Doubling the minimum requirement, 32 GB of RAM will ensure that your game runs seamlessly and enables extensive multitasking.

Video Card: Upgrading to an AMD Radeon RX 6800 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 video card will allow you to enjoy inZOI at higher resolutions and with better graphical fidelity.

Dedicated Video RAM: A hefty 10240 MB will give you the bandwidth needed for ultra-quality textures and prevent any graphical stuttering.

Pixel Shader and Vertex Shader: Remaining at version 5.0, but coupled with more robust hardware, you’ll be able to maximize the game’s visual settings.

OS: Windows 10/11 with the latest updates is again recommended for the best compatibility.

Free Disk Space: A consistent 50 GB of free space is recommended for game files, mods, and updates.

-quoted from https://inzoiresource.com/blogs/22/Minimum-and-Recommended-System-Requirements-for-inZOI

Yeah...that's my wallet finding out I'm going to have to spend at least $4,000.00 to run inZOI decently on my computer. The thing is that you can no longer play these newest games on "integrated graphics chips". You have to get a dedicated card. My wife wants to play Dragon Age 4 (The Veilguard) which is coming out on October 31, 2024. And those games are just as intense on hardware as it is with inZOI.

Minimum and RECOMMENDED requirements for Dragon Age 4 "The Veilguard"

Me, personally... I want to play Cities Skylines 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Recommended requirements for those two games. Cities Skylines 2

As for MSFS 2024 (due to come out in 2024?)

It's over and above what is pictured in MSFS2020. Chillblast said that the "recommended specs" for FS2024 is the following:

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 PC Recommended Requirements

OS: Windows 10

Processor: Intel i5-8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 1500X

Memory: 16 GB RAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 590

Storage: 150 GB available space

I'm calling HORSESHIT on that right now. I'm saying it's more in the realm of what inZOI and Dragon Age the Veilguard is putting out. You don't get that kind of gaming experience with the specs Chillblast espouses. Especially on the processor and graphics end of things. After all, on the FS forum board, the recommended specs being tossed about just for FS2020 is the following:

Intel i7-12700K CPU

Z690 motherboard

32GB DDR4 3600mhz RAM (upgrades for this on the site are very cheap, but like you said I’ve seen a couple instances where this RAM outperforms most others)

1TB SSD

Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti

Liquid cooled, nice case, 850 watt power supply, etc

Frankly as far as I'm concerned, I'm tempted to go all out and perhaps go so far as investing in:

i9-13900K CPU

64GB RAM DDR4

4TB SSD

NVidia RTX 4090

Z790 GAMING X AX

at least a 1000watt power supply so that I can run peripherals like scanners and other photographic requirements...on top of just my gaming shit.

...at minimum.

I'm sure there will be detractors going, "You don't need that kind of hardware to play Sims 3...or the current games"...well, the main thing in building a system is that you have to shell out for future proofing (as much as technology development allows at any given time) so that you don't have to spend as much money upgrading your computer system on an yearly basis as opposed to once every three to five years and that Sims 3 is not the only game that I play. And the new releases coming out are that graphics-intensive...

I play SWTOR currently and I'm finding that the game stutters especially when there is a lot of people on a server. I want to minimize that so I'm thinking the more RAM I have and the better the video card, I'll get a little less lag out of it and that will help when I'm taking on Imp or Pub forces whichever side I'm playing against at the time. That and maybe improved graphics to the point where it looks semi-realistic. I'm also planning to get Dragon Age 1-3 and then Dragon Age 4 as well. Plus there are a few other graphics intensive games such as Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS: World) as well that are attracting my attention. I may even get into Call of Duty (depending on the feasibility of the user controls.

Mass Effect drives me absolutely friggin' nuts when it comes to controlling my character Shepard - she's a "femShep". I have to key-bind my movement keys to keys that I'm familiar with in order to keep from going bug-frickin' mental. That also messes with the shoot key too. I'll get there someday. In the words of the ever-immortal Maverick Mitchell:

So in a nutshell, these latest games if not forcing people to upgrade to a better class of gaming PC, will find that a lot of people with restrictive budgets may just drop out of the PC market and try to find it on console (if they play console games) no matter how restrictive the console games are in comparison to the PC versions as opposed to spending $4000 on a new gaming system. A standard PS5 is $499.95 CDN as opposed to spending 10X that much trying to set up a PC to be able to play these newer games. Add a couple hundred dollars buying a hard-drive for these consoles will maybe bring that amount to around $600.00 still much cheaper than buying a whole new PC. Dragon Age the Veilguard will only be released for PS5 and PC - No plans in the works for XBOX Series X as far as I know. And for now, inZOI is PC release only (with an intent to release to console later on down the road - though who knows when that will be) Why though am I looking at a new PC on a restrictive budget? Well, it's because I want to play the games in their full graphics and be unrestricted and potentially moddable states. Does it mean I'm going to have to save a lot of money while waiting on a new PC? Yes. Do I have the patience to wait? Yes...I'm in my fifties, I've waited this long...might as well.

🤣

[creationsbyjesska]

Gengar Razor Collection

New Gengar Mat and Computer Mouse Released in China by Razer

Razer has once again delighted Pokémon fans with their latest release: a Gengar-themed mat and computer mouse, now available in China. This new addition to Razer's lineup combines their renowned gaming peripherals with the iconic ghost-type Pokémon, Gengar, bringing a spooky yet stylish touch to any gaming setup. The new Gengar mat and computer mouse feature designs that capture the mischievous spirit of Gengar. The mat showcases a vibrant, high-quality image of Gengar, perfect for enhancing the aesthetic of any gaming or office desk. The matching computer mouse is adorned with Gengar's signature grin, providing a cohesive and eye-catching set.

Previous Pokémon Releases It’s worth noting that Razer previously released a series of Pokémon-themed mice. The collection included designs featuring Charizard, Gengar, Sylveon, and Jigglypuff. Therefore, the release of the Gengar mouse in the newly announced Gengar-themed items isn’t entirely new. This continuity emphasizes Razer's commitment to catering to Pokémon fans with beloved character designs.

Possible Future Releases In a recent promotional image, Razer also teased a Gengar-themed headset. This has sparked speculation among fans about future releases. We have reached out to Razer for clarification and to confirm if the headset will be part of a forthcoming launch. Stay tuned for updates as we learn more about potential additions to the Gengar-themed accessory line. Razer's Gengar mat and computer mouse are a must-have for both Pokémon enthusiasts and gamers looking to add a touch of fun to their setups. As we await further details on the potential release of the Gengar headset, this initial offering already sets a high bar for themed gaming accessories. Read the full article

[flora-819]

Advantages of PCIE produced by Chinese manufacturers

PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), commonly known as PCIe, is a high-speed interface standard for connecting various components in a computer system. It is widely used in modern desktops, laptops, servers, and other computing devices to enable high-speed data transfer between components such as graphics cards, network cards, storage devices, and more. PCIe technology has evolved over the years, offering increased bandwidth and improved performance compared to older interface standards like PCI and AGP.

Chinese manufacturers have been playing an increasingly important role in the production of PCIe components, offering a wide range of products that cater to the needs of different market segments. In this article, we will discuss the advantages of PCIe produced by Chinese manufacturers, highlighting the key features and benefits that make them a preferred choice for many customers.

Advantages of PCIe produced by Chinese manufacturers:

Cost-effective solutions: Chinese manufacturers are known for their ability to offer cost-effective solutions without compromising on quality. By leveraging their expertise in manufacturing and economies of scale, Chinese companies are able to produce PCIe components at competitive prices, making them an attractive option for customers looking to build high-performance computing systems on a budget.The chart compares one of AMP's products with that of Chinese manufacturer HOYATO.------AMP 649-18783-10100TLF vs.Hoyato PCIECP10-36GX. We can clearly find that there is little difference between the two products in the comparison of materials and various attributes of the products.What's more, most Chinese manufacturers have their own factories, so prices are more competitive.

Wide range of products: Chinese manufacturers offer a wide range of PCIe products to meet the diverse needs of customers. Whether you are looking for a basic PCIe x1 expansion card or a high-end PCIe x16 graphics card, Chinese manufacturers have you covered. They also offer specialized PCIe products for specific applications such as data storage, networking, and gaming, allowing customers to choose the right product for their requirements.

High-quality components: Despite their competitive pricing, PCIe components produced by Chinese manufacturers are known for their high quality and reliability. Chinese companies adhere to strict quality control standards and use advanced manufacturing processes to ensure that their products meet the highest industry standards. This commitment to quality has earned Chinese manufacturers a reputation for producing reliable and durable PCIe components that perform well under demanding conditions.

Cutting-edge technology: Chinese manufacturers are at the forefront of PCIe technology, continuously innovating and developing new products that push the boundaries of performance and efficiency. They invest heavily in research and development to stay ahead of the competition, resulting in PCIe components that offer the latest features and capabilities. Whether you need support for the latest PCIe Gen 4 or PCIe Gen 5 standards, Chinese manufacturers have the technology and expertise to deliver cutting-edge solutions.

Customization options: Chinese manufacturers offer customization options for PCIe components, allowing customers to tailor their products to meet specific requirements. Whether you need a custom form factor, specialized features, or unique specifications, Chinese companies can work with you to develop a bespoke PCIe solution that fits your needs perfectly. This flexibility and willingness to collaborate with customers set Chinese manufacturers apart and make them a preferred choice for businesses and individuals seeking personalized PCIe solutions.

Strong supply chain: Chinese manufacturers benefit from a robust supply chain that enables them to source high-quality components and materials at competitive prices. This streamlined supply chain allows Chinese companies to reduce lead times, lower production costs, and improve overall efficiency, resulting in faster delivery times and better value for customers. By leveraging their supply chain capabilities, Chinese manufacturers can offer PCIe components that are not only cost-effective but also readily available when you need them.

Global presence: Chinese manufacturers have a strong global presence, with products distributed and sold in markets around the world. This widespread availability makes it easy for customers to access Chinese-made PCIe components regardless of their location, ensuring that they can benefit from the advantages of Chinese manufacturing no matter where they are. Chinese manufacturers also have a reputation for providing excellent customer support and after-sales service, further enhancing their appeal to customers worldwide.

In conclusion, PCIe components produced by Chinese manufacturers offer a compelling combination of cost-effectiveness, quality, technology, customization, supply chain efficiency, and global availability. Whether you are a business looking to upgrade your computing infrastructure or an individual building a high-performance gaming rig, Chinese manufacturers have the PCIe solutions you need. With their commitment to innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction, Chinese manufacturers are poised to continue leading the way in PCIe technology for years to come.

email:sales08@dghoyato.com

References:

"PCI Express" - Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

"PCIe Interface Card" - Advantech, https://www.advantech.com/products/pcie-interface-card/sub_1-2jk2h5

"Chinese PCIe Manufacturers" - Alibaba, https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/chinese-pcie-manufacturers.html

https://www.dghoyato.com/

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

In thinking about the relationship between tech and labor, one of the most useful conceptual frameworks is "centaurs" vs "reverse-centaurs":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

A centaur is someone whose work is supercharged by automation: you are a human head atop the tireless body of a machine that lets you get more done than you could ever do on your own.

A reverse-centaur is someone who is harnessed to the machine, reduced to a mere peripheral for a cruelly tireless robotic overlord that directs you to do the work that it can't, at a robotic pace, until your body and mind are smashed.

Bosses love being centaurs. While workplace monitoring is as old as Taylorism – the "scientific management" of the previous century that saw labcoated frauds dictating the fine movements of working people in a kabuki of "efficiency" – the lockdowns saw an explosion of bossware, the digital tools that let bosses monitor employees to a degree and at a scale that far outstrips the capacity of any unassisted human being.

Armed with bossware, your boss becomes a centaur, able to monitor you down to your keystrokes, the movements of your eyes, even the ambient sound around you. It was this technology that transformed "work from home" into "live at work." But bossware doesn't just let your boss spy on you – it lets your boss control you. \

It turns you into a reverse-centaur.

"Data At Work" is a research project from Cracked Labs that dives deep into the use of surveillance and control technology in a variety of workplaces – including workers' own cars and homes:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work

It consists of a series of papers that take deep dives into different vendors' bossware products, exploring how they are advertised, how they are used, and (crucially) how they make workers feel. There are also sections on how these interact with EU labor laws (the project is underwritten by the Austrian Arbeiterkammer), with the occasional aside about how weak US labor laws are.

The latest report in the series comes from Wolfie Christl, digging into Microsoft's "Dynamics 365," a suite of mobile apps designed to exert control over "field workers" – repair technicians, security guards, cleaners, and home help for ill, elderly and disabled people:

https://crackedlabs.org/dl/CrackedLabs_Christl_MobileWork.pdf

It's…not good. Microsoft advises its customers to use its products to track workers' location every "60 to 300 seconds." Workers are given tasks broken down into subtasks, each with its own expected time to completion. Workers are expected to use the app every time they arrive at a site, begin or complete a task or subtask, or start or end a break.

For bosses, all of this turns into a dashboard that shows how each worker is performing from instant to instant, whether they are meeting time targets, and whether they are spending more time on a task than the client's billing rate will pay for. Each work order has a clock showing elapsed seconds since it was issued.

For workers, the system generates new schedules with new work orders all day long, refreshing your work schedule as frequently as twice per hour. Bosses can flag workers as available for jobs that fall outside their territories and/or working hours, and the system will assign workers to jobs that require them to work in their off hours and travel long distances to do so.

Each task and subtask has a target time based on "AI" predictions. These are classic examples of Goodhart's Law: "any metric eventually becomes a target." The average time that workers take becomes the maximum time that a worker is allowed to take. Some jobs are easy, and can be completed in less time than assigned. When this happens, the average time to do a job shrinks, and the time allotted for normal (or difficult) jobs contracts.

Bosses get stack-ranks of workers showing which workers closed the most tickets, worked the fastest, spent the least time idle between jobs, and, of course, whether the client gave them five stars. Workers know it, creating an impossible bind: to do the job well, in a friendly fashion, the worker has to take time to talk with the client, understand their needs, and do the job. Anything less will generate unfavorable reports from clients. But doing this will blow through time quotas, which produces bad reports from the bossware. Heads you lose, tails the boss wins.

Predictably, Microsoft has shoveled "AI" into every corner of this product. Bosses don't just get charts showing them which workers are "underperforming" – they also get summaries of all the narrative aspects of the workers' reports (e.g. "My client was in severe pain so I took extra time to make her comfortable before leaving"), filled with the usual hallucinations and other botshit.

No boss could exert this kind of fine-grained, soul-destroying control over any workforce, much less a workforce that is out in the field all day, without Microsoft's automation tools. Armed with Dynamics 365, a boss becomes a true centaur, capable of superhuman feats of labor abuse.

And when workers are subjected to Dynamics 365, they become true reverse-centaurs, driven by "digital whips" to work at a pace that outstrips the long-term capacity of their minds and bodies to bear it. The enthnographic parts of the report veer between chilling and heartbreaking.

Microsoft strenuously objects to this characterization, insisting that their tool (which they advise bosses to use to check on workers' location every 60-300 seconds) is not a "surveillance" tool, it's a "coordination" tool. They say that all the AI in the tool is "Responsible AI," which is doubtless a great comfort to workers.

In Microsoft's (mild) defense, they are not unique. Other reports in the series show how retail workers and hotel housekeepers are subjected to "despot on demand" services provided by Oracle:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/retail-hospitality

Call centers, are even worse. After all, most of this stuff started with call centers:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/callcenter

I've written about Arise, a predatory "work from home" company that targets Black women to pay the company to work for it (they also have to pay if they quit!). Of course, they can be fired at will:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/impunity-corrodes/#arise-ye-prisoners

There's also a report about Celonis, a giant German company no one has ever heard of, which gathers a truly nightmarish quantity of information about white-collar workers' activities, subjecting them to AI phrenology to judge their "emotional quality" as well as other metrics:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/processmining-algomanage

As Celonis shows, this stuff is coming for all of us. I've dubbed this process "the shitty technology adoption curve": the terrible things we do to prisoners, asylum seekers and people in mental institutions today gets repackaged tomorrow for students, parolees, Uber drivers and blue-collar workers. Then it works its way up the privilege gradient, until we're all being turned into reverse-centaurs under the "digital whip" of a centaur boss:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/25/the-peoples-amazon/#clippys-revenge

In mediating between asshole bosses and the workers they destroy, these bossware technologies do more than automate: they also insulate. Thanks to bossware, your boss doesn't have to look you in the eye (or come within range of your fists) to check in on you every 60 seconds and tell you that you've taken 11 seconds too long on a task. I recently learned a useful term for this: an "accountability sink," as described by Dan Davies in his new book, The Unaccountability Machine, which is high on my (very long) list of books to read:

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/02/despotism-on-demand/#virtual-whips

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[easyshoppi-blog]

How to Build a Gaming Computer

Building a gaming computer is a rewarding and enjoyable experience that offers the dual benefits of customization and cost savings. Whether you're a seasoned gamer or a tech enthusiast, assembling your own PC can be an exciting project. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you build a gaming computer.

1. Determine Your Budget and Needs

Before you begin, it's essential to establish a budget. Gaming computers can range from a few hundred ruppe to several thousand. Consider what games you'll be playing and at what settings. For example, if you plan on playing the latest AAA titles at ultra settings and high resolutions, you'll need to invest more in a powerful graphics card and processor.

2. Choose Your Components

Each component of your gaming PC plays a crucial role. Here’s a rundown of what you'll need:

Central Processing Unit (CPU): The CPU is the brain of your computer. For gaming, a mid to high-end CPU from Intel or AMD is recommended. Popular choices include the Intel Core i5/i7/i9 and AMD Ryzen 5/7/9 series.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU): The GPU is the most critical component for gaming performance. NVIDIA and AMD are the leading manufacturers. Consider a current-generation GPU like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series or AMD Radeon RX 6000 series for optimal performance.

Motherboard: The motherboard should be compatible with your CPU and GPU. It’s the main circuit board that connects all components. Ensure it has enough slots and ports for future upgrades.

Memory (RAM): At least 16GB of RAM is recommended for modern gaming. RAM affects your system's ability to run games smoothly and handle multitasking.

Storage: Solid State Drives (SSDs) are much faster than Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). A combination of an SSD for your operating system and games, and an HDD for additional storage, is ideal.

Power Supply Unit (PSU): A reliable PSU ensures that your components receive a stable power supply. A unit with an 80 Plus rating and sufficient wattage for your build is recommended.

Case: The case houses all your components. Choose one with good airflow and enough space for your parts and future upgrades.

Cooling System: Proper cooling is crucial to prevent overheating. This can be achieved through air cooling (fans) or liquid cooling systems.

Peripherals: Don’t forget a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and headset. A gaming monitor with a high refresh rate and low response time can enhance your gaming experience.

Building a gaming computer is a fulfilling endeavor that allows for complete control over your gaming setup. With careful planning and attention to detail, you can create a system that meets your gaming needs and provides a platform for future upgrades. Happy gaming!

[fromdevcom]

The e-commerce industry is a booming business taking over the retail and wholesale sectors. It's the digital counterpart of the physical shops people usually go to but have a more comprehensive range of products and more potential for growth because of their reach. But sometimes, sales can dwindle, leaving you and your team stuck in a rut. The following are the digital marketing methods that you can use to boost exposure and sales. Use Sales Strategies Asking for a sale is not just something that you can do face-to-face anymore. Through the power of the Internet, that’s possible anywhere around the world. Presentations don’t matter as much if you walk away without a closed deal. Your content can receive the same treatment–no sales despite the stunning website design with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) features and graphics. This happens especially if you have chaotic content. Some of the reasons you can’t make the customer stay to browse and purchase are unclear call-to-action, disorganized features, and multiple irrelevant techniques. There are ways how you can make sales through these methods: Cross-Selling. Instead of selling a set, offer them separately. If you already sold a computer monitor, you can make offers for a mouse, keyboard cleaners, and other accessories. Some will also include protection plans. The conversion rate can go up to 15% for having the choice of buying the items all from one place. Upselling. Upselling is a strategy that can play with the shopper’s decision to buy enhancements, peripherals, and upgrades of the main product from your store. You can also show the same items at two different prices. There's an actual study that shoppers often pick the more expensive of the two. Clear Call-To-Action. Your customer page must contain a highlighted BUY NOW button in the center and more call-to-action choices at the bottom page of the site. Customers will have a hard time resisting them. Attract Shoppers With Google Shopping Ads Your e-commerce business can benefit from the power of Google shopping. You can create campaigns using this feature, and Google will advertise your product right on the first results page. It tracks what users are looking for and, taking from that cue, displays your ads to various potential customers. Shopping ads are customizable, and you can upload high-quality images, ratings, price ranges, and creative descriptions that will encourage visitors to convert a sale. Google will generate a Google Ads account connected to your Merchant Center. It will also form another display of ads for those looking for a particular product. Seek Experts In The Field Business startups usually are still getting the hang of things, and digital marketing may be included in them. You may want to consider www.caffeinemarketing.co.uk, one of many online marketing experts. Digital marketing agencies are set to make sure your e-commerce business thrives. In place of a digital agency, you can choose to work with freelancers who are well-versed in digital marketing. They can take care of content creation, advertising, and website monitoring and troubleshooting. Set Multiple Communication Channels Are you allowing your customers to reach you? Some business owners make the mistake of including just a single option for customers to reach out to the company. It’s a fatal mistake to want to avoid fielding complaints. If you can’t help your customers, nobody might be interested in your business anymore. Customer engagement is one of the keys crucial to building your business. When they know you’re willing to come to their aid, they will be more likely to trust you and your business. The best way to make them feel comfortable doing business with your brand is to set up various communication channels. Use email to send out newsletters containing new product campaigns and follow-up actions when customers leave items in their carts. You can make loyal customers out of first-time site guests by following up on their purchase journey with your store.

Use search engine optimization (SEO) to your advantage by creating an in-site blog about the events and related product promotions. Customers will read about the sales you currently have. You might even opt to create discount coupons for your store products for higher conversion rates. Set up dedicated social media accounts for your store--the more, the better. You can start creating relevant content about casual topics that may have a connection to your brand and products. Be entertaining so they will recognize your brand even more. Enhance Product Visualization One thing consumers may come to realize is that online shopping can be risky. They need to be sure that what they can get is the same as on the images. This is a fundamental feature in web store design. Shoppers are becoming visual, and the way items look on the Internet can influence them whether to buy or not. Sometimes, only a picture is enough, which is why you need to make your images grab their attention. You can use tools to show a product at 360° view or utilize 3D technology to get as much realism on the product picture as possible. Shoppers know they can't hold it for the moment, but it’ll help them have an excellent online shopping experience which can also improve customer engagement and conversion. Create Mobile-Friendly Interface The global population heavily relies on their smartphones to browse just about anything. If your store is online and you want to reach as many people as possible, your e-commerce store should be mobile-friendly. It means setting your store to fit various screen sizes, especially smartphone screens. An advantage of smartphones over PC monitors is that users can use them to access the Internet anywhere and they can see your store on the spot no matter what their screen size and bandwidth are. An industry expert did a survey that confirmed the behavior of consumers. They found that 61% of visitors are likely to leave without purchasing if their phones cannot handle the size of your e-commerce store. In Conclusion The market is already saturated with e-commerce stores with the high hopes of getting six- to seven-figure revenues. But not all of them will flourish. Mismanagement can leave a store abandoned because its owners could not adapt to the changing ways of digital marketing. If you want to have a profitable online business, educating yourself should be a priority.