Thread to complain bout stuff

[tater]

The parking kiosk at the Tram here in town (tramway to the top of the mountain) is taking just shy of a minute (I timed 10 cars) to get them to pay their $2 to park. Nearly half the cars decide not to pay and make a U-turn after the kiosk (!? for $2?). The backlog means that it took my wife so long to get to our street she bailed out and drove down a different st and hiked the arroyo home from a friend's house.

They need to speed up the old guy who tells everyone the history of the tram when they pay to park.

[kerbiloid]

Maybe he is just masking some technical problems with that tram...

Like in action movies: "Stall them as long as possible!"

[YNM]

6 hours ago, tater said:

They need to speed up the old guy who tells everyone the history of the tram when they pay to park.

Maybe he want to voice his opinion that the tram should also serve the city and not just the ski resort.

[p1t1o]

On 10/7/2018 at 6:11 AM, kerbiloid said:

Maybe he is just masking some technical problems with that tram...

Like in action movies: "Stall them as long as possible!"

Suggested titles for Speed 3.

Speed 3: trapped in a transient tram tragedy

Speed 3: Just Trams

Speed 3: Tram Jam Plan

 

***

Complaint:

Ok, so 1st world problems I guess, but here we are.

So my car is a little sporty number, it wasnt the cheapest, but not exactly a supercar either. My price range was derived from the amount I was spending on my commute via public transport. Its not obnoxiously "boy-racer" but it is turbocharged and has a few extra horsepower than the base model.

The engine makes this lovely "throaty" cough-pop-warble tone, which - even though its a dinky 1.4L and probably not nearly as loud -  I think sounds similar to cars such as Ferraris and Aston Martins, you know the kind of noise I mean.

 

What do I get from people? I mean, I dont need my head polished but...

 

"Your exhaust's got a hole in mate."

"Why does your car sound like a lorry?"

"Why does your car sound so hollow?"

"It doesnt sound like a proper car."

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by p1t1o

[NSEP]

I NEED NUCLEAR THERMAL ROCKETS NOW.

I am speculating a Mars mission, and i have realized that you can send alot of cargo to Mars in only 2 launches with NTR rather than the 5-10 refilling launches per cargo mission with chemical BFR.

[kerbiloid]

5 hours ago, p1t1o said:

"Your exhaust's got a hole in mate."

"Why does your car sound like a lorry?"

"Why does your car sound so hollow?"

"It doesnt sound like a proper car."

The decent cars don't sound so.

 

3 hours ago, NSEP said:

I am speculating a Mars mission, and i have realized that you can send alot of cargo to Mars in only 2 launches with NTR rather than the 5-10 refilling launches per cargo mission with chemical BFR.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Church_of_the_Children_of_Atom

May the Great Glow favour your efforts, good man.

[Delay]

Remember how I wanted to learn Python? Yeah, they lost me.
(Actual part of their tutorials, I didn't write this (otherwise I wouldn't be complaining))

>>> # Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
>>> for w in words:
...     print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12

Okay, I understand what "words" is. But "w"? Where did that come from? What does it represent?

And as soon as they got to this point ON THE SAME PAGE, I gave up completely:

>>> def make_incrementor(n):
...     return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

Just... what's "lambda"?
"This function returns the sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b. "

I don't see two arguments anywhere. Just x on one side and x + n on the other. And x is also never defined, isn't it? Yet it works?

Maybe I'm just too dumb to figure it out, but it doesn't seem like their own definition fits their own example which they gave just a few lines below.

 

I mean, it works. I could theoretically use these in code and be done with it.
But I don't get why it works and as long as that isn't the case I'm not going to use it anywhere.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Delay
More confusion

[Bill Phil]

13 minutes ago, Delay said:

Remember how I wanted to learn Python? Yeah, they lost me.
(Actual part of their tutorials, I didn't write this (otherwise I wouldn't be complaining))

>>> # Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
>>> for w in words:
...     print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12

Okay, I understand what "words" is. But "w"? Where did that come from? What does it represent?

And as soon as they got to this point ON THE SAME PAGE, I gave up completely:

>>> def make_incrementor(n):
...     return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

Just... what's "lambda"?
"This function returns the sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b. "

I don't see two arguments anywhere. Just x on one side and x + n on the other. And x is also never defined, isn't it? Yet it works?

Maybe I'm just too dumb to figure it out, but it doesn't seem like their own definition fits their own example which they gave just a few lines below.

 

I mean, it works. I could theoretically use these in code and be done with it.
But I don't get why it works and as long as that isn't the case I'm not going to use it anywhere.

If I recall, "for" loops can be used to define variables. "w" is defined in the "for" loop. Either that or it's some predefined thing...

Lambda is a function where you can define an input and then what happens to the input. So "x" is just whatever the input number is, and "x+n" is what the function actually does, and then that gets returned as the value for the incrementor.

[Delay]

...but what happened to the second variable before the colon? a, b: a+b, but in the actual example there's just one.

and x still is never defined to be any value. Does Python default to 0? Because If I understood it correctly the default for any unspecified value is "None".

[razark]

The x is given a value in the two statements f(0) and f(1).  The number in parentheses is what x is set to.

It's defining a mathematical function f(x) = x + n.  The n is defined in the f = make_incrementor(42) statement.

Create function f, such that f is equal to the previously defined make_incrementor(n), with 42 as the value of n.
make_incrementor is defined as x+n.  Therefore, f is defined as x+42.

[Delay]

How do you know that x is modified by f()?
Because looking over it, it looks like n is being redefined every time.

[0111narwhalz]

1 hour ago, Delay said:

Remember how I wanted to learn Python? Yeah, they lost me.
(Actual part of their tutorials, I didn't write this (otherwise I wouldn't be complaining))

>>> # Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
>>> for w in words:
...     print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12

Okay, I understand what "words" is. But "w"? Where did that come from? What does it represent?

This for loop can be read as:

for each element w in the collection words do the following

The use of single-letter variable names is traditional in loops.

1 hour ago, Delay said:

And as soon as they got to this point ON THE SAME PAGE, I gave up completely:

>>> def make_incrementor(n):
...     return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

Just... what's "lambda"?
"This function returns the sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b. "

I don't see two arguments anywhere. Just x on one side and x + n on the other. And x is also never defined, isn't it? Yet it works?

Maybe I'm just too dumb to figure it out, but it doesn't seem like their own definition fits their own example which they gave just a few lines below.

 

I mean, it works. I could theoretically use these in code and be done with it.
But I don't get why it works and as long as that isn't the case I'm not going to use it anywhere.

ahh, lambdas
Lambda expressions are essentially math functions. A lambda expression like lambda a, b: a+b describes a function f(a,b) = a+b
Similarly, our lambda x: x + n describes the function f(x) = x + n

Lambda expressions can have any number of arguments, just like math functions and code functions, and some languages even allow multiple return values. They're most useful for inlining functions and for passing simple functions as delegates, or your language equivalent.

10 minutes ago, Delay said:

How do you know that x is modified by f()?
Because looking over it, it looks like n is being redefined every time.

In Python, I suppose lambda expressions must be some kind of object. make_incrementor(n) constructs a new lambda object, with a built-in value of n. When you invoke the lambda later, it refers back to the value of n you set earlier.

Edited October 8, 2018 by 0111narwhalz

[razark]

10 minutes ago, Delay said:

How do you know that x is modified by f()?

By looking at the results, honestly.

10 minutes ago, Delay said:

it looks like n is being redefined every time.

n is only redefined when you call make_incrementor().  f is assigned a new thing as defined by make_incrementor, with a value of 42 for n.

f(0) returns 42 (0+42).
f(1) returns 43 (1+42).

 

I can see what it's doing, but I have no experience with doing this in Python, and I am a horrible teacher.  Sorry I can't explain it any better.

[Delay]

17 minutes ago, razark said:

By looking at the results, honestly.

Not really helpful?

[razark]

12 minutes ago, Delay said:

Not really helpful?

If you understand what result you get for a certain input, you can figure out what is happening.

That, and the only varying input if the f(number).  Therefore, it must be modifying something, and x is the only thing left for it to modify.

[RoadRunnerAerospace]

What just happened here

[Geonovast]

I feel so gross.

 

Like, I actually wanted to take a shower after doing this.

 

Today, I had to...ugh..

 

Install Windows 10 on something.

Because Brethedge won't run correctly in WINE.

 

 

The good news is that you can, in fact, install Windows 10 with a Windows 7 key.

[LordFerret]

Explaining an RJ-11 jack to a Verizon store employee, and why I have need for one.

"A what?"

[kerbiloid]

58 minutes ago, LordFerret said:

Explaining an RJ-11 jack to a Verizon store employee, and why I have need for one.

"A what?"

He thought that you want a robot.

Spoiler

 

[richfiles]

Mac OS has iWretched™ full screen functionality... If I want to take a window full screen, ALL my other monitors blank out. It's stupid! I can't full screen a YouTube video in Apple's browser and work on something else at the same time. There's an option to treat each monitor as a separate desktop, but then I get three separate and identical menubars on the top of each screen, separate but identical docks at the bottom of each screen, and things get glitchy if I want to span one window across two or more screens... It's iAwful™

Queue Chrome...

I used Chrome, because it used it's own full screen implementation that would simply full screen the window to the ONE screen, without interfering with any other screen...
Guess who just abandoned their own fullscreen implementation and switched to Apple's, for a "more consistent user experience"... There are things I want to say to Both Apple and Google right now that are simply put, not appropriate for this forum... So I'll also complain that I must stay silent and not vehemently, verbally vent vile, vitriolic verbiage... Those dumb derps... 

The best I can do without butchering my "screen spaces", as Appul™ likes to call it is to tweak a few flags that makes fullscreen fill out the Chrome WINDOW... not the screen.

For clarification... I don't actually give Apple any of my money anymore. I've mentioned in the past that my build is a Hackintosh. Apple has not made a desirable Mac since the 2010 Mac Pro. Expandable, Accessible... Actual PCIe slots... Replaceable drives... Apple's gone down hill since they lost Jobs. Don't get me wrong... Jobs was never a saint either, but he understood what the customers actually wanted. Cook  just runs Apple like it's a fashion show. Get this season's latest bling-bling! Toss that old garbage from last season! No, that's premium Apple glass, no you can't replace that! That would be "counterfeiting"! Eat an iPhone XS, Crook...

I read about their latest stunt(s). A man in Europe sent original iPhone LCDs to China to have new glass installed on them (the LCD was fine, the top glass was cracked. There's a way to remove it, and reinstall new glass onto it). Apple got customs to seize the refurbished LCDs under the lie that they were "counterfeit", since they had the Apple logo on them... OF COURSE they did!!! Apple had them manufactured originally, cause they WERE GENUINE Apple parts... With new glass. Apple can't just arbitrarily redefine what refurbish means (they want refurbish to only mean if THEY refurbished it, not if you refurbished it)

Apple has also implemented the capacity to disable their newest Macbook Pros from being able to boot if third party repairs or modifications are detected (Say, an LCD is replaced, or the SSD, or the trackpad)... They electronically serial number all the major replaceable components, and now, if the machine tries to boot, it's possible to check if the parts are the ones it was manufactured with, and flag the boot process. It's not known if this is an ability they are prepared to activate with a software update, or something they already implemented... But it's a capability they have now. It's downright anti-consumer. It creates a monopoly by locking out all repair service providers (and even self repair) and ties you to Apple service or no service, and most of the time, Apple just charges so insanely much for repairs that they just segue into the new replacement sales pitch...

On top of that, there's the fact that Apple has utterly abandoned the power user. Back in the day, Jobs used to brag about performance. Near the end, things went bad though... The Power PC chips were great early on, but they simply were not a scalable design. They hit hard clock speed limits. My 400 MHz G3 back in 2000 could run circles around a Pentium II clocked similarly, and could about match my P-III at 733 MHz. The irony, is that G3 didn't even have a CPU fan. It just had a small aluminum heatsink that caught airflow from the case fan. That's all it needed to perform! The G4 had a few areas where it excelled, but they had a hard time bumping the clock speeds, and it fell behind the competition. They had to slap massive coolers with direct fans and heat pipes to get their peak speeds. The G5... To achieve it's clock speeds, they ended up switching to liquid cooling! Yikes! They switched to Intel chips, cause they saw Intel would quickly and FAR surpass the PowerPC architecture...

Now, where was I going with this? There are strong rumors Apple wants to switch to ARM processors... The same thing they use in the iPhones and iPads... But they want to build their entire desktop lineup with that. A PHONE processor. I get that phones and tablets are incredibly powerful today... But they still don't hold a candle to a proper desktop CPU from Intel or AMD. There's no comparison. Apple already abandoned power users by making their entire lineup put form over function, a sin they've been committing for nearly a decade. Who needs performance when you can make a computer thin! Who cares if it thermal throttles! It's PRETTY, so pretty! Now the rumor is they will switch to phone processors... I don't know if that's gonna happen or not, but it does spell the end to one thing... Hackintoshes.

Apple's already switched core CPU architectures twice already... First from Motorola's 68000 series to IBM's PowerPC, and then to Intel's x86 and x64 series. Both times they managed a nearly seamless transition... Which is actually pretty impressive. They could do it again. If Apple DOES abandon Intel architecture... It'll be the end of the Hackintosh. No more cheap PC hardware Macs. To run a Mac, I'd have to actually give Apple money, and with their current anti-consumer, anti-repair attitude... I'll NEVER give them so much as a penny.

I'd as soon just build a Linux box as my primary rig... Mind you even that's becoming a can of worms I'm not even gonna touch... Ugh...

It just makes me sad though... Apple fell so far from the original tree... The Apple II was a beautiful platform. Open, expandable, accessible... It had that nice cover that popped off so easily! It was a machine built by a nerd, to satisfy the wants of other nerds... My, how far they've fallen... Now it's a fashion statement for hipsters who don't care about how awful a company Apple is being, and just want to show off the expensive toy. It's the all in one you buy for grandma to facetime with the grandkids, cause that's the most CPU intensive thing that machine will ever, EVER do. First and foremost... Apple is the iPhone... Nothing else matters. Everything is tangental to the iPhone's success. Everything Apple does these days is centered on the iPhone. They're trying to make the mac more like an iPhone... But the original core Mac users want a MAC, not a bigger iPhone that isn't actually a phone. I liked Mac OS's interface... Once... But it strays farther and farther from what it once was. It adopts more and more from the iPhone, and I get more and more frustrated by it... Eventually, I'll just end up abandoning it. I just DON'T wanna use Windows... I can't stand Windows... 

It's getting to be that there are NO good options it seems...

Edited October 9, 2018 by richfiles
Seriously... i just started out whining about Chrome... Then the news had to drop the Apple repair blocking news... Oh boy...

[YNM]

12 hours ago, LordFerret said:

RJ-11 jack 

I've always called it the "phone cable" or "LAN cable" ! Didn't know it has a name like such.

15 hours ago, Geonovast said:

Install Windows 10 on something.

Had to install win 7 on win 10.

8 hours ago, richfiles said:

Apple's gone down hill since they lost Jobs.

They've gone downhill before losing Jobs.

Thankfully my only experience with an i-Product was the iPhone 3GS. And then it was stolen.

Glad then we just stick to other stuff.

[Geonovast]

13 minutes ago, YNM said:

Had to install win 7 on win 10.

Why not Windows 95?

I was going to just do 7 since it's vastly superior to 10, but then I heard about this, and I figured I should at least check it out.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

18 hours ago, Delay said:

Remember how I wanted to learn Python? Yeah, they lost me.
(Actual part of their tutorials, I didn't write this (otherwise I wouldn't be complaining))

>>> # Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
>>> for w in words:
...     print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12

Okay, I understand what "words" is. But "w"? Where did that come from? What does it represent?

You can define local variables inside for loops in many languages. 

Python takes a odd approach with for loops, it's more consistent and easier to write, but a bit harder to learn. For example, in JS for loops look like this:

for (i=0;i<=10;i++) {
  	//stuff
}
for (/*perform at start of loop;exit condition;perform every cycle*/) {
  	//
}

With the option of using this syntax:

for i in array1 {
  	//stuff
}
//This defines i as an iterator with a value of 0, then sets the exit condition to the length of the array, and advances i by one every cycle

But python makes you define a special range and then use the for x in syntax.

18 hours ago, Delay said:

And as soon as they got to this point ON THE SAME PAGE, I gave up completely:

>>> def make_incrementor(n):
...     return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

Just... what's "lambda"?
"This function returns the sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b. "

I don't see two arguments anywhere. Just x on one side and x + n on the other. And x is also never defined, isn't it? Yet it works?

Maybe I'm just too dumb to figure it out, but it doesn't seem like their own definition fits their own example which they gave just a few lines below.

 

I mean, it works. I could theoretically use these in code and be done with it.
But I don't get why it works and as long as that isn't the case I'm not going to use it anywhere.

Essentially, this is a special kind of function. Setting the variable f to make_incrementor(42) works somewhat like a normal function, where the 42 is passed to the make_incrementor function, but the lambda inside the function means that assigning that function to f has a special meaning: to change the variable that is passed to the function to the one right after the lambda and before the colon, in this case, x.

After that, f can work like any other function, except x, rather than n, gets passed to it. If it helps, I have almost never needed (or wanted) to use lambda.

[Delay]

51 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

to change the variable that is passed to the function to the one right after the lambda and before the colon, in this case, x.

so the only way to then change n is another f = make_incrementor(another value)?
The value you'd normally type in (as f(value)) is instead used as x and n is unchanged?

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

3 minutes ago, Delay said:

so the only way to then change n is another f = make_incrementor(another value)?
The value you'd normally type in (as f(value)) is instead used as x and n is unchanged?

I believe so. I'm not 100% sure about how it works, and I definitely don't know how it would work in more complex cases, I'll try to test it. I don't know whether I have a working python IDE right now.