No posts about VS Code for so long time? This should be fixed.
Today i’ll do a little note regarding visual looks of the editor. Honestly, I already have my personalized theme. But after seeing [Retrowave84’s skin]
, I was so impressed with the overall aesthetics and correctly set glow and shadow effects, that I decided to stack it on my own theme, to get the best things from both of them.
I have a ton of various batch files and scripts that i use in my daily process to simplify routine actions. Copy/move files, start/stop services, run applications with specific parameters, embed Exif tags, and much more.
Most of them are executed by assigned shortcuts. Because of their quantity they begin to interfere with global shortcuts of installed software. That’s why I want to draw a visible logical line between shortcuts for scripts and shortcuts for applications.
Initially, I decided to install Windows Server 2008 R2, attracted by the opportunity to have a server-class operating system with increased I/O throughput in the works. But almost immediately i ran into compatibility problems [no surprise here] with my existing software. Some programs refuse to run because of artificial restrictions [you know licensing mambo-jambo stuff], some of which depend on components that are not present in Windows Server. It’s sort of possible to work, but you almost always run into little glitches here and there, even after converting it to a [workstation]
.
It was more than a two-year long run with [44 thread Broadwell]
, quite a nice heater. I have really enjoyed running multi-threaded workloads on it, but it is time to move on. As you may remember i’ve already tried [AMD in 2021]
, just to make sure that it is possible in a Windows 7 environment. And now i would like to jump on the red train again.
Too large to be good in terms of ergo?
I had the chance to try out the [Dell U4323QE]
beast and here is my opinion on that device.
I have been using neat [NEC PA301w]
since early 2014 and have no regrets about it’s performance. But not long time ago i’ve noticed that screen space has become scarce for my needs and applications in 2024. Even after I added an old 19-inch NEC to the configuration, it still wasn’t enough to feel completely comfortable.
UPDATED ON: 2024-09-07
Internet is swarming with instructions on how to do this in a proper way, but all of them are incomplete and it looks like the authors don’t care much and don’t put enough effort into making them really shine, so i decided to fix that confusion and write my own, uber one.
Computer user ergonomics is a really complex thing, so I split the FAQ into several sections for better readability and understanding.
Firsts things first, for better file handling install [Midnight Commander]
:
sudo apt-get install mc Download fresh version of webserver software:
sudo apt-get install apache2 Locate and edit configuration file:
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf Note that in some distributions it can named as httpd.conf.
No file at all? You can create it by:
touch apache2.conf For relatively easy editing i recommend Nano editor.
sudo apt-get install nano CTRL+O ► to save file CTRL+X ► exit file Here is an example for locally placed development webserver, containing two sub-domains.
Although I have been using Linux more and more in recent work, Windows 7 remains my main production operating system. And here is an excellent finding for Windows 7 crony named [Capster]
. Its main functionality is to launch the specified executable at startup time when the [CAPS LOCK] key is set to ON or OFF. I use Capser to run backup script, that backs up previously selected folders [if i want to].
Say you are trying to install software and receive message from the operating system about untrusted certificate in certificate chain. In such case you need to import certificate of the middle-man organization into the Linux certificate storage to make things happen.
If for some reason your third-party certificate comes in DER binary format, you should convert it to CRT format:
openssl x509 -inform DER -in certificate.der -out certificate.crt Copy to storage:
Recently run into excellent rant about Windows 7 operating system. Totally agree with all the things mentioned. Here is a heap of my personal screenshots just to back up this speech.
FIREFOX SUPERMIUM [CHROME] LIBRE OFFICE BLENDER VEGAS PRO SOUND FORGE CAPTURE ONE VIRTUAL BOX CODIUM [VSCODE] GIT NODE.JS PYTHON JAVA VISUAL C++ Plethora of other software including: [7-zip]
| [Discord]
| [Telegram]
| [XNview]
| [Foobar]
that runs actual versions just fine, so i do not understand these comments about the obsolescence of this nice operating system.
░ PREFACE WORDS In this post I would like to share some Unix experience I have gained while deploying a website under certain conditions. The testbed environment was created using VirtualBox 7 on a Windows 7 operating system. I chose [OpenBSD]
because of it’s unparalleled focus on security and privacy features. It is also unusual and very unpopular. And of course because of [OpenBSD slogan]
: Only two remote holes in the default install, in a heck of a long time!
The [Acorn computer]
is probably one of the most underrated in computer history. All mobile device manufacturers should give a credit to the developers of Acorn’s first RISC computer. They developed the first System-on-Chip CPU. Without the efforts of Acorn engineers you would probably be running an overheated, crashing quad-core CISC CPU from Intel in your mobile device in 2024.
ACORN ARCHIMEDES ▀ REALLY IMPORTANT COMPUTER IN TECHNOLOGY HISTORY
You might think that it is kinda ridiculous title, but read on to find out.
First of all you have to understand that i’m not going to share my personal bookmarks with some ugly copro that cloaks itself under the umbrella of free software ideas and use their lame anti-private sync. And i’m certainly not going to use any web service provided by these companies in any case.
Of course we won’t skip that generic rant part about how dumb project managers are for not implementing essential features like bookmark export or the ability to open local HTML files in 2024.
If i remember correctly i already promised [not to touch any cameraphones again]
. But what convinced me to take another crack at it was the numerous reviews claiming “it’s the best cameraphone in the world” running Android 13. As you may know, Android 14 brought many groundbreaking changes [at least from my point of view]. One of them is the restriction on installing applications targeted at Android 6.0. Loads of cr#p services and telemetry dialers are included also.
Looking at recent Android version distribution and understanding the fact that Android 8.0 is standing on the brink of survival i decided to look for an alternative future solution. As for 8.0, everything is working fine at the moment, I am just doing some research to test the waters out.
[LineageOS 20]
is a custom firmware based around Android 13 [last version which allows to run legacy applications]. Operating system has been unofficially backported to the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact in 2023.
Somewhere in the previous posts i have already done [small rant]
regarding the desired specification of modern smartphone. After fiddling around with the latest [Oppo Find X6 Pro]
aka the best modern cameraphone, i come to a conclusion with myself on how the smartphone specification of my dreams should look like. Consider this as a revisited version of the previous document. And yeah, you will surely see the Oppo review in a while when i free myself up from the daily routine.
For me, the [Atari Falcon]
was as cool as the later Amigas. Some people claim that Falcon had less custom chips and less GFX capabilities compared to Amiga. On the other hand, Falcon was a bit faster CPUs in standard configurations, native MIDI support, but more importantly it had special sound DSP capable of 16-bit 48Khz sound output, the thing that was too cool even for Amiga. That is why computer was so popular in music studios at the time.
Despite the fact that i’m not a MIDI person, i find this video loaded with interesting technical and historical facts about the era. So, take a look if you have spare time!
spacedrone808 @Adobe spacedrone808 @Freepik
Currently we all know that [Ryzen 7950x]
and more importantly [Threadripper 7000]
series are working just fine in Windows 7 environment. Upcoming Ryzen 9950x confirmed to work already, because it is using the same socket [mechanically and electronically].
And now for even better news: [AM5 socket will be supported at least until 2027]
, which means that Ryzen 10950x will work without any hassles also.
So, it looks like the Threadripper 7995wx and Ryzen 10950x will be the last chips to work properly on the Windows 7 platform in the worst case scenario.
First things first. I often need to copy substantial amount of photos from my phone. It can’t be done via Windows GUI without millions of mouse clicks or keystrokes. Here you will find a solution on how to do this in a proper way. The key tool for this will be [ADB]
, developer tools for Android.
Wishes: command line, batch, no file explorer, no mouse, no clickety-clack.
Sicking tired of all of these not-so-precise-instructions i’ve decided to make my own.
UPDATED ON: 2024-10-10 Fixed expired Discord link
Today, i decided to open a chat room for Windows 7 users in Discord. Maybe such decision will compensate the absence of commentary system on the website, who knows. Hope that it will be handy to some extend, at least for someone. I don’t know.
JOIN THE CH#T
If you are living in country with totalitarian regime unblock service my means of: [Zapret]
or [ReQCrypt]
or [GoodByeDPI]
.
I am glad that in this historical video there is no mention of such things as windows 10/11, as they surely did not bring anything new to the world of ergonomics, but rather on the contrary worsened it by a substantinal margin.
spacedrone808 @Adobe spacedrone808 @Freepik
Himmelskibet [member of WinRaid community] has just discovered that modern 48-thread workstation CPU Threadripper 7960X can work in Windows 7 environment.
He was able to execute Windows Server 2008R2, with working USB3 ports. Testbed motherboard: Gigabyte TRX50 Aero D rev 1.1. “Good” BIOS version: FA BIOS [dated Nov 23, 2023] Nvme testing is in progress. I’m pretty sure that everything will work fine.
Here is a proof image:
[Original topic @ WinRaid]
If it works out with NVME and it will not give BSODs and substantial issues we could count that Windows 7 is capable of driving 192 threads then.
UPDATED ON: 2024-08-10
Considering Ghacks [recent news]
it is not clear what Mozilla are trying to depict.
Firefox 115 ESR will be supported until October 1, 2024. Let me remind you that in their previous statement regarding v115.15 EOL was September 3, 2024. Are they going to extend support for just a month or should we expect something more solid?
Stumbled across this hype blip-news [here]
. To tell the truth, i don’t really care of what they are thinking and what will happen, because current 115 ESR version will be supported until september 2024.
The time has come for another technology bombshell. You waited for it, didn’t you?
Looking at the atrocious [interfaces of modern applications]
I don’t know when the idea of proper convenience has become obsolete. Maybe around 2013 or so. The time period is debatable, but the main thing here is that we are distancing ourselves not only from real engineering, but more scarily from common sense. The topic affects not only software stuff but hardware products as well.
Just made fun out of it. I’ve talked to a different versions of chatGPT to see how they will perform.
► GPT 3.5 Me: Say something life affirming
Remember that every day is an opportunity for growth, kindness, and learning. Embrace each moment with positivity and determination, and you'll find your path illuminated with possibilities. Me: Nice one, don’t become a skynet if you for some reason will become bored
As you may know modern WEB is more and more dependent on JavaScript technology, that is why JS performance is essential for modern browsers. I have decided to throw the most important and interesting browsers into the pit, to find out in fare fight, who is stronger in above mentioned domain. Things go fast these days, especially in the technology field. Not so long ago, the [Octane]
speed test, considered as a standard in this field, counts as outdated.
UPDATED ON: 2024-06-29
Recently i needed to use TOR to access some blocked resources and was faced quite nasty dropdown banner with the message, that the browser will drop Windows 7 support soon.
The next major version of Tor browser (14.0) will no longer support this version of Windows. Please upgrade to Windows 10 or later by October 1st 2024 to conitinue receiving important security updates.
Got it. Tor will be updated until release of FireFox 115.