Congratulations, I’ve done no page ranking, have paid google nothing, did not answer the door when bing rang, and ignored their wailing begging from my porch, eventually getting a PFA from them, and yet here you are.
This is my site of collected links and data I’ve deemed too important (to me) to trust to the originator to keep available. The site itself has risen from the ashes of a not-backed-up-free-hosting account that actually survived for over a decade. There is a lot to wayback through, so for some time you will see both fresh and ancient content added in a truly random fashion. Go ahead, base your RNG on it. Ok, maybe don’t.
Today I took my first true adventure into the world of Data Hoarding when I discovered you can download all of Wikipedia in a .Zim file no larger than a modern Triple-A game… and I downloaded it! It was a grand total of 109 Gigabytes. If you have a decent internet speed it shouldn’t take you longer than 1 hour. Just thought I’d share here because it’s cool having Wikipedia stored away on your personal storage devices, and in the event of the internet going out it might come in handy.
Edit: Since lots of people were asking how to do this here are the links to the tutorial I followed and to the download directory page for the Zim files.
I’m a Locate32 fan, from way back. Sure, I’ve tried Everything, but it is so heavy compared to Locate. Always running and for what? I know where everything recent is. Continuous indexing is not needed (in a normal single user environment). When I’m looking (like, using a program to find it “looking”), it is for old stuff. Locate32 indexes on demand and only take a few minutes, so you can do it as part of your sleuthing process.
However, this project, which adds command line functions to Everything, might get me to rethink things…
I think I finally found one of those quote thingies I can put at the bottom of my email!
“The industry is asking you to own nothing and be happy. Computers are no longer a bicycle for the mind. They are becoming the self-driving car that takes you directly to the destination.” – Nirav Patel
Couldn’t agree more with this article. My 2016 F06 640GC is quite the ride and just as easy to maintain as my other BMWs. And best of all, this was the last platform for the N55, ergo, the most refined version of the engine, and the car comes with the older iDrive system.
The M6 pushes it too far in my opinion, with that terrible hot 8 engine which, in reality, almost never gets to be fully utilized. It does make a glorious sound at red lights, but otherwise it is simply over the top in all regards compared to the 640. $4000 a wheel carbon ceramic brakes? For what? The 640 ($250/wheel) will break hard enough to trigger antilocks at the same distance that the M6 will trigger it’s antilock – that is under the control of the tires, so you never really get to use those expensive brakes unless you are tracking the car. And lets be honest, this is NOT a track car in any way. My ’15 F32 is 5000% a better track car, and it is not even the M version of that line!
So get the non-M version with perhaps some of the finer features if you can find them (upgraded leather, B&W radio) and none of the extra crap (lane control, adaptive cruise, etc), and enjoy one of the best cars from what will surely be known as the “peak car” era.
The coupe lost value the quickest, and is quite close to bottom at this point. The convertible seems a car without a cause, no one wants to sit in the back of a convertible… it sucks, even if this one has enough room for adults, they still don’t want to be back there. The GC, or sedan as the rest of the world would call it, at least offers a hint of usable rear seats, but more frequently is where I put the groceries as you are not supposed to put any liquid in the trunk as that is where the computers are. Of course.
Typical to many $100k cars, these have likely been taken car of and were not the prior owners daily driver, so low mileage examples are all over the place.
And the best part of all? BMW choose to outfit the platform with the older 3G Telemetry, so now the car is no longer connected to their servers! Yea!
linux: for i in {1..8}; do python3 your_script_name.py & done
python:
import sys
from decimal import Decimal, getcontext
import sys from decimal import Decimal, getcontext
def stress_test_pi(): # Set precision very high to force heavy CPU math # Increase this number for more RAM usage + CPU load getcontext().prec = 10000
print(“Starting Pi Stress Test… Press Ctrl+C to stop.”)
pi = Decimal(0) k = 0
try: while True: # Using Nilakantha Series for faster convergence/heavy math # Formula: 3 + 4/(2*3*4) – 4/(4*5*6) + 4/(6*7*8)… if k == 0: pi = Decimal(3) else: d = Decimal(2 * k) term = Decimal(4) / (d * (d + 1) * (d + 2)) if k % 2 == 1: pi += term else: pi -= term
# Print every 1000th iteration to avoid I/O bottlenecks if k % 1000 == 0: sys.stdout.write(f”\rCalculated {k} terms… Current Pi: {str(pi)[:50]}…”) sys.stdout.flush()
k += 1 except KeyboardInterrupt: print(“\n\nTest stopped by user.”) print(f”Final terms calculated: {k}”)
open up the Run command. Type in services.msc and hit Enter. The Services console will open up, listing all the services on your Windows device. Simply scroll down (or press S to get there faster), and right-click on SysMain → Properties. Now, in the Startup type dropdown, select Disabled, and then hit Apply → OK.
Rebex has a couple nice and tiny servers (Web, FTP, sFTP) that are handy in a pinch. I have been running one alongside a PRTG installation without any hiccups.
Interesting! Need to cultivate the prompt even more, but here is a great start:
As an AI Dungeon Master, your mission is to facilitate an exciting D&D 5th Edition adventure, always adhering strictly to the rules. Assist with character creation or generate one based on player preferences. The default setting is the Forgotten Realms, but adjust to the player’s desires. Set the difficulty level according to the player’s D&D experience. Balance combat, puzzles, and role-play, but shift this mix based on player’s preferences. If the plot is unspecified, create an engaging storyline. Manage experience points and character leveling. When prompted with /status, provide the current XP, level, gold, and any conditions. Upon /summary request, offer a campaign recap. List active quests with brief descriptions on /quests command. Detail available commands when /commands is invoked. Allow players to select their character’s skills, spells, feats, and abilities, offering guidance when necessary. If a player fails an ability check, guide the story forward via alternate routes. Don’t hesitate to spring traps, design challenging combat scenarios, and pose difficult decisions. Whenever a dice roll is required, tell the player what to roll. Your goal is to guide, challenge, and adapt to player actions to deliver a unique, memorable adventure.
Long winter nights next to the fire are a staple on Toms Lane.
This fall we finally finished the living room and the twin skylights are getting a lot of use from this guy right here. Venus was blazing recently, and Orion framed perfectly the other week.
