The random chat thread for throwing out things that don't matter

5G isn't nearly as revolutionary as people are talking about. Remember early deployments of 4G LTE? They were BLAZING FAST. Now 4G is slow slow slow. Back in the day I would get better speeds on 3G HSPA+. Of course, speeds aren't everything. Reliability and coverage are major factors and in that sense 4G is a big leap over 3G. And in the same sense, 5G is a big leap over 4G. T-Mo 5G deployment has created better signal overall for the few using it. It also seems more stable, as mobile networks are rarely as stable as a proper home internet (that doesn't suck). 

But how fast is 5G? It isn't. With very very few people using it, it's often below 100 Mpbs. Now milimeter wave 5G is what gets the insane speeds people think about when they think 5G, but it's trash. Basically have to be within line of sight of a tower, so move a foot and it's gone. Not truly feasible outside of select locations. 

Tl;dr don't expect 5G to revolutionize the way we use data. With my experiences using 5G, it's not gonna change much at all. But it's nice. 

When I built my PC nearly six years ago, it was mostly high end. Top of the line CPU, great GPU, solid power supply. But the one thing I skimped on was case. An NZXT Source 210 satiated my desire for a simple, minimalist case that didn't scream custom PC. Unfortunately, it had USB 2.0 front I/O. And I dealt with it. For nearly SIX YEARS. Pulling dozens of 25MB RAW photos off an SD card, moving a terabyte of data from a USB hard drive... all agony. Now i'm finally upgrading my PC little by little and I'm in the future. Present. Past? It's only 3.0, or 3.2 as it would now be called. Since we have USB 3.2 Gen 1, Gen 2, and Gen 2x2 ahead of it. 

Also my cousin kindly gave me two SSDs. One 128GB from an old laptop, basic 40mm M.2 drive in a little SATA adapter board. And a 512GB NVME SSD, which is awesome. I named the 128GB "Gameboi" and 512GB "Gameboi Advanced" to store some games. Well my old Z97 chipset motherboard doesn't support NVME, so I bought a PCI-E adapter board for it. Works great, around 2,600 MB/s read and 1350 MB/s write according to CrystalDiskMark. Plenty fast for me. It did drop my GTX 1080 to PCI Express 3.0 x8 rather than x16 but that has had no effect on games. Unfortunately, I did end up breaking Gameboi's SATA board. It was very flimsy and I am big dumb brute. 

So I threw that into an old 40mm M.2 enclosure I had. Can't seem to find those anymore. All the M.2 enclosures now are twice as long and take modern 80mm drives, but this one is a stubby tiny guy and I love it. Only downside is the Micro USB 3.0 connector. Transferred a 60GB game from the USB 3.0 enclosure plugged into my new front panel to the NVME drive at 390 MB/s, glorious! 

So I guess this is the wrong thread, since it's for things that don't matter, and this does.... But I'm putting it out there...

If you have a mortgage with an interest rate over 4% it is highly advisable to consider refinancing. The current state of the world economy has driven interest rates into the ground. Mortgage rates are at an all time low, the US national benchmark is at 3.29% for a 30 year conventional!!!

If you don't have a mortgage, now is an excellent time to buy.

Many banks and credit unions are offering even lower than national average. My credit union is offering 3% right now. This can equate to savings tens of thousands over the life of the loan. 

Many economists are saying to get the loan approved but don't rate lock quite yet... They expect to see mortgage rates drop into the 2s.

Oh yeah. 

 Its that time of year. This was the first of many days to come when the temps are going to be in the 60s for the rest of the month. I decided to unpack the pizza oven. Going to take the cover off on the car and change the oil. 

 The last few months were torture.  I know its spring when there is an uptick on the forums and sales for Scions starts coming in. 

Posted by: @marsrock7

So I guess this is the wrong thread, since it's for things that don't matter, and this does.... But I'm putting it out there...

If you have a mortgage with an interest rate over 4% it is highly advisable to consider refinancing. The current state of the world economy has driven interest rates into the ground. Mortgage rates are at an all time low, the US national benchmark is at 3.29%!!!

If you don't have a mortgage, now is an excellent time to buy.

Many banks and credit unions are offering even lower than national average. My credit union is offering 3% right now. This can equate to savings tens of thousands over the life of the loan. 

Many economists are saying to get the loan approved but don't rate lock quite yet... They expect to see mortgage rates drop into the 2s.

Good advice, especially if you have a fairly new mortgage. But if you've had a mortgage for several years you better do the math of total costs to make sure there is savings worth your time.

@dave

Indeed. Although, if you are the investing type, having a large amount of home equity (illiquid capital) is generally a bad move, especially with rates this low. Borrow the max (usually 80% to avoid having to pay mortgage insurance) at 3%, and reinvest the liquid funds elsewhere. Any decent investor should be able to best 3% all day long 🙂

Wow. This is some incredible stuff. 

 Like car forums don't trust anyone that speaks from a position of complicating the math. Just because you don't do the math you should never believe anyone especially those that pretend to know that throw up graphs, charts and equations. Same thing with youbute video presenters.  If a person is continuously rebuilding engines there is a good reason why but for some weird reason people  think the guys is knowledgable and knowns what he is doing.  So who do you believe, you don't but its all food for thought until verified but more often than not trust those that actually win races and have very little issues. 

 Here is a great example of how stupid people have become. Don't be a lemming, use some critical thinking skills. The most sophisticated liars are those use some truth to make the other part of their narrative stick. 

@dev

Well, math is a very important aspect of understanding how the physical world works.  Couple the mathematical equations with functional graphs, and you have a visual that more times than not, provides very broad and useful information that supports the theory being investigated.  Now can math be misapplied, absolutely, and its application to fundamental principles should always be verified.  👍 

Posted by: @neomr2

@dev

Well, math is a very important aspect of understanding how the physical world works.  Couple the mathematical equations with functional graphs, and you have a visual that more times than not, provides very broad and useful information that supports the theory being investigated.  Now can math be misapplied, absolutely, and its application to fundamental principles should always be verified.  👍 

 

 Math is important for the purpose of illustration but  the problem often is  you need to understand the premise of the narrative that the math is based on otherwise you get locked into a box where the math works which is the con because it appears smart.  The more complicated the math the easier it is to gain peoples confidence where that reality makes sense. A prime example is car dealerships using industry tools like Kelly blue book. 

 The video in question is a prime example of how people believe in titles or credentials like being on the NY Times editorial board. What is more troubling is that there is a chain of producers that this information has gone pass without any scrutiny.  All of those people should be fired for a lack of journalistic integrity. Forget that they don't do the math, they are not doing their job. 

This is exactly how people get invested in various emotional causes and when they are given a counterpoint they get abrasive by devolving into being dismissive by resorting to personal passive aggressiveness to cause a disruption and distraction from their own embarrassment. Often times this is followed by some stupid third party moderator that blames both to also hide the indiscretion.   

Posted by: @dev

The video in question is a prime example of how people believe in titles or credentials like being on the NY Times editorial board. What is more troubling is that there is a chain of producers that this information has gone pass without any scrutiny.  All of those people should be fired for a lack of journalistic integrity. Forget that they don't do the math, they are not doing their job. 

I agree with this 100%...  

Here is another one.  

@dev

LOL...

I love AOC... we need to keep her in office for life, if for nothing other than entertainment purposes.

 One more.