[X] My Assistant

What is the point of locking CPUs to a particular vendor like Dell / Lenovo etc?


Apparently its for Data centres to prevent hacked hardware? Must be increasingly common. I suppose VPNs have had that issue. Probably as cloud becomes more distributed it must be required.


edit: Oh, and CPU suppliers also like it because it can stuff around the recycling and 2nd hand market.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Jan 24 2022, 02:21

What is the point of locking CPUs to a particular vendor like Dell / Lenovo etc?
Apparently its for Data centres to prevent hacked hardware? Must be increasingly common. I suppose VPNs have had that issue. Probably as cloud becomes more distributed it must be required.
edit: Oh, and CPU suppliers also like it because it can stuff around the recycling and 2nd hand market.

It may just be a measure to prevent too many free second-hand CPUs that can steal the market (like the old Xeons that hit sales very hard in areas like Africa and Latin America), or they are simply bastards who want to sell silicon and equipment constantly

NFTs smell like a speculative bubble with people buying in the hope that confidence will increase enough for them to sell their nothing for profit in the future.

its like buying a stock that gives you nothing and no rights, but possibly a something that is not guaranteed to do anything but might make a profit.

Most of them now look like trash images made with procedural generating.


Also NFTs will ruin crypto because the retarded NFT bros are expecting/empowering the market place platforms that facilitate trades to police trades and enforce governance...

Its like they went full retard and went full circle justifying why Banks exist and recreating the status quo that crypto was supposed to disrupt.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Jan 24 2022, 06:34

…or .they are simply bastards who want to sell silicon and equipment constantly

That's what it is. Gotta have returns and growth for stockholders.

Its like they went full retard and went full circle justifying why Banks exist and recreating the status quo that crypto was supposed to disrupt.

Yeah, it turns out people who blindly try to embrace new technologies because they are shiny aren't always very smart.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 24 2022, 07:02

That's what it is. Gotta have returns and growth for stockholders.Yeah, it turns out people who blindly try to embrace new technologies because they are shiny aren't always very smart.

I'm kinda surprised by how many people:
a ) Really do not understand copyright and genuinely believe that using NFTs and blockchain allow them to steal rights. "Its on our ledger therefore it is ours to use"

b ) Understand the issues but use it to scam so many people. "Trust us, we can totally do this because its a machine that is managing the rights, and you can't sue a machine"

Switch to a different channel

Also try analogue audio and see if you get anything. Could be you have dead (audio) channels.

I went into my settings and there was this setting that gave you the option of choosing different audio languages when applicable, and I selected English then backed out of the menu screen. Now the audio is working for some reason.

NFTs smell like a speculative bubble with people buying in the hope that confidence will increase enough for them to sell their nothing for profit in the future.

NFTs are the ponzi scheme of the 21st century

Also NFTs will ruin crypto because the retarded NFT bros are expecting/empowering the market place platforms that facilitate trades to police trades and enforce governance...

The current cryptocurrencies are ruined anyway, in fact, quantum computing would make any current software obsolete, added to the fact that many currencies are already almost exhausted and/or monopolized (such as bitcoin)

This post has been edited by RepStormy: Jan 24 2022, 16:50

Thought: I hate comcast so very, very much.

Have been using a SOCKS5 proxy (via SSH being tunneled over ADB via USB from an android phone) coupled with OpenVPN to connect to the web since this morning.

Managed to get play Starcraft 2 on my old surface pro thanks to Nvidia Shield thingy on my desktop computer.
It was a specific low attention map, and there are still things to think about to make stuff more in the best possible way, still I could watch TV on the screen normally used by my desktop computer while playing a game that don't go through with remote desktop, and it worked much better than expected.

Someone Zoom-bombing an Italian senate event with Final Fantasy Tifa porn was pretty hilarious.

Article with video: [www.sankakucomplex.com] https://www.sankakucomplex.com/2022/01/20/e...ate-zoom-event/

For those who want to archive it: [files.catbox.moe] https://files.catbox.moe/yhlb0y.mp4

It's amusing they still haven't fixed it yet, but then again, it's probably user error where they generated the short numerical link rather than an invite link that's dozens of characters long, and then CC'd it to someone they shouldn't.
(IMG:[files.catbox.moe] https://files.catbox.moe/elosk5.jpg)

This post has been edited by chriseras: Jan 26 2022, 09:36

ROG Theta 7.1. It sounds really good (idk about $300 good) but it sounds way better than anything else I've used. They do take a bit to get used to just because the amount of detail. It's also super good with movies since you can hear everything from a whisper to a fart. I'd recommend but they seem a bit too expensive, especially since they aren't Bluetooth.

ROG Theta 7.1.

you have two ears, two good speakers on your ear are going to do more than a bunch of shitty ones in overpriced plastic

The problem with 7.1 headphones was the price to performance but the price of headphones in general has doubled.

When you could get the audio technica ath a700 for $100 dollars, it defeated the purpose of most of the 7.1 headphones. Though now the A700x are like $300-350.

The headphone that used to blow them out of the water have gone way up in price, or for some like (DT990/770) once you add an amp, the price is more than the 7.1 headphones.


So maybe the ASUS ROG theta is not too bad for price anymore, depending on your setup and if you have multiple consoles etc.

Its in the premium gaming headset category rather than audiophile headphones.




This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Jan 28 2022, 03:43

'Audiophile' is a funny way of saying "gullible person with more money than brains."

I will continue to use my objectively shit bose OE2's until either prices drop or it becomes impossible to continue gluing them back together.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 28 2022, 10:08

'Audiophile' is a funny way of saying "gullible person with more money than brains."

I will continue to use my objectively shit bose OE2's until either prices drop or it becomes impossible to continue gluing them back together.

Really depends, in marketing it definitely can be. If you are buying the best audio gear for the lowest price then you end up with a strong value for your budget.

If you are spending $10,000 on magical speaker cables or the legendary Denon AKDL1 then you are correct.

The more you spend the less value you get at each price point though.

I couldn't afford to replace my current headphones as the prices have all doubled.


The reviews on the Denon AKDL1 are hilarious:
[www.amazon.com] https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicate...customerReviews

The minute I plugged this cable in, I knew something was amiss. The first evidence? The small wormhole that appeared in our living room, right next to our holstein cowhide recliner.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Jan 28 2022, 12:36

Really depends, in marketing it definitely can be. If you are buying the best audio gear for the lowest price then you end up with a strong value for your budget.

If you are spending $10,000 on magical speaker cables or the legendary Denon AKDL1 then you are correct.

The more you spend the less value you get at each price point though.

I couldn't afford to replace my current headphones as the prices have all doubled.
The reviews on the Denon AKDL1 are hilarious:
[www.amazon.com] https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicate...customerReviews

What I should have said is, "if something is labelled as being for audiophiles, it's overpriced."
It's like the "gaming pc" parts tax.
About the reviews:
The "Rift in space-time continuum" one was fantastic, especially considering my parents bought a dyson ball vac when the power cord on their old vacuum cleaner failed. So I got a free vacuum cleaner (an older Dyson model). IDK why they didn't think to replace the plug, especially since it always got noticeably warm right where the cord came out of it after it had been used. Seems a perfectly reasonable thing to think of when the vacuum just suddenly doesn't turn on one day.

That's the only thing on that list they have, but since they think Bose is the best and my dad buys apple products, I still worry about them.
(IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/2ldgDqp.png)

CAUTION! This cable is fine if you use just one at a time. We had one on our system for several months and experienced no adverse effects; in fact we had never felt better.

But one week when I was away on a business trip, my wife bought a second one and hooked it up to the same system. When I spoke to her on the phone that evening, she was already giggling like a schoolgirl. I knew then something was wrong! By the time I got home, I found only a preschool girl, living on graham crackers from the cupboard and wiping her hands on the cat.

Only then did I full realize the terrible power of the fluoropolymer insulation's anti-aging properties. Thank goodness I got home in time! But now I've got a good 15 years to wait before my wife is old enough to have sex with again. But I threw one of the cables out, and keep the other one under my mattress, so at least I'll still be young enough to enjoy it when that day finally comes.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 29 2022, 03:08

What I should have said is, "if something is labelled as being for audiophiles, it's overpriced."
It's like the "gaming pc" parts tax.

Normally I'd disagree, but I can't afford most of my set up anymore, due to the prices going up so insanely.

I can't afford to replace my DAC and AMP, they need to last forever now.

Recent second hand prices:
Headphones +$500 price increase (100%)
DAC +$2000 price increase (100%)
AMP +$600 price increase (110%)

I could sell them for a profit? Second hand, wtf. Is this due to manufacturing/supply chains or just lolercoaster inflation.

I probably couldn't buy the exact AMP even if I wanted to, the manufacturers only sell them exclusively to virtually nobody now. I think you have to join some secret club to get them. I have no clue how their business model works, I think they just like the idea of 'audiophile' rather than selling product.


The Ath - A700s were audiophile but cheap, but now they cost like 3x more than they used to.

I might have a skewed definition of "expensive."

I might have a skewed definition of "expensive."

My gear was expensive originally, now its just stupid.

Its like graphics cards, their price is getting dumb.

My gear was expensive originally, now its just stupid.

Its like graphics cards, their price is getting dumb.

physically, i do not see a reason a couple coils and magnets on a band should cost multiple hundreds of dollars (note that I am not talking about the open backed ones or anything like that, just conventional headphone technologies). Even with nice leather pads. Especially not when produced in huge quantities.

This is having done speaker repairs as a job in the past. Sure, some speakers have better frequency responses than others,

My guess is most of these multiple hundred dollar headsets cost about $20-30 to make AT MOST (if cost of machinery is divided between every unit shipped). Even wireless ones or noise cancellers (maaybe $40 for noise cancellers). My guess is most conventional passive wired ones, in the quantities they make them, cost about $8-15 a pop.

If you add rechargeable lithium ion batteries, I can see it pushing $50.

I think 100% markup is more than reasonable, but I guess people's concept of what headphones from these enormous companies should cost is fucked.

Anyway, wired two-speaker headphones definitely should not cost more than $30 or so to produce.

Consider for a moment that the price target for the enormously complicated capacitive sensing keyboards of IBM ("Model F") was $30 in 1981, according to their inventor, Richard Harris.
Sure, that's $90 today, but the keyboard is far more than three times as complex, and has many more electronic components inside. for over a hundred low-tolerance springs, the capacitive resin for the hammer mechanism, the tempered steel backplate, the circuit board itself, and the byzantine custom-made IBM chips for the actual capacitive sensing and decoding, the foam sheet that sandwiches between the backplate and barrel plate, the barrel plate, the over 100 PBT key caps, AND the plastic or metal (depending on model) casing. The amount of raw material needed in headphones is far lower, there are no special chips in most basic wired ones (maybe passive filtering components, though - capacitors, inductors, that sort of thing). I think that's a great deal more than the sum of parts in a set of conventional (non-open-backed) wired monitors. AND those boards had novel designs; conventional headphones' basic shape, function, and parts are the same as they were two decades ago. Perhaps the plastic membrane/rubber surround is more pliant/higher quality or something, but the speaker itself is not significantly changed in shape or size or construction.

TL;DR: Conventional wired two speaker headphones are not a new or groundbreaking product, and I am sure Monoprice could undercut even the prices of a decade ago significantly and still make a good product with good profits.

EDIT: lol monoprice is robbing people blind, too. I guess this "monolith" line is a "lets see if we can break into the stupids market" tactic.
[www.monoprice.com] https://www.monoprice.com/pages/headphones_earphones_sale

These look to be a more honest value, although I'd need to have a pair on my ears to tell. Too bad the cable isn't detachable... but that's nothing a drill and some hot glue can't fix.
[www.monoprice.com] https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13191

Edit again: I see some over-ears that are wired without noise cancelling now.

And someone's already done the mod I'm talking about on them. Neato.
(IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/fYpqMVi.jpg)

Edit: shit, these and the over ears are so cheap, even combined, that I might actually buy a pair of each and report in on them. Costs about what a good Game Boy Advance or NDS game used to cost ($35-40).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 30 2022, 08:12