Random thoughts that are pointless and too dumb to say anywhere else thread! **2025**

[nate82]

23 hours ago, zurch1818 said:

My work Surface Pro 4 from 2015 is getting replaced. I literally use it for doing some basic Excel/Word/presentations, web surfacing, and remoting into my desktop (which is definitely meant to run engineering software). There is no other software on it. My surface works...but it just seems slow and the fan runs more frequently when I'm watching YouTube videos. 

My question, is this slow speed mostly because one the following:

1) It's perceived because I'm used to my supercomputer desktop. I will add that I have a home desktop also from 2015 that still seems fast. I did upgrade the storage drive from a HD to SSD (after the HD failed), but that's it. I believe my home desktop has 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB...but both computers have 64bit OS's.

2) Software creep. Programs just required more computing power than 10 years ago. The OS has always been Windows 10.

3) Hardware degradation.

I remember my surface being much faster than it is now...even on boot up, so I don't think it is only 1... especially when comparing with my home desktop. My hunch says it's more 2 than 3...but I don't know.

The thermal paste on the cpu and the cooling has probably dried up and you probably have a lot of dust and other things clogging up the fan.  This would explain the fan.  The long boot up is probably Windows being Windows.  If you don’t need anything on your Surface or if you have everything backed up you could try and factory reset.  Sometimes when Windows updates itself it will create bad registry entries or even duplicate them which will cause some slow boot up problems.  Your SSD in the Surface could also be dying.  SSD’s unlike HDD’s have a lifespan far shorter than a HDD.  Though it is unlikely consumers hit the SSD’s lifespan limits as they don’t do as many transfers or writes as data centers do.  Your SSD also should only be about 80% full if you go over 80% it starts to hurt its performance.

LOL calling your computer a super computer.  I have 26 GB more RAM on my desktop and most applications today require about 2-4GB of RAM.  Video games on a PC can reach up to 16-24GB of RAM usage and PhotoShop will eat as much RAM as you can give it along with some other engineering applications.  Depending on the software it could also require about 2-4 GB of vRAM.  Your PC will be almost out of memory (RAM) if you upgrade to Windows 11.  Windows 11 requires 4GB at a minimum which means your PC will need to use your hard drive to cache for the other programs.

You maybe in need of an upgrade for your PC at some point also depending on what you use it for.

[zurch1818]

3 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I'm guessing it is a combination of #1 and #2.  I don't know if degradation would be the issue.  There is an SSD built into the Surface Pro, so hard drive fragmentation wouldn't affect it quite as much.  Odds are the standard "agent" type things that run on your workstation simply take up more memory.  This is causing more paging and the system is slower.  ☹️

I'm sure this is probably part of the issue. Our IT department is really putting some bloatware on this PC. It's complete overkill with how I use the PC.

2 hours ago, nate82 said:

The thermal paste on the cpu and the cooling has probably dried up and you probably have a lot of dust and other things clogging up the fan.  This would explain the fan.

That makes sense. I do a much better keeping desktops cleaner as they are easier to open up. I don't even want to begin taking apart my surface. I believe work is going to decom the PC. Maybe I'll try to snag it for home use as they are going to get rid of it?

2 hours ago, nate82 said:

LOL calling your computer a super computer.

My work computer is definitely more of a super computer than my phone one...and probably more in line with the PC you are describing. 32GB of DDR5 RAM, i9 processor with 20 cores (including 2 efficiency cores). I don't remember the exact specs as it's maybe 1.5 years old...but I will say, it is great for running code and running engineering finite element models.

Now my home computer, yea...not a super computer. I'll probably update it soon. My home PC is just sooo much faster than my surface. I just don't my home PC for much, so It will probably be a while. I know I can't put Windows 11 on it, so maybe this fall I'll upgrade when 10 falls out of support.

[Brian]

Why are physical measurements like height's and weight's on players always fudged? 

Seen Kenley Jansen on MLB Network and he is listed at 6' 5" - 265 lbs, when he is every bit of 300 pounds. 

Just wondering? 

[CheezWizHed]

8 hours ago, Brian said:

Why are physical measurements like height's and weight's on players always fudged? 

Seen Kenley Jansen on MLB Network and he is listed at 6' 5" - 265 lbs, when he is every bit of 300 pounds. 

Just wondering? 

TV adds 15%

[wallus]

Police is not pronounced anywhere near how it is spelled 

[Jimbo]

42% of Antarctica is a territory of Australia.

 

[greeg35]

On 4/18/2025 at 6:35 PM, Brian said:

I am so sick of MLBN's Brian Kenny talking like Ellie De La Cruz is:  Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth all combined into "ONE."  Is he ******** or just a homer color commentator on extasy?  He gets so excited wets his pants talking about Ellie a guy with a .240 avg and only 3 home runs even to the point of saying  "He is a great dancer also"  ***.  He has to be a "beef smoker."  

What's a "beef smoker"?

[young guns]

I'm now regretting not taking a picture, but I had a plastic fork where the middle two tines were bent towards the outsides. It was a spock fork, or a spork if you will.

[Samurai Bucky]

Whenever I am in a meeting with a Chinese lady, I think about the Family Guy skit with the untouched directional.

[NeedMoreFans]

I drove from Madison to Kenosha and back this weekend.  Today on the way home, I decided to start counting personal injury lawyer billboards.  I thought of the idea around the Mitchell interchange, so that's where I started my count.  Between there and AFF, I counted 12 billboards (including digital billboards, one of which went from one lawyer ad to another).  I missed some billboards due to needing to pay attention to traffic.  There is a noticeable drop-off of all billboards past the zoo interchange, and hardly any exist in Waukesha County (to the point where I wonder if there is a county ordinance against them).  There were just a handful of lawyer billboards in Jefferson and Dane Counties.  But 12 in that short stretch of highway in Milwaukee seemed excessive. 

[CheezWizHed]

13 hours ago, NeedMoreFans said:

I drove from Madison to Kenosha and back this weekend.  Today on the way home, I decided to start counting personal injury lawyer billboards.  I thought of the idea around the Mitchell interchange, so that's where I started my count.  Between there and AFF, I counted 12 billboards (including digital billboards, one of which went from one lawyer ad to another).  I missed some billboards due to needing to pay attention to traffic.  There is a noticeable drop-off of all billboards past the zoo interchange, and hardly any exist in Waukesha County (to the point where I wonder if there is a county ordinance against them).  There were just a handful of lawyer billboards in Jefferson and Dane Counties.  But 12 in that short stretch of highway in Milwaukee seemed excessive. 

Maybe you should open a lawsuit against the county for that... 

[Samurai Bucky]

15 hours ago, NeedMoreFans said:

I drove from Madison to Kenosha and back this weekend.  Today on the way home, I decided to start counting personal injury lawyer billboards.  I thought of the idea around the Mitchell interchange, so that's where I started my count.  Between there and AFF, I counted 12 billboards (including digital billboards, one of which went from one lawyer ad to another).  I missed some billboards due to needing to pay attention to traffic.  There is a noticeable drop-off of all billboards past the zoo interchange, and hardly any exist in Waukesha County (to the point where I wonder if there is a county ordinance against them).  There were just a handful of lawyer billboards in Jefferson and Dane Counties.  But 12 in that short stretch of highway in Milwaukee seemed excessive. 

I remember the many times I drove to Indy or Cincy -- "The HAMMER!"

I guess that is good advertising, but I don't know the guy's name.

[hawing]

Oh, you guys.  I can't put this on other socials so you get to read it here. 

Some of you know that I work in a library on the UW-Madison campus and employ college students.  One of them went through commencement on Saturday, looked at his grades yesterday, and realized he'd blown off Music 113 (Badger alumni might recognize this as Music in Performance, aka Clap for Credit) and got an F.  He's now one credit shy of graduation and has to find something to take this summer if he wants to be done before his lease ends in August. 

All you have to do for that class is listen to music 50 minutes per week and write 100-250 words on what you heard each week.  It's as close to a You Had One Job class as UW-Madison offers. 

I don't want to laugh at him, but I do want to laugh out loud.  I did tell him it probably won't be terribly long until he can look back and laugh at this. 

[CheezWizHed]

26 minutes ago, hawing said:

Oh, you guys.  I can't put this on other socials so you get to read it here. 

Some of you know that I work in a library on the UW-Madison campus and employ college students.  One of them went through commencement on Saturday, looked at his grades yesterday, and realized he'd blown off Music 113 (Badger alumni might recognize this as Music in Performance, aka Clap for Credit) and got an F.  He's now one credit shy of graduation and has to find something to take this summer if he wants to be done before his lease ends in August. 

All you have to do for that class is listen to music 50 minutes per week and write 100-250 words on what you heard each week.  It's as close to a You Had One Job class as UW-Madison offers. 

I don't want to laugh at him, but I do want to laugh out loud.  I did tell him it probably won't be terribly long until he can look back and laugh at this. 

"Clap for Credit" - Classic😂

These are the learning opportunities that some people need.  Welcome to adulthood!

[Samurai Bucky]

2 hours ago, hawing said:

Oh, you guys.  I can't put this on other socials so you get to read it here. 

Some of you know that I work in a library on the UW-Madison campus and employ college students.  One of them went through commencement on Saturday, looked at his grades yesterday, and realized he'd blown off Music 113 (Badger alumni might recognize this as Music in Performance, aka Clap for Credit) and got an F.  He's now one credit shy of graduation and has to find something to take this summer if he wants to be done before his lease ends in August. 

All you have to do for that class is listen to music 50 minutes per week and write 100-250 words on what you heard each week.  It's as close to a You Had One Job class as UW-Madison offers. 

I don't want to laugh at him, but I do want to laugh out loud.  I did tell him it probably won't be terribly long until he can look back and laugh at this. 

I will follow along -- 🤣

I was in the band, so taking Mike's (Leckrone) Legendary Performers and Big Bands were pretty easy.  I took the Orchestra one, too. A little tougher.  I remember a lot of people talking about Clap for Credit, but I never took it.  It took a turn when they required kids to scan their id.  LOL!

[Brian]

Are dogs smart?

 

[homer]

20 hours ago, hawing said:

Oh, you guys.  I can't put this on other socials so you get to read it here. 

Some of you know that I work in a library on the UW-Madison campus and employ college students.  One of them went through commencement on Saturday, looked at his grades yesterday, and realized he'd blown off Music 113 (Badger alumni might recognize this as Music in Performance, aka Clap for Credit) and got an F.  He's now one credit shy of graduation and has to find something to take this summer if he wants to be done before his lease ends in August. 

All you have to do for that class is listen to music 50 minutes per week and write 100-250 words on what you heard each week.  It's as close to a You Had One Job class as UW-Madison offers. 

I don't want to laugh at him, but I do want to laugh out loud.  I did tell him it probably won't be terribly long until he can look back and laugh at this. 

I have a dream that is very similar to this situation every so often. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

29 minutes ago, homer said:

I have a dream that is very similar to this situation every so often. 

Same!  

[owbc]

21 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I will follow along -- 🤣

I was in the band, so taking Mike's (Leckrone) Legendary Performers and Big Bands were pretty easy.  I took the Orchestra one, too. A little tougher.  I remember a lot of people talking about Clap for Credit, but I never took it.  It took a turn when they required kids to scan their id.  LOL!

Back in my day (LOL) there was a Facebook group called “UW easy class list” and I remember “Clap for Credit” was universally considered the easiest class at UW-Madison. Nobody is going to believe that story it’s so crazy haha. 
 

I also have this dream so I feel very bad for the student who is living our worst nightmare, but my dream is always involving a very difficult math class so there was never an easy way out. 

[LouisEly]

5 hours ago, homer said:

I have a dream that is very similar to this situation every so often. 

Nice to know I'm not alone in this.  Although mine isn't at end of semester, it's that halfway through the semester I realize there's a class that I forgot about and haven't been attending.

[GAME05]

39 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Nice to know I'm not alone in this.  Although mine isn't at end of semester, it's that halfway through the semester I realize there's a class that I forgot about and haven't been attending.

I've had this same one. A little once/week nothing class on Wednesday that I just totally forgot I had until near the end of the semester. Do I just start showing up now that it's too late to matter? Will they forget about me, too?

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Nice to know I'm not alone in this.  Although mine isn't at end of semester, it's that halfway through the semester I realize there's a class that I forgot about and haven't been attending.

SAME HERE EXACTLY! 

Always a relief waking up and realizing that isn't the case.  Really weird thing is I graduated college 35 years ago and this still comes up a few times a year.  

Wow, the mind is a crazy thing...

[Samurai Bucky]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Nice to know I'm not alone in this.  Although mine isn't at end of semester, it's that halfway through the semester I realize there's a class that I forgot about and haven't been attending.

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

Wow, the mind is a crazy thing...

I have had those too.  LOL.  Of course, I have had one where I am going to watch the football game at Camp Randall, and then somebody says, "Oh, there you are!  Did you learn the (halftime) show?"

[NeedMoreFans]

6 hours ago, TURBO said:

SAME HERE EXACTLY! 

Always a relief waking up and realizing that isn't the case.  Really weird thing is I graduated college 35 years ago and this still comes up a few times a year.  

Wow, the mind is a crazy thing...

Me in my dream, walking past the classroom the class is in..."It's ok, I dropped that class, right?"  It's so odd that so many people have this exact dream. 

Hawing, I too have seen a student get an F in Clap for Credit.  It was actually quite a red flag because if you're not passing that class, how are you doing in your other classes?  Students love that it's repeatable for credit as well, so many take it 3 times.  

[Jimbo]

On 5/15/2025 at 7:44 AM, homer said:

I have a dream that is very similar to this situation every so often. 

We've all had this dream.  It's been documented, saw it in an article years ago.  It was something like ten years until I got over it.