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Tech myth debunk thread

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This thread is for TECHNOLOGY related myths only. The LTT forum is not the place for conspiracy theories about politicians and aliens. 

If the thread goes off topic again it will be locked and warnings may be issued.

1 minute ago, wasab said:

Lol, thanks for commenting. Benevolent means kind for those who do not know.

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25 minutes ago, wasab said:

That ZDNet article is a poor defence... and it's also from February, with a lot of things having changed between then and now.

 

More importantly, though, you're making a fairly simplistic argument that isn't really going to sway anyone.  The kind you'd expect from an 18-year-old who's trying to convince everyone that they know how the world works.  Besides, you're not really in a position to talk about debunking myths -- everyone here knows you're a diehard Linux zealot who's not exactly grounded.

 

Me, I'm going to keep using the Apple gear I'm genuinely happy with, acknowledging the company's flaws but not feeling like I have to toss everything out because the company isn't perfect.

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5 minutes ago, Commodus said:

That ZDNet article is a poor defence... and it's also from February, with a lot of things having changed between then and now.

 

More importantly, though, you're making a fairly simplistic argument that isn't really going to sway anyone.  The kind you'd expect from an 18-year-old who's trying to convince everyone that they know how the world works.  Besides, you're not really in a position to talk about debunking myths -- everyone here knows you're a diehard Linux zealot who's not exactly grounded.

 

Me, I'm going to keep using the Apple gear I'm genuinely happy with, acknowledging the company's flaws but not feeling like I have to toss everything out because the company isn't perfect.

Thanks for cleaning that up!

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11 minutes ago, Commodus said:

That ZDNet article is a poor defence... and it's also from February, with a lot of things having changed between then and now.

 

More importantly, though, you're making a fairly simplistic argument that isn't really going to sway anyone.  The kind you'd expect from an 18-year-old who's trying to convince everyone that they know how the world works.  Besides, you're not really in a position to talk about debunking myths -- everyone here knows you're a diehard Linux zealot who's not exactly grounded.

 

Me, I'm going to keep using the Apple gear I'm genuinely happy with, acknowledging the company's flaws but not feeling like I have to toss everything out because the company isn't perfect.

I ain't talking about Linux here am I? Iol. 

 

Obvious myths deserve only simplistic answer. Apple do not make superior products and they like to sue small competitors. You are gonna disagree with that? ?

Sudo make me a sandwich 

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Just now, wasab said:

I ain't talking about Linux here am I? Iol. 

 

Obvious myths deserve only simplistic answer. Apple do not make superior products and they like to sue small competitors. You are gonna disagree with that? ?

But it's not "obvious."  Apple makes some devices that are clearly better than the competition (Apple Watch, iPads in some respects), and most of its lineup still qualifies as "pretty good."  I don't think Apple has a magic touch that makes everything better, but I'm using Apple gear because I find it superior for my tasks.

 

And my beef is partly that you're a member of the Only Apple Does Bad Things cult, where you act as if Apple is uniquely flawed while other vendors are comparatively squeaky clean. You're not really trying to debunk myths, you're just trying to claim a sense of superiority.

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4 minutes ago, Commodus said:

But it's not "obvious."  Apple makes some devices that are clearly better than the competition (Apple Watch, iPads in some respects), and most of its lineup still qualifies as "pretty good."  I don't think Apple has a magic touch that makes everything better, but I'm using Apple gear because I find it superior for my tasks.

 

And my beef is partly that you're a member of the Only Apple Does Bad Things cult, where you act as if Apple is uniquely flawed while other vendors are comparatively squeaky clean. You're not really trying to debunk myths, you're just trying to claim a sense of superiority.

No, I am a member of the Anti Apple Does No Bad Thing Cult. Don't confuse the two. I am a watchdog, I criticize. Nothing more. I never even mention apples competitor on here. Apple simply do not make superior project and their corporate pratices are shady. Period. 

 

 

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Few more things:

 

It's fine if you turn off the page file

Aside from some programs explicitly checking for one, there's another reason to not turn off the page file: it limits how much memory is available to the system and not in a way most people would expect. When applications request memory, often times more than what they requested is reserved so that they can have room to grow. However, the OS will only reserve that chunk of memory for the app to use, but not actually give the app that chunk of memory until the app actually uses it. This is what's known as a commit.

 

The problem with turning off the page file is you leave the commit size the same as physical RAM. When apps start requesting more memory space than physical RAM you have, the OS will deny it, saying the system is out of memory. However, since commit does not necessarily mean how much is in actual use, you will see the system having "free" RAM, but apps complaining there is no memory left. If you had a page file, all of the committed but unused memory will be stored there and there's virtually no performance penalty for doing so since it's likely a simple update to the OS's memory table. It's when the application starts requesting data in the page file that's a problem.

 

Google is dumb for using Java as one of the main Android app programming languages because of how "insecure" Java is.

This stems from the confusion that Java, the programming language, is different from the Java virtual machine environment, or the JVM/JRE. It's the JVM/JRE that's a problem, not the language. Google instead built something called Dalvik, then later Android Run Time, to run Android apps made using Java.

 

Using GPU-Z/MSI Afterburner/etc. to view VRAM usage is an accurate way to determine how much VRAM you really need to run a game

I'd argue it's more of a ballpark estimate rather than anything resembling an pinpoint way of determining how much VRAM is needed. As a measure of proof to this, I found TechSpot's Far Cry 5 GPU testing. On the last page they reported how much VRAM was being used and at 4K the highest reported usage was 4.2GB. If the idea that how much VRAM being used is how much you really need to run a game, then it's surprising when the GT 1030, a GPU that has 2GB of VRAM, didn't crash and burn at 4K. Its performance is more or less in-line with what was expected.

 

There was also an option in Call of Duty: WWII that caught my eye: you can set an option to tell the game to use up all available VRAM. It's probably for shader caching or whatnot.

 

Having a smaller CVE list means that item is more secure

If you don't know, a CVE list is a list of known vulnerabilities software or hardware has. I can debunk this by saying Windows 98 is more secure since it has only 84 vulnerabilities on its CVE list. Meanwhile Linux has 2229. Even a 5 minute crash course on basic computer security will tell you how insecure Windows 98 really is.

 

I argue that, counter-intuitively having a larger CVE list is better due to the following:

  • By the time a CVE item has been posted, the vulnerability has been studied extensively and a fix or mitigation is already out there.
  • Security is more about how much you know. By having as much information about the system as possible, you know what vulnerabilities exists and how to deal with it. And heck, on vulnerability may lead to another that you can account for. The real issue is not knowing what's vulnerable.
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12 hours ago, JovanD said:

That static can kill your PC...
Many times when i was static charged i would get zapped when trying to plug in usb, the spark would go from my finger to usb port metal shield/ground, nothing would happen to pc, id get a unpleasant shock on the other hand, happened many times in the office.

Static is not really a problem for PCs that are already built and plugged in.  The issue with static is when during assembly.  Static is a known Killer of components which is why the industry invests heavily in mitigating it. 

 

1 hour ago, wasab said:

No, I am a member of the Anti Apple Does No Bad Thing Cult. Don't confuse the two. I am a watchdog, I criticize. Nothing more. I never even mention apples competitor on here. Apple simply do not make superior project and their corporate pratices are shady. Period. 

 

 

Some people just don't like their precious companies being criticized.  

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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  • 5 months later...

So I figured I'd make an attempt to revive the Tech Myth Debunking Thread, and hopefully it won't turn into a mess haha.

 

So one thing I've always heard (Like even before the Verge) was that you absolutely needed an anti-static bracelet, which is not entirely true, because you can just make sure you are touch any metal surface while currently working on a system to de-static yourself. Then of course the obvious things, don't work on a computer on a carpet or a place known to generate static.

 

I have also heard that it is bad to turn off a computer by the power button, which I know at one time was true because it actually had a process it needed to go through, but now is no longer a fact.

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2 minutes ago, Caroline said:

You need an allen wrench and tweezers to install a motherboard.

I also heard once that you need specifically a table.

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4 minutes ago, Yogi_DaBear221 said:

I have also heard that it is bad to turn off a computer by the power button, which I know at one time was true because it actually had a process it needed to go through, but now is no longer a fact.

To clarify this - it's still not a good idea to do a "hard reset" (Eg: holding the power button down for 3-10 seconds - equivalent of flipping the PSU main switch off or unplugging it). However, if you just press the power button once normally, it will initiate a shutdown command (or other command, which you can configure in the Power settings) - this has been the case since at least Vista - probably before that too.

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AMD CPU's don't need an AMD GPU

Intel doesn't only work with Nvidia cards

 

Mix and match to your heart's desire like it's a furniture store going out of business

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9 minutes ago, Caroline said:

You need an allen wrench and tweezers to install a motherboard.

dont forget the swiss army knife!!

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You don't need  an anti static bracelet. Socks and sandals are your best  defence against tenacious carpet charge. In fact if anything is truly vital for building  a pc, it's proper footwear.

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4 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

To clarify this - it's still not a good idea to do a "hard reset" (Eg: holding the power button down for 3-10 seconds - equivalent of flipping the PSU main switch off or unplugging it). However, if you just press the power button once normally, it will initiate a shutdown command (or other command, which you can configure in the Power settings) - this has been the case since at least Vista - probably before that too.

on a computer my mom gave me because it was ultimately junk the case power button literaly stopped everything immediatley, completely shut it off.

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1 minute ago, St. Nick said:

You don't need  an anti static bracelet. Socks and sandals are your best  defence against tenacious carpet charge. In fact if anything is truly vital for building  a pc, it's proper footwear.

yeah as long as you wear shoes with rubber bottoms and dont rub your head around on a couch for 20 minutes like a child your probably fine 

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4 minutes ago, scuff gang said:

on a computer my mom gave me because it was ultimately junk the case power button literaly stopped everything immediatley, completely shut it off.

Interesting - either it was incredibly ancient, or that was something motherboard specific - the switch is literally just a simple mechanical open/close switch. By default the circuit is closed. When you hit the switch, you open the circuit, which causes an action.

 

In all modern motherboards, this will initiate a command that will depend on what your settings are set to - normally either initiate sleep, or initiate shutdown sequence.

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15 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Interesting - either it was incredibly ancient, or that was something motherboard specific - the switch is literally just a simple mechanical open/close switch. By default the circuit is closed. When you hit the switch, you open the circuit, which causes an action.

 

In all modern motherboards, this will initiate a command that will depend on what your settings are set to - normally either initiate sleep, or initiate shutdown sequence.

it wasnt incredibly old... the cpu was an amd phenom 4 64, not to be confused with phenom ii 4. it is a ddr2 mobo

it was probably a mobo specific thing, it was a gigabyte s series GA-MA78GM-S2H

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18 minutes ago, Yogi_DaBear221 said:

So I figured I'd make an attempt to revive the Tech Myth Debunking Thread, and hopefully it won't turn into a mess haha.

 

So one thing I've always heard (Like even before the Verge) was that you absolutely needed an anti-static bracelet, which is not entirely true, because you can just make sure you are touch any metal surface while currently working on a system to de-static yourself. Then of course the obvious things, don't work on a computer on a carpet or a place known to generate static.

 

I have also heard that it is bad to turn off a computer by the power button, which I know at one time was true because it actually had a process it needed to go through, but now is no longer a fact.

 

Anti-static mat's, clips and clothing are more for specific environments that generate static, like carpeted offices/bedrooms. If the place you work on a has hardwood, linoleum, tile, or even bare concrete, you're not going to generate static from wearing just socks or shoes on it. I've never killed a device from ESD, but the only time my local environment gets bad enough for static is during the winter. As an example my high school, and my grandparents place when I was 16 were both high-ESD environments. 

 

As for "flipping the switch", Old AT-style power supplies mechanically removed the power when you flipped the switch, the same way as flipping off the surge protector did. There were even old "under the monitor" style power strips that had buttons for "PC, Monitor, Printer". These were pretty bad.

 

ATX style power supplies still have mechanical power switches on most of them, but the actual front button switch actually goes to the motherboard and the standby power is always running. So these machines can be in any state from fully off (mechanical switch flipped) to "on, but sleeping" and thus people tend to make more mistakes about opening the machine without physically unplugging the machine first since you can't really tell if it's off.

 

One persistent myth is the idea that when a SSD gets to the end of it's life that it becomes read-only. No it doesn't. It becomes unreadable or inaccessible. It entirely depends on how the manufacturer decided to manage it. Likewise, flash drives , despite being "solid state" are still devices that hold a charge, and thus leaving them on a shelf is likely to have that retention charge lost. And if the drive isn't re-written/re-imaged at some point, eventually the data will start going bad.

 

Thus the next myth, "there is no permanent storage media", which is kinda true if you're not willing to pay for it. Blueray recordable and m-disc DVD media theoretically will last 1000 years. If you kept it in a thermally protected vault. There is however nothing that lasts 1000's of years because we don't have anything that can read things we've discovered that are over 1000 years at present. Many of those scrolls, and carvings are worn out from the environment and people discovering them and generally not doing anything to preserve them or keep them from being vandalized. So if you wanted to preserve digital data, in theory, for ever, you would need to somehow create an entirely self-contained device that will last equally as long to read it.

 

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47 minutes ago, Yogi_DaBear221 said:

So I figured I'd make an attempt to revive the Tech Myth Debunking Thread, and hopefully it won't turn into a mess haha.

 

So one thing I've always heard (Like even before the Verge) was that you absolutely needed an anti-static bracelet, which is not entirely true, because you can just make sure you are touch any metal surface while currently working on a system to de-static yourself. Then of course the obvious things, don't work on a computer on a carpet or a place known to generate static.

 

I have also heard that it is bad to turn off a computer by the power button, which I know at one time was true because it actually had a process it needed to go through, but now is no longer a fact.

RGB will automatically make your rig play games at the best possible settings

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1 minute ago, Stylized_Violence said:

RGB will automatically make your rig play games at the best possible settings

Wait you mean that's not true? Hahah

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This isn't entirely PC related but I figured it could still apply.

 

Sitting too close to the TV or monitor will make you go blind. Now in the days of cathode tubes this was true, because they emitted a small amount of radiation that was harmful to the eyes, but this is no longer true and is now a days more of an old-wives tale. While eye fatigue/strain is real, it can be remedied by blinking and looking away from the screen for a little bit. 

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32 minutes ago, Yogi_DaBear221 said:

This isn't entirely PC related but I figured it could still apply.

 

Sitting too close to the TV or monitor will make you go blind. Now in the days of cathode tubes this was true, because they emitted a small amount of radiation that was harmful to the eyes, but this is no longer true and is now a days more of an old-wives tale. While eye fatigue/strain is real, it can be remedied by blinking and looking away from the screen for a little bit. 

Yeah they emitted a small amount of X-Ray radiation. Not in harmful levels though - and the FDA strictly limited the amount one could emit to 0.5 mR/h at a distance of 2 inches. Most CRTs fell well below that threshold.

 

If you're 2 inches away from a CRT, you're looking at individual pixels anyway.

 

But sitting 10-12 inches away was harmless.

 

For reference, sitting 2 inches away from a CRT for one hour that hit the FDA limit would be equivalent to a single Dental X-Ray scan.

15 minutes ago, Caroline said:

me still using a CRT on full brightness

xOe2m8B.jpg

 

I mean, that's like... 7000 times the radiation of a CRT at 2 inches xD

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