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  • Showing only topics in ~comp with the tag "ask.recommendations". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. GUI dev using Godot

      Most of my professional work involves the plumbing side of things (e.g. APIs, integration etc.) So I've come to front end quite late, and dabbled in HTML/CSS/JS frameworks, and tried to create a...

      Most of my professional work involves the plumbing side of things (e.g. APIs, integration etc.) So I've come to front end quite late, and dabbled in HTML/CSS/JS frameworks, and tried to create a thing or two using Python GUI frameworks too.

      After spending a bit of time learning about game development in Godot, I decided it might be fun to try and build a simple desktop app in the engine, and it surprised me how easy it was, it took me a day or two to build a basic git front end.

      Of course, if you ever need to build something outside of GDscript, it'll require building an extension, probably in C++, but it makes me wonder if those sorts of tools exist outside of games engines? It feels like game devs get a wonderful tool that they use as a garnish on top of the real work (the game).

      I'd be keen to know what people who regularly build front end tools tend to prefer to use.

      ETA: I just realized the title is a poor summary of what I'm actually asking about, sorry!

      22 votes
    2. What Is A Secure Note-Taking App?

      I've been using Google's Keep Notes for all my note-taking, but I would like to shift away from that and use an app that is more secure. I've heard of Notion and Evernote but I'm not sure about...

      I've been using Google's Keep Notes for all my note-taking, but I would like to shift away from that and use an app that is more secure. I've heard of Notion and Evernote but I'm not sure about their level of security/encryption. Any suggestions?

      20 votes
    3. What service are you using for domain names?

      In light of Google's recent, tragic, and inevitable closure of Google Domains and sale of their customer list to Squarespace: what are you using for domain names? Google Domains checked most of...

      In light of Google's recent, tragic, and inevitable closure of Google Domains and sale of their customer list to Squarespace: what are you using for domain names?

      Google Domains checked most of the boxes for me: good price, availability of TLDs, features, interface. The company's reputation went both ways, as we're now dealing with. Can't even remember what I used for domains before GD.

      This thread is inspired by the recent thread on hosting providers, where I saw a lot of people were using Namecheap for domains. The name of the company sounds like a .biz from 2002, but if it's good it's good.

      Let's figure out the best option for domain name services as of October 2023.

      42 votes
    4. Any good Youtube channels on learning Data Structures and Algorithms, especially the math part?

      Hello Tildes, I am currently taking DSA in college and struggling a lot with the math and algorithms. Recently had to solve Karatsuba questions and I don't even know what I wrote down on the...

      Hello Tildes,

      I am currently taking DSA in college and struggling a lot with the math and algorithms. Recently had to solve Karatsuba questions and I don't even know what I wrote down on the paper. I have been trying to look for videos on this and only really came away with a vague understanding.

      What I've noticed is that I struggle with solving the math part of the questions.

      For example: "Describe a divide and conquer algorithm to compute the square
      of an n-digit integer in O(n log3 5) time, by reducing to the squaring of five [n/3]-digit
      integers"

      I have zero clue how I am supposed to understand the latter half of the question. It makes no sense to me beyond I am supposed to be multiplying squared numbers. How do I even begin to turn this into an algorithm? What is the solution even supposed to look like?

      Needless to say, I've struggled with math my entire life and I've been trying for years to be decent with it, and I have nothing to show for it.

      So, do you have any recommendations that could simplify the math needed for DSA? Videos are preferred but I will textbook recommendations as well.

      Thank you, and have a good day!

      18 votes
    5. Looking for a good, modern alternative for PHP nuke

      Way back in the day, I used to run a fan site for a game that ended up teaching me a lot about PHP, perl, databases and so on. Currently, I'm looking to rebuild that site, but PHP nuke is now...

      Way back in the day, I used to run a fan site for a game that ended up teaching me a lot about PHP, perl, databases and so on. Currently, I'm looking to rebuild that site, but PHP nuke is now hopelessly outdated and joomla/Drupal are not the direction I want to go in. So far, I've found php-fusion (from GoDaddys cpanel installer) which seems close, but I'm curious if there is a closer analog out there.

      The ideal for me is the old school blocks down the sides with content in the middle layout, with add-ons like forums, image gallery etc. Cheers for any help 😁

      15 votes
    6. UK based network consultancy required. Anyone?

      Hi folks Keeping in with the theme of people of Tildes are generally really good people (hopefully), I may have a gig early next year that I want a quote on for a network redesign. It's not...

      Hi folks

      Keeping in with the theme of people of Tildes are generally really good people (hopefully), I may have a gig early next year that I want a quote on for a network redesign. It's not massive at 3 sites of roughly 100 people per site, 2 sites are dark fibred together, a couple of IPSec routes between UK and USA. It's mostly building out IP subnets, correct router and firewall configs, vLANing up the sites correctly.

      If anyone is interested or knows anyone, please reach out to me on this thread for a bit more info, we can take it from there.

      Else, I'm going to reach out to some UK based tech companies for the work. You may ask "Why not do this yourself?" That would require planning and testing which I don't have enough time for; I'd rather a Pro designed, and implemented.

      6 votes
    7. Suggestions to spend my educational budget on

      The end of the year is approaching fast and I still have some educational budget to spend. Therefore I would love to hear your suggestions for educational resources to spend some money on. I'm...

      The end of the year is approaching fast and I still have some educational budget to spend. Therefore I would love to hear your suggestions for educational resources to spend some money on.

      I'm open for all suggestions, but I would love to dive more into low level programming. I spend most of my work time as a backend dev. And it is nice for a change to something else than REST-endpoints.
      At the beginning of the year, I bought the amazing Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom and I'm enjoying tremendously.

      So any recommendations going into the same direction or similar deep dives into topics like OS-dev, Game dev/graphics (tiny renderer comes to my mind) or writing emulators would be appreciated.

      To get the discussion started, my top recommendation for his year would be Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom.
      If you are interested in the inner workings of interpreter and compilers and want a nice "program-along" book get it. I would recommend the paper-version, it is a beautiful book.

      14 votes
    8. DS923+ 8GB (non-official) RAM recommendation

      Hi everyone, So, I have a DS923+ with 4GB of RAM and while it is running fine most of the time with my Docker containers, I guess everything could be more fluid (e.g. scrolling on Jellyfin while...

      Hi everyone,

      So, I have a DS923+ with 4GB of RAM and while it is running fine most of the time with my Docker containers, I guess everything could be more fluid (e.g. scrolling on Jellyfin while it is loading info / images).

      Since the Linux OS uses free RAM as cache, I was looking to buy an extra stick of RAM. I was thinking of buying a 8GB of RAM which in total my system would then have 12 GB. Not sure if overkill, but still, I run a few containers.

      I’ve actually searched on the Synology subreddit, but everyone is basically buying 16GB of RAM or maxing out the GB allowed for the RAM on the DS923+. So, that is the reason why I’m asking here.

      I know that Kingston has some 8GB RAM sticks which should work with DS923+ but it seems they are blacklisted by Synology, so it seems you will always have a warning on the notification list which I wanted to avoid. :/ But on that list (see here: Ram list), it seems the 8GB RAM that Synology uses is sourced from Innodisk or Adata, so you shouldn’t get any warning there. Sadly, I can’t find them anywhere for sale. Even when I contacted the companies directly.

      In conclusion, has anyone bought a 8GB ECC RAM for the DS923+ which doesn’t give a DSM warning?

      Thanks everyone in advance!

      Cheers!

      8 votes
    9. In need of a side-by-side image viewer that runs through directories

      I've taken on the monumental task of scanning my family photo albums in and saving them to a NAS (plus cloud, of course). 1000+ photos in, and I had the great idea of also banging through the...

      I've taken on the monumental task of scanning my family photo albums in and saving them to a NAS (plus cloud, of course). 1000+ photos in, and I had the great idea of also banging through the images with AI to clean them. Anyone who plays with AI knows it can be a little hit-and-miss. The tool of choice was GFPGAN and in some images it cleaned them lovely, others, not so much.

      To help sort this out I'm looking for a side-by-side image viewer, similar to something simple like Gwenview, that allows me to look at the files and simply pick the better image. I'm not sure this software even exists after the exhaustive time I've been looking for it. I'm on Linux, so that may be the hindrance here. Brownie points if I can pick the better image, and it copies the file to a new folder to allow building out a mixed bunch of files from the two source folders.

      Absolute worst case, I'm willing to put some money in a pot for someone to develop this very needed tool. Best case, if the software doesn't exist and they build it for timasomo.

      Note: Tried XNView but it won't compare across folders.

      6 votes
    10. App or workflow suggestion for viewing and selecting photos on PC

      As an amateur photographer, I'm looking for recommendations to improve my process for reviewing and selecting the best photos from my albums. Currently, it goes something like this: (after I copy...

      As an amateur photographer, I'm looking for recommendations to improve my process for reviewing and selecting the best photos from my albums.

      Currently, it goes something like this:

      • (after I copy the photos to my PC) I open the folder containing the album
      • I open the first photo and start looking at the pictures using the default photo viewing app
      • I note mentally, on paper, or in a digital notepad the names of the files that I like the most
      • manually select the files that I noted down

      My ideal workflow would be something like:

      • open the folder, open first photo, look through them all
      • each time I see a picture that I like, hit space or some other simple shortcut, which adds the picture to the current selection
      • after I am done viewing, I have all the files that I want already selected to do with as I please

      I have tried multiple apps over the years but I haven't come across anything that had something similar, or I was too stupid to figure out how to do it. The workflow I described is using windows/linux, on macOS it's even more cumbersome (since one needs to select all photos in a folder before previewing them).

      Do you have any recommendations for an app that has functionality like this, or if not, on how I can make my workflow better?

      Thanks

      5 votes
    11. Looking for recommendations on a portable, high performance laptop

      I used to work in IT but left the field in 2018, so I'm not as up to date as I used to be on things. I'm looking for a new laptop to use for work (primarily word processing and web browsing),...

      I used to work in IT but left the field in 2018, so I'm not as up to date as I used to be on things. I'm looking for a new laptop to use for work (primarily word processing and web browsing), ideally something portable with a good sized screen (larger than 13"). I've had a Dell G5 for the last five years because I thought I'd do more gaming on it when I bought it, but it's largely just been a heavy brick in my backpack on travel.

      Back in the mid 2010s, I recommended Lenovos to everyone who would listen, but I fell out of love with them toward the end of my IT career when the build quality seemed to be rapidly declining. I haven't really touched them recently, but my dad loves his Lenovo Ideapad Pro.

      Honestly, something similar to a Dell Latitude might be what I'm looking for, but I'm open to any recommendations. I need a responsive keyboard and clickable trackpad. Bonus points if there's somehow a laptop out there that has a nub!

      ETA: Not looking for a macbook -- will be running Windows!

      31 votes
    12. Best word processor for Ubuntu?

      Hey folks, looking for recommendations. What's your go to word processor on Ubuntu? (EDIT: For regular writing, not a text editor for coding.) I haven't been the biggest fan of Libre office tbh...

      Hey folks, looking for recommendations. What's your go to word processor on Ubuntu? (EDIT: For regular writing, not a text editor for coding.) I haven't been the biggest fan of Libre office tbh (please don't hate me...) There were just several bugs in Writer that made it unusable for me. I'm curious about alternatives. I read that WPS office is on ubuntu, but I've always found it to run kind of slow (however, my experience was on Windows.).

      I don't need a lot of fancy utilities, but would enjoy something a little more beautiful than notepad++ :) My biggest concern is just that it's a stable software. I'm OK with glitches or UI bugs, just nothing that's going to crash and burn and corrupt my work. (I mention this because there are several newer word processors made by single developers, and I'm a little weary to use them because I don't genuinely know how stable the software is.) I'm also not a fan of software that saves in some special format where you rely on that software to open it (or have to go through hoops to convert it.)

      Any recommends?

      EDIT: I'm new to Ubuntu, in case it makes a difference.

      31 votes
    13. Recommendations for self-hosted spreadsheet software (such as Grist or Ethercalc)

      two promising options I found from some quick googling were Grist and EtherCalc of the two, Grist looks more compelling (I like the tech stack of Python+SQLite more than JS+Redis) but I'm open to...

      two promising options I found from some quick googling were Grist and EtherCalc

      of the two, Grist looks more compelling (I like the tech stack of Python+SQLite more than JS+Redis) but I'm open to any other suggestions as well.

      the specific use case I have in mind to start out with is planning ratios for a Factorio megabase (sort of a local, homegrown version of tools like the Kirk McDonald calculator). if that works out well I'd also like to play around with doing household budgeting and finances with it.

      if it matters: I'd be running this on Linux (NixOS); on an x86 box with plenty of headroom so I don't have any particular resource constraints; and I have an existing Postgres database server if that's an option for the backend

      12 votes
    14. Request: Ideas and tips for creating a portfolio to get a web developer job

      Hi everyone — I am trying to get a job in web development after a decade in a mostly unrelated field. I am looking for ideas and tips to create a portfolio to send with applications. All of the...

      Hi everyone — I am trying to get a job in web development after a decade in a mostly unrelated field.

      I am looking for ideas and tips to create a portfolio to send with applications. All of the websites I worked on ages ago have been taken offline or redesigned by someone else. I do have a website I created for my music, but it’s just vanilla HTML. I also have a personal website which is really the only thing I have to show.

      I know HTML/CSS quite well, but that’s basically it. I’ve worked with WordPress for years but only just recently began learning enough PHP to do anything custom. I don’t really know Javascript much at all.

      I have quite a few paid courses through Udemy for all these different areas but even as I have completed them, I don’t feel confident in knowledge of the different languages. These courses nearly always come with projects that the students create with the instructor. Should I use these as part of my portfolio? For some reason I never felt right doing that, since I didn’t build it myself.

      So I guess I’m curious (if any of you are web developers) if you have suggestions for how to fill out a portfolio without any previous work examples.

      Side note: I wasn’t sure how to word the title or my question particularly well so please edit it more clearly, Those Who Can Edit.

      edit: thank you to everyone who took the time to reply to this. it’s all been very helpful and i appreciate everyone’s input immensely!

      23 votes
    15. What's the easiest way to queue downloads to my PC?

      I mean this in the sense of "I find a file on a website that I want to have download directly to my laptop without having to download to my phone and then transfer from my phone to my laptop?"...

      I mean this in the sense of "I find a file on a website that I want to have download directly to my laptop without having to download to my phone and then transfer from my phone to my laptop?"

      Something I can use in the case "ope that's an interesting file that I'll forget about before I'm at my laptop"

      14 votes
    16. Best Linux Distro for gaming/noob

      Hey y’all. Recently picked up a Cyberpower prebuilt. Looking to install a Linux distro on it for gaming. Currently have Ubuntu on my laptop, so I’m not a total noob, but my experience is still...

      Hey y’all. Recently picked up a Cyberpower prebuilt. Looking to install a Linux distro on it for gaming. Currently have Ubuntu on my laptop, so I’m not a total noob, but my experience is still low. Not a big fan of having to use the terminal. Any distros y’all would recommend? Am leaning toward Pop_OS or SteamOS.

      7 votes
    17. MATLAB learning resources for software engineers

      I'm starting grad school in neuroscience/biomedical engineering soon, and one of my most dreaded parts of it is inevitably having to develop Matlab code. I understand why people use it -- it's...

      I'm starting grad school in neuroscience/biomedical engineering soon, and one of my most dreaded parts of it is inevitably having to develop Matlab code. I understand why people use it -- it's arguably best in class at a lot of engineering tasks, and the matrix-first approach of the language makes it very fast to prototype things if you think like a mathematician/engineer.

      However, the language also seems to actively discourage good software practices, and many frequently used scientific projects have atrocious code. Think python dependency management is bad? How about NO DEPENDENCY MANAGEMENT? Yes, that's right, the way you share code in matlab is by importing collections of loose files from github/matlab file exchange. The Matlab neuroimaging code that I have worked has also frequently abused the workspace to share state implicitly between scripts, which makes the code virtually incomprehensible. Instead of using packages to create namespaces, common practice is give function names a prefix and import them into the global namespace.

      I know there's multiple large companies that rely on Matlab for their products, so it must be doable; I just haven't seen it for myself yet.

      Do you guys have any experience developing in Matlab, and if so, are there any good resources to learn how to build robust software in it? What are some open source projects that have good Matlab code?

      16 votes
    18. Android Mozilla browsers with access to about:config

      Hi Android Mozilla browsers with access to about:config. Examples are... Firefox Beta and Firefox Nightly Back in the day there were lots of config tweaks for PC Firefox. But there's not much...

      Hi
      Android Mozilla browsers with access to about:config.
      Examples are...
      Firefox Beta
      and
      Firefox Nightly

      Back in the day there were lots of config tweaks for PC Firefox.
      But there's not much config information about Android Firefox.

      I found these two posts on Reddit.
      https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/11shvus/fixing_performance_problems_in_firefox_on_android/

      https://www.reddit.com/r/browsers/comments/1278zp5/improving_performance_in_firefox_android_part_ii/

      Does anybody here have other about:config suggestions?

      11 votes
    19. Creating an Android app - Help refer a book or guide?

      For most of my life, I've been a hobbyist programmer. From Qbasic to Python and JavaScript. I've always wanted to create an Android app, really just for me, just to do it. It's a bucket list...

      For most of my life, I've been a hobbyist programmer. From Qbasic to Python and JavaScript. I've always wanted to create an Android app, really just for me, just to do it. It's a bucket list thing.

      Can you give me a book or a website guide that is up to date and complete but not 100,000 pages long that could help me get it done? A book would be preferred! I just want to cross this off my list!

      13 votes
    20. Help me decide on moving from android chrome to a more privacy friendly browser

      I use the default Chrome browser on Android and tired of it due to mainly two reasons: Intrusive ads. It's not just the ads themselves but the overwhelming bandwidth they consume. Plus chrome...

      I use the default Chrome browser on Android and tired of it due to mainly two reasons:

      1. Intrusive ads. It's not just the ads themselves but the overwhelming bandwidth they consume. Plus chrome neither blocks the ads itself, nor allows us to install an extension like ublock origin.
      2. No Extension support. I've written a few extensions for things like enhancing the reddit experience, a customized new tab, etc. which work on my desktop chrome but not on my mobile since android won't support extensions.

      I'm the kind of power user who has the potential to do the right thing but is too lazy and tolerant to actually make the switch!

      If only Android chrome allows the extension feature, my problem will be solved tremendously. If I switch to a new browser, I'll not only have to evaluate its effectiveness but also switch to a different password manager like bitwarden (unless I change my desktop browser too).

      I initially considered raising a change.org petition asking Google to add Extensions support to chrome on android, but soon realized that it might be a total waste of time and energy, so I've finally decided to switch.

      Here are the potential candidates with pros/cons as I understand (but open to new suggestions):

      1. Firefox: Clearly my favorite as I've used it before. Most privacy centric and flexible to my knowledge, only con is speed/performance and some sites like youtube don't work effectively on android version?
      2. Kiwi: I've almost made up my mind on this. As I understand, this is based on the open source chromium and is effectively degoogled chrome + extension support?
      3. Brave: Heard a lot about it lately, want to understand it more but the "take this crypto in lieu of these ads" philosophy doesn't sound very thrilling to me.
      46 votes
    21. Organizing self-hosted classical music collection

      I'm currently using Navidrome to self-host my music collection, while using DSub to listen on-the-go. This works very well for most genres, except for the bulk of my music which is classical...

      I'm currently using Navidrome to self-host my music collection, while using DSub to listen on-the-go.

      This works very well for most genres, except for the bulk of my music which is classical music. This presents its own host of problems pertaining to cataloguing and using metadata, since there are often multiple recordings of the same musical composition, recorded by multiple conductors with different orchestras and/or soloists. There may also be different instrumental arrangements of the same musical piece. Merely sorting by "Artist" is therefore quite unsatisfactory in this scenario.

      Some streaming services have come up with quite satisfying solutions in my experience (notably Apple Music Classical and Idagio), but I am not sure how to go about listening to my own self-hosted classical music.

      Is anybody here on Tildes familiar with this organizational problem? I would be very eager to hear how you have tackled this. Is there any self-hosted software more suitable to cataloguing musical collections with extensive metadata?

      13 votes
    22. What's a simple, cheap way to run a database-backed website as a hobbyist?

      I use Github and Netlify to run some simple websites for free. It works well. However, I've been thinking of experimenting with a database-backed website for fun and Netlify doesn't have any...

      I use Github and Netlify to run some simple websites for free. It works well. However, I've been thinking of experimenting with a database-backed website for fun and Netlify doesn't have any persistence.

      What's a good way to do this that scales to zero when nobody's using it? I want to be able to forget about it entirely for months or years at a time. When someone visits, it should start up and run on demand without costing me $20 a month on standby.

      Back in the day, I used Google App Engine for this. I learned a lot of datastore tricks to get around its poor latency, but I'm lazy and don't want to do that anymore. I'm pretty sure I want a SQL database and full text search. Either sqlite or Postgres would do, but I doubt there's a cheap enough way to run Postgres.

      Litestream looks interesting and so does LiteFS, except that it's pre-1.0 and I don't know what changes fly.io will make that I have to keep up with. If I used Litestream, I'd have to figure out how to run it and where to store the replication logs.

      Edit: one nice-to-have is being able to easily dump the database and run it locally or on another cloud provider. (I don't anticipate it getting so big that it's impractical.)

      47 votes
    23. Looking for a remote storage provider to use for storing backups

      I'm looking for mountable remote storage that I can use for my backup solution at home. I'm trying to get set up with backuppc and need to be able to mount a large remote filesystem to store my...

      I'm looking for mountable remote storage that I can use for my backup solution at home. I'm trying to get set up with backuppc and need to be able to mount a large remote filesystem to store my archives. I've tried renting a 1TB storage box from Hetzner, but my account was rejected (I assume because of a recent legal name change). Can anybody recommend a similar provider of remote storage that I can rent and mount onto my server?

      27 votes
    24. I want to learn programming

      I currently don't know anything about programming so am considering picking this up on the side in case I loose my current job and need a backup plan. Anyone knows any good books or online courses...

      I currently don't know anything about programming so am considering picking this up on the side in case I loose my current job and need a backup plan. Anyone knows any good books or online courses or anything else for self-learning?

      My friends said programming is too broad a subject and what you need to learn depends heavily on what fields you want to go in, which I'm ashamed to admit also know nothing about. So I guess I need some career advice too if possible.

      22 votes
    25. Any retro computer kits with 10 Mbit ethernet?

      I've always been enticed by 8 bit computer projects like this but I've never bought any because I can't think of anything I'd do with them given their self-contained nature. Even a really...

      I've always been enticed by 8 bit computer projects like this but I've never bought any because I can't think of anything I'd do with them given their self-contained nature. Even a really primitive ethernet controller would explode the project possibilities. Does anything like that exist?

      4 votes
    26. Synology NAS Recommendations & Questions

      Hey everyone! Sorry if this is a long post, but I've done my research and I would like to make a few questions. I've decided that I would like to buy a NAS mainly to storage all of my documents,...

      Hey everyone!

      Sorry if this is a long post, but I've done my research and I would like to make a few questions.

      I've decided that I would like to buy a NAS mainly to storage all of my documents, photos and videos, so that, I can access them from multiple devices and also use it to upload important documents to Backblaze B2. Then, I've actually discovered that I can install a few Docker containers and I could use it as a media server (Jellyfin) and serve the content to my Apple TV (neat!).

      I considered a QNAP (better hardware for the price) but everyone recommends Synology instead (because of the stronger security and better overall software), but to be honest, I'm not sure what should I get.

      My budget would be to buy a NAS (without counting the disks) below €1000. Ideally, €500-600 but I don't mind stretching to the €700 mark, if it is really worth it.

      Spoiler alert: I think, it should be the DS920+ (4-bay) or the DS1520+ (5-bay). I think a NAS above 4-bay is better for future-proofing.

      Looking here in Germany at price comparators, I could buy the DS920+ for €663 and the DS1520+ for €750. But these prices seem to be at an all-time high :(


      Questions & Assumptions:

      0. I'm not sure if the price difference of about €100 is worth the premium to get the 5-bay model. There are only two differences between these two models: The 5-bay has one extra slot, and it has 4x 1 Gbe LAN ports instead of 2x 1 Gbe. All the rest is the same. What is your opinion?

      1. I've read that if you run a few containers (~10) it consumes quite a bit of RAM (~3 Gb), so it should be ideal to have at least 8 Gb. This is the reason I've said that I think I can only choose the DS920+ or DS1520+. Looking at official Synology resellers, these models, seem to come already with 8 Gb, and they are within my budget. Is my research wrong?

      2. These two models, have an encryption engine. I think this is necessary to encrypt my files before sending them to Backblaze, or?

      3. A lot of people seem to say to simply pick Synology's hybrid RAID setup called SHR-1 or SHR-2. I would go the easy way here and pick one of those two. Would you think that is a bad idea, and it is better to pick a specific (standard) RAID? I've read about the long long long RAID rebuild that could happen in some situations, and picking the "right" RAID could decrease the rebuild in days (or weeks!!!!).

      4. In case, I choose a NAS model with Nvme cache slots, most people say it is not worth it to use if you are not running Virtual Machines and the SSD’s "burn" really fast. I have no interest on VMs.

      5. Most people say to pick an Enterprise (Server) HDD instead of a NAS HDD mainly because price is similar in some cases and Enterprise has longer life and warranty. I should also pick a CMR HDD which is helium filled. 5400 rpm would be preferable to 7200 rpm because of the noise. Sadly, all Enterprise HDD's and most of NAS HDD's are 7200 rpm. Is the noise difference that big? The NAS will be in our living room.

      6. Is 8 TB still the best cost per Terabyte?

      7. I was extremely sad to hear that the Hitachi hard drive division was bought by WD. I've had lots of misfortune with WD drives (and let's not forget the debacle with the SMR and CMR drives) and I would prefer not to give money to them, but, nevertheless, I'm still tempted to buy the Ultrastar drives that belonged to Hitachi. Does anyone know if WD kept the components, manufacturing processes, staff, etc., that made these brilliant disks?

      8. Following the HDD topic, what is your experience with Seagate or Toshiba drives?

      9. These two NAS models have the same Intel Celeron CPU, which supports hardware transcoding. To be honest, I don't know in which cases would that happen. It seems if I use Infuse on the Apple TV it would never transcode (and instead direct play) because Infuse would do the transcoding in software. Should I take in account that hardware transcoding is a must-have or a nice-to-have?

      10. Would you recommend having a CCTV system connected to the NAS? Should I dedicate one entire HDD just for the NVR system? Would a standalone NVR device be better?

      11. My last question is: Should I just wait for the new model of the DS920+ or DS1520+? The 20 means it was launched in 2020 (in Summer specifically) and it seems Synology refreshes the model every two years., that means, a new model would be available in Summer this year. Most people say it is not worth the wait because Synology is very conservative in its model updates/refreshes. People are saying that a better CPU will be of course available (do I even need that for my use cases?) and probably upgrade the 1 Gbe LAN ports to 2.5 Gbe or 10 Gbe (10 Gbe I really doubt it). I've read that a 4K stream does not fill a 1 Gbe bandwidth, and you could theoretically have three 4K streams in a single 1 Gbe connection. If all else fails, I could just do a link aggregation of the two ports to be 2 Gbe, or?

      12. Anything I'm forgetting? Should I be careful with something in particular?


      I know I should buy a UPS too, but I think I'll create a separate post regarding this topic because I would also want a recommendation regarding a UPS for my other devices.

      I know that I could actually build my own NAS and use Unraid for the OS. Furthermore, I'm just at a time in my life with too much on my plate (baby and small child) and having something that just works is preferable. When they are older and more independent, I'll have more time to investigate this option :)

      Again, sorry for the long post. Thank you everyone!

      12 votes
    27. Router recommendations in 2022

      Hello everyone, I'm going to move to a new apartment and doing full time home office while my wife is doing part home office, so I'm looking to improve my internet connectivity. I already plan to...

      Hello everyone, I'm going to move to a new apartment and doing full time home office while my wife is doing part home office, so I'm looking to improve my internet connectivity. I already plan to get the 400 mbps down fiber cable plan. So, I have to be honest that routers is one of those topics that I should know more than I should but don't, so I'm not sure what should I expect and the features I want or don't need.

      Some time ago, I discovered and bookmarked the amazing website smallnetbuilder which at the time I thought, I would just trust his thorough reviews and choose the best router within my budget. Sadly, the website seems abandoned now, so I'm not sure if there is something new on the market or if the routers on his "Best" rank, are still valid options. By the way, I don't really game online.

      My requirements are:

      • 150€ budget, but willing to go to 200€ if really worth it;
      • Mesh compatibility, just in case I need it in the future;
      • Hopefully very low packet loss maybe 0-0.5%;
      • Compatibility/support with open source firmware;
      • Maybe VPN support (not sure, if worth it);
      • 2.5Gb LAN ports would be nice for future-proofing, but I think this is not possible without going over the budget;
      • Something that I don't know and never heard about, but you would really recommend it to me :).

      After a first glance, the Asus RT-AX58U looks nice. Just not sure about only having two 5GHz streams and no LAN port aggregation.

      Bonus dumb question(s) (sorry): Will all the routers work with my ISP modem? Or is it normal to always check with the ISP first before buying?

      9 votes
    28. Looking for >1Gb/s networking hardware

      I recently got my home internet upgraded to 10 Gb/s. I currently have the following hardware: 10 Gb/s fiber modem (from the ISP) 1 Gb/s ASUS combo router/AP/switch (needs replacement) 2.5 Gb/s 4...

      I recently got my home internet upgraded to 10 Gb/s. I currently have the following hardware:

      • 10 Gb/s fiber modem (from the ISP)
      • 1 Gb/s ASUS combo router/AP/switch (needs replacement)
      • 2.5 Gb/s 4 port switch (not currently in use)
      • 5 Gb/s USB C ethernet adapter

      My ASUS router is the bottleneck in my current setup. My actual internet speeds are more in the 2-5 Gb/s range when plugged directly into the modem. So I'd be happy if I can get 2.5 Gb/s hardware between my laptops and the modem. That makes my existing ASUS router the bottleneck and in need of replacement. Is there a good, relatively cheap, standalone router (no switch or AP) I can build/buy that supports >1Gb/s speeds? Or is there a good all-in-one solution that isn't way too expensive? I'd honestly prefer to have different components each doing just one job.

      I already tried hooking the switch into the modem directly to see what happens. Under that configuration only one device plugged into the switch has internet access.

      12 votes
    29. Looking for a Simple WYSIWYG Editor for my Blog

      I'm going to be building a simple blog for myself. Partially I just want something really simple and customizable, and also it will be a fun little programming project. I'll be using PHP and mySQL...

      I'm going to be building a simple blog for myself.

      Partially I just want something really simple and customizable, and also it will be a fun little programming project.

      I'll be using PHP and mySQL for the backend. I won't be using any sort of framework as it shouldn't be necessary for a very simple blog. I'm fairly comfortable with JavaScript.

      What I'm imagining is some sort of JavaScript library I can just download, link to my html and then turn a textarea into a simple wysiwyg editor. It could be as simple as a markdown editor or something with a little more features.

      It has to be free. Open source would be a plus.

      If anyone has any recommendations or advice I would be very grateful. Thanks!

      5 votes
    30. If I wanted to make a game like Wordle, where would I start?

      A lot of game engines are geared towards making full-fat games with 3D graphics and animations and sound effects and all that jazz. What if, instead, I want to make something dead simple,...

      A lot of game engines are geared towards making full-fat games with 3D graphics and animations and sound effects and all that jazz. What if, instead, I want to make something dead simple, graphics-less, and minimalistic -- like Wordle? What's the best way to get to something like that (almost more of a digital toy than a full-fledged game)?

      It doesn't have to be web-based at all (though it can be if that's easier? I'm genuinely not sure). My preference would be for open-source engines/tools, but that's not a necessity.

      12 votes
    31. Looking for recommendations for self-hostable static blog software

      I used to use a random FOSS Python program to manage my blog. The software honestly wasn't the best (partially my own fault for not setting it up super well) and I stopped using it, lost my blog's...

      I used to use a random FOSS Python program to manage my blog. The software honestly wasn't the best (partially my own fault for not setting it up super well) and I stopped using it, lost my blog's source code, and haven't updated the blog in a long time because of that. So I'm looking for a static site generator that is simple, well maintained, and no-frills.

      14 votes
    32. Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) recommendations and advice

      Hello everyone, I usually do my own research, and then I try to find multiple matching results and afterwards, read specifically in detail about each recommendation, but, I have to be honest that...

      Hello everyone,

      I usually do my own research, and then I try to find multiple matching results and afterwards, read specifically in detail about each recommendation, but, I have to be honest that for UPS recommendations that I’ve seen, it seems to be a very personal recommendation depending on the wattage and connected devices.

      First of all, most people recommend CyberPower or APC, but I’ve also seen some recommendations for Eaton. Is there any other brand that I should be looking into?

      The devices I would like to connect to a UPS would be: desktop, TV, Apple TV, NAS, router and probably my Nintendo Switch.

      There are some general things I've found out while searching that I think I would like some confirmation:

      • I actually think I should buy two UPS's, or? I think just one for the desktop and another one just for the remaining devices, since the desktop uses a lot more wattage.
      • Pure Sine Wave: It does not matter for smaller stuff (routers, etc) but it seems that anything above 70 W, it should use a UPS with this. So, that would mean I need pure sine wave, since my desktop and TV definitely use more than 70 W of power.
      • Some people said to search for a UPS with line conditioning so that you always get a perfect sine wave. Would you agree?
      • USB connection (not a faux USB!) so that the NAS detects the power failure and shuts down gracefully.
      • It is important that the UPS has removable battery for better longevity.

      How would I choose a UPS? Do I need to see the total wattage of all my devices and then pick the UPS accordingly? Anything I'm missing?

      My budget would be up to €100 or €150 in case it is really worth it.

      Thank you in advance for all replies.

      13 votes
    33. Is there a way to globally switch out a word

      I want to switch out the name of a certain "technology" on any website with "sand castle" in the hopes that my daily browsing gets a lot funnier. if it works i will as well think of a good word...

      I want to switch out the name of a certain "technology" on any website with "sand castle" in the hopes that my daily browsing gets a lot funnier. if it works i will as well think of a good word for any POTUS and maybe musk and bezos :'-)

      I thouht it might maybe work with ublock? i have never done anything advanced with it so i dont know.

      6 votes
    34. What to do with NFC tags

      I picked up 20 NFC tags (link) and they seem to be alright with iOS after I (re?)format them to NDEF. Anyway, I have a few things setup: tap to play music in the dining room over a Google Home...

      I picked up 20 NFC tags (link) and they seem to be alright with iOS after I (re?)format them to NDEF.

      Anyway, I have a few things setup:

      • tap to play music in the dining room over a Google Home speaker
      • tap to turn off some lights and prep for bed etc
      • tap to change some Hue scenes

      ... and that's about it. I don't have trouble waking up to an alarm, so I don't need to go down that route. Anyone have any fun things you're doing with tags?

      9 votes
    35. Recommend me a small SBC!

      So I'm looking to do an improved version of this project from a couple of years ago that rebuilt the dreamcast VMU into an emulator system that could even interface with a modified dreamcast...

      So I'm looking to do an improved version of this project from a couple of years ago that rebuilt the dreamcast VMU into an emulator system that could even interface with a modified dreamcast controller using the original connector. That project was really neat, but it used a raspberry pi zero, which is frankly anemic for running any emulators past the SNES, and I'd like to find one that's powerful enough to emulate the dreamcast itself, but small enough to fit inside a VMU. To that end, my requirements are:

      • Must be of a similar size to the pi zero. Smaller would be better, but it absolutely cannot be more than 40x65mm.

      • Must have a processor at least as powerful as a cortex A53, preferably something more powerful like the A72.

      • Must have a release of armbian (or similar) with drivers for full video acceleration.

      • Must be able to drive a display over SPI.

      • Must be available. The NanoPi NEO Core 2 is pretty close to what I need, if maybe a bit underpowered, but it seems to be discontinued and I can't find it anywhere but aliexpress at double the list price.

      • Composite video out would be nice.

      • Analog audio out would be nice.

      • Availability without soldered headers and large ports would be nice, like the pi zero or nanopi neo.

      9 votes
    36. What unified login to use?

      I'm setting up a server with nextcloud, plex, matrix and some other things I don't yet know, for some friends and family, (about 20 people if I get lucky) and now I heard of a thing called single...

      I'm setting up a server with nextcloud, plex, matrix and some other things I don't yet know, for some friends and family, (about 20 people if I get lucky)
      and now I heard of a thing called single sign on/unified login. (Login to different services with the same user/pw and/or login once, access to all services)

      so far I found out about Keycloak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keycloak

      is this what I'm looking for? does anybody have experience in this? Are there other/better/simpler solutions for this?

      12 votes
    37. Let's talk about computer algebra systems

      I'm vaguely in the "market" for a new computer algebra system (Mathematica, Maple, Sage, SymPy, etc etc) and I am curious what experience you all might have with these types of programs. In the...

      I'm vaguely in the "market" for a new computer algebra system (Mathematica, Maple, Sage, SymPy, etc etc) and I am curious what experience you all might have with these types of programs. In the past I've used Mathematica, and once you get over the odd aspects of the Language (and hefty license fee), it is a pretty great piece of software. Nonetheless, now that my old student license has expired and I would have to buy a new one (though through my school I can get it at a steep discount) I'm looking at some alternatives. Sage seems particularly appealing since it is open source and apparently well documented, and of course SymPy is powerful although that as stand-alone as these other choices.

      There are tons of other options as well, with a wide range of functionality (it really is amazing how much these things can do). My main use cases with these types of things are either: a) algebraic manipulation, b) linear algebra, c) visualization. For these three it does really seem that Mathematica is at the forefront, but I'm all ears for other opinions.

      I'm curious, if you have used any or all of these in the past, what were you using them for and what is your opinion?

      11 votes
    38. Ask Tildes: I'm looking for (FOSS? Self-hosted?) photo manager software

      Specifically, I've got a big honkin' pile of photos stored on an online storage space, and I want some kind of software that lets me share links to a pic, or a group of pics, or a folder, etc ......

      Specifically, I've got a big honkin' pile of photos stored on an online storage space, and I want some kind of software that lets me share links to a pic, or a group of pics, or a folder, etc ...

      ... and here's the crux ... without making extra copies of the pics ... just has renamed, custom-permissioned links to the original pic(s).

      In database terms, I want something that gives me Views of my photo collection.

      I run my own Nextcloud instance, which is close. It has very nice, very granular photo management and sharing capabilities ... but as far as I can tell, whenever I share a pic with someone, it actually makes another copy of it for the shared instance. If I share the photo 5 times w/5 different people/groups, then suddenly, I have 6 copies of the pic.

      Any recommendations?

      8 votes
    39. What TLDs do you view the most positively?

      I'm thinking of registering a new domain to host a personal blog and a few other pages that is somewhat separate from my current personal portfolio page, as the blog will likely not be directly...

      I'm thinking of registering a new domain to host a personal blog and a few other pages that is somewhat separate from my current personal portfolio page, as the blog will likely not be directly relevant to my work. But since this is a more personal project, I want to branch out in terms of TLDs - I've previously used exclusively .com endings as they lead to the least confusion and are the most accepted.

      I'm a little overwhelmed by the number of options these days, so I wanted to take a little straw poll to see which ones people think are the best. The name itself will be my initials "gpxl", and the endings I am considering are

      • .info
      • .xyz
      • .fyi
      • .computer
      • .me

      But I'm curious to see what others think. I would go with .xyz but I feel like then my domain name becomes an unintelligble string of letters - gpxl.xyz, so I'm wondering what others think and what arguments exist for choosing one over another.

      P.S. If anyone has recommendations for registars I'm open to those too. Currently using google domains but open to switching.

      18 votes
    40. Looking for a simple language to build a compiler for

      I've recently built a brainfuck just-in-time compiler and I'm looking for my next project. I think compiling a more complicated (and more easily written) language would build on what I've learned...

      I've recently built a brainfuck just-in-time compiler and I'm looking for my next project. I think compiling a more complicated (and more easily written) language would build on what I've learned so far. Rather than design my own language from the ground up, I'd prefer to work with a toy language that already has existing programs and a spec. This would both save me some work and give me more solid ground to build upon.

      6 votes
    41. Seeking good anti-malware to replace AVG Free

      Hi. AVG's been bugging me with reminders to renew my subscription recently, but I don't have the money for that. I've been using AVG Free for years, but each time I trial the full edition it seems...

      Hi. AVG's been bugging me with reminders to renew my subscription recently, but I don't have the money for that. I've been using AVG Free for years, but each time I trial the full edition it seems to install as a separate program, and then I have to manually revert back to the free version once the trial's up. The only other anti-malware I use is MalwareBytes (free again).

      I'm not too worried about using a VPN, and have been advised to avoid the free ones anyway. I'd really just like a decent alternative to AVG Free that won't mess with my Steam games or pester me to upgrade several times a day. I have almost no experience with other anti-malware programs, so I'd rather ask people in the know for advice than just install something straight away and find out that it does one of the aforementioned annoying things.

      ...Should I use a free VPN? I'm trying to save as much of my scant moolah as I can, and I do occasionally torrent things, but the free ones are allegedly a little shady.

      5 votes
    42. What is the best way to teach Python for my 11-year-old sister that lives in another state?

      This may seem an obvious question, but not as much as it seems. She uses Windows, I’m currently using Linux/macOS. How to instruct her to install her Python environment? Should I use Zoom, Skype,...

      This may seem an obvious question, but not as much as it seems. She uses Windows, I’m currently using Linux/macOS. How to instruct her to install her Python environment? Should I use Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or another solution? Is there and easy way for live-drawing (online blackboard) to explain things to her visually? And, perhaps most importantly, how can I do that for free?

      13 votes
    43. Are there any good tools for "one-off" file encryption?

      Sorry if this is a silly question, but I keep running into situations where a small CLI or GUI tool that could be handed a single file and hand me back an encrypted version would be useful. I've...

      Sorry if this is a silly question, but I keep running into situations where a small CLI or GUI tool that could be handed a single file and hand me back an encrypted version would be useful. I've done some googling, but all I typically turn up is blogspam about random Windows-only tools that seem to be of dubious quality.

      Anyone know of a good tool for this type of thing?

      9 votes
    44. Build Concept: The Mobius Chair

      In the DC canon, The Mobius Chair is a time-space/dimensional vehicle operated by the New God Metron. It allows him to travel and observe the universe, but the one I'm making is nowhere near as...

      In the DC canon, The Mobius Chair is a time-space/dimensional vehicle operated by the New God Metron. It allows him to travel and observe the universe, but the one I'm making is nowhere near as functional.

      I've come into a recliner chair with a cupholder on each armrest, and I already had a split keyboard. My plan is to use the cupholders as a mount for both ends of the split keyboard, so that I could use the entire run of armrest and have my hands lay naturally on the keys. Goals are to minimize weird stretching and be able to comfortably type for long stretches of time, to put off stuff building this that I planned to work on this weekend, and to look super boss, though not necessarily in that order.

      If I want ultimate angulation and the best range of motion, I was thinking about something like a cupholder with a phone or a tablet mount, like this one, but if anyone has recommendations for what would be best to work with, or have done something like this before, I'm all ears.

      6 votes
    45. What are your favorite CLI tools/applications?

      While I've been teaching myself my first programming language (Python), I've been getting more into using the terminal as much as possible to build familiarity and get comfortable. This has opened...

      While I've been teaching myself my first programming language (Python), I've been getting more into using the terminal as much as possible to build familiarity and get comfortable. This has opened my eyes to so many useful utilities and makes me curious as to what there is out there that I haven't heard of yet.


      My favorites so far:

      exa - A modern version of "ls"

      youtube-dl - Download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms with various options

      hledger - Plain text double-entry accounting software based on ledger written in Haskell

      thefuck - App that corrects a spelling mistake in the previous command by typing "fuck"

      spicetify-cli - Customizes the Spotify client with themes and extensions

      spotifyd - Lightweight Spotify daemon

      spotify-tui - Control Spotify in the terminal

      neofetch - Launch tool that can display ASCII art or pictures and general system information

      I'm on macOS but I'm almost certain all of these are cross-platform.


      What are your favorite or "must-have" CLI packages?

      40 votes
    46. Multi-format text editor with chain-of-command processing

      A while back I developed a desktop-based text editor (Scrivenvar) that uses the Chain-of-Responsibility design pattern to help me author fairly involved text documents. The editor's high-level...

      A while back I developed a desktop-based text editor (Scrivenvar) that uses the Chain-of-Responsibility design pattern to help me author fairly involved text documents. The editor's high-level architecture resembles the following diagram:

      https://i.imgur.com/8IMpAkN.png

      Am I reinventing the wheel here? Are there any modern, cross-platform, liberal open-source (LGPL, MIT, Apache 2), text editor frameworks (such as xi or Visual Studio Code), that would enable (re)development of such a tool?

      Scrivenvar is written in Java, but to my chagrin, Java 9+ no longer bundles JavaFX. The text editor was based on MarkdownWriterFX, itself based on JavaFX. This means there's no easy upgrade path, so I'm looking to rebuild the editor either as a cross-platform desktop application or as a web application.

      8 votes
    47. Good domain registrars?

      Looking to pick up a domain name for a personal site and was wondering if anyone could recommend a good registrar. The whole domain name industry always feels more than a bit shady, so I'm wary of...

      Looking to pick up a domain name for a personal site and was wondering if anyone could recommend a good registrar. The whole domain name industry always feels more than a bit shady, so I'm wary of most of the providers.

      31 votes