Something Random

[Stereodude]

Well, I have no confidence that either program's benchmark results are correct for writes. Several runs of the same programs writing yield very different results. Reads are pretty consistent.

Two runs that were one after another with the larger "bar" 23gB drive. I did eject and reinsert the drive between them.



The drive was quite warm so maybe it is thermally throttling itself.

 

[LunarMist]

That's closer to what I see for the Fit, about 47MB/sec. by the Crystalmark. Once on another computer I saw 56 at 256MB and only 28 for the 2GB test.

The attachments 1062 and 1063 in the last post don't work.

 

[Stereodude]

The attachments 1062 and 1063 in the last post don't work.

I have no idea why. They were find when I made the post. However, I've edited the post so they should be good now.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't know what is up with those USB flash drives. Perhaps they have a small SLC emulation buffer area and the rest is TLC or something.

I got the Fit for travel use. If I have to drive 120 miles each way in literally Bumf*ck Iowa and Kansas in a crappy rental car, I need some audio.
Then IA was cancelled and so now they are saying something about MN instead, depending on the outcome in IL. WTF is there to do Champaign-Urbandas?

 

[timwhit]

WTF is there to do Champaign-Urbandas?

What do you like to do?

 

[LunarMist]

Nothing in particular. Sorry, I do not mean to offend if you are from there.

 

[timwhit]

Nothing in particular. Sorry, I do not mean to offend if you are from there.

I live in Chicago about 2 hours north of Champaign. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I've been to Champaign a few times, but not in the last 10 years.

 

[Mercutio]

I live in Chicago about 2 hours north of Champaign. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I've been to Champaign a few times, but not in the last 10 years.

I'm from central Illinois and I went to middle school in Urbana. Most of my immediate family lives in or around that area.
Urbana has an art house theater and Roger Ebert's "home theater" at the Virginia - an honest-to-god movie palace, complete with granitework and a pipe organ and a huge film festival every spring, art galleries and regular performances of live jazz and classical music thanks to the Art and Music programs at the University of Illinois. Because I grew up there, that's what I thought college campuses were like until I actually went to a college. There's also pretty decent art and natural history museums on campus. I remember really liking the children's science museum, even as an adult.

I can check with relatives as far as decent places to eat.
The bar entry age in Champaign county is 18, making it a destination for teenagers who want a taste of that life.

There are a number of nearby historical attractions, most of them related to Abraham Lincoln, railroads or the native Indian tribes of the region. If you're willing to drive a little, there's also Springfield (Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln) or Peoria (Caterpillar, Caterpillar, Caterpillar).

 

[LunarMist]

Interesting. Do you think it is better than Minnesota?

 

[Mercutio]

I've never been west of the Mississippi.

 

[LunarMist]

We need to get Merc to Las Vegas. :lol:

 

[timwhit]

I've never been west of the Mississippi.

Are you afraid of flying?

 

[Mercutio]

Are you afraid of flying?

The one time I was on a plane, I found the experience inconvenient. It's like being on a bus or train, only with worse air, nasty germs and uncontrolled children.

When I travel, even to someplace familiar, I tend to sleep very little. The longer the trip, the less pleasant the experience. Between that and leisure interests that largely involve stationary, indoor activities, I just don't feel the need to go anywhere. When I have time off work, I just don't go to work and I'm OK with that.

 

[ddrueding]

When I have time off work, I just don't go to work and I'm OK with that.

Very jealous. Getting on a plane for a "vacation" in San Diego in about an hour. With a kid the best vacation is in a completely controlled and predictable environment. Last week I tried to take 3 days off and stay home but was called in every day.

 

[Mercutio]

There is wisdom in being a single loner-type person.

 

[mubs]

The longer the trip, the less pleasant the experience.

You need to fly trans-continental, with some legs 15-hours non-stop! Done it more times than I can remember.

 

[LunarMist]

Hey, I know so well. Sometimes they send you to Panama instead of Columbia. The airports are not the same.

 

[timwhit]

I flew Chicago to Portland a couple weeks ago and I'm doing it again next week. 4.5hrs on the way out there is quite long for me.

 

[CougTek]

Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine?

 

[ddrueding]

The worst one I have to do these days is LAX -> SVO; about 12.5 hours usually with a 1 hour delay. My local airport (MRY) is an absolute dream; typically a staff of 5 (same people check you in and board you) and a dozen TSA just sitting around watching their 3 co-workers do the things. Very laid back, I've never seen anyone in a bad mood.

 

[LunarMist]

The other thing that I don't like is all of the emergency landings. :blue:

 

[timwhit]

Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine?

Oregon

 

[LunarMist]

Otherwise that would be a rather slow flight.

 

[Mercutio]

The worst one I have to do these days is LAX -> SVO; about 12.5 hours usually with a 1 hour delay. My local airport (MRY) is an absolute dream; typically a staff of 5 (same people check you in and board you) and a dozen TSA just sitting around watching their 3 co-workers do the things. Very laid back, I've never seen anyone in a bad mood.

Every time I have to pick someone up from ORD, it's a four or five hour ordeal on my part. I love the South Bend International airport. Yes, it's international. It gets flights from Canada. It can land a big boy plane. It's also free to park in the lot and the terminal is across a two-lane road from the parking lot.

I'm glad I don't travel. I'm glad I don't have any reason to travel. Travel is what people do in hell.

 

[timwhit]

Every time I have to pick someone up from ORD, it's a four or five hour ordeal on my part. I love the South Bend International airport. Yes, it's international. It gets flights from Canada. It can land a big boy plane. It's also free to park in the lot and the terminal is across a two-lane road from the parking lot.

I'm glad I don't travel. I'm glad I don't have any reason to travel. Travel is what people do in hell.

Tell your friends to pay for a cab, the train, or an Uber.

 

[timwhit]

To expand on that, when I travel for work I never check a bag, sit near the front of the plane, and take cabs or Uber/Lyft. It's really not that bad if you do it right. I just find long flights boring, especially when the plane's WiFi is not working.

 

[LunarMist]

Every time I have to pick someone up from ORD, it's a four or five hour ordeal on my part. I love the South Bend International airport. Yes, it's international. It gets flights from Canada. It can land a big boy plane. It's also free to park in the lot and the terminal is across a two-lane road from the parking lot.

I'm glad I don't travel. I'm glad I don't have any reason to travel. Travel is what people do in hell.

Of course travel is varying degrees of unpleaSTEAN

 

[CougTek]

Every time I have to pick someone up from ORD, it's a four or five hour ordeal on my part. I love the South Bend International airport. Yes, it's international. It gets flights from Canada. It can land a big boy plane. It's also free to park in the lot and the terminal is across a two-lane road from the parking lot.

What about Chicago Midway International airport? I'll probably visit Chicago one day. I plan to do it by train rather than by plane, but I haven't decided yet since it won't be this year.

 

[timwhit]

I fly in and out of Midway most of the time. It's closer to the Loop than O'hare and way less of a hassle for me. If you fly in there you can take the Orange Line downtown in about 30-40 minutes.

 

[jtr1962]

I'm glad I don't travel. I'm glad I don't have any reason to travel. Travel is what people do in hell.

Kind of resembles my thoughts on the subject. I haven't been more than 400 miles from where I was born. I'm not that keen on ever breaking that record. I might like to eventually do a bit of train travel but that precludes having the time, money, and someone I enjoy traveling with. Right now I only have one of the three, and then only thanks to the nice consulting gig I've been doing the last two years. That said, living in NYC you see a heck of lot more without traveling than people who might travel a lot but live out in the boonies.

 

[CougTek]

I fly in and out of Midway most of the time. It's closer to the Loop than O'hare and way less of a hassle for me. If you fly in there you can take the Orange Line downtown in about 30-40 minutes.

I've checked the flights from Québec city to Chicago and if I had to visit this year, I would certainly arrive at Midway rather than South Bend. I would save over 560$ for the in-out ticket and the flight would take 3 hours less. Plus, the direct link to the metro/train line makes it a no brainer.

 

[Mercutio]

Tell your friends to pay for a cab, the train, or an Uber.

It's a family obligation. My brother would rather inconvenience me than sit on a bus, train or cab with the poors. Fortunately, he hasn't done that to me in a while.
Midway isn't terrible to navigate and actually that neighborhood along Cicero and Cermak has a lot of great restaurants but it's also an easy enough trip that I don't have to pick people up from there very often.

Driving my dad to Midway (to pick up the same brother who makes me go to O'Hare now) was my dad's idea of a great absolutely-first-time-driving-a-car driver's training.

 

[ddrueding]

Just started using Uber for the first time on this trip. Amazing experience compared to a cab. No cash involved. No tips. The cars are nicer and you can specify how nice you want. Even on a busy night you don't have to wait thanks to surge pricing. They already know where you're going because you entered it on the app. You get real-time GPS updates of their position so you know when to step out into the rain. Did I mention no tips and no cash? I hate tips.

 

[timwhit]

Just started using Uber for the first time on this trip. Amazing experience compared to a cab. No cash involved. No tips. The cars are nicer and you can specify how nice you want. Even on a busy night you don't have to wait thanks to surge pricing. They already know where you're going because you entered it on the app. You get real-time GPS updates of their position so you know when to step out into the rain. Did I mention no tips and no cash? I hate tips.

You can still tip after the ride if you want to. Install Lyft as well and then if Uber has high surge pricing check Lyft. I switch between them pretty regularly. I also find Lyft drivers to be friendlier in general.

 

[ddrueding]

Currently at SeaWorld with wife and kid. I believe Dante would have referred to this as sub-basement 2.

 

[ddrueding]

You can still tip after the ride if you want to. Install Lyft as well and then if Uber has high surge pricing check Lyft. I switch between them pretty regularly. I also find Lyft drivers to be friendlier in general.

Tipping is awful. It's been shown that tipping and bartering corrilate directly with corruption. There is also a layer of social awkwardness that I find very distasteful. So much so that I nearly injured myself carrying our bags to the room to avoid the guys at the door. This would be so much better with a stated rate. It should be included considering the room was $2500+, but the existing tipping culture already ruined that.

 

[blakerwry]

Recently listened to this freakonomics episode about an entrepreneur's opinion on tipping and what he did at his restaurant to eliminate tips. I have to admit, it changed my mind. Here's a more thorough article on the topic: http://ny.eater.com/2015/10/14/9517747/danny-meyer-no-tipping-restaurants

 

[Stereodude]

...So much so that I nearly injured myself carrying our bags to the room to avoid the guys at the door...

You need to invest in luggage with wheels.

I also try to avoid situations where I need to tip people. Restaurants I can deal with, but bellhops and the like no thanks, leave me alone.

 

[Howell]

Tipping I believe, but I don't buy bartering. You can just say no thanks if you don't want a service and disown the social pressure.

 

[LunarMist]

Currently at SeaWorld with wife and kid. I believe Dante would have referred to this as sub-basement 2.

Just try to enjoy it.