Posts in Computer
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Offline

Last Tuesday, I had five consecutive Teams meetings booked. I landed with the early morning flight, and connected to the first meeting while in the car on the way to my ordinary office around 30 minutes from the airport. My plan was to transfer the call to my workstation upon arrival. Instead, as I parked my car, I got disconnected. Before long, I realized that I had no reception on my phone. Unfortunately, my office isn’t connected to fibre, and thus I am running a 5G broadband service. The problem is that when the phone tower dies, I am completely cut off from the world.

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Computer, Engineering, HabitsRikard Öqvistredundancy, backup, work, internet, failureComment
What is the best screen size?
What is the best screen size?

I have been experimenting with various screen sizes for many years, especially triple monitor setups or very large single screens. In this post, I will try to figure out which one has worked the best for me in various scenarios. Choosing a monitor is not just about the size, but about the screen resolution i.e. your pixel real estate. Personally, I think the number of pixels is just like horsepower. It is impossible to have too many. Another very important factor is the refresh rate. Currently, I am running a triple 4k 27” setup, and for engineering purposes I think it will be all but impossible to back to anything less than 4k. Still, I am not satisfied because this setup has some serious drawbacks.

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Computer, EngineeringRikard Öqvistergonomics, screen resolution, computers, workplaceComment
Period correct hardware and friends
Period correct hardware and friends

Last weekend we did a trip down memory lane; a LAN party using period correct Windows 98 hardware and four old (also) period correct friends. I played a ton of LAN parties back in the day and was often the organizer of large ones, sometimes up to about 20 people. Then there was a big gap when everyone was busy building families and careers for a decade or two. But rest assured, it is still just as fun today as back then. It might be even more fun today, because grumpy old men like us have now learned to value time in a completely different way. I am hard pressed to come up with any better way to spend time than an event such as this.

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Computer, DiaryRikard Öqvistfriends, retro computers, gaming, tinkering, cultureComment
Revisiting Minecraft with my son
Revisiting Minecraft with my son

I will never forget my first night in Minecraft. It is one of the defining moments in video game history. The sheer terror of trying to find a source of light and a roof over your head before the sun sets was epic. I didn’t succeed at first so I just dug a 1x1 hole in the dirt and hid inside it so the monsters couldn’t spawn with me or hurt me. That was when the game was still in alpha version. A lot has happened since then. But the game is still just as epic today, as those first days back in 2010.

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Computer, ParentingRikard Öqvistminecraft, parenting, father, gamingComment
Wife approval factor  -999
Wife approval factor  -999

I recently bought a flight simulator seat for my VR rig. I have been thinking about buying one for many years, but I couldn't really justify the expense due to the exceptionally narrow use case and all the downsides that comes with such a product. Nevertheless, once this thing is properly installed with a throttle, rudder pedals and a flight stick, the experience is mind-blowing. This is what VR was made for. The immersion got a huge boost, primarily because all of control surfaces are exactly where they should be in physical space, and I can now finally calibrate my head position to be exactly in the pilot’s seat.

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ComputerRikard ÖqvistVR, mixed reality, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Nex level racing, immersionComment
A grumpy old gamer
A grumpy old gamer

I have been playing a lot of Diablo 4 these past months. Overall, it is a very impressing game, especially with regards to the production value. I don’t think I have seen anything like it before. The graphics, artwork, audio, cutscenes, atmosphere, mechanics, story, music… the list goes on and on. However, there is one thing that annoys me more than anything. The difficulty level. Why on Earth is the game so extremely easy? There is no challenge whatsoever and it is almost impossible to die, and I can dispose of most enemies, including bosses with one or a couple of actions. It becomes rather boring after a while.I have been playing a lot of Diablo 4 these past months. Overall, it is a very impressing game, especially with regards to the production value. I don’t think I have seen anything like it before. The graphics, artwork, audio, cutscenes, atmosphere, mechanics, story, music… the list goes on and on. However, there is one thing that annoys me more than anything. The difficulty level. Why on Earth is the game so extremely easy? There is no challenge whatsoever and it is almost impossible to die, and I can dispose of most enemies, including bosses with one or a couple of actions. It becomes rather boring after a while.

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ComputerRikard Öqvistgaming, blizzard, challengeComment
Retro gaming on period-correct or modern systems
Retro gaming on period-correct or modern systems

EA had a big sale recently on Steam where they released the whole original Command and Conquer series. All the old original games, no remastered editions. I really enjoy these old gems for nostalgia and the occasional retro LAN party, and getting them on Steam helps a lot, because it has been difficult or even impossible to play them for a long time. A Steam release is thus perfect for simplicity. I messaged my retro pals and gave them a tip on the sale. In the conversation I jokingly said that the best way to enjoy the original games is on proper Retro hardware with spinning discs. Surprisingly, my joke turned out to be the truth.

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ComputerRikard Öqvistretro, gaming, pcComment
Tech-savvy kids
Tech-savvy kids

This weekend I had a big wow experience. I introduced my five-year-old son to Minecraft. I just put a gamepad in his hands, and a short time later, I glanced at the screen and stopped in my tracks. He had just built a little house with a kitchen and a library, with an additional lookout tower complete with an internal ladder to get to the top. To keep the monsters away, there were some bonfires and torches. The learning curve will never cease to amaze me. It is not too long ago that he was pushing the go pedal in Mario Kart straight into a wall. Fast-forward 1-2 years and he beats me. And now he’s creating things in Minecraft. Playing a first- or third-person game is more challenging than understanding a racing game. It is mind-boggling how fast it happened.

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Computer, Diary, ParentingRikard Öqvistminecraft, computer, gaming, parentingComment
Will progress kill Tinkering?
Will progress kill Tinkering?

A couple of days ago, I finally received a package I had been expecting for about two months. It contains some spare parts to restore and repair a 20-year-old GPU. An ancient piece of E-waste. Why on earth would anyone want to spend their precious time on a project like that? I talked to my wife about it this morning and her instant reply was “Nostalgia”. She is partly correct, but I think there is another driving factor.

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ComputerRikard Öqvistdiy, tinkering, hobby, progressComment
Retro LAN party
Retro LAN party

“Error: Keyboard not detected. Press F1 to continue or DEL to enter setup”. This is not a joke. It is a brilliant real-world error message that I got this Saturday during our retro-LAN while running four Windows 98-powered battle stations. What a magnificent weekend, to meet up with four very old friends for a trip down memory lane. Gaming together on period correct hardware in a single room. Easily one of the funniest things I have done in about two decades.

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Computer, DiaryRikard Öqvistgaming, pcmr, retro, friends, friendshipComment
Can an engineer use Apple computers?
Can an engineer use Apple computers?

I have used a Macbook as my private computer for a couple of years, but it never occurred to me that I can use it as a professional workstation as a civil engineer. Not until now. My regular company tablet PC, an HP Elite X2, has easily been my worst computer experience of all time. Even though it is fully specced and upgraded, it still is borderline unusable. At least if I am not running Linux on it – then it works perfectly. But that’s another story. The issue is likely the ultra-low voltage 15 W CPU which runs at 100% pretty much all the time. Don’t be fooled by the quad-core i7 logo. It is nowhere near the performance its name indicate. Anyway, the problem is that many of my crucial engineering apps are Windows only. Now I have learned that this is not a problem at all.

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Engineering, ComputerRikard Öqvistapple, microsoft, civil engineering, windows, macosComment
Why spend time on something that you can outsource?
Why spend time on something that you can outsource?

Outsourcing is fantastic. I do it all of the time for many things both professionally and in private. But there are also things that I spend a lot of time on, even though I could solve a specific problem 10X faster by simply handing it over to someone else. The problem is that I enjoy certain problems, crazy as it may sound. The perfect example for me is to build a new workstation PC. I could solve that problem in minutes by outsourcing it. But to build it myself is something that I enjoy so much that I simply cannot rob myself of that pleasure. Even though it will certainly drive me crazy at times.

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Diary, Engineering, ComputerRikard Öqvistdiy, pc, physics, progressComment
Sustainable computing
Sustainable computing

I have learned the hard way that internet speed is almost irrelevant and that what really matters is latency. Since 2019, we live in the countryside where there is no fiber broadband connection to be found in the near future. Instead, our only option is to use a permanent 4G connection which gives great speed up to 200 Mbps with the external antennas on the roof compared to about 50 Mbps with the modems original antennas. However, the latency never goes below 40 ms which might not sound like much, but depending on your usage scenario, it can drive you insane. In comparison, a fiber connection lies in the 4-5 ms domain.

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ComputerRikard Öqvistrdp, vpn, remote desktop, network, workfromhomeComment
What computer is best for an acoustican?
What computer is best for an acoustican?

Back in 2019 I bought my first tablet computer, a fully-specced HP Elite X2. I had counted on doing a lot of business trips and when you’re flying a lot, a tablet is hard to beat. Well, shortly thereafter most travel plans were cancelled for a couple of years, so I ended up with a very slow desktop solution instead. It didn’t take long before the tablet ended up as a part of my travel kit and I replaced it with a proper desktop workstation. However, I just moved into a new (secondary) office and once again I need to go back to the laptop+docking station path. In this post I will list some of my thoughts about what might be valuable for me in my work as an acoustician.

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Computer, Acoustics, EducationRikard Öqvistworkstation, laptop, tablet, gpu, egpu, VR, 3DComment
Why did I stop listening to music?
Why did I stop listening to music?

I remember driving in the early noughties. The first thing I did after I got my driver’s license was to install a nice car stereo and a 12” subwoofer in the trunk. I always listened to music. I could figure out excuses to go for a drive just so that I could listen to more music. And I listened to music constantly when I was not driving too. Nowadays my music consumption isn’t even close, and it has to a large degree been replaced by audiobooks and podcasts. Why is this?

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Diary, Philosophy, Computer, MusicRikard Öqvistmusic, culture, movies, gaming, pc, audiobook, podcastComment
Two wrongs can make a right
Two wrongs can make a right

Yesterday I decided to clean one of my computers, which had a thick layer of dust on every single component inside. I used compressed air, which is a very nice option. However, you must be careful not to point the jet directly at a fan, because it will spin up to extreme speed in no time. That’s why it is a good idea to block the fan from moving, before your compressed air goes anywhere near the fan. I was in a bit of a hurry and slipped with my blocking of the CPU cooler. In a couple of 1/10ths of a second I heard the sound of a fan spinning up from zero rpm to like 20000 and it instantly ripped itself to shreds. There were broken plastic fins everywhere. To assess the damage I decided to remove the heatsink and inspect the cooler. I loosened the fasteners and pulled straight up and BAM. The CPU was ripped out from its socket because the thermal paste had hardened to something resembling epoxy glue. I also bent a couple of CPU pins in the process. Two pretty serious mishaps happened in about one minute. However, I am grateful for the important lessons I learned.

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Diary, Computer, PhilosophyRikard Öqvistdiy, repair, fixing, retro computers, electronicsComment
Computer necromancer vs Knitting
Computer necromancer vs Knitting

At the dinner today, I told my wife that I today had listened to a very interesting podcast about computer power supply units (PSU) with one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic. I might not be as painfully self-aware as James “Here’s an interesting fact about screwdrivers, for people who are interested in screwdrivers” May, but apparently enough to not be surprised by her bursting into laughter, with her mouth full of food. That kind of laughter you struggle to keep inside, because of the messy consequences. It is probably one of the nerdiest things she has encountered. Ever. Isn’t the internet lovely, that you can find such very high quality content on ANY topic within ANY micro-niche?

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Computer, PhilosophyRikard Öqvistvintage, retro computers, refurbish, pcComment
Distance education in front of an audience
Distance education in front of an audience

During the Covid years of 2020 and 2021 I went all in on distance education and experimented wildly with live-streaming and recording of lectures. But this spring I am back in the classroom again, and it has been very interesting to apply the lessons learned and the content created. In 2021 I held a few lectures in Building Physics on the topic of moisture, which I also recorded. It was the first time I lectured on the topic and my full focus was simply to keep my nose above the water line and get through the lectures without making to big a fool of myself. The students were very clear in their feedback and most wished for more calculation examples and less lectures. Consequently, this year, I thought about how to approach this and decided to replace all the scheduled lectures with calculation sessions instead. I am now extremely curious to see what the students´ judgment will be.

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Education, ComputerRikard Öqvisteducation, online education, distance learning, technology, school, lecturingComment