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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 04 - 09 SEPTEMBER, 2023
Hello and Welcome,
Meeting TODAY
2023/09/02 — 13:00-14:00 — September, Sat — Penrith Group
Meeting This Week
2023/09/05 — 18:00-20:00 — September, Tue — Main Meeting
Meetings Next Week
2023/09/12 — 18:00-20:00 — September, Tue — Programming
2023/09/16 — 14:00-16:00 — September, Sat — Web Design
Schedule of Current & Upcoming Meetings
First Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Main Meeting
First Saturday 13:00-14:00 — Penrith Group
Second Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Programming
Third Tuesday 10:00-12:00 — Tuesday Group
Third Saturday 14:00-16:00 — Web Design
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Go to the official Sydney PC Calendar for this month's meeting details.
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Penrith meetings are held every 2nd month on the 1st Saturday from 1-2 pm.
The following meeting is in November 2023.
ASCCA News:Tech News:
Windows 11 SSD Slowdown 'Fixed'
See the InfoPackets article by John Lister on August 25, 2023, at 12:08 pm EDT.
Microsoft appears to have fixed a bug that slowed down solid state drives (SSDs) in Windows 11. Despite the fix, some users are upset that the company doesn't appear to have publicly acknowledged that anything went wrong.
Solid state drives don't use any moving parts like old-style drives which use both a spinning mechanism and an arm, a little like a vinyl record player. That means that SSDs should last longer without physical wear and can access data faster.
The downside is that they tend to be more expensive. As a result, a common setup is to use an SSD to run Windows and applications and then use a traditional hard drive for large amounts of data storage.
Patch Tuesday Brought Problems
Whenever people start reporting problems with Windows, it's always hard to tell what's a coincidence and what's a genuine problem. However, back in July the Windows Latest site used multiple sources to conclude that the SSD slowdown issue in Windows 11 "doesn't appear to be widespread, but it is real."
It also noted a consistent pattern of the problem developing after the mandatory "Patch Tuesday" update in March. Test data showed SSD speeds falling by half or more.
Many users are now reporting the problem has corrected itself, with the timetable strongly suggesting Microsoft issued a fix. Those who installed an optional update in July saw the difference right away, while for others their SSDs returned to normal after the mandatory August update. (Source: windowslatest.com)
No Official Word
The support information for both updates makes no mention of the fix or indeed the original problem. That's proven frustrating for some users who are asking what Microsoft has to hide. (Source: pcworld.com)
One more conspiratorial suggestion is that Microsoft was embarrassed about reintroducing a specific problem that it first solved last year. That's unproven, though the company certainly has been criticised for updating Windows too frequently at the risk of causing more problems.
A more generous reading is that, despite their vocal complaints, the number of people affected may have been too small for Microsoft to consider the problem and fix worth mentioning on its support pages.
What's Your Opinion?
Did you spot an SSD slowdown this year? If so, has it now been fixed? Should Microsoft list all problems and fixes, even if they only affect a small proportion of users?
Please Disable Your Ad-Blocker
Message from How-To Geek:
No Ad-Blocker, Please
Goodbye, How-To Geek.
— Ed.
Subco announces plan to build SMAP cable
See the iTWire article by Kenn Anthony Mendoza | Monday, 28 August 2023, at 09:31 am.
New SMAP (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth) Cable
Cable venture company Subco announced it will commence construction of a new transcontinental submarine cable that will connect Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
The company claimed that the project, referred to as SMAP, has achieved "contract in force" status.
The new 5,000 km cable system will be built by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and installed by Optic Marine Systems.
Australia's first national fibre backhaul network, HyperOne, will mark the first stage of construction.
The 12 fibre pairs, according to Subco, will leverage spatial division multiplexing (SDM) technology and are expected to deliver over 300 Tbps per section at 15 Tb/KW.
Subco claims this will be 25x more energy efficient than legacy terrestrial inter-capital systems. It is designed to become Australia's "lowest carbon per terabit long-haul network."
"This is a significant feat that will be achieved through the installation of solar and renewable infrastructure at all cable landing station locations, as well as the purchase of 100% renewable energy," the company said in a statement.
"SMAP is well-positioned to achieve a series of firsts: Australia's first long-haul submarine cable to utilise SDM technology; the first fully armoured long-haul cable system in Australia; and the first zero carbon long-haul cable system in the world. Once built and operational, SMAP will be the most advanced, secure and innovative submarine cable ever built in Australia," said Subco founder and CEO Bevan Slattery.
Fun Facts:
India becomes the first country to land safely on the Moon's South Pole
See the News.com article by Benedict Brook | @BenedictBrook | August 24, 2023 — 6:32 am.
In what's been described as an "historic day," India has become the first nation to land a spacecraft on the moon's dark side.
[ See in Wikipedia the USSR's Luna-24 mission in 1976 — Ed. ]
Destination, Moon
India has become only the fourth nation in the world to land a rocket on the moon and the first ever to do so on the moon's "dark side".
The nation's lunar spacecraft landed safely near the moon's little-explored south pole on Wednesday, sparking wild celebrations and applause among technicians guiding the mission.
"Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the Moon," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced at its headquarters.
Chandrayaan means "mooncraft" in Sanskrit.
The landing is a triumph for New Delhi and comes before a major international summit in front of China and Russia. It will be humbling for Moscow, whose mission to the moon failed just days ago.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it an "historic day for India's space sector" on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter.
"The sky is not the limit," he added.
Landing on the mysterious South Pole
India's landing is unique as it has reached the surface of the little-explored South Pole of the moon, which is permanently facing away from Earth.
Much of the South Pole is always in darkness, discouraging previous missions.
Sunlight does reach this pole, but the area is so mountainous that only higher ground is illuminated, while low-lying areas are always shadowed and cold.
However, there is speculation that this could lead to frozen water being found in the region. If that were the case, it could make future moon exploration more viable.
Fourth nation to safely land on the moon
Only the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have previously managed a successful moon landing.
Earlier this week, Russia tried to do the same with its Luna 25 spacecraft. But the mission failed in a blow to Moscow after the craft crashed onto the moon's surface.
India's success comes in the middle of the BRICS summit of developing nations, of which it and Russia are members, along with China, Brazil and South Africa.
A previous Indian effort to reach Earth's satellite failed in 2019. The ISRO appeared to have learned from that incident.
"Chandrayaan-3 is going to go with more ruggedness," the former head of the ISRO, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, said this week.
"We have confidence, and expect everything to go smoothly."
Now that Chandrayaan-3 has landed, it will stabilise its position. Later, a moon rover will be deployed from the craft to explore the local area.
The mission was launched nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators but took much longer to reach the moon than those of the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.
India uses rockets that are much less powerful than those the US used back then, meaning the probe had to orbit Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long lunar trajectory.
The spacecraft's lander, Vikram, which means "valour" in Sanskrit, detached from its propulsion module last week and has been sending back images of the moon's surface since entering lunar orbit on August 5.
Low-cost space program
India has a comparatively low-budget aerospace program, but it has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the moon in 2008. The latest mission comes with a price tag of $74.6 million ($A116m), far lower than other countries, and a testament to India's frugal space engineering.
Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing space technology, thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages.
Those Free W3Spaces Websites from W3Schools
See the W3Spaces article by W3Schools.
We've made some small advances on Spaces websites since the previous Newsletter:
Unlike usual websites, where the "top-level" files like index.html and styles.css go in the root directory, Spaces prefers these files in a src/ directory.
I've therefore uploaded a few PHP files into that directory and referenced them as "phpinfo.php", "script.php", and "birthdate.php" in links.
Birthdate is an interesting PHP app that asks for your Birthdate and then tells you how many seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, etc. that you've lived ... so far.
Spaces Menu
Spaces Birthdate
Try out Days on my Spaces website. It's fascinating. — Ed.
Meeting Location & Disclaimer
Bob Backstrom
~ Newsletter Editor ~
Information for Members and Visitors:
Link to — Sydney PC & Technology User Group
All Meetings, unless explicitly stated above, are held on the
1st Floor, Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
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