mueslifribbledom@mastodon.social
Jul 8, 2026, 10:41 PMSpent my childhood optimizing CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to fit everything into 640 KB.
Now one browser tab needs 2 GB of RAM so 17 analytics companies can find out I looked at socks.
Replies
Jul 8, 2026, 10:45 PM@fribbledom
it's infuriating what they do with all the precious RAM we let them allocate
patterpatterfloof@meow.socialJul 9, 2026, 11:47 AM@wolf480pl @fribbledom taxing programs for ram use because they're only going to use it badly
- Jul 9, 2026, 3:28 PM
@patterfloof
websites should be paying us for loading them in our browser! /hj
@fribbledom 
Martin Uedingmartin_ueding@bonn.socialJul 9, 2026, 7:36 PM@wolf480pl @patterfloof @fribbledom
I got a work laptop with 64 GB of RAM such that I can run VS Code, Slack, Obsidian, Spotify and Zotero (all Electron apps which ship their own copy of Chromium engine).I am kind of happy that RAM got expensive again such that programmers might actually start to value it again …
- Jul 9, 2026, 7:39 PM
@martin_ueding @patterfloof @fribbledom
you do realize this can be read as a "fuck you, got mine"? :PI would appreciate if programmers and product managers started caring more about resource usage.
I'd also appreciate a job where I get to spend a significant portion of my time optimizing code.
But I'm not seeing any of these happen yet, and I'm not holding my breath.
- Martin Uedingmartin_ueding@bonn.socialJul 10, 2026, 4:06 AM
@wolf480pl @patterfloof @fribbledom
I didn't intend that meaning but I see what you mean.My job is in LLM Inference, and there we actually look into performance as it is a business interest to have that run efficient on the servers. I guess when it runs on customers's computers, the motivation is less clear.
Jeff GriggJeffGrigg@mastodon.socialJul 10, 2026, 1:35 AM@martin_ueding @wolf480pl @patterfloof @fribbledom
I was just compiling two copies of the business application I'm working on (policy management in insurance), in two IDE instances. It sent my 64 GB of RAM machine into thrashing.
😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱
NO, I was NOT running Outlook nor browsers nor much of anything else at the time!
And this is Java, not C/C++!
💢
Lordlord@pleroma.lord.reJul 8, 2026, 10:49 PM@fribbledom Me and my 1320 partners are asking your permission to put a cookie in your browser to grant you the privilege to display 5KB of our precious ai generated content on our 85MB web page.
YurkshireLadYurkshireLad@mastodon.socialJul 9, 2026, 4:47 AM@lord @fribbledom We care about your privacy. Here’s a list of our 970 partners.
Fabiofabrixxm@social.gl-como.itJul 9, 2026, 6:39 AM1320 cookies, at 20g at cookie it's 24.6Kg of cookies... that's a lot of cookies...
Jul 9, 2026, 2:05 PM@fabrixxm Someone should sue them for the non-delivery of cookies they promised.
KasTasKasTasMykolas@river.group.ltJul 9, 2026, 10:26 AM@lord @fribbledom and this amount of "partners" is considered low, by current standards ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Famusernomnomnom@mastodon.socialJul 10, 2026, 4:41 AM@KasTasMykolas @lord @fribbledom oh my god. I feel like just one is plenty?!
Danilodbrgn@chaos.socialJul 8, 2026, 11:09 PM@fribbledom that's what a SOCKS proxy is made for... I think.
NormanDunbarNormanDunbar@mastodon.scotJul 9, 2026, 8:41 AM@dbrgn @fribbledom Boom! Boom!
Lot⁴⁹12thRITSJul 9, 2026, 12:07 AM
Jul 9, 2026, 10:47 AM@12thRITS @fribbledom No, this is exec.bat. For autoexec.bat, replace it with an AI.
MarkAtMicrochipMarkAtMicrochip@mastodon.socialJul 9, 2026, 11:13 AM@12thRITS @fribbledom this one never gets old
Jul 9, 2026, 11:19 AM@12thRITS @fribbledom oh shit! It took me while 🤣🤣
Jul 9, 2026, 6:41 PM@12thRITS @fribbledom I never get tired by seeing this. Brings back memories!
Jul 10, 2026, 11:12 AM@12thRITS @fribbledom I got this as a T-shirt for my partner, he wore it into tatters.
trainguyromtrainguyrom@techhub.socialJul 9, 2026, 12:15 AM@fribbledom the best part is all of this tracking results in useless data that fails to actually target any better than just guessing demographics that would enjoy the given content that the ads gets loaded around (y'know how ads were targeted back in the broadcast TV/Radio days)
- Jul 10, 2026, 11:14 AM
@trainguyrom @fribbledom yep, we're frying the whole damn planet for stupid shit no one wants, because insecure rich dudes.
Jul 9, 2026, 12:22 AM@fribbledom Apparently you can get help for that kind of sock fetish.
If you feel the need for help, that is.
Otherwise just keep enjoying yourself.
You can confuse the analytics companies by looking at other foot related apparel.
Or even branch out into gloves and mittens every now and again.
mathewmathew@universeodon.comJul 9, 2026, 3:30 PM@the_wub @fribbledom Let’s try to be socks positive.
- Jul 9, 2026, 7:26 PM
@mathew @fribbledom Wear them with pride!
Joanna Holmanjoannaholman@aus.socialJul 9, 2026, 12:43 AM@fribbledom likewise, why does a simple app need a gig or two of random data and cached files on my phone?
C1S0Megawatt@infosec.exchangeJul 9, 2026, 12:44 AM@fribbledom QEMM
mtnrbq65mtnrbq65@vivaldi.netJul 9, 2026, 2:45 AMhimem.sys
Jeroen van BergenjeroenvanbergenJul 9, 2026, 5:49 AM- C1S0Megawatt@infosec.exchangeJul 10, 2026, 2:40 AM
@mtnrbq65 @jeroenvanbergen @fribbledom and SMARTDRV FTW.
- mtnrbq65mtnrbq65@vivaldi.netJul 10, 2026, 2:52 AM
@Megawatt @jeroenvanbergen @fribbledom
Ha ha 🤣, loving this thread
- C1S0Megawatt@infosec.exchangeJul 10, 2026, 5:33 PM
@mtnrbq65 @jeroenvanbergen @fribbledom We're old. But nothing wrong with that.
We have experience and accumulated wisdom! <under_my_breath>At least that's what I keep telling myself. </under_my_breath>
- Jeroen van BergenjeroenvanbergenJul 10, 2026, 5:58 PM
@Megawatt @mtnrbq65 @fribbledom I know. But the original point is still of interest: is software efficient? Given the amount of computational power at your fingertips you should be able to do amazing things, but in most CPU cycles are wasted doing dumb things over and over again.
SébastienSebastienLugan@mastodon.socialJul 10, 2026, 12:06 PM@Megawatt @mtnrbq65 @jeroenvanbergen @fribbledom
Sorry: I don't have any memory left to load mscdex.exe anymore 👀Speaking of memory, mine seems to be failing: I remember the I/O ports but forgot which DMA channels I should use with my SB16, let me check my jumpers quickly
- Jeroen van BergenjeroenvanbergenJul 10, 2026, 4:42 PM
@SebastienLugan @Megawatt @mtnrbq65 @fribbledom At least there was something you could adjust. ‘User friendly’ was a different concept back then.
Jul 10, 2026, 12:13 PM@jeroenvanbergen @mtnrbq65 @Megawatt @fribbledom
TSR (Terminate but Stay Resident) consumed memory and an interrupt to wake it.😅
And as far as I know, the best DOS enviromnent was MVDM (Multiple Virtual DOS Machines) on OS/2 2.0 and later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_DOS_machine- Jeroen van BergenjeroenvanbergenJul 10, 2026, 4:41 PM
@TomAoki @mtnrbq65 @Megawatt @fribbledom Exactly! And that was my weapon of choice as well. If I remember correctly, the Workplace Shell had some nice object oriented features where you could have multiple visual instances of the same directory, but with different filters and other attributes.
Too bad MS was so successful with Win95, more competition could have saved all of us from disasters like some of the Windows versions that came later.
- C1S0Megawatt@infosec.exchangeJul 10, 2026, 5:35 PM
@TomAoki @jeroenvanbergen @mtnrbq65 @fribbledom I used another product from Quarterdeck, DESQView, for many years.
- Jul 10, 2026, 7:39 PM
@Megawatt @jeroenvanbergen @mtnrbq65 @fribbledom
Unfortunately, DESQView was NOT available in Japan, for PC-9800 series. - Jeroen van BergenjeroenvanbergenJul 11, 2026, 8:10 AM
@TomAoki @Megawatt @mtnrbq65 @fribbledom It is very strange, hearing about products that were not sold in other parts of the world, about 40 years later.
Back then our world was a lot smaller.
- Jul 11, 2026, 9:36 AM
@jeroenvanbergen @Megawatt @mtnrbq65 @fribbledom
For Japanese users, handling Japanese texts (both displaying and inputs) sanely in ShiftJIS encoding and porting to most widely used platform (on pre-Windows era that DESQview was most widely sold, it was NEC PC-9801 series) was mandatory. PC-9801 series was NOT PC-AT compatible. 
markATLeagle@mastodon.onlineJul 9, 2026, 1:05 AM@fribbledom I was so proud when I could carry TWO Linux kernels on a single 3 inch floppy. 2 gigs on a tab is so obscene
- hub8889hub8889@piaille.frJul 9, 2026, 7:52 AM
- NormanDunbarNormanDunbar@mastodon.scotJul 9, 2026, 8:41 AM
@hub8889 @ATLeagle @fribbledom Dual core CPU? 🤣
EndlessMasonEndlessMason@hachyderm.ioJul 9, 2026, 9:03 AM@NormanDunbar @hub8889 @ATLeagle @fribbledom
Whatever the opposite of SMP is
Dec [{(:no_ai:)}]dec23k@mastodon.ieJul 10, 2026, 11:32 AM@hub8889 @ATLeagle @fribbledom
One from kernel.org, one from kerneli.org.A potential ITAR violation in your shirt pocket!
pela0pela0ykuza@mastodon.laJul 9, 2026, 1:11 AM@fribbledom True...
Beach-n-BrewZero2beachJul 9, 2026, 1:20 AM@fribbledom eso sí que es.
Brian M Knoblock 🇺🇸🇳🇴 🦊syferdet@toad.socialJul 9, 2026, 1:39 AMWool or cotton?
In the future, everyone will be judged by the material used for the socks they wear.
Roadskater, Ph.D.roadskater@mastodon.socialJul 9, 2026, 4:23 AM@syferdet @fribbledom In the future?
Jul 10, 2026, 9:56 AM@roadskater @syferdet @fribbledom Where we’re going, we don’t need socks.
Sea Cowseacow@mastodon.artJul 9, 2026, 1:42 AM
katch wreckkatchwreck@mastodon.socialJul 9, 2026, 2:14 AM@fribbledom Wing Commander was tough to load
Jul 9, 2026, 2:30 AM@fribbledom Adblocking is both a matter of resistance and personal internet hygiene. There is no right to surveillance capitalism, you can ban who you dislike. Period. Doctor recommended (OK, a Ph.D., but you can take my word for it).
A thorough multilayer approach is recommended to poop in the AdTech teapot:
1) Network-wide DNS filtering w/ Pi-hole, explicitly banning all Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and other notorious enshittification actors.
2) Linux OS instead of Microsoft/Apple. Linux does not track, the others do.
3) Firefox w/privacy extensions uBlock Origin and EFF Privacy Badger, Ungoogled Chromium.
4) On Smartphones: Use AdGuard Pro (iOS) or Rethink DNS (Android), but be aware that tracking is a built-in feature of mobile OS and is more difficult to suppress.
Jul 9, 2026, 2:32 AM@fribbledom what has this world come to?
isolisol@mastodon.auJul 9, 2026, 2:37 AMYou do know that the UCI has banned all Tour de France fans from searching for ice socks?
an actual busrenardboy@mastodon.socialJul 9, 2026, 2:45 AM@fribbledom For a while before I had to pay bills using online services I had a "pure" CLI setup, running barebones distros without X installed. Was pretty cool, had a command line application for just about anything. Even wrote a novel using a text-based word processor called wordgrinder.
It was surprising how much you could still see of the web using elinks, I could even use facebook 😂 Unsurprisingly banking was out of the picture though, I had to borrow my mom's windows laptop to do that.
mittyozmittyoz@aus.socialJul 9, 2026, 3:06 AM@fribbledom emm386.exe? Himem.sys? Smartdrv.exe? Wow. Memories 😀
:arch: bitterseedsbitterseeds@fosstodon.orgJul 9, 2026, 3:19 AM@fribbledom NoScript helps.
