#benchmark tests

If You've Ever Purchased a Galaxy S4 in the US, Samsung Owes You $10

OnePlus reportedly cheated to manipulate its benchmark scores and make the OnePlus 5 look better #benchmarktests

Who doesn’t want good scores in tests? And we are often prepared to go to great lengths to achieve those scores. However, cheating isn’t exactly something that is to be recommended as a way because not only are you fooling yourself regarding your capabilities, you are also fooling others.  Which is why reports of OnePlus manipulating benchmark scores to make its OnePlus 5 smartphone seem super…

Moto Z with Snapdragon 835 Shows Up In Leaks

Moto might be planning a revision of the Moto Z with a faster and more competent chipset. Sporting a Snapdragon 835 the new Moto Z leaked on benchmarking site GeekBench scoring 6207 on the multicore benchmark.

The RAM remains the same at 4GB which may just mean that the processor is the only area seeing improvements. Moto could be refreshing the lineup to keep in trend with the constant new…

Benchmark Tests Prove Microsoft Surface Book Not Twice as Fast as Macbook Pro

At the launch of its first laptop, Surface Book, Microsoft had claimed it to be a machine twice the speed of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. However, when benchmark tests were carried out by PCWorld and Geekbench 3, these claims were proved incorrect. In terms of CPU benchmarks, the Apple device was slightly faster than the Surface Book.

Having said that, it should also be noted that when it came to the…

This is an article I wrote for Altum Sonatur, a UCT law magazine, in which I was tasked with arguing for or against the idea of a politics "bar" exam. It's a little shoddy here and there, but I'd like to think the sentiment holds. 

In South Africa we spend a lot of time making fun of our politicians. In our defense, they make the job fairly easy but, in all our jest, we often lose sight of the fact that politicians play a pivotal role in the running of our country- one that, if compromised by incompetence, can have far-reaching and devastating consequences.

  That being said, the idea of a “politics bar”, or a minimum standard that needs to be met in order to be a politician, is a highly problematic one.

  Proponents of this idea often point out the lack of a basic education and rising levels of incompetence of our politicians as markers of the necessity of such a test but, in so doing, clearly demonstrate a lack of understanding of how politics (and by extension leadership) work. In order to be a successful politician, one needs to be able to analyze what the people need and how best to address these needs. This isn’t reliant on a strong traditional education. Indeed, Jacob Zuma is a prime example of how coming from an educationally deprived background can actually make someone more relatable within the South African political context.

  Moreover, the mechanics of a politics bar are potentially troublesome. In the legal bar there is a clear objective- that of ensuring potential lawyers are up to scratch on law-specific knowledge. The objective of a politics bar is unclear. What exactly does it aim to test? Leadership and the ability to deliver to the people are abstract concepts that cannot feasibly be tested, and I’ve already shown that these trump “basic education” on almost every level.

  With the logistics of such a test out the way the pressing question becomes that of principles. The idea of universal adult suffrage enshrined in the bill of rights is the cornerstone of democracy, but for our democratic system to be truly effective it also needs to allow the non-exclusive ability to partake in politics. Simply allowing all adults in our country to vote isn’t akin to having a healthy democracy. For such a system to truly thrive, there needs to be active engagement of the electorate in the political sphere- whether it be through campaigning, voting in referendums, debating issues or getting involved as a politician. These are all avenues and channels that should be open to as much of our society as possible, irrespective of levels of education or social standing. Essentially the question of whether a “politics bar” is or isn’t necessary becomes a weigh-up between the dangers posed by an incompetent politician and the dangers of an exclusive and elitist political system.

  The latter is undeniably more detrimental to our society. In the USA during the civil rights period, one of the most draconian ways Southern states limited the ability for colored individuals to take part in the electoral system was through literacy tests that acted as a prerequisite to voting. A “politics bar” works in much the same way- limiting political involvement through a series of abstract criteria. This is especially worrying in a South African context, where many of the middle-aged to older individuals who are involved in our political system were victims of Bantu education during Apartheid.

  Additionally, even if the idea of a politics bar wasn’t so exclusive and degrading to our democratic system, the danger of incompetence without one is ridiculous. Our political system has checks and balances in place to ensure that those within it do their job properly.

Hope everyone out there is in a good place.  I pray for those I follow, and I wish you happiness.

Well I haven’t written about my 6 month infusion yet because my attention has been pulled in a lot of directions lately.  A trip 250 miles north to see my parents, followed by 2 trips 120 miles south for benchmark tests and my monthly infusion and three days later a MRI.  That was followed by another trip to my parents, interrupted temporarily by a wedding 90 miles away, followed by driving to another wedding 1100 miles north.  All this occurred over three and a half weeks!  Next week I head north again to help my parents move.  Whew!

On the 22nd I had my 6th month infusion and benchmark testing.  I started with the benchmarks and a visit with Dr. Langer.  Remember that neither the doctor nor I know if I am on Tysabri or a placebo.  Let’s talk about my numbers:

Benchmark 1- How far can I walk with my cane in 6 minutes?

Feb 7: 278m and July 22: 365m

This to me is a BIG improvement because I was not struggling like I did in February, when I remember doing the “Frankenstein stalk”.  This is where I would swing my leg forward instead of lifting my leg and stepping forward.  This time I did not find it a struggle to walk for 6 minutes.  I did not push myself to walk at a fast pace, just a steady pace.  I do not remember if I pushed myself in February for speed.  I did push to go as far as possible.

After I walk for 6 minutes, I continue to walk to see if I can reach 500 meters total.  In February I remember holding onto the wall, telling people to step aside so I would not have to walk around them, and finally I just said “I’m done.”, and sat down on the ground leaning against the wall.  This time I easily walked to 500 meters.  Woo Woo! Every summer I have gotten weaker and when I return to work in the fall, I am walking noticeably slower and relying more and more on the wheel chair.  Part of it I think has been the stress caused by the heat of summer (90s to 110 degrees).  At least the humidity is low.  Part of it has been the lack of physical activity because I am not working while school is out and I do not have somewhere I need to be every day. 

I have had relapses in summers past.  Years ago, 5 years I think, when I had a relapse in late June, my doctor prescribed a steroid infusion treatment.  1 gram of steroids pushed over 30 minutes for 3 days straight. I did not sleep for 4 days and on day 5, I blew up with swelling caused by water weight I guess.  This swelling was very painful, especially in my joints.  It was more than a few weeks before I felt normal.  I swore I would never do a steroid treatment again unless the relapse was making me feel worse than the steroids made me feel. 

I have relapsed since then and I have not call the doctor because what was she going to do that would improve how I felt?  I have been told that I have risked my health, and I have been scolded, but my treatment is MY treatment and I will decide cost/benefit.  It is my choice.

Oh what a rant!  Let’s get back to talking about my numbers.

Benchmark 2 - Peg Test-how fast can I do it? Feb-right-27.8sec    July- right-22.2sec           left-21sec                  left-23.9sec The peg test involves picking up inch long pegs and placing them into holes then removing them again.  I remember being sloppy about picking up the pegs in February.  I would knock pegs out of the swallow bowl while trying to pick up a peg. The pegs would fall on to the floor and Ryan and my husband would pick them up and place them back in the bowl while I continued to place the pegs as quickly as possible.

My time on my left hand has improved but my time on the right has actually declined.  The difference this time was I did not feel as sloppy about picking up the pegs.  I didn’t knock one out bowl more than once or twice.  Next Benchmark is the Symbol Digit Modality test.  This test was developed as part of a rating scale for Huntington’s disease.  A modified version is used as a neuropsychological test for MS. Benchmark 3 - Symbols Test – how many matches in 90 seconds?

Feb - 49 correct out of 49 attempted July - 51 correct out of 51 attempted

This test is kind of frustrating to me because each time I take it I am reminded of how much I have lost in my ability to memorize code.  I use to love to do things like this and quickly learn the symbol patterns.   I was great at those games where you turn over 2 cards trying to make a match.  No more.

I also use to remember with no effort how to get back to any place I had been to within a few years.  Now when traveling, I cannot remember how to get back to the freeway if I can’t see the freeway unless I have traveled the path multiple times. Now my parents are moving to a new home in a new community and I am very aware that I need to study how to get there and back. Thank goodness for GPS.

  Okay, now looking at the benchmarks, am I getting better or not?  Am I on the drug or the placebo? 

I have asked myself more than once, if the treatments I have had in the last 7 years have slowed the progression of my disease, or hastened it?  As I have said, before being diagnosed I had had symptoms I now connect to MS since high school (35 years). I did have some lost some of my mobility, can’t run can’t jump, before being diagnosed but in seven years I have gone from being able to walk unassisted for 2, 3 miles, being able to clean my home in one session, being able to stand and cook a special meal to not being able to do any of those things.

This summer I have felt better than I have in the last few years.  I still can’t run or jump, but I can walk further and I have been more adventurous in the kitchen.  I have started to clean out those closets than contain stuff I haven’t used in more than 5 years or stuff I just don’t need. I was not exhausted by the last three weeks!!!

New Post has been published on http://filepursue.com/as-ssd-benchmark-1-7-4739/

AS SSD Benchmark 1.7.4739

DescriptionScreenshotOld Versions

With AS SSD Benchmark you can determine your SSD drive’s performance by conducting several specific tests.

Test the sequential or random read/write performance without using the cache. AS SSD Benchmark reads/writes a 1 GByte file as well as randomly chosen 4K blocks. Additionally, it performs the tests using 1 or 64 threads and it determines the SSD’s access time.

Two extra benchmark tests examine the drive’s behaviour when (1) copying a few big files, a lot of small files and a mixture of file sizes by using cached copy functions of your OS as well as (2) reading/writing data depending on the data’s compressibility.

AS SSD Benchmark 1.6.4237