Converting an Optional to a List

Just a quick small snippet on how to convert a Optional to a List.

Hope it helps someone, who's new at Optionals.

JOpt Simple

Just a small note regarding a library I use.

According to the website¹:

JOpt Simple is a Java library for parsing command line options, such as those you might pass to an invocation of javac.

References

JOpt Simple

http://jopt-simple.github.io/jopt-simple/

A New Monitor

The times move fast. Must faster than I do, when it comes to computer hardware.

As mentioned in the last blog, I would reveal what kind of monitor I have been using for all this time.

Above is a picture of my new setup.

The Old Monitor

An Iiyama original. The Vision Master Pro 454 HM903DT B

It was quite a good monitor at the time and it did manage to perform fine for decades.

The New Monitor

The new monitor is visible at the top of the blog. It's a HP¹ Z2n G2 27 inch monitor and it is awesomeness.

Some notes:

the stand

very sturdy heavy metal adjustable stand

incredible contrast

especially compared to my old monitor. I had to up the anti-aliasing on my games, as the jaggies were very noticeable, now that the contrast is awesome.

easy setup

just a little difficult to find the buttons.

the brightness

the brightness needs some getting used to, especially if the screen is a bright white. Especially in the evenings, the brightness needs to be turned down.

size/weight

it's obviously a huge difference in size and weight. The desktop (the real one) has a lot more real estate now. Getting used to having more room to put the keyboard.

energy

I expect a lot of energy savings with the new monitor, as well as a reduction in generated heat.

operating system

zero problems in all my operating systems in getting the highest resolution. Almost didn't have to do anything at all.

Conclusion: with the new graphics card and the new monitor I sit and stare in silent admiration at the beautiful images that my games can conjure up for me.

References

HP Website - HP Z27n G2 27 Monitor

https://store.hp.com/NetherlandsStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=1JS10AT&opt=ABB&sel=MTO

New Second Hand Graphics Card

I tend to postpone upgrading my computers until it either breaks down or it gets too cramped in performance/memory/etc. This tends to take a long time.

So a colleague of mine was upgrading his computer, and I managed to get his old graphics cards.

Seeing as I am on a budget, I was looking into what the difference in performance were for second hand graphics cards.

A lot of graphics cards are replaced because there are better ones, even though the old cards still work perfectly fine.

And he just happens to buy the latest and greatest, which is still a pretty good deal after 7 years, compared to what I buy.

My original graphics card

It's a AMD Radeon HD 5700 Series.

"New" graphics card

It's a Nvidia GeForce 770.

Notes

Some notes of mine.

type

you cannot tell any more what kind of graphics card it is from just looking at the physical hardware. With any luck you can find the manufacturer, but that's it. There's just not more room or not important.

external connectors

So, no more VGA connector. And of course my old monitor only has a VGA Connector. (Don't ask, I'll write about it in the next blog about how ancient it is). It gave me an excuse to upgrade my monitor.

internal power cable for PCI Express cards

The old graphics card had only one internal power connector, a 6 pin. The new graphics card had both a 6 pin and an 8 pin. Time to look in the attic for my spare cables box.

noise

it's rather depressing that the new graphics card has three fans and is more quiet than my old graphics card which has only one fan.

heaviness

with all the fans, and the cooling fins, this new graphics card is a seriously heavy beast in pure weight. I hope my motherboard can cope with it.

plastic

instead of screws, my case has plastic easy-to-use click-and-go thingies to fasten cards. Of course, plastic is the first thing to become brittle after several years. No surprises there.

All in all, I am extremely happy. Except for a few little surprises mentioned above, I had the entire setup working relatively quickly.

References

NVidia - GeForce GTX 770

https://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-770/specifications