I'm an old assembly language guy that has hacked around with Pascal, Visual Basic, Q Basic, and sometimes embedded C. I now primarily design the hardware and specify the software.
In the last few months I've been putting together proof of concept systems (motors, switches, lights, RFID modules) and am using PBASIC on a Parallax BASIC STAMPS. It's greatly simplified what I do for dog and pony shows. I highly recommend that as a starting point for beginners. I do know that some colleges (and younger) are using it.
for whatever airline you are flying that day, even if you hardly ever fly with them. I take 1 or 2 day notice flights for business developement (we used to call them "sales calls"). Before I started signing up for fequent flyer accounts I would often get "special treatment".
I'm German decent, 49 years old, no facial hair, hair cut short, business casual attire. I think that it has a lot to do with the airlines and the TSA knowing more about you.
So why don't you have a custom keyboard designed that doesn't have the Caps-Lock key?
Or more simply, just pop that cap off of your existing keyboard.
I tried to submit this comment in ALL CAPS, but was rejected for lameness. How lame.
Does anyone else remember how much DRAM came with the base unit? 16K. That's right, 16K not 16M. It was expandable to a whopping 64K.
It also booted from ROM BASIC, you could save and retrieve the program out to a cassette tape recorder (no floppy or hard drive).
The neatest thing that I liked about it was how they did the DRAM refresh: they used one of the DMA channels. I think that the Intel IC they used had 3 channels.
We used one of the first PCs to build a security system for J.C.Penney stores and warehouses. I designed an ISA-slot board with EPROM/RAM and a RS-422 serial interface to talk to remote multiplexors (they had 8048s on them). We replaced the first ROM BASIC parts with an EPROM board that forced the code to jump to my board.
In my youth, I never heard of anybody complaining about this with old mechanical typewriters. I'm beginning to agree with this post about just not being in good keyboard shape.
quick question: how old are you? I had no problems seeing up close with contacts until I hit the 40 year old boundary. If you're under 40, let me know how that works for you when you get older.
I've very blind myself (20/1000, the big E is 20/400). I'm 49 years old now, been wearing bi-focals for the last 8 years. I wore contacts (-7 diopters) for 15 years before that. I've tried the weaker contact in one eye for reading, but it won't work for me because I don't have a dominant eye (most baseball shortstops do not have a dominant eye). And for real close up work, I take off my glasses.
Laser surgery is not an option as I would loose the ability to see up real close.
And yes, I lost 40 pounds 2.5 years ago with a real novel approach: each less and healthier food, nothing after 8pm, exercise (mostly treadmill at 4mph for 30 minutes). It took 9 months.
I'm often looking for China vendors for electronic components (mostly resistor, relays, capacitors, stuff like that, rarely ICs) since we manage contract assemblers in China and Taiwan. We also have an office in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Segregating the web would change how I find parts, plus the email thing to Asia. I'm sure that we'll find a work-around, but it will have a negative impact on how we do business.
them there Chinese do a great job of knocking off components... NOT.
I just got back from a 3 week business trip to China. We're pretty sure that they view component specifications as suggestions. They have the same view of traffic laws and sanitation practices, IMHO.
8088, 16K of DRAM (that's not a mis-type), booted to ROM BASIC, no floppy drive (it would have been an 8" floppy), you saved and loaded programs with a cassette tape player. We used it for a J.C. Penney security system (Silent Watchman, inc.) and made our own EPROM memory board with an RS-485 interface to our own input multiplexers (they had 8048 micros with software written in assembly).
CONSPIRACY THEORY: This is how they will finally get everyone to upgrade, from fear. But I will continue to use my WIN98SE box, running my favorite PCB CAD program.
The movie add says that they are ok to use on an airplane. I thought that ALL RF devices had to be off while in flight. Anybody know anything about that?
AVG anti-virus, updated at least once a week.
Spybot updated and run at least once a week.
Ad-adware updated and run at least once a week.
Linksys firewall/router with hardware firewall, 802.11G.
128 bit encryption for wireless.
4 computers: 1 hardwired (win98SE), 3 wireless (winxp).
I've never had a breach. I don't trust software firewalls with multiple users (especially children).
and there inlies the problem with acronyms.
I am the acronym nazi where I work. We have several different people in a building where the accounting, IT, and engineering have to work together. The accounting people are the worse about using acronyms.
either. I have an F150 with what I thought was the infamous "cruise control switch" problem (fires, brake failures, stuff like that). Even though my truck wasn't in the recall (after calling Ford to find that out), all of the news reports said that my model and year was CLEARLY in the recall.
I finally saw a local news show that gave much more detail to the problem: there is a switch mounted to the end of the master cylinder that is an extra safely to turn off the cruise control when a lot of brake pressure is exerted. It's a normally closed switch supplying power to the cruise control, that's why there were fires even when the vehicle is off. There is a membrane between the brake fluid and the switch that has been known to fail, especially in hot climates.
If you take your vehicle back to Ford, they simply disconnect the switch, redering the cruise control useless.
As a fire safety precaution, I unconnected the switch and shorted out the wires, even though my vehicle supposedly doesn't have one of the suspect switches. There are at least 3 other ways to kick off the cruise control in the event that the brake light switch doesn't work: push the OFF button, kick it out of gear, or shut off the ignition switch.
And I'm 48 and have been reading/. since 1997 when I hooked up with a bunch of Ohio State graduate students at a start-up company (long since dead). We played Quake everyday at 5pm, sometimes on-line. I was never that good, but I certainly appreciate first person shooter games.
why must everybody pick on toasters?
We just designed a toaster for Maytag. It has no OS, written in embedded C on a Philips micro (8051 core). I tried to get a 10baseT port on it, but couldn't convince anybody of:
it's cost or it's function
"people have a duty to give people the opportunity to live as long as they want to. " What if I don't want to live that long (due to whatever)? I'd like to choose when I die, why is that such a problem with everyone, especially "Christians"?
yep, I design chargers for the a MAJOR US cell phone manufacturer (take a guess who, I don't work for them, however). There are HUGE requirements for voltage control and current limits. PLUS the phones have built-in protection.
The way I see it, the major problem is aftermarket CHARGERS. It scares me when I see what Radio Shack and Wal-Mart sells for $9.95. Only the best that China can design. Based on incomplete specifications.
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I'm an old assembly language guy that has hacked around with Pascal, Visual Basic, Q Basic, and sometimes embedded C. I now primarily design the hardware and specify the software.
In the last few months I've been putting together proof of concept systems (motors, switches, lights, RFID modules) and am using PBASIC on a Parallax BASIC STAMPS. It's greatly simplified what I do for dog and pony shows. I highly recommend that as a starting point for beginners. I do know that some colleges (and younger) are using it.
sorry about your luck. On my sample of one (me), it works for me. But that's not a very good experiment.
"travelling one-way segments" was what they were targeting. period.
for whatever airline you are flying that day, even if you hardly ever fly with them. I take 1 or 2 day notice flights for business developement (we used to call them "sales calls"). Before I started signing up for fequent flyer accounts I would often get "special treatment".
I'm German decent, 49 years old, no facial hair, hair cut short, business casual attire. I think that it has a lot to do with the airlines and the TSA knowing more about you.
So why don't you have a custom keyboard designed that doesn't have the Caps-Lock key?
Or more simply, just pop that cap off of your existing keyboard.
I tried to submit this comment in ALL CAPS, but was rejected for lameness. How lame.
Does anyone else remember how much DRAM came with the base unit? 16K. That's right, 16K not 16M. It was expandable to a whopping 64K.
It also booted from ROM BASIC, you could save and retrieve the program out to a cassette tape recorder (no floppy or hard drive).
The neatest thing that I liked about it was how they did the DRAM refresh: they used one of the DMA channels. I think that the Intel IC they used had 3 channels.
We used one of the first PCs to build a security system for J.C.Penney stores and warehouses. I designed an ISA-slot board with EPROM/RAM and a RS-422 serial interface to talk to remote multiplexors (they had 8048s on them). We replaced the first ROM BASIC parts with an EPROM board that forced the code to jump to my board.
In my youth, I never heard of anybody complaining about this with old mechanical typewriters. I'm beginning to agree with this post about just not being in good keyboard shape.
quick question: how old are you? I had no problems seeing up close with contacts until I hit the 40 year old boundary.
If you're under 40, let me know how that works for you when you get older.
I've very blind myself (20/1000, the big E is 20/400). I'm 49 years old now, been wearing bi-focals for the last 8 years. I wore contacts (-7 diopters) for 15 years before that. I've tried the weaker contact in one eye for reading, but it won't work for me because I don't have a dominant eye (most baseball shortstops do not have a dominant eye). And for real close up work, I take off my glasses.
Laser surgery is not an option as I would loose the ability to see up real close.
And yes, I lost 40 pounds 2.5 years ago with a real novel approach: each less and healthier food, nothing after 8pm, exercise (mostly treadmill at 4mph for 30 minutes). It took 9 months.
I'm often looking for China vendors for electronic components (mostly resistor, relays, capacitors, stuff like that, rarely ICs) since we manage contract assemblers in China and Taiwan. We also have an office in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Segregating the web would change how I find parts, plus the email thing to Asia. I'm sure that we'll find a work-around, but it will have a negative impact on how we do business.
them there Chinese do a great job of knocking off components... NOT. I just got back from a 3 week business trip to China. We're pretty sure that they view component specifications as suggestions. They have the same view of traffic laws and sanitation practices, IMHO.
8088, 16K of DRAM (that's not a mis-type), booted to ROM BASIC, no floppy drive (it would have been an 8" floppy), you saved and loaded programs with a cassette tape player. We used it for a J.C. Penney security system (Silent Watchman, inc.) and made our own EPROM memory board with an RS-485 interface to our own input multiplexers (they had 8048 micros with software written in assembly).
I've never had a problem. Also:
run Spybot, AdAware, and use AVG anti-virus.
CONSPIRACY THEORY: This is how they will finally get everyone to upgrade, from fear. But I will continue to use my WIN98SE box, running my favorite PCB CAD program.
The movie add says that they are ok to use on an airplane. I thought that ALL RF devices had to be off while in flight. Anybody know anything about that?
AVG anti-virus, updated at least once a week.
Spybot updated and run at least once a week.
Ad-adware updated and run at least once a week.
Linksys firewall/router with hardware firewall, 802.11G.
128 bit encryption for wireless.
4 computers: 1 hardwired (win98SE), 3 wireless (winxp).
I've never had a breach. I don't trust software firewalls with multiple users (especially children).
and I'm not kidding. well, maybe a little.
and there inlies the problem with acronyms.
I am the acronym nazi where I work. We have several different people in a building where the accounting, IT, and engineering have to work together. The accounting people are the worse about using acronyms.
either. I have an F150 with what I thought was the infamous "cruise control switch" problem (fires, brake failures, stuff like that). Even though my truck wasn't in the recall (after calling Ford to find that out), all of the news reports said that my model and year was CLEARLY in the recall.
I finally saw a local news show that gave much more detail to the problem: there is a switch mounted to the end of the master cylinder that is an extra safely to turn off the cruise control when a lot of brake pressure is exerted. It's a normally closed switch supplying power to the cruise control, that's why there were fires even when the vehicle is off. There is a membrane between the brake fluid and the switch that has been known to fail, especially in hot climates. If you take your vehicle back to Ford, they simply disconnect the switch, redering the cruise control useless.
As a fire safety precaution, I unconnected the switch and shorted out the wires, even though my vehicle supposedly doesn't have one of the suspect switches. There are at least 3 other ways to kick off the cruise control in the event that the brake light switch doesn't work: push the OFF button, kick it out of gear, or shut off the ignition switch.
GM starting putting microprocessors (not microcontrollers) in cars in 1981. They used off-the-shelf Motorola 6802s. I had an '81 camaro.
And I'm 48 and have been reading /. since 1997 when I hooked up with a bunch of Ohio State graduate students at a start-up company (long since dead). We played Quake everyday at 5pm, sometimes on-line. I was never that good, but I certainly appreciate first person shooter games.
why must everybody pick on toasters? We just designed a toaster for Maytag. It has no OS, written in embedded C on a Philips micro (8051 core). I tried to get a 10baseT port on it, but couldn't convince anybody of: it's cost or it's function
"people have a duty to give people the opportunity to live as long as they want to. " What if I don't want to live that long (due to whatever)? I'd like to choose when I die, why is that such a problem with everyone, especially "Christians"?
yep, I design chargers for the a MAJOR US cell phone manufacturer (take a guess who, I don't work for them, however). There are HUGE requirements for voltage control and current limits. PLUS the phones have built-in protection.
The way I see it, the major problem is aftermarket CHARGERS. It scares me when I see what Radio Shack and Wal-Mart sells for $9.95. Only the best that China can design. Based on incomplete specifications.
that would keep them away from schools. problem solved.