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Frogboy
Frogboy
Join Date 03/2001
+2419 sdemperor

Little Miracles in programming

September 30, 2009 1:28:36 PM from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

photo The BlacX eSATA dock is just wonderful. I can buy a regular SATA drive and just carry it back and forth between home and work as my main “coding” drive.  Now I can work around the clock easily.

It’s amazing how the working conditions on programming have changed (at least for me).

When I was programming Galactic Civilizations back in the day (for OS/2) I sat in a lab chair that had gotten tossed out by the geography department (I was still in college), it was a 14 inch monitor and a 386SX-16. 

Because compiling on such a setup was so painful, I was really careful about using headers and such and would only do a rebuild if I absolutely had to.

Now, I code on a 30 inch LCD at high res on a system with 12 gigs of RAM, a portable drive and a really good ergonomic chair.

I wish I could say I was more productive but my back feels better.

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Frogboy
vieuxchat
Join Date 06/2006
+36
Reply #1 September 30, 2009 1:48:41 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

A worker always work better when he has good conditions

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Frogboy
Zyxpsilon
Join Date 02/2006
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Reply #2 September 30, 2009 1:52:31 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums

Outch... considering i also went from some oldy TI/99-4A stuff and a hugely evolved 386DX-40 from the late 80's, it is obvious i too gape in awe when i get to use the latest in computing technology.

To think how slow & "counter-productive" much of what was available (at sooooo high prices) back then, is certainly mind boggling.

Processors timing is just eons beyond earliest figures of compiling activity.

Efficiency is now pipelined enough to produce some extraordinary work in real time without noticeable lag. GDI alone is far from the usual canvas & paper stuff -- indeed.

Ya know, full 16K ram & CPU clocking of 4.6Hzs -- feel like cavern apes gimmicks nowadays.

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Frogboy
Zoomba
Join Date 11/2002
+114
Reply #3 September 30, 2009 1:56:28 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

The most awesome thing for me about the BlaX eSATA dock is how I can just toss in a new drive if I need more storage.  This is how I'm storing pretty much all of the assets sent to me by publishers for Impulse publishing.  I'm nearing capacity on my current 1.5TB drive, so when I hit the end, I'll just order a new one.

I'm probably going to get a dock for home too.

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Frogboy
astrath
Join Date 04/2006
+28
Reply #4 September 30, 2009 2:05:59 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Honestly, with ID's post ealier, today seems to be turning into 'Stardock's favourite computer gizmos' day

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Frogboy
MilConDoin
Join Date 09/2009
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Reply #5 September 30, 2009 2:11:07 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

These eSATA docks are a really nice idea. Already thought about getting one for myself.

But Frogboy: You're getting to predictable in your post titles. I saw that title on the front page (under "Recent Community Posts") and already knew, that you must be the author On another topic: Your last line is comedic gold. Had a good laugh with it.

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Frogboy
Island Dog
Join Date 06/2003
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Reply #6 September 30, 2009 2:20:21 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

When I was programming Galactic Civilizations back in the day (for OS/2) I sat in a lab chair that had gotten tossed out by the geography department (I was still in college), it was a 14 inch monitor and a 386SX-16.

Heh, I remember when a 15" monitor was considered huge!

The most awesome thing for me about the BlaX eSATA dock is how I can just toss in a new drive if I need more storage. This is how I'm storing pretty much all of the assets sent to me by publishers for Impulse publishing. I'm nearing capacity on my current 1.5TB drive, so when I hit the end, I'll just order a new one.

I don't see one of those on my desk.  Must have gotten lost in the mail or someting.

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Frogboy
Philocthetes
Join Date 10/2003
+153
Reply #7 September 30, 2009 2:25:42 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

That fancy drive stuff is just about convenience. Good seating is the more important long-term investment.

A few decades from now, you'll still have the same back you were born with, but storage tech changes likely will make those handy eSATA docs look as quaint as Brad's old OS/2 rig.

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Frogboy
Hawawaa
Join Date 09/2006
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Reply #8 September 30, 2009 3:17:12 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Ya I got a 26" monitor and 12gbs ram man I loving it soo much. My pc is so powerful and freaking quite!

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Frogboy
Anthony R
Join Date 01/2003
+59
Reply #9 September 30, 2009 5:38:13 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

I'm afraid you'll soon suffer from Rocky III syndrome. You gotta go back to the old gym and spit nails with Mickey.

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Frogboy
RavenX
Join Date 10/2008
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Reply #10 September 30, 2009 5:50:58 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

I want one

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Frogboy
Frogboy
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #11 September 30, 2009 5:53:48 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

I'm afraid you'll soon suffer from Rocky III syndrome. You gotta go back to the old gym and spit nails with Mickey.

WOW! WOW!

When I was writing this blog, I was thinking the same thing and went looking for an image from Rocky 3 but decided the reference was too obscure.

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Frogboy
RavenX
Join Date 10/2008
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Reply #12 September 30, 2009 6:24:33 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Quoting Frogboy,
reply 11

I'm afraid you'll soon suffer from Rocky III syndrome. You gotta go back to the old gym and spit nails with Mickey.


WOW! WOW!

When I was writing this blog, I was thinking the same thing and went looking for an image from Rocky 3 but decided the reference was too obscure.

There's a bunch of us "old farts" around here, Froggy. There isn't much that will be "too obscure" lol. Not to mention the "Nerd" factor we got going on in here. We're all into D&D and comic books and movies and Video Games.

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Frogboy
Anthony R
Join Date 01/2003
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Reply #13 September 30, 2009 7:40:38 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

the reference was too obscure

Now I feel old lol

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Frogboy
ZehDon
Join Date 04/2009
+115
Reply #14 September 30, 2009 8:13:36 PM
from Demigod ForumsDemigod Forums

This is the internet; nothing is too obscure.

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Frogboy
Rosco_P
Join Date 07/2009
+178 sdemployee
Reply #15 October 1, 2009 11:31:59 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting ZehDon,
reply 14
This is the internet; nothing is too obscure.

Though there is such a thing as not obscure enough.

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Frogboy
landisaurus
Join Date 06/2008
+154
Reply #16 October 1, 2009 12:44:58 PM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

Though there is such a thing as not obscure enough

You think so?   I guess it depends on the community.

 

Man, I can't wait until I notice my work station is vastly improved from when I was in collage...

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Frogboy
Rosco_P
Join Date 07/2009
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Reply #17 October 1, 2009 1:07:45 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting landisaurus,
reply 16
You think so?   I guess it depends on the community.

Find some music forums, specifically of the 'Indie' variety, and start talking about something you heard on the radio last month.  You'll find out what 'not obscure enough' means real quick. 

 

As for 'back in the day' programming stories, I bought a C++ programming book before I even owned a computer.  I went 6 months just doing the exercises from each chapter on notebook paper.  It was weird going from that to a full on IDE.

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Frogboy
Starstriker1
Join Date 03/2006
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Reply #18 October 1, 2009 1:53:44 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums

Quoting Rosco_P,
reply 17

As for 'back in the day' programming stories, I bought a C++ programming book before I even owned a computer.  I went 6 months just doing the exercises from each chapter on notebook paper.  It was weird going from that to a full on IDE.

THAT sounds familiar. I learned BASIC that way all the way back in elementary before I ever discovered the family computer had the QBASIC IDE, and then I repeated the process for C and C++ in junior high and high school respectively. Finally being able to compile code was surreal. Don't know what I was thinking, though, because that's a terrible way to learn a language, yet I did it three separate times!

Sometimes I get the impression that I'm not very smart.

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Frogboy
Coelocanth
Join Date 03/2008
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Reply #19 October 1, 2009 6:25:29 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Basic in elementary school? MY 'back in the day' means taking Basic, Fortran, and Cobol as first year university courses...

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Frogboy
LOLCHRIST
Join Date 03/2006
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Reply #20 October 3, 2009 7:56:05 AM
from Elemental ForumsElemental Forums

It's sort of sad throwing away old computer bits. "But this 500mb hard drive cost me £200!"

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Frogboy
Coelocanth
Join Date 03/2008
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Reply #21 October 4, 2009 9:40:07 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Hey Brad, I see BlacX has one now with two HDD slots.

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Frogboy
carlobee
Join Date 07/2009
+6
Reply #22 October 7, 2009 12:27:19 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Wow. that looks great.

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