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No. I started as a teenager, when PC was still fresh (just as me), but never stopped since. After 30 years I still learn new things every day almost...
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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I wasn't an opsimath when I started studying programming (in 1972!), but I am definitely one now.
As someone who has seen various programming 'paradigms' come and go (often more than once, but under different names) I can only agree with the OP that "the more things change the more they stay the same".
I still love to learn new things and - where possible - work with them, but the increasing complexity of the underlying technologies (attempting to make what was a core programming task simply a 'given') means that you have to learn ever 'higher level' languages to effectively achieve much the same tasks you used to in the older environments, just with the whole thing taking more computer power:
For example: Producing a correctly typeset document in InDesign now takes exactly the same time that it did in, say, Ventura 20 years ago, but is using over 100,000 times as much memory, disk space and CPU power...
A corollary to this is that there are whole generations of programmers out there, many of them extremely well qualified on paper, who have absolutely no idea how the machinery they are using actually functions, or what it's limitations might be, which is fine until you hit one of those limits and then have no idea, say, why your apparently simple small SQL query overloads the server for 8 hours to return one single row recordset with two columns in it...
I'll get me Zimmer frame...
8)
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Yep
A very good post that I totally agree with.
Very well put Mike
"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read." Frank Zappa 1980
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No, I started about 12..13 years of Age, with a C64 & BASIC / asm, when many Kids in School already had an Amiga or 286/386 PC or so, didn't have the dough for "a real computer" as I was told to rather buy.
As for VS2013, not using it yet. But when I heard MS hired the then head of the Eclipse team, I involuntarily emanated a scream of agony into the night, for I knew, the fate of my beloved tool of choice was sealed.
( hah I don't know how bad it really is and what the guy had to do with it, but still, MS, what were you thinking )
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One who doesn't learn, or stops to study, later in life.
It's me. Is there special word for this?
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Alex Fr wrote: Is there special word for this? Well, I think that's a difficult one because you'd really need to know context, and motivation, to choose an appropriate word.
Consider someone who stops aggressively staying up-to-date in programming languages and technologies of choice because they are secure in their job, know it well, and want to devote time to family life, or other forms of mental development, or hobbies, or just enjoying the rewards of a life well spent: I would not use a negative term to describe such a person.
But, you know, language is a living liquid continually taking the fractaly evolving shape of the cultural container (itself a flexible medium) it ferments in. Nothing wrong with your inventing a neologism: how about "noopsimath" as a value-neutral descriptor that has a slight touch of whimsy in the pun on "no-op" ?
cheers, Bill
“I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: They amount to 14.” Abd-Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, circa 950CE.
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I made a living programming for 30+ years, starting with Fortran/punch cards
and now C#/.NET. I'm 72 now and retired but I still program as a hobby.
I hope I am still active if and when quantum computing comes to the
desktop!
(BTW I just read an article with the following example: To factor a
large (250 digit) number with today's computers would take "a million
networked computers running for a million years, but the same problem
could be solved in minutes with a quantum computer")
CQ#?
73
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I started with Fortran and Assembler/punch cards and am now doing VB.Net. I'm 60, working, and expect to be programming for many years to come as well.
Edward...
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I don't know about an opsithingy, but if your code is as hard to understand as your English I'd give you a wide berth in my company
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Fantastic -- you've just described my entire history of programming as well - right down to the 6809 - I was somewhat younger when I did it, but it was at roughly the same actual time (in terms of which year it was)... I love it. And I agree: there was something intrinsically satisfying about programming an 8-bit machine in assembly language which is, somehow, missing from the beautiful high-level world of today...
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Take good care[^]
It's a really nice song by Liv Kristine ... just to let all of you know that I'm still lurking around here ...
Espen Harlinn
Chief Architect - Powel AS
Projects promoting programming in "natural language" are intrinsically doomed to fail. Edsger W.Dijkstra
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Excellent song, she has a good voice.
Backatcha Enigma[^]
Good to see your still lurking, we've missed ya!
New version: WinHeist Version 2.1.0 Beta
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
I'm not crazy, my reality is just different than yours!
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Mike Hankey wrote: Good to see your still lurking, we've missed ya!
Thanks
Enigma is just great - I've been listening to Michael Cretu since his Invisible Man[^] album.
Espen Harlinn
Chief Architect - Powel AS
Projects promoting programming in "natural language" are intrinsically doomed to fail. Edsger W.Dijkstra
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Well, I do. This[^] is a T-Rex 450 Sport. It's not the latest model, but I got myself a used one on FleaBay for a low price.
At the moment it looks more like this.[^] The canopy, the landing gear, tail boom supports and the complete tail rotor have been removed. It's made mostly of aluminium alloy or carbon fiber parts and only very little plastic. That leaves a good impression, with the exception of the four screws which hold the tail boom. I replaced the original eight smaller screws with four stronger steel screws and now the tail can't slide out anymore.
I have done this to install it into this body.[^] It's a modified Bell 222 which once was the star of a TV series. And after the TV series it was sold to a company here in Germany and served as a flying ambulance until it crashed when it came into bad weather when returning from a flight.
I'm sure you will know the TV series if you look at the model. And wish me luck for putting it together and getting it to fly.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
I hold an A-7 computer expert classification, Commodore. I'm well acquainted with Dr. Daystrom's theories and discoveries. The basic design of all our ship's computers are JavaScript.
modified 1-Sep-14 15:28pm.
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Awesome acquisition.
This[^] is my version of T-Rex!
New version: WinHeist Version 2.1.0 Beta
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
I'm not crazy, my reality is just different than yours!
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Mike Hankey wrote: This[^] is my version of T-Rex! This[^] is the most useful one*.
* You don't get cake from the others.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Yours is definitely more edible then mine, but mine is scarier!
New version: WinHeist Version 2.1.0 Beta
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
I'm not crazy, my reality is just different than yours!
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You've obviously never seen the results of my attempts at baking.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Good luck! I have almost a full family of T-Rex's, only missing the smallest and biggest. But nothing in a scale body yet.
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Thanks, but it looks like my luck just ran out. I had to remove the tail rotor in order to get the tail boom into the body. Now I don't get it back on. The belt is not the least bit flexible and if I pull any harder I will certainly damage the body or bend the tail rotor shaft. And how I'm supposed to tighten the screws while pulling is yet another big question. Any ideas?
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
I hold an A-7 computer expert classification, Commodore. I'm well acquainted with Dr. Daystrom's theories and discoveries. The basic design of all our ship's computers are JavaScript.
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If the belt is so tight that you are at risk of bending the tail drive shaft then it may be too short. To get the correct tension you shouldn't have to pull the boom out too hard at all. With practice it gets easier to set the correct tension.
To set the tension I agree you may need to grow an extra arm/hand What I do is tighten the screws so the boom is a tight sliding fit, pull out until correct tension, then tighten screws fully, when all the screws are tightened (as you noticed, be careful not to over tighten or they will strip) then recheck tension.
Its not too difficult when you have done it a few times, my helicopters are all torque tubes now though, that's one way to avoid this particular hassle.
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Good timing! I was just looking in. I have had problems with the tail ever since I got the heli. AT first it was flying well. Then I found out that the previous owner did not believe in securing screws. One blade holder of the tail rotor came loose and was never seen again. Landing with half a tail rotor was not much fun and I also had to replase the wheel that connects to the main whel and drives the belt.
Ever since then the tail has been waving back and forth slowly and several attempts to tighten the belt only resulted in broken screws at that part which holds the tail boom. Now I have replaced the eight screws with four longer screws which go all the way and now the tail boom really can't move in or out anymore.
The belt of my Blade 450 is more flexible and has made no such problems up to now, even if everything is cheaper and more plastic.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
I hold an A-7 computer expert classification, Commodore. I'm well acquainted with Dr. Daystrom's theories and discoveries. The basic design of all our ship's computers are JavaScript.
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Never forget the thread lock! Also landing with half a tail rotor is called a crash, at least it is whenever I do it.
A slow tail-wag like you have there is probably cause by vibrations, friction in the tail pitch control linkage or the slider or the tail itself eg a bent tail shaft, or maybe a damaged servo or gyro.
A wag can also be made worse by too too tight belt tension, so make sure you are not over tightening the belt. Perhaps try a new belt too.
Slow tail wags like this can be very troublesome to track down so I hope you solve it, again good luck!
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