I just realized what your avatar is from.
It just always looked like a huge puff of smoke until I realized that is Spock's head sticking up in the center.
Isn't that an image from a very old episode where Spock says something about stone knives and bearskins??
They went back in time through a huge stone ring?
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- Some mornings I wake up cranky.....but usually I just let him sleep in -
Mike Green is THE model of a perfect forum participant. He knows more about the Propeller then the company who makes them (not Parallax, the foundry). He has more answers then I have questions! He deserves to be on the star contributors page. However, I have never seen a picture of him smiling..............
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Computers are microcontrolled.
Robots are microcontrolled. I am microcontrolled.
But you·can·call me micro.
If it's not Parallax then don't even bother.
I have changed my avatar so that I will no longer be confused with others who use generic avatars (and I'm more of a Prop head then a BS2 nut, anyway)
"I have never seen a picture of him smiling"
He tried, though. Didn't you see him raise his eyebrow in the picture?
Too bad DeSilva is gone, he probably would qualify for that page too...but they might have included "helpful to non-noobs only" in it. I didn't really know him but from what I've heard it seems it would be nice to have him back.
heater said...(trimmed)
I've been out of my box for years.
Is this the right thread for sarcasm?
No, you want thread 12A, next door.
Awww, quoting didn't get your sig line...but heater, between that and your logo I am finding it increasingly difficult to move forward!
Okay, <sarcasm off> I was a Z80 designer and programmer for 10 years, which is longer than all the other platforms I worked on starting with the 6502, then 6809, etc.· But everytime I see that Zilog-looking logo I have this desire to drag out my old Needham's PB-10, my cross-assembler and my old EPROMS and just start writing some Z80 code...no wonder I never get Propeller apps done!·
I vote NO. If you would like to refrain yourself from sarcasm, I and many others would appreciate it. More rules don't make for a better forum. More tolerance and good personal behavior does.
I don't really like topics that go way off (like when malred posts) into meanness and such, but I don't like such a restrictive atmosphere as to drive away good contributing people that like sarcasm....like deSilva...
He made quite a lot of contribution to this forum, but decided to leave when he "offended" too many people with is sarcasm and the like. I miss him.
I think we do a pretty good job at policing ourselves - when we get a bit out of line, folks here just *politely* correct things... even when we strongly disagree, it nearly always stays civil. It's interesting that the few times recently that have pushed the envelope have been just those Mallred posts you mention. And even then, we have 'self policed'. Of course, when we do wander into clearly *verboten* territory, the forum admins kindly bring us back from the brink.
And when we do step on one another's toes - as I did once recently in a joking manner that was offensive to you personally - we usually are honest and direct enough to apologize for the slighting. (BTW, I never did get around to saying I was sorry for that - and I am - but I did think about it and am pretty sure you forgave me for the unintended slight.)
One of the reasons this place is so cool is because folks are very nice to each other. And people are usually truely nice if they are humble. Smart and Humble together is a pretty potented combo --- why sweat the sarcasm stuff??
@Chris: Glad I caught your attention with the logo. Took me ages to do and it's still not quite right.
Anyway, never mind the "Needham's PB-10 ... and my old EPROMS" just pull up a Prop Demo Board, the SIMH Z80 emulator and ZiCog then start hacking some Z80 code for the Prop. ZiCog needs all the help it can get with CP/M BIOS hacking. Also the PropIO project.
It's funny I recently started a new gig at a new start up. Almost the first day on the job I mentioned the Propeller and the emulation project. Turns out my new boss, a research manager at Helsinki university, has a cellar full of Z80/CP/M gear that's been idle for 20 years. Straight away he wants to dig it out and get it going.
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For me, the past is not over yet.
All this Z80 talk got me wondering if I could get my old Otrona Attache up and running again. That CP/M machine was my workhorse for cross-assembling Z8 code for the embedded sytem work I did. I really loved that luggable little beast. So I tried it. It came on, but I got a disk read error on the 5.25" main floppy drive. So back in its padded travel bag it goes, and back on the museum shelf.
I guess I could drag the old TRS-80 down and try it, but ... ugh! ... I didn't even like it when it was my everyday computer.
Why do I save all this stuff? I pity the foo' who inherits it! ("No, Uncle Phil! Please don't put me in your will!")
You know, somewhere around here I have an Osborne I I bought for $25 at Goodwill about 10 years ago. I'm sure the 90K disk drives are past usefulness -- they were flaky as hell when I first got the thing, and they use HUUGE mechanical limit switches for track detect -- but I'm starting to think it would be rather funny to stick a PropRPM in there to drive the display and keyboard, use SD for mass storage and use some pins to bang the IEE488/parallel port...
Of course then I'd have to think of something to put in the drive bays.
@Phil: Never heard of the Attahe. Looks great. I love the keyboard, so compact. I keep wishing could find a keyboard for my PC without the numeric keys on the right hand end and all the other superfluous junk on my Logitech.
What you can't hack a Prop + SD card to replace the floppies?
@localroger: Please don't butcher your Osborne in the way you describe. It's a increasingly rare and interesting historical artefact that should be treated with respect. Like a vinatge car.
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For me, the past is not over yet.
An intact Osborne is increasing in value now, if threads on the Vintage Computer Forum www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/index.php plus ebay listings are anything to go by. It is worth a lot more than $25 now. Pls don't hack it! There are people who have repaired drives too and got them working. But - if you want cp/m the triblade/zicog is a place to start.
As for sarcasm - would any rules we might invent apply to mallred too?
Phil. That's brilliant! My working space here is very cramped and anyway, as I'm right handed, that trip over the numeric keys to the mouse really annoys me. Does any normal human (i.e. not book keepers) ever use the numeric key pad area on a regular keyboard?
When I last played in a sand box I was not sophisticated enough for sarcasm, I just kicked sand in the other kids faces [noparse]:)[/noparse]
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For me, the past is not over yet.
Well I guess I won't hack the Osborne then. Unfortunately I have to move a table piled high with stuff to get it out from storage, but maybe I should do that and ebay it to get it in the hands of someone who will give it the love it deserves. (I'm pretty sure I rescued it from dumpsterization when I bought it.)
You'd like that keyboard that Phil mentioned, It works out perfect for my daughters "play" computer which actually lives in a converted wet/bar.· There's just enough room for the keyboard and mouse to live side by side.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Beau Schwabe
IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
I too have to use a small kbd due to the entire workbench being 4 foot by 2 foot, behind the door, in the small bedroom ( with the rabbit cages ... ). One main computer, two lcd monitors, small sound mixer and a soldering iron doesn't leave much space. The KBD is a KB-8118 from CPC (Farnell's sidekick) but it didn't work on a demo board a while back so it got put onto the PC and stayed. It looks just like the Parallax one but has multimedia buttons right along the top. It seems to be tea proof.
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Style and grace : Nil point
This thread has picked up a few sub-topics, and I'd like to touch on a few:
1) For the actual thread subject: My answer is that the question needs to be more clear so that it can be answered as a yes or no question. Sarcasm is a trait that everyone carries but to different degrees, so it will never be eliminated from the forums. However, as people have stated, there are guidelines and standard practices that make up an efficient forum. Put these two together and I think the question can be re-stated as:
Should "sarcasm-only" posts be limited to the Sandbox?
If I write a paragraph to help explain an answer for someone on the forums, why can't I add a few bits of humor and/or sarcasm. However, if the only content in my post is a sarcastic comment, then it should be left off the thread.
A good analogy is UPEW/UPENE. You wouldn't restrict sarcasm while us propellerheads are conversing face to face, right? But people whole only have sarcastic comments would be soon left out of the discussion since they are not contributing.
___off topic comments_____________________________
2) Small keyboard comments. I have an iOne keyboard/trackball combo that has been excellent for cramped spaces. Picture attached. Unfortunately Cyberguys now lists it as "no longer available".
3) On the Z80 reminiscing.... I really wish I had a fully working TRS-80 with a tape drive. That's where I first learned BASIC (in junior high)
4) I am a little biased, but I think every forum should have a minimum requirement for Monty Python quotes. NI!...oh wait, now it's Ecky ecky ecky ecky pakang zoom boing.
________________________________________________
[noparse][[/noparse]amoung many good things, the best, IMO:]
4) I am a little biased, but I think every forum should have
a minimum requirement for Monty Python quotes.NI!...oh wait, now it's Ecky ecky ecky ecky pakang zoom boing.
And there in, WBA has found the the ANSWER to this thread!
<<<< OP makes a post >>>>
<<< Reply Poster makes a sarcastic comment >>>
<< Forum members complain >>
<OP replies:·Come Back! It's only a FLESH WOUND!! >
The problem with written comments is that it does not come with the facial/vocal inclinations that face to face would hold. This makes the reader suspicious and leads to the worst being thought, first, and retrobution second. I tend to say outragious things in a jokey way, and the when I say something for real they don't realize it. (ducking and running are prerequisites).
I hate email as it always reads brutally. Loads of customers think it's ok to be nice to your face and then send an message that reads totally different, to the boss.
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Style and grace : Nil point
Toby Seckshund said...
This makes the reader suspicious and leads to the worst being thought
I think most of that suspicion comes from experiences with other forums, where the worst is often implied, if not stated outright. When a newcomer sees sarcasm here, they may well assume the worst, based on those encounters. On the whole, we're a pretty gregarious group, who can inflict and deflect sarcastic barbs with good humor. I hope it stays that way. It would be pretty boring otherwise.
Comments
I just realized what your avatar is from.
It just always looked like a huge puff of smoke until I realized that is Spock's head sticking up in the center.
Isn't that an image from a very old episode where Spock says something about stone knives and bearskins??
They went back in time through a huge stone ring?
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- Some mornings I wake up cranky.....but usually I just let him sleep in -
BTW - we don't have to worry about any sarcastic replies here about that being the favorite or that we're thread drifting, eh ;-P
Not sure if that's the episode where Spock complains about having to use the stone knives and bearskins.
I vote for sarcasm only when I'm feeling sarcastic .... hehehe
(Is this thread bound FOR the sandbox? PLEASE <-- not ment sarcastically, perhaps ironically [noparse]:)[/noparse])
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If the Monty Python quotes are allowwed, how about "... and an almost fanatical devotion to the Prop"
Edit And another thing ... Why be sarcy in the "Sandbox", can't we have a "Shooting Gallery" setup?
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Style and grace : Nil point
Post Edited (Toby Seckshund) : 8/22/2009 7:40:56 PM GMT
Please bring on the Brits!
You guys have such a wonderful, dry humor (or is that humour?) that you could be sarcastic here --- and we wouldn't even know it!
> can't we have a "Shooting Gallery" setup?
I'd prefer a Cheese Shop myself.
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Check out the Parallax Star Contributer's page here - http://www.parallax.com/tabid/696/Default.aspx
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Hey, this is really cool. But now they seem just like regular folks who just so happen to be guru geniuses.... and not the gods I imagined them to be.
Thanks for the link.
Interesting info there.
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- Some mornings I wake up cranky.....but usually I just let him sleep in -
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Computers are microcontrolled.
Robots are microcontrolled.
I am microcontrolled.
But you·can·call me micro.
If it's not Parallax then don't even bother.
I have changed my avatar so that I will no longer be confused with others who use generic avatars (and I'm more of a Prop head then a BS2 nut, anyway)
He tried, though. Didn't you see him raise his eyebrow in the picture?
Too bad DeSilva is gone, he probably would qualify for that page too...but they might have included "helpful to non-noobs only" in it. I didn't really know him but from what I've heard it seems it would be nice to have him back.
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PG
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Computers are microcontrolled.
Robots are microcontrolled.
I am microcontrolled.
But you·can·call me micro.
If it's not Parallax then don't even bother.
I have changed my avatar so that I will no longer be confused with others who use generic avatars (and I'm more of a Prop head then a BS2 nut, anyway)
Okay, <sarcasm off> I was a Z80 designer and programmer for 10 years, which is longer than all the other platforms I worked on starting with the 6502, then 6809, etc.· But everytime I see that Zilog-looking logo I have this desire to drag out my old Needham's PB-10, my cross-assembler and my old EPROMS and just start writing some Z80 code...no wonder I never get Propeller apps done!·
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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering
50 72 6F 6A 65 63 74 20 53 69 74 65
·
I don't really like topics that go way off (like when malred posts) into meanness and such, but I don't like such a restrictive atmosphere as to drive away good contributing people that like sarcasm....like deSilva...
He made quite a lot of contribution to this forum, but decided to leave when he "offended" too many people with is sarcasm and the like. I miss him.
Just my 10bits worth.
Doug
well said.
I think we do a pretty good job at policing ourselves - when we get a bit out of line, folks here just *politely* correct things... even when we strongly disagree, it nearly always stays civil. It's interesting that the few times recently that have pushed the envelope have been just those Mallred posts you mention. And even then, we have 'self policed'. Of course, when we do wander into clearly *verboten* territory, the forum admins kindly bring us back from the brink.
And when we do step on one another's toes - as I did once recently in a joking manner that was offensive to you personally - we usually are honest and direct enough to apologize for the slighting. (BTW, I never did get around to saying I was sorry for that - and I am - but I did think about it and am pretty sure you forgave me for the unintended slight.)
One of the reasons this place is so cool is because folks are very nice to each other. And people are usually truely nice if they are humble. Smart and Humble together is a pretty potented combo --- why sweat the sarcasm stuff??
cheers
- Howard
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Anyway, never mind the "Needham's PB-10 ... and my old EPROMS" just pull up a Prop Demo Board, the SIMH Z80 emulator and ZiCog then start hacking some Z80 code for the Prop. ZiCog needs all the help it can get with CP/M BIOS hacking. Also the PropIO project.
It's funny I recently started a new gig at a new start up. Almost the first day on the job I mentioned the Propeller and the emulation project. Turns out my new boss, a research manager at Helsinki university, has a cellar full of Z80/CP/M gear that's been idle for 20 years. Straight away he wants to dig it out and get it going.
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For me, the past is not over yet.
All this Z80 talk got me wondering if I could get my old Otrona Attache up and running again. That CP/M machine was my workhorse for cross-assembling Z8 code for the embedded sytem work I did. I really loved that luggable little beast. So I tried it. It came on, but I got a disk read error on the 5.25" main floppy drive.
I guess I could drag the old TRS-80 down and try it, but ... ugh! ... I didn't even like it when it was my everyday computer.
Why do I save all this stuff? I pity the foo' who inherits it! ("No, Uncle Phil! Please don't put me in your will!")
-Phil
Of course then I'd have to think of something to put in the drive bays.
What you can't hack a Prop + SD card to replace the floppies?
@localroger: Please don't butcher your Osborne in the way you describe. It's a increasingly rare and interesting historical artefact that should be treated with respect. Like a vinatge car.
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For me, the past is not over yet.
Parallax has just the keyboard you're looking for.
-Phil
As for sarcasm - would any rules we might invent apply to mallred too?
When I last played in a sand box I was not sophisticated enough for sarcasm, I just kicked sand in the other kids faces [noparse]:)[/noparse]
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For me, the past is not over yet.
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For me, the past is not over yet.
You'd like that keyboard that Phil mentioned, It works out perfect for my daughters "play" computer which actually lives in a converted wet/bar.· There's just enough room for the keyboard and mouse to live side by side.
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Beau Schwabe
IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
I too have to use a small kbd due to the entire workbench being 4 foot by 2 foot, behind the door, in the small bedroom ( with the rabbit cages ... ). One main computer, two lcd monitors, small sound mixer and a soldering iron doesn't leave much space. The KBD is a KB-8118 from CPC (Farnell's sidekick) but it didn't work on a demo board a while back so it got put onto the PC and stayed. It looks just like the Parallax one but has multimedia buttons right along the top. It seems to be tea proof.
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Style and grace : Nil point
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For me, the past is not over yet.
1) For the actual thread subject: My answer is that the question needs to be more clear so that it can be answered as a yes or no question. Sarcasm is a trait that everyone carries but to different degrees, so it will never be eliminated from the forums. However, as people have stated, there are guidelines and standard practices that make up an efficient forum. Put these two together and I think the question can be re-stated as:
Should "sarcasm-only" posts be limited to the Sandbox?
If I write a paragraph to help explain an answer for someone on the forums, why can't I add a few bits of humor and/or sarcasm. However, if the only content in my post is a sarcastic comment, then it should be left off the thread.
A good analogy is UPEW/UPENE. You wouldn't restrict sarcasm while us propellerheads are conversing face to face, right? But people whole only have sarcastic comments would be soon left out of the discussion since they are not contributing.
___off topic comments_____________________________
2) Small keyboard comments. I have an iOne keyboard/trackball combo that has been excellent for cramped spaces. Picture attached. Unfortunately Cyberguys now lists it as "no longer available".
3) On the Z80 reminiscing.... I really wish I had a fully working TRS-80 with a tape drive. That's where I first learned BASIC (in junior high)
4) I am a little biased, but I think every forum should have a minimum requirement for Monty Python quotes. NI!...oh wait, now it's Ecky ecky ecky ecky pakang zoom boing.
________________________________________________
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Andrew Williams
WBA Consulting
WBA-TH1M Sensirion SHT11 Module
<<<< OP makes a post >>>>
<<< Reply Poster makes a sarcastic comment >>>
<< Forum members complain >>
<OP replies:·Come Back! It's only a FLESH WOUND!! >
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I hate email as it always reads brutally. Loads of customers think it's ok to be nice to your face and then send an message that reads totally different, to the boss.
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Style and grace : Nil point
-Phil
> deflect sarcastic barbs with good humor. I hope it stays that way.
I think when you hit the 10,000 post mark, it'll be just as good if not better.
This is a very special place!
- H
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