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Comment macro assembler (Score 1) 641

A lot of problems want to have a solution that is very close to the hardware. C is an excellent macro assembler, but you need to remember to treat it as such.

It seems like very many programmers don't know, or don't want to think over the lower level implications of everything you do in C.

C is relevant because as long as we use computers, we need to tell them what to do, and C (and fuzzy bloated C like C++) does that for us.

Most people and most programmers don't need to touch computers on that level, and then other programming languages should be used. Those languages are often written at least partly in C.
As usual, use the right programming language for the problem.

I would even go as far as saying that you shouldn't do C++ if you can't do C, and you should probably not do C if you don't know how assembler (and machine code) works. Then you should stick to all the protective layers that you can, like in Python.

(Any good programmer should be able to program on any level from assembler to C and C++ to Python and shell-scripts and up.)

Comment Re:Get a laptop, turn off the sound (Score 1) 720

Actually I found gaming on the big screen ("TV") with surround sound quite comfortable. Having a problem with my back, the laptop seems to make it slightly worse. Neck is definitely in a better position with the big screen. That said, I've been gaming on the laptop for years before I upgraded my gaming rig to a decent standard again.

I don't know what it is with the self-sacrificial slashdotters telling OP to grow up and stop gaming either. I don't think you should give up your hobbies. Even better would be to share them - I game with my significant other. (And we've been sharing space for about 10 years.)

Comment Re:watercool (Score 1) 720

18mm MDF. The stuff you build heavy, DIY speakers out of. Density slightly lighter than water. And glass. And heavy 20mm foam. (Plus heavy components like a 8x 3.5" disks, copper waterblocks...)

You want heavy stuff though. It dampens noise and vibrations just because it's heavy.

I was also quite surprised how heavy it ended up, although I thought it would be closer to 30kg. I put wheels and handles on it to be able to lug it around.

Comment watercool (Score 1) 720

10 years ago I built a box using MDF and glass for my computer, using noise dampening foam and watercooling, space for two motherboards. (I had a lot of problems with headaches - noise made it worse, and I wanted to game.)

It was upgraded this summer to a GTX 780 hydro copper, new motherboard (z97) and the latest i7 that fitted, M.2 disk and windows 8.1. The other motherboard is running my Linux server, XBMC and the RAID.

It's about as big as a small fridge (55x70x50cm) and it weights about 55kg (10 liters of water) (it has wheels), but the noise level is below 10dB(A) (@1m); the pump and the disks are the loudest. It's more silent than the cats' water fountain - and it's more silent than this laptop on idle (well, firefox is heating it up as usual).

It's not impossible. It just takes some effort. The expensive part of watercooling is the water blocks, which you need a new one or two for every upgrade since CPU and GPU changes shape. (This time I went for the hydro copper so I wouldn't have to do the GPU watercooling myself.) Building a case is fun and will allow you to buy nice tools, useful for any craft.

Later on Zalman came out with the Reserator, allowing people to cool any system passively and very quietly. Are they still around? That is, I hear, a rather good solution.

Comment Re:Dumps, you say? From the anus? (Score 1) 523

I'd been using computers for around 15 years before I learned to touch type in the late 90s, and that only happened because I explicitly learned to do so. I'd got pretty good at "hunt and peck" (**), but I would never have picked up touch typing skills from that alone."

Interestingly enough, I started with computers and piano at about the same time, which led to the interesting style of typing that's crossing the "middle line" used in touch typing (you do that when you play the piano). It frustrated my touch typing teacher quite a bit.

That said, in the 80s Swedish schools had touch typing and programming in 7th grade, as well as "advanced" math. I wonder what happened after that. Probably budget cuts.

Comment Re:Dumps, you say? From the anus? (Score 2) 523

Like Sweden did in the 70s, inventing a horrible new handwriting ("SÖ-stilen"); people of that generation can't read the old handwriting, and the new handwriting is really, really ugly. 10 years after forcing that handwriting they let other styles be taught as well, again.

I'm surprised Finland still did cursive handwriting. I'm sure you can add it as extra credit still, and not all schools give it up.

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