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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 5:07:46 PM

Endivius

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A medium end processor with all cores unlocked and overclocked, 8+ gigs of ram, and an SSD will perform faster than you can. Honestly now...

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 7:50:10 PM

Hillwilliam

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quote:

ORIGINAL: kalikshama

quote:

Does anyone else remember 20 Meg Hard drives and how it was like "Holy FUCK, what are gonna do with all this STORAGE?"

Ha! I remember two (big) floppies, no hard drive.

pffft, noob. Cassette tapes on an old trash 80.

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:00:18 PM

DaddySatyr

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam
pffft, noob. Cassette tapes on an old trash 80.

My uncle (the one I reference, all the time) is a PhD in EE and built an SWTPC 6800 in his basement. He used their frame and built a good portion of his own IC boards.

He had one of those cassette tape drives that was needed any time you wanted to use a new program/application on the machine.

I remember him, litterally, salivating over upping his memory to 32 bits. That was amazing to him (1976 or so, I think).

Peace and comfort,

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:00:43 PM

LanceHughes

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quote:

ORIGINAL: kalikshama

quote:

Does anyone else remember 20 Meg Hard drives and how it was like "Holy FUCK, what are gonna do with all this STORAGE?"

Ha! I remember two (big) floppies, no hard drive.

I remember going from 16 bytes per second to 32 and hearing that there were 1024 bytes per second coming. "We" thought the same thing - what is the upper limit to the speed? Will they get to, say, 32K bytes per second and "wipe out"?

Lance wrote his first computer program in 1967..... you whipper-snappers bragging about your early floppies.

P.S. I still have a box of 80-column Hollerith cards.

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:03:00 PM

ReMakeYou

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Newegg.com Sort by most expensive for each category. If you can see a use for multiples (graphics cards and hard drives), buy more than one.

You'll be pissing away far more money than you need to (computers for a few hundred bucks can handle most tasks, a bit over a thousand can make you a solid gaming contender), but if you absolutely must have the best of the best, pricier does tend to mean better.

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:17:49 PM

LanceHughes

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The old fart says "Yep. Things change too fast to lock into ten-year machine."

AND watch out for change in storage - big floppies (which really were "floppy," hence their name) and then to hard case floppies, then... etc, you get my point. I hear tell no little floppy drives are being made. Flash drives are big enough and small enough.

BUT here's the most important factoid needed to answer "What should I get?" ---- that's just like saying "What vehicle should I get?" Depends... are you soccer Mom? OOPS! Brain bleach all 'round as we envision NoNookie as such..... shudder, sorry folks. Are you trying to pick-up ladies with sex machine? Do you need a pick-em-up truck? How big?

So, Lookie - graphics games? Computation of chemistry and forces, etc. to create a (removed by Mod)? You writing software? Compiler needs certain support.... music composition? <<===== If that last, stop saying W8.... can you say "Apple"? The OS needed by almost every graphic and music application out there NEEDS an Apple under it. Dual boots?

OTOH - In house server? Maybe a web-portal GUARRENTEED to not be "seeable" from rest of web. Two step access. User types URL. Web directs to your server that checks for "proper" access. If gov't / policing agency - "404 - page not available." NO cookies. You store their hardware address and not the other way 'round.

So get with the program (Sorry, I just HAD to say that) and match your sports car dreams to your paranoid server - actually I kind of like that idea.

And, BTW, I didn't "see" your upper limit as 7K as most seem to have done.
Cut-n-paste: 9 katrillion

< Message edited by LanceHughes -- 8/31/2012 9:04:02 PM >

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:27:06 PM

LanceHughes

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WHAT a fire-wall you'll need! EVERY hacker will be pounding, spearing, phishing, jump-over, sneak-round..... under, fire, water, flood, DOS (denial of server, fool - not disk operating system.)

Maybe you should check with your friends at CIA and see what they have software-wise.

I once had the pleasure of hearing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper speak. She closed with some security problems and hints, "But, remember, there is always a way to gain access to any computer." I went up and asked her what she meant by that and she replied, "Just think about it."

I have and I know her statement was right (in 1969 or 70) and remains right and will always be right.
Red herring: power line used to send pulses and thereby open the computer for access.

< Message edited by LanceHughes -- 8/31/2012 8:41:57 PM >

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:42:48 PM

another1harder

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Compare to equipment for gamers but beware, manufacturers using the word gamer are +20% higher. Don't wait too long as Windows 8 comes out end of October. Can you imagine a Windows OS without a Start button?

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 8:46:57 PM

pyschosubmission

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quote:

ORIGINAL: another1harder

Compare to equipment for gamers but beware, manufacturers using the word gamer are +20% higher. Don't wait too long as Windows 8 comes out end of October. Can you imagine a Windows OS without a Start button?

Pffft Windows XP for the win!(dows)

Or Linux Ubuntu if I'm feeling particularly nerdily superior

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 9:59:29 PM

SpaceSpank

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I know what the CIA uses. It's not that impressive.

Most government agencies are, in fact, operating with the same crap most other large business use. They just have more regulations on HOW it can be used, where it can be sourced from, etc.

Still a "lowest bidder" operation 9/10 times. Exceptions when something goes catastrophically wrong and people throw money at the issue.

For the vast majority of people you will not "need" a software firewall, your home router will be good enough. Most of what gets in is not people port scanning your PC and actively sending you exploits that way. It's you clicking on shit, opening e-mail attachments, or browsing compromised web pages with active exploits for software you have loaded (usually flash, java, or something similar).

Software firewalls on the consumer level will protect against a miniscule portion of that, if any. Especially if the malware was coded to simply disable it or configure it.

Load up antimalware software and get better at cleaner browsing habits (microsoft security essentials + malware bites for occasional scans is a good combo).

Loading up more advanced stuff like sandbox and virtualization software is overkill for most. So unless you're going to be running something that is highly targetable (a web server, mail server, etc) or a person of interest... you generally don't need to deal with any of that stuff.

Also, if you get a router and it supports UPNP (universal plug n play) disable it. Some malware can actually use that to configure your router to allow external access. This stuff can be incredibly crafty and sneaky.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LanceHughes

WHAT a fire-wall you'll need! EVERY hacker will be pounding, spearing, phishing, jump-over, sneak-round..... under, fire, water, flood, DOS (denial of server, fool - not disk operating system.)

Maybe you should check with your friends at CIA and see what they have software-wise.

I once had the pleasure of hearing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper speak. She closed with some security problems and hints, "But, remember, there is always a way to gain access to any computer." I went up and asked her what she meant by that and she replied, "Just think about it."

I have and I know her statement was right (in 1969 or 70) and remains right and will always be right.
Red herring: power line used to send pulses and thereby open the computer for access.

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 10:08:11 PM

SpaceSpank

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This hasn't been true for years. Most of the "Need Apple for task x" arguments are simply from Apple purists. Most of whom have simply been following that mantra since they were taught it over a decade ago.

There are certainly applications that are written for OSX primarily that run silky smooth on that OS and run like dog crap on Windows, but that has nothing to do with which is better.

For any task there is an application available for Windows. And a Windows Box will be much cheaper than an Apple system for the same or better hardware. You're not paying the "Apple tax" for ownership. Windows systems are still just more versatile since they are the default expected OS for consumers.

That said, Apples are not bad machines, just overpriced for the power they have. You can certainly dualboot or run a VM/parallels desktop for a combination OSX/Windows system however. It's just generally not worth it unless you REALLY like them and are doing work that has best in class applications that run best or at least really good on OSX.

quote:

ORIGINAL: LanceHughes

So, Lookie - graphics games? Computation of chemistry and forces, etc. to create a (removed by Mod)? You writing software? Compiler needs certain support.... music composition? <<===== If that last, stop saying W8.... can you say "Apple"? The OS needed by almost every graphic and music application out there NEEDS an Apple under it. Dual boots?

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 10:45:57 PM

CRYPTICLXVI

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

quote:

ORIGINAL: kalikshama

quote:

Does anyone else remember 20 Meg Hard drives and how it was like "Holy FUCK, what are gonna do with all this STORAGE?"

Ha! I remember two (big) floppies, no hard drive.

pffft, noob. Cassette tapes on an old trash 80.

Started out with a Commodore 60, by my third year of high school we were excited with the cutting edge that our computer lab got a handful of...

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 8/31/2012 11:08:27 PM

RemoteUser

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pyschosubmission

quote:

ORIGINAL: another1harder

Compare to equipment for gamers but beware, manufacturers using the word gamer are +20% higher. Don't wait too long as Windows 8 comes out end of October. Can you imagine a Windows OS without a Start button?

Pffft Windows XP for the win!(dows)

Or Linux Ubuntu if I'm feeling particularly nerdily superior

My system is a dual-boot of Black OPS XP and Maverick. I'm surprised Cryptic didn't start on something earlier because he's older than me; I started at home on a Vic 20 in '82, and before that was a green-screen Apple at school.

Lookie, you've got some great advice here, but if you want productivity, you need to figure out what you're producing. If it's just reports that's one thing; if you want to put frickin lasers on sharks, that's a whole other tank.

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RE: Any computer nerds here? - 9/1/2012 2:29:16 PM

calamitysandra

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