OP
OP
An *old* vacuum tube -- with a four pin base and a plate cap.
Laptop of Choice: Chromebook? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter pltrgyst
- Start date
An *old* vacuum tube -- with a four pin base and a plate cap.
OP
OP
You know, you can still -- today!!! -- get an instant job at a very healthy salary and great benefits at NASA headquarters if you actually know FORTRAN (any flavor).
There and in the military, there are 16 tons of old FORTRAN code that still have to be maintained...
One Eyed Dollar
Flush
Wow, the only place I've seen it used was at the engineering firm where I interned for the summer of '98. They had written some software for duct noise calculations in FORTRAN, and it would only print on their old dot matrix printer. The output used a crap ton of paper.
I knew a guy on another forum that still did COBOL programming a few years ago and worked for insurance companies on their bank transfers.
If you're ever in San Jose, go check out the computer museum. It's incredibly well done. I only had a few hours before my flight and had to skip through some stuff, but it was really fascinating. They have an old IBM mainframe that runs off punch cards, and they have a couple old dudes that come in and run it once a day for a demo, and I was lucky to catch that. They have a cool Cray supercomputer too that you can see inside of.
OP
OP
Not to pick on you, PZ, 'cuz you're a very perceptive guy ... but I think you missed the point of learning *any* programming language at the college level. It's not really about learning that particular language. It's about teaching you how artificial languages in general work, and to give you a mindset for moving on to others.
In my era of undergrad and grad school, the mid-1970s when computer science courses were all 3 or 4 semester hours, computer language courses were only worth 1 semester hour, which sort of drove home the point that once you really knew one language, learning another was relatively easy.
I was very lucky to have a great CS prof and advisor for my independent study at Rutgers and Princeton. His first assignment was to take what we knew -- FORTRAN, Basic, Cobol, APL, C, assembler, machine language -- and to write BPL -- a Better Programming Language. That was an eye-opener. Thank you, Dr. Goldfarb.
Yeah, but I do have a lot of RAM.
moose
4 of a Kind
All I know is it's the Surface Pro 7 with the 256gb ssd. Locks up frequently when using zoom and oneNote. Funny how Microsoft software makes Microsoft hardware crash. You'd think it would be the one thing that works smoothly.
One Eyed Dollar
Flush
At my old firm we had a janky sound level meter that ran on a Windows XP tablet with a touchscreen and stylus. This was nowhere near the quality of the Surface tablets. Then they put their buggy software on top of Windows and that thing was a crash machine. I about threw it in the trash one time when Windows froze halfway through some testing and I lost all my data. 
All right, that's it! I can't take it any more! As of 1995 and substantially later, FORTRAN was the only choice for scientific numerical computing -- you know, REAL computing -- and remains a top choice today. On those distressingly rare occasions when I actually get to do research, it remains mostly in FORTRAN, with the exception being quickie or visualization codes in MATLAB. And, like Python, that's just a scripting language, so it doesn't even count. I continue to teach in FORTRAN though I emphasize that syntax is just a little chore to do at the end -- like the stuff that just a programmer could handle -- so I don't actually care what language they write their own codes in.
Oh wait, just in case this is actually necessary:
In all seriousness, this idea that FORTRAN is obsolete neglects its recent importance in scientific computing. Well past 1995, it was utterly dominant and it remains perhaps the single biggest, though it's now contended.
One Eyed Dollar
Flush
Haha, sorry my comment pushed you over the edge! Are you my old professor?All right, that's it! I can't take it any more! As of 1995 and substantially later, FORTRAN was the only choice for scientific numerical computing -- you know, REAL computing -- and remains a top choice today. On those distressingly rare occasions when I actually get to do research, it remains mostly in FORTRAN, with the exception being quickie or visualization codes in MATLAB. And, like Python, that's just a scripting language, so it doesn't even count. I continue to teach in FORTRAN though I emphasize that syntax is just a little chore to do at the end -- like the stuff that just a programmer could handle -- so I don't actually care what language they write their own codes in.
Oh wait, just in case this is actually necessary:
In all seriousness, this idea that FORTRAN is obsolete neglects its recent importance in scientific computing. Well past 1995, it was utterly dominant and it remains perhaps the single biggest, though it's now contended.
(Oh man, I just looked her up and she's still teaching but at a different school now. I wonder if she has moved on to new versions of FORTRAN yet?)
OP
OP
One bit wide, with an RS-232 interface.
With an analog clock, like on the Commodore 16.
And I have text messages turned off for my phone, too.One bit wide, with an RS-232 interface.
With an analog clock, like on the Commodore 16.
Mike Wells
3 of a Kind
I have 2 laptops I almost never use. Mostly use my Acer Chromebook or my phone.
P.S. I bought an early version Microsoft Surface and it was TRASH! They may have improved it since then, but I won't buy anything Microsoft again.
P.S. I bought an early version Microsoft Surface and it was TRASH! They may have improved it since then, but I won't buy anything Microsoft again.
philhut
Flush
I had a very similar model purchased last year....I killed it last week plugging a cheap usb device into it and another laptop before I realized it was the attachment device. I was able to remove the battery from an older laptop and start it up just fine...the HP book (HP Envyx360) is dead even with the battery removed and replaced like the other one. I have replaced the broken with a new HP because it was otherwise a very good unit. I had also bought a 14" model for my 9yr old daughter for use with this new virtual school thing. It has worked excellent for her and the size/weight is appropriate. Be aware the new units have some very confusing features. My daughters webcamera can be turned on and off by a switch on the side of the machine? (called tech support on that one), the new AMD model I have has a button on the keyboard to turn it on/off and the backlight etc.... I felt ridiculous having to look up how to turn on my computer to find out the button was on the keyboard. I would say it was a good purchase.
for kids buy the 14" laptop so you and they can read the screen (11 &13" are small) my 9yr old daughter has a non-visible learning deficit and has some challenges with writing and spelling so she can use the voice to text apps and is having great success with the intuitiveness of the touchpad and touchscreen.
More has been accomplished in school this year than since she started.
Re:HP Chromebooks
Pros
As for the features the touch screen is nice and the 360 feature to make it into a digital pad is cool (personally never bothered doing it). I never once turned it around as a tablet but the unit traveled in a backpack on airlines to and from northern Ontario at least 20+ times while transiting for work (dropped x2 off of desks and bag in baggage) so this is a durable unit. Computer is quite fast and able to run all applications except some of the new high end video games. Solid state drives are fast and you will notice that this is probably the fastest starting computer you have ever owned.
pro/con
- sign on features can include facial recognition, fingerprint ID and or keyboard passwords and I think some type of gesture thing on the touch screen. personally I don't like computers that scan for your face all the time but that's me.
Cons
Possibly this was just my unit, but while typing on occasion your palm would brush the touch pad which would highlight all or some of the test you had just written which of course deletes everything this is the only laptop I have ever had that did this. Be prepared to feel silly not being able to find the "on" button or that the camera does not work only to learn there is a secret button on the side. Solid state drives are smaller than disks we are used to and they fill fast with new programs, you will require memory cards if you save much data on your computer. You must open the case to access the battery don't plug in random USB devices to charge them or you may get a sudden blank screen and compute that won't turn on. The 360 degree feature of the touch screen is ice but it leaves the buttons exposed as the new (back/bottom) on the other side. I'd like some way to cover or seal off the keyboard if put into chromebook mode with the screen flipped around.
So I just recently busted my laptop lcd screen and am in the market for a new one. I primarily use it for online poker and I had PokerTracker install on it as well.
I’ve been back and forth between Amazon, Target and BestBuy looking for a new machine.
Does anyone have any good recommendations on what to get? I would like to keep it under $800 if possible.
I’ve been back and forth between Amazon, Target and BestBuy looking for a new machine.
Does anyone have any good recommendations on what to get? I would like to keep it under $800 if possible.
I hadn't had a computer or laptop in nearly ten years. I picked up a HP mini laptop for 300 during black friday and was shocked how nice it runs. It's gonna make me built a PC due to @Anthony Martino and @L3urntout .....
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