From: TBerk on
On Jul 31, 4:23 pm, Dustin <bughunter.dus...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> TBerk <bayareab...(a)yahoo.com> wrote innews:970494cd-6a7b-436e-af3e-4e1d5c67c2c7(a)v6g2000prd.googlegroups.com:
>
>
>
> > On Jul 29, 12:46 am, sfdavidka...(a)yahoo.com (David Kaye) wrote:
> > <snip>
> >> In over 8 years doing this full time I've only had to reformat
> >> maybe 4 ti
> > mes.  
> >> I've had to reinstall the OS about 10 times.  But this one really
> >> caugh
> > t me by
> >> surprise.
>
> > Lets see...
>
> > CP/M
> > 8" floppy disks
> > 5 1/4" floppies, but with Hard Sector holes cut in them
> > Data Storage on Cassette Tape
> > Soldering together your own Serial Cable to make sure you got the
> > Handshaking right.
>
> > Eight years, heh heh.  (Not flam'n,) just ruminating nostalgically.
>
> > Hell, 'the Cuckoo's Egg' for that matter.
>
> > TBerk
> > Now I want to pop some corn and go watch a 'Sneakers' & 'Hackers'
> > double bill...
>
> Which did you find to be more realistic for it's time? Sneakers or
> Hackers?
>

Sneakers, (I'm tempted to add "of course" to that).

'Hacker's was aimed at a younger audience, was 'hip' and 'kool' and so
on*. 'Sneakers on the other hand, while still making concessions to
Hollywood and the necessary evils of getting a story tot he screen,
was sly about dropping insider wink-wink knowledge and wasn't afraid
to talk over the head of the audience, a bit, for what we might take
as authenticity.

Another difference is that 'Hackers' was ladened w/ trying to describe
hacking a system with a graphical interface that looked like
Microsoft Flight Simulator, "but better".

*(Hackers was also infamous for the young Angelina Jolie 'dream
sequence...). hubba, hubba. <--- (gratuitous, rhetorical reference
and requisite response complete.)

Of the two, 'Hackers' is more silly fun & 'Sneakers' is more mature,
serious fun. I make that observation not just based on the ave. age of
the cast btw.

If you care to think about it, both raise interesting questions about
Security vs Freedom, (and Responsibility for that matter).


TBerk

From: Dustin on
TBerk <bayareaberk(a)yahoo.com> wrote in
news:23d28098-fc1b-4fb8-b4cf-2dd0979da8d7(a)h17g2000pri.googlegroups.com:

> On Jul 31, 4:23�pm, Dustin <bughunter.dus...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>> TBerk <bayareab...(a)yahoo.com> wrote
>> innews:970494cd-6a7b-436e-af3e-4e1d5c
> 67c2c7(a)v6g2000prd.googlegroups.com:
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Jul 29, 12:46�am, sfdavidka...(a)yahoo.com (David Kaye) wrote:
>> > <snip>
>> >> In over 8 years doing this full time I've only had to reformat
>> >> maybe 4 ti
>> > mes. �
>> >> I've had to reinstall the OS about 10 times. �But this one
>> >> really caugh
>> > t me by
>> >> surprise.
>>
>> > Lets see...
>>
>> > CP/M
>> > 8" floppy disks
>> > 5 1/4" floppies, but with Hard Sector holes cut in them
>> > Data Storage on Cassette Tape
>> > Soldering together your own Serial Cable to make sure you got the
>> > Handshaking right.
>>
>> > Eight years, heh heh. �(Not flam'n,) just ruminating
>> > nostalgically.
>>
>> > Hell, 'the Cuckoo's Egg' for that matter.
>>
>> > TBerk
>> > Now I want to pop some corn and go watch a 'Sneakers' & 'Hackers'
>> > double bill...
>>
>> Which did you find to be more realistic for it's time? Sneakers or
>> Hackers?
>>
>
> Sneakers, (I'm tempted to add "of course" to that).

Hehehe.. And your opinion of wargames?

> If you care to think about it, both raise interesting questions
> about Security vs Freedom, (and Responsibility for that matter).

Yep.. that's true enough.




--
"I like your Christ. I don't like your Christians. They are so unlike
your Christ." - author unknown.
From: Steve Fenwick on
In article <Xns9DC91AB3EABD0HHI2948AJD832(a)69.16.185.247>,
Dustin <bughunter.dustin(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> John Slade <hhitman86(a)pacbell.net> wrote in
> news:i37va2$e0f$1(a)news.eternal-september.org:

> > I got my start in electronics and have a background in
> > that too. I took college courses in electronics and am no
> > stranger to repairing circuit boards. I'm no stranger to
> > soldering irons. Well that's what we called them. I used to
> > repair TVs, radios and such years ago.
>
> Odd. I'm familiar with soldering irons as well as pencils, and we
> typically use the pencils for detail work that the iron generates too
> much heat for. Irons aren't good for changing out small transistors,
> IC's or caps due to the risk of damage, and especially these days with
> a pile of components nearby the one that has to be replaced; a pencil
> is the only way to safely do it. Lower wattage, less heat.
>

It might be a regionalism, or a Britishism/Americanism. In over 20 years
I've never used, or heard used, "soldering pencil" in a lab in the U.S.,
although I am familiar with the term. It's always been "soldering iron",
whether a giant thing to solder heavy cables, or a tool suited to tiny
ICs and SMT parts. Metcals are generally the best I've seen for small
devices; they put a high temperature (typically 600 to 700F) into a very
very small area very quickly (80W output).

Steve

--
steve <at> w0x0f <dot> com
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to
skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, sidecar in the other, body thoroughly
used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
From: John Slade on
On 8/3/2010 9:57 AM, Steve Fenwick wrote:
> In article<Xns9DC91AB3EABD0HHI2948AJD832(a)69.16.185.247>,
> Dustin<bughunter.dustin(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> John Slade<hhitman86(a)pacbell.net> wrote in
>> news:i37va2$e0f$1(a)news.eternal-september.org:
>
>>> I got my start in electronics and have a background in
>>> that too. I took college courses in electronics and am no
>>> stranger to repairing circuit boards. I'm no stranger to
>>> soldering irons. Well that's what we called them. I used to
>>> repair TVs, radios and such years ago.
>>
>> Odd. I'm familiar with soldering irons as well as pencils, and we
>> typically use the pencils for detail work that the iron generates too
>> much heat for. Irons aren't good for changing out small transistors,
>> IC's or caps due to the risk of damage, and especially these days with
>> a pile of components nearby the one that has to be replaced; a pencil
>> is the only way to safely do it. Lower wattage, less heat.
>>
>
> It might be a regionalism, or a Britishism/Americanism. In over 20 years
> I've never used, or heard used, "soldering pencil" in a lab in the U.S.,
> although I am familiar with the term. It's always been "soldering iron",
> whether a giant thing to solder heavy cables, or a tool suited to tiny
> ICs and SMT parts.

Yea I've always used "soldering iron" as well no matter
the size.

John
From: Buffalo on


Steve Fenwick wrote:
> In article <Xns9DC91AB3EABD0HHI2948AJD832(a)69.16.185.247>,
>
> It might be a regionalism, or a Britishism/Americanism. In over 20
> years I've never used, or heard used, "soldering pencil" in a lab in
> the U.S., although I am familiar with the term. It's always been
> "soldering iron", whether a giant thing to solder heavy cables, or a
> tool suited to tiny ICs and SMT parts. Metcals are generally the best
> I've seen for small devices; they put a high temperature (typically
> 600 to 700F) into a very very small area very quickly (80W output).
>
> Steve

C'mon, you never heard of a soldering pen?
Buffalo