The Whiteboard

12:42 AM

ok, I think I'm starting to lose my mind

I have some PHP code I'm working on and I have an echo statement that returns correct values from an array passed in, but when I uncomment the line that works from the value I just echo'd, not only does it become a null, but the echo statement on the preceeding line never occurs

Ampt

1:00 AM

@AJHenderson aren't optimizations magical?

FWIW, it sounds like it may be a scoping issue

AJ Henderson

1:12 AM

@Ampt maybe, but then why does it work when another function call is commented, but not when it isn't, unless php exceptions manage to prevent everything from occuring

Ampt

I've never used PHP so I'm not sure what kind of magic it uses.

AJ Henderson

1:32 AM

it was me being stupid

Ampt

2:22 AM

what was it?

gnat

6:35 AM

-3

Q: Question of closing

Its perfectly reasonable to close a question about tool recommendation like the one below - Any tools available to help migrate legacy Windows 6.1 mobile app to Windows 8.1/Surface Pro platform. These are valid questions but in a wrong place i.e.StackOverflow. StackExchange is a big network whic...

> ...There is a recommendation in the comment to move it to programmers.stackexchange.com.

crap throwers never sleep

@RenniePet Please stop using Programmers.SE as your toilet bowl / meta.programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/6483/… — gnat 3 mins ago

Stack Exchange

7:46 AM

Lambda the Ultimate - Programming Languages Weblog: Stream Processing with a Spreadsheet

posted on August 13, 2014

ECOOP 2014 paper (distinguished) by Vaziri et. al, abstract: Continuous data streams are ubiquitous and represent such a high volume of data that they cannot be stored to disk, yet it is often crucial for them to be analyzed in real-time. Stream processing is a programming paradigm that processes these immediately, and enables continuous analytics. Our objective is to make it easier for analys…

user20683

10:59 AM

Monday's Dilbert for those who've not seen it:

user20683

user41796

1:50 PM

@MichaelT Is that in response to my incessant anxiousness on your behalf?

user55340

3:10 PM

@GlenH7 yep. A bit disappointing.

user41796

That is. Sorry to hear about it.

user41796

Honestly, kind of surprising

user55340

I don't have the extreme high end scalability background that they appear to have been looking for.

user41796

That's a chicken-and-egg problem

user55340

It is, but its also a question of hiring for entry level or not... entry level you know they don't. Higher up on the scale, they're being picky.

user55340

3:13 PM

Its possible that I didn't communicate that the scalability issues that I have worked with in the past were ones that I had inherited - not designed.

user41796

We have similarly difficult to source requirements, but we've become more adaptive in understanding what we can teach.

user41796

That can be a fine line. You don't necessarily want to blame the person before you, but problems had to be created by someone

user55340

Employer^^ has for its store servers (where the biggest scalability issues hit) has 2 of them. You want more power? You upgrade to bigger metal. Why? Because of CPU licenses on the software that runs behind everything - you put more CPUs in the store and you've doubled your licensing cost... so get faster ones instead.

user55340

That wasn't something that we could change... and so it looks like an awful design when someone who doesn't realize that there are more requirements behind the system... and we didn't even design that (again, another inheritance).

user41796

Definitely. Scaling things for most businesses means you have to look at all of the system / environment variables. Licensing costs can really push you in one direction or the other.

enderland

3:16 PM

Bummer :\

user55340

@enderland yep... though once again realize that when it comes to personal finance issues, I'm very comfortable. Aside from that I'm still drooling over a new camera body and really would like to get a new mac pro... I've got rather simple tastes/life... I can live as I am now for the better part of decade without going into debt...

user41796

I had similar challenges with gig^^ and gig^^^. We were running into major issues with our DB servers. Throwing more cores at the problem was not the right solution in that case.

enderland

@MichaelT Yeah, that's a key reason why I really, really, really care about those sorts of things (and try to evangelize the crap out of caring about personal finance to others my age who.. don't live like that lol)

user55340

There's no urgency of a wife or kids that I have to also take care of... I can take my time finding the right place... and there's that irony of its always easier to find a job when you have one.

user41796

@MichaelT One of my brothers underestimated that irony. Took him quite a while to get back into the swing of things. OTOH, he hadn't set himself up as nicely as you have.

user55340

3:27 PM

This is an intriguing one that was just posted...

user55340

Software Engineer - Development

GrammaTech, Inc.

cc++javapython

Want to do innovative work on innovative projects? Develop tools that help real people improve real software? Be a…

Posted on Careers 2.0 on August 7, 2014

user55340

> Make static-analysis tools that are used worldwide by Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, startups, and government agencies.

user55340

Although my C and C++ is rather rusty... though I suspect they're looking for more of an academic type than an industry type.

user41796

@MichaelT I'd be willing to bet they are looking for folks who can deep dive in a particular language and not necessarily all of those languages

Ampt

Nevermind. I learned how to scroll

enderland

3:30 PM

user41796

@enderland Is that the enderscrolls?

Ampt

@GlenH7 elder scrolls are held vertical noob

user55340

:17108687

Jimmy Hoffa

@GlenH7 no but if you roll it up you'll get a scroll wheel.

user55340

Gah... mangled that... lets try it again...

Ampt

3:32 PM

chat is hard

user41796

I'm not one to post cat pics, but I wanted to play with the sizing on the imgur pics. And yes, the sizing trick works in chat.

user55340

The original image is 12 mp... chat wasn't liking it.

user55340

Was trying to reply to Ashley's "evil" comment.

user41796

how appropriate to reply to an evil comment with a cat pic. :-)

Ampt

while(Cat){ beEvil(); }

user41796

3:34 PM

@Ampt Some would argue it's part of the base instantiation method

Ampt

@GlenH7 it definitely comes installed if you just use the default settings

@GlenH7 sizing trick?

user41796

@Ampt Look at the chat history

Ampt

Can't see deleted messages

ratchet freak

@Ampt append ?some=params I quess

user41796

You can put an 's', 'm', or 'l' at the end of a imgur link and it will scale the size of the image

Ampt

3:38 PM

interesting

enderland

@Ampt you need to run for moderator sometime so you can participate in chat here, it's in the terms/conditions ;)

ratchet freak

I wasn't far off

enderland

@GlenH7 sweet, I had no idea you coudl do that

user55340

user41796

So this is the base: i.imgur.com/p4H7V5L.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/p4H7V5Lm.jpg is medium
http://i.imgur.com/p4H7V5Ls.jpg is small

Ampt

3:39 PM

@enderland nope, nope, and more nope

ratchet freak

@Ampt too much hassle?

user41796

And all I had done was swipe the imgur address from MichaelT's post, and played with the sizing to verify the trick works in chat. I had learned of it for posts on main sites.

Ampt

@ratchetfreak too much everything. Responsibility/commitment/time

Nope, I'm happy being a relatively benign sock puppet

user41796

@MichaelT - back to the previous job listing - sounds like it would be a fun gig for you. You've got some deep knowledge of the JVM and I would think that's the expertise they need for building their static tools.

user55340

@GlenH7 Its one I am curious about, though won't get my hopes up on.

Ampt

3:43 PM

@MichaelT well, on the bright side, maybe this one will take you out for lunch /s

Jimmy Hoffa

@ratchetfreak I thought a uri had to end in .jpg or .png or .something for the chat to decide it was a displayable picture

user41796

@MichaelT That's one of the perks you have at the moment. You can afford to swing for the fences. Doesn't really matter if you strike out or not. The chance of landing something sweet like that is worth taking a shot.

user55340

@GlenH7 yep. I can wait... and work on the house and personal code projects in the mean time.

user55340

I ordered some books on knot theory and an old sci-american issue about knots to play with that code golf problem.

user41796

@JimmyHoffa it wants a fully qualified URL along with an image file extension, I believe.

user55340

3:45 PM

51

Q: "KNOT" or "NOT"?

Write a program that processes an ASCII art representation of a tangled string and decides whether or not it can be untangled into a simple loop. The tangle is represented using the characters - and | to represent horizontal and vertical segments, and + to represent corners. Places where the stri...

code-golf math

Jimmy Hoffa

@ratchetfreak how do you feel about my permutations method above? I think it's not uncommon, from K choose N -> It demands N levels of recursion with each layer rotating it's position in N through all of K. I know it would have been easier just to implement the list monad and let it generate them for me, but I wanted to think through it from scratch, and nobody would let me use a monadic approach anyway

user41796

oooooohhhhhhh that's epic nerd sniping in the works

user55340

Unknotting problem

In mathematics, the unknotting problem is the problem of algorithmically recognizing the unknot, given some representation of a knot, e.g., a knot diagram. There are several types of unknotting algorithms. A major unresolved challenge is to determine if the problem admits a polynomial time algorithm, that is, whether the problem lies in the complexity class P. == Computational complexity == First steps toward determining the computational complexity were undertaken in proving that the problem is in larger complexity classes, which contain the class P. By using normal surfaces to describe ...

Jimmy Hoffa

I believe that's a normal algorithm for permutations that I derived - it was fairly straight forward

for the first time in years, var bit me when I was writing that - trying to figure out why it was only giving me the results of the last iteration through the top level (first position) only after a while I realized I missed the var before my results which was causing it to get walked on. Added the var and it had all necessary results

I blame coffeescript for getting me used to not using var

user55340

Also ordered a copy of...

Jimmy Hoffa

3:52 PM

each layer of recursion takes element x from set N, and hands to the next level of recursion N without x

user55340

Jimmy Hoffa

@MichaelT you're kidding right? That is awesome, but still...

I think you're taking this pirate thing a little too far

user55340

My nephew (2.5yo) knows pirates say "R" but refuses to acknowledge they say "yo ho ho"... is on the fence if they say "S" "T" or "U"

user55340

Oh... brother got some fake dino bones and is making a cast of them to bury in the sand box...

Ampt

hahaha

kids gonna get really, really excited when he finds them

user55340

3:55 PM

@Ampt we've already hid 'pirate treasure' in there too... that was amusing.

user55340

My nice (4yo) calls my nephew a pirate because he keeps reburying the "gold doubloons" that they find in the sand box.

Ampt

if I was a kid and found dinosaur bones I thought were real, I'd try selling them hahaha

I hope they have a ridiculously large sandbox

user55340

Its a fairly good sized one.

user55340

Trying to recall the dimensions now... I think its about 4'x7' or so.

Ampt

thats pretty good

I Was googling images to try and find a huge one

came across this instead

while that would be really cool, I found out that I have a serious problem with digging a giant hole with my feet. that sand would be everywhere

user55340

3:58 PM

@Ampt neat idea... but I have a cat.

Ampt

@MichaelT I don't see the.... oh. yeah.

user55340

Btw, that's a mac there.

Ampt

you don't say? /s

I need one of these for... my kids. Yes. For the kids.

user55340

Ampt

only one of the most iconic mac pros haha

user55340

4:01 PM

I've looked into this, and I can't figure out a way to do it cheaply. And I guess it wouldn't be sanitary.

amethystdragon

@Ampt Kids? Something you want to tell me?

Ampt

@amethystdragon aint none o' your business coworker

amethystdragon

@Ampt I can be nosy if I wanna

user55340

Btw...

user55340

amethystdragon

4:02 PM

@Ampt I'd go along with this

user55340

(that's a slide.... 10 stories tall)

user55340

You know you want to go... citymuseum.org/site

user55340

Another view of the slide...

user55340

Ampt

4:04 PM

@amethystdragon don't you have actual work to do? :P

@MichaelT the F is this place? Stair heaven?

user55340

Apparently, they're building a castle too...

user55340

user41796

@MichaelT I know what I need to replace the kids' play fort with...

user55340

@Ampt City Museum of St. Louis. An old shoe factory (that slide is how they got shoes down...) that has been converted into what was described as "what happens if you give peter pan a welding torch"

user55340

They've done things like "lets put a fighter jet in a cage and let people climb around it...

user55340

4:06 PM

user55340

There is an adult sized ball pit.

user55340

There are apparently adult only nights...

Ampt

I don't... what... my mind is incapable of deciphering this image

user55340

Another view of the slide...

user55340

Ampt

4:08 PM

that doesn't look the least bit dangerous

just kidding it totally does

user41796

@Ampt That's what the railing is for!

user55340

@Ampt citymuseum.org/site/?p=813

user55340

See? Railing.

user55340

4:14 PM

@Ampt If you can do a quicktime panorama - citymuseum.org/site/?p=985 and citymuseum.org/site/?p=980

user55340

@Ampt one more useful thing to have a bookmark for... chiliahedron.com/ballroom

user15026

4:32 PM

I can't decide if that slide would be scary as hell or amazing or possibly both

user41796

both

user15026

Yeah, I am thinking both.

user41796

St. Louis isn't that far away for me. I'm thinking that could make for a fun 3 day weekend escape.

user55340

@GlenH7 Been thinking about it here too.

user55340

Btw, comments and invisible unicorn poo appreciated -

user55340

4:40 PM

0

A: Absurd downvoting

I haven't interacted at all with that question (down votes or the too broad close vote). My impressions of it are: Some meta stuff at the top. This normally sets off a warning flag for me. Things like "I know this isn't the right place" and the like tend to be questions that are otherwise pr...

Ampt

@MichaelT man that's expensive

user55340

@Ampt but you're an adult... just scale it back to one room... you can afford it.

user55340

You know your gf would love to come home to see the bed room converted to a ball pit.

Ampt

@MichaelT r/love/murder me/s

not sure how this replace works

but I'm going with it

user41796

@Ampt it's a substitution. syntax is "s/old_phrase/new_phrase/g" The g is global replace

user55340

4:44 PM

@GlenH7 did I tell you about my nephew (recall, 2.5 yo) at the ren faire and his father doing some rock climbing?

user41796

It's somewhere in the memory banks, but not hitting immediate recall

user41796

of course, the stack is fairly deep at the moment.

user55340

My brother was doing some rock climbing there (they had a castle wall with rock gym hand holds on it to scale... he did a 40' wall). When he got back down my nephew said "my turn" and started taking off his shoes to be able to climb the wall. Fast distractions were needed.

user15026

@MichaelT I think it is a little far for me, but some day!

user41796

bah! put a harness on him, get the belay ready, and let him rip!

user55340

4:46 PM

(gha... started typing my brother... then typed other, went back and was going for his father... context switching typing = bad)

user15026

@MichaelT laughs

Jimmy Hoffa

@Ampt do you not use vi? I know you don't use emacs...

user41796

@AshleyNunn St. Louis would be on your way between MichaelT, Ampt, and then myself for the cupcake tour.

user15026

@GlenH7 Ah, I see how it is!

user55340

@AshleyNunn start reading at thedevilspanties.com/archives/2733

Ampt

4:48 PM

@JimmyHoffa I do use vi, never used that command though

user15026

I still need to make those cupcakes. Maybe when I come back from camping because then they can be like my birthday cake or something

user41796

If you cut South to see World, then it wouldn't be on the way. But the BBQ is way better in my town.

user55340

user15026

@MichaelT That whole arc makes me extra want to go.

user15026

@GlenH7 Are you trying to bribe me?

Jimmy Hoffa

4:50 PM

@Ampt so you use vi and just manually replace text in your files. That's cool I guess, I mean it worked for people in the 70s I guess, assuming search and replace wasn't invented yet... yeah...

;P

Ampt

or, you know, I Could use cscope :P

user55340

@JimmyHoffa vi got it from ed.

amethystdragon

Regex ftw!

Ampt

@amethystdragon aaand now you've got 2 problems

Jimmy Hoffa

Why are my ears suddenly bleeding?

user41796

4:51 PM

@AshleyNunn Sure, why not? If you ever did a cupcake tour, you would certainly need some bribes to help justify it.

user55340

@amethystdragon grep comes for the ed command "g/re/p"

user15026

@GlenH7 This is true. Perhaps a Kickstarter to fund it!

user41796

@AshleyNunn More frivolous things have been funded.

user55340

@GlenH7 kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad

Ampt

@GlenH7 *cough*potato salad*cough*

user15026

4:52 PM

@GlenH7 mumbles about potato salad

Jimmy Hoffa

@MichaelT at the end of one of the haunted houses my wife and I went to in KC had one of these, the haunted house was in an old (~late 1800s) abandoned brick factory building, and it snaked up to the top (5th or 6th?) floor, where they had a big shiny metal spiral tube slide just like that which went all the way back down. It was awesome.

user55340

Ampt

@AshleyNunn @MichaelT definitely beat us to the punch on that one

Jimmy Hoffa

It was attached to the building going outside from the top floor so you could see it from outside like some insane ventilation duct sticking off the side of this old ass building

user15026

@Ampt I just like we were all on the same page

Ampt

4:53 PM

@JimmyHoffa not so haunted if it's got a kickin 5 story slide

Jimmy Hoffa

@Ampt KC had actually some of the better haunted houses we went to, Halloween's our favorite holiday so we always go to a grip of them..

the slide was a bit out of theme but yes, a kickin 5 story slide. How can you argue..

Ampt

how many haunted houses are in a grip?

5?

user55340

Btw, has anyone else read that bit about kickstarter and 3d printer companies?

Jimmy Hoffa

@Ampt I suppose. 3-6 depending on the year and free time available - less with the lad...

user15026

I don't like the being scared part but I like the slide part

user15026

4:55 PM

@MichaelT ?

Jimmy Hoffa

@AshleyNunn then just don't be scared. Gosh you artsy folk miss out on some obvious solutions to your problems...

Ampt

@JimmyHoffa no lads = more haunted houses?

user41796

And truthfully, I had no idea someone had managed to get their potato salad funded. That's awesome. Cupcake tour, here we come!

Jimmy Hoffa

@Ampt indeed.

Ampt

@JimmyHoffa *note to self, continue having 0 lads*

user15026

4:56 PM

@JimmyHoffa Gosh, the solution is so easy ;)

user55340

hunting it down... it was about someone looking at the cost / engineering issues of making a 3d printer and the feasibility of the business models (or if you'll ever get your printer)

user15026

@GlenH7 It would totally work.

Jimmy Hoffa

@MichaelT has anyone finished bootstrapping one yet? It's just like a compiler, first you use another compiler to build your compiler - then you use your compiler to build your compiler.

user41796

I can invent all sorts of wonderfully delicious stretch goals too.

Jimmy Hoffa

or has anyone even printed a 3d printer at all yet?

user55340

4:59 PM

@JimmyHoffa there are some with plans... though the issue is the precision degradation of parts.

user15026

@GlenH7 I am sure you could. :)

Ampt

On a serious note, that potato salad one had some creative stretch goals. totally a legit campaign

Jimmy Hoffa

it seems like the first thing you'd do. All these people and their printing guns, seriously if a gini gave them 3 wishes they'd just end up well armed and out of wishes before they thought to wish for more...

Ampt

not like he was just like "I'm hungry, buy my potato salad"

there was name carving and photos

user55340

Low cost 3d printers and funding suicide

user41796

5:00 PM

There's at least 3 or 4 trips to different BBQ joints that would have to be funded for you; and supporters ought to receive their own taste of the yumminess.

Ampt

@JimmyHoffa But freedom!

when you can print a colt 1911, then you'll have my attention

user15026

@GlenH7 This is true.

Jimmy Hoffa

@Ampt oh that's nonsense, people don't arm themselves for freedom, they just think guns are cool, just like monster trucks and chicks in beer commercials.

psr

@JimmyHoffa No! Bad! Self-replicating things start to undergo evolution by natural selection, and suddenly your rogue printer spawn has eaten the world's supply of underground boron. Or possibly something worse. If there is something worse.

user55340

Code of the Lifemaker

Code of the Lifemaker (ISBN 0-345-30549-3) is a 1983 novel by science fiction author James P. Hogan. NASA's Advance Automation for Space Missions was the direct inspiration for this novel detailing first contact between Earth explorers and the Taloids, clanking replicators who have colonized Saturn's moon Titan. A sequel titled The Immortality Option was published in 1995. == Plot summary == About 1,000,000 B.C., an unidentified alien race sent out robotic factories to many worlds in their part of the galaxy to prepare for future settlement. One of those factory ships suffers severe radia...

psr

5:02 PM

@MichaelT I think it's going to be an actual problem soon. Unfortunately, having all those science fiction stories just make it sound crazy.

Jimmy Hoffa

@psr so you're afraid of metal oxide nanotubes? I guess that's founded, the idea of metal life forms is a bit terrifying.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14505402

(I still have never been able to find the magazine article about that I read years ago which was awesome and scary)

user55340

@psr This one has a neat bit to it thats a minor point about replicators...

user55340

Evolution (Baxter novel)

Evolution is a collection of short stories that work together to form an episodic science fiction novel by author Stephen Baxter. It follows 565 million years of human evolution, from shrewlike mammals 65 million years in the past to the ultimate fate of humanity (and its descendants, both biological and non-biological) 500 million years in the future. == Plot summary == The book follows the evolution of mankind as it shapes surviving Purgatorius into tree dwellers, remoulds a group that drifts from Africa to a (then much closer) New World on a raft formed out of debris, and confronting others...

Ampt

@JimmyHoffa I'll agree with you to a point, but some people do do it out of a sense of patriotic duty

user15026

Hmmm, VNV Nation is going to be in Toronto late November. I wonder if I have anyone I know locally that I can con into going with me.

user55340

5:04 PM

Ohh! New word!

user55340

Ecophagy

Ecophagy is a term coined by Robert Freitas that means the literal consumption of an ecosystem. It derives from the Greek "οικος" (oikos) or Late Latin "oeco-", which refers to a "house" or "household", and Greek φᾰγεῖν phagein "to eat" Freitas used the term to describe a scenario involving molecular nanotechnology gone awry. In this situation (called the grey goo scenario) out-of-control self-replicating nanorobots consume entire ecosystems, resulting in global ecophagy. However, the word "ecophagy" is now applied more generally in reference to any event—nuclear war, the spread of monoculture...

user15026

@MichaelT Ooh, this is a very interesting new word.

psr

@Ampt Because handguns will totally help against tanks and aircraft. Might as well use a fork really.

@MichaelT You would have heard of the word sooner but a meta-ecophage ate it.

Jimmy Hoffa

@Ampt before you invoke a red dawn reference - just remember they ran the fuck away into the mountains. Also they were middleschoolers

psr

@JimmyHoffa Go wolverines! Sorry, reflex.

Jimmy Hoffa

5:08 PM

@psr ironically my middle school here in Denver did have wolverines as a mascot... I never put the two together until right now. The only thing I can surmise from this fact is that I am either Patrick Swayze or Dolph Lundgren. I'll leave it to you guys to ponder which...

user41796

@MichaelT - the article on 3D printers is pretty solid. I quibbled over some of the formulaes, but I think the analysis is spot-on (so far).

user55340

Incoming suggested edit review changes:

user55340

6

A: Approve as too minor

There are a couple of problems with this: The meaning of "too minor" varies widely between individuals. Are trivial changes always too minor, or only too minor when they ignore other, more damning problems with the post? The edits you provide as examples illustrate this nicely - even the last o...

user55340

3d printing for home use needs to get past the nicknacks and phone covers and move into a small appliance realm...

user55340

5:25 PM

Consider if you had the ability to take a standard motor from Radio Shack, a few other electronic parts and then 3d print a fan.... its not a one part its a jigsaw puzzle of parts (here are the fan blades, the center shaft, the case (assembly required), the stand, ...)

Thomas Owens

I wish it was easier to develop standard C or C++ applications on Windows...

user55340

The problem with all that though, is that its probably easier to buy a fan that does that than the cost of the parts.

user41796

@MichaelT I would agree

user41796

Buying a pre-made fan comes with all of the benefits large scale manufacturing can offer.

user55340

And thus... 3d printing in the home is going to be an expensive toy making expensive toys.

user41796

5:27 PM

3D printers have a cost advantage when you get into one-off type items. But you still need a lot of one-offs to justify the cost.

user55340

The one place where I saw it being acceptable was for the hobbiest who wants specific things for the hobby that are (nearly) one off.

user41796

Yeah, that's another viable niche

user55340

Went to Circus World in Baraboo last sumer with family... they had gathering of the (old) guys who made the circus dioramas to exquisite detail.

user41796

@ThomasOwens Just write it in C# like the rest of us and move on already. :-)

Jimmy Hoffa

moral of the story, what we really need is for someone to 3d print a gini...

@ThomasOwens standard c/c++ applications on windows? No such thing.

Thomas Owens

5:29 PM

@GlenH7 C# is easy on Windows, though. I really want to brush up on my C without all the stupid Microsoft crap. I've been doing C++ at work again.

user55340

One guy moved to CAD when his hands got unsteady for a carving knife... and was 3d printing a carousel with a planetary gear (spiral shaped)... something he couldn't do before.

Thomas Owens

@JimmyHoffa I'm sure with enough Cygwin, MinGW, and Eclipse CDT, I can get standard C++ on Windows.

Jimmy Hoffa

you can always use msys

user55340

Also note the scale he was working on... it was about 3"x3"x6" all together. Not trying to make a fan blade that can handle high rpm.

user41796

@MichaelT My desire for a 3D printer is to feed my LEGO obsession.

Robert Harvey

5:32 PM

You can't do that with more legos?

user41796

Which simply goes back to your comment of "expensive toy to make expensive toys"

Thomas Owens

@JimmyHoffa Yeah. I'm pretty sure MSys + MinGW+ Eclipse CDT should be OK.

user55340

@GlenH7 don't go to this site. fffff.at/free-universal-construction-kit I warned you.... don't go there.

user41796

@RobertHarvey Some parts simply can't be purchased. Others simply haven't been made by Lego Group.

user55340

user41796

5:33 PM

@MichaelT Already been there and have it downloaded

user55340

I assume you read about the tolerances with lego?

user41796

@MichaelT That's the hardest part, yes

Ampt

@MichaelT I refuse to accept the responsibilities that come with being an adult.

user41796

There are a few models on the market that can reliably print to those tolerances.

user55340

> Prior to modeling, the dimensions of the various toy connectors were reverse-engineered with an optical comparator fitted with a digital read-out accurate to less than one ten-thousandth of an inch (0.0001in., or 2.54 microns).

user55340

5:34 PM

> Producing physical prints from our provided 3D models prompts certain fabrication considerations. According to Wikipedia, the precision of Lego pieces is less than 10 microns. As of early 2012, however, standard Makerbot printers have an XY resolution of 100 microns (0.1mm) and a default layer thickness of 360 microns (0.36mm).

Robert Harvey

10 microns. I had no idea. It's like industrial manufacturing.

user41796

@RobertHarvey And they've built to those standards for decades and decades.

user41796

The legos I played with as a kid work perfectly well with the legos my kids have.

Robert Harvey

Since you apparently have money to burn: iconaircraft.com

Ampt

dude, legos process control is flipping insane

user55340

5:37 PM

@RobertHarvey aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2012/june/…

user55340

user41796

@RobertHarvey I don't have a fixed wing license though

user55340

> LEGO Group officially the world’s largest tyre manufacturer

Thomas Owens

In other news, at work, authenticating proxies suck. Hard.

user41796

> Delivery Date: With over 1,000 delivery positions already assigned, the estimated delivery date of the next available Standard A5 position is 2018.

user55340

5:40 PM

@GlenH7 I assume you've gone to the Mall of America?

Thomas Owens

Although, on a good front, we're migrating from Solaris SPARC and Sun's compiler to Solaris x86 and the GCC compiler. In theory, shouldn't that mean that I can build using any GCC compiler (including the one with MinGW)?

user41796

@MichaelT Actually, no

Thomas Owens

Assuming it's the right version, that is. I mean.

user55340

There's a lego store there.

amethystdragon

5:41 PM

Wouldn't this be more of a codereview.se question:
http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/253209/please-review-my-first-attempt-at-mock-classes

Thomas Owens

These Lego pictures are making me want to go home and play with Lego bricks all night.

user41796

@MichaelT The Orlando Downtown Disney store has an amazing number of creations surrounding the store.

user55340

1022

LEGO – bricks.stackexchange.com

Beta Q&A site for Lego and building block enthusiasts.

Currently in public beta.

user55340

user41796

@ThomasOwens Skip out on the proxies and go home. :-)

Thomas Owens

5:42 PM

@GlenH7 I have a 3pm meeting.

Or else I would.

user55340

My brother and niece have a lego game that they play... its a 'here's a shape, build it' puzzle with iPhone app.

Thomas Owens

Plus, I hate ClearCase Remote Client with a passion. I hope ClearCase is the next thing to get kicked out.

The MinGW installer doesn't work over an authenticating proxy, it seems.

user55340

user41796

Love the pick a brick wall

user55340

Oh... at the renfair there was a 3' x 12' lego castle diorama... not small.

Jimmy Hoffa

5:47 PM

@RobertHarvey what do you think lego's been doing for years? They built factories and then just sit around spending all of their money on marketing? C'mon, surely they hired a few engineers for process improvement, and having factories for so many decades with process engineers around... you have to assume they've simply refined such things constantly over that time.

user55340

Look at the full size image for that one.

amethystdragon

@JimmyHoffa They have engineers. The engineers are just busy building things with legos

user41796

@MichaelT They have a number of internal applications they use to figure out the structural forces involved when building such large pieces

Jimmy Hoffa

it's not like there's a ton for lego to focus on other than factory process engineering, logistics, and product engineering. They're don't come out with that many new products

user41796

5:49 PM

@amethystdragon Never mind @JimmyHoffa. He's just trying his best (and failing) at trolling the subject.

user15026

@MichaelT This is a beautiful thing.

enderland

I feel like you all haven't been to a Lego Land store somewhere :)

user55340

@AshleyNunn Mall of america is closer than St. Louis...

amethystdragon

@enderland There is a Lego store in WI, but it is really lame compared to Lego Land...

user15026

@MichaelT Tempting.

user41796

5:52 PM

@AshleyNunn The pilgrimage is very worthwhile.

user55340

amazon.com/LEGO-Cuusoo-21109-Exo-Suit/dp/B00L2DL6GG

user15026

@GlenH7 My mom has all my Lego. Been a long time since I built anything, but I keep wanting to investigate the Mindstorms stuff because it looks like it could be interesting.

user41796

@AshleyNunn The new EV3 is really, really cool

user41796

It's definitely on my wish list

user15026

I just feel like I could make fun random stuff and make it do stuff and feel awesome about that

user41796

5:56 PM

And you could control it from your iOS or Android device

user15026

That is super appealing to me.

Robert Harvey

Software Engineer - Development

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