Congratulations to willcomp for the Wizard certificate : certificate, congratulation

Wizard Willcomp, has a nice ring doesn't it.

06.29.2006 at 11:20AM PDT, ID: 17012116

Rank: Sage

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kudos more than you may realize.

My hat's off to Gary and Callandor and leew and all the other regular contributors. Have learned quite a bit myself and enjoy the dialogs.

EE and other help sites I used to frequent keep me up to speed. Being the only knowledgable tech in town greatly limits person-to-person interaction with your peers.

Maybe one of there days I'll be old enough to retire like Gary ;>)

(For those who don't already know, I'm older than Gary and have free rein to poke fun at him)

Accepted Solution

06.29.2006 at 12:19PM PDT, ID: 17012584

Callandor ... I've spent less than an hour/day for the last 2+ weeks (and zero time on several days -- didn't have internet access where I was) ==> I may just continue at that rather relaxed pace and let you & willcomp solve the world's problems :-)

I meant what I said in my profile about slowing WAY down => but I probably won't really do it until I hit the 1,000,000 point mark (just for grins). However, you're safely entrenched at #1 for the year, as I'll hit the 1,000,000 mark well before the end of the year, and will NOT keep going at the pace I'd have to sustain to beat you (assuming I could). [Just for grins I did some calculations; and while EE has "their" year, I have "mine" => for "my" year (Sep '05 - Aug '06 => my 1st year of participation) I'll be #1 in Hardware, and that's good enough for me] And I have absolutely ZERO desire, intention, or willingness to even begin to attempt to "catch" you overall => even at the roughly 15,500 points/month average gain rate for "my" year (based on current totals) it would take over 5 years to catch up!! NO THANKS !!!

Dalton -- The kudos are very well deserved. By the way, it was the rapport you & I had on a couple of questions WAY back in Sept that probably got me addicted to this site !! (I'm not sure whether to thank you or curse you for that)

"... only knowledgable tech in town..." ==> Perhaps I should move to Port Gibson and set up a competing computer shop so you'll have some local competition :-) (Whoops !! -- that would mean I had to WORK !!!!)

06.29.2006 at 12:33PM PDT, ID: 17012704

Rank: Sage

Come ahead. There's so much business here that a good month covers the overhead. Half of nothing is still nothing :)

I try to at least read through open questions each day and throw in a comment here and there for questions that may not be accurately or fully addressed. Those with good responses are usually just passed on by.

06.29.2006 at 12:46PM PDT, ID: 17012822

Rank: Genius

Callandor:

If you ever want a fast view as to which questions have had no replies yet, Ameba (author of QuickPost) has a tool on his website: http://www.eeqp.com/stats/noreply.html

06.29.2006 at 01:04PM PDT, ID: 17013001

knoxzoo:

As one of the fast rising newbie's (in my second month now and half way there to Master), I'd like to throw in my congrats, and extend them to everyone on the left of the screen. That's a lot of good mojo to have hanging out in one place.

06.29.2006 at 02:49PM PDT, ID: 17013872

Rank: Wizard

Sorry to burst the party atmosphere, but knoxzoo needs some clarification just in case he gets to wondering why he doesn't get the MASTER certificate when he hits 50,000.
You need 50,000 in the TOPIC (like hardware, or desktops) not an overall point total from all topics. If you check Willcomps topic totals you'll see why its so big an accomplishment to get to wizard-->300,000 points is one hell of a total in hardware.

Now , every one, back to the party.
I was thinkin willcomp, maybe we can call you DUBYA DUBYA for short now, ahh better not, George might start droppin in here lookin for software of mass destruction.

06.29.2006 at 02:54PM PDT, ID: 17013909

knoxzoo:

Thanks for the clarification.

Most of my points are in Hardware and Storage, but I'm doing this more for the fun of doing it than the points. It's a good way to take a break from the same ol', same ol', and help someone else get over a hump at the same time.

Speaking of parties, I'm off. The directors are cooking dinner for everyone tonight. If you don't see any more answers from me, you'll know what got me. :-)

06.29.2006 at 03:02PM PDT, ID: 17013962

Rank: Wizard

Have fun knoxzoo

06.29.2006 at 04:45PM PDT, ID: 17014597

Rank: Sage

Actually Dubya and I share a first name (George). I use my middle name (Dalton). Few other similarities except that we're older baby boomers.

willcomp = Williams Computing (real original ain't it)

knoxzoo, good to have you aboard. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

If I ever need some points for the month, can branch out into OSes and Storage. Spend more time than I should in Hardware as it is.

06.29.2006 at 06:41PM PDT, ID: 17015009

Nahh -- you're doing fine in Hardware. Keep up the good work :-) I've also thought about doing a few OS & Programming Language questions (my graduate CS degrees are in compiler design and operating systems; I've written a few hundred thousand lines of code in my day; and have taught both OS's and various languages); but simply enjoy the hardware aspects more these days. Most of the programming language questions "feel" too much like homework anyway. I did a few OS questions early on, but haven't even looked at one in several months. Hardware's where the interesting issues get discussed :-)

06.29.2006 at 08:02PM PDT, ID: 17015269

Rank: Sage

I agree that hardware's where the fun is. I'm rather knowledgable on OSes (have to be in my business), but haven't written pure code in over 35 years. Have forgotten nearly everything I ever knew about Fortran and assembly language and don't miss them a bit. Programming just isn't my cup of tea. Requires structure which I'm not fond of. I did the algorithms and let the coders take over from there when an app was required.

You're very good at hardware. Don't see that too often from a code jockey :)

To reiterate --> I really appreciate you folks. We have a good community here.

See you manana. Time to call it a day and head home.

06.29.2006 at 08:17PM PDT, ID: 17015314

I've always enjoyed the algorithms MUCH more than doing any coding. I've actually never had a job as a "coder" -- it's always been just a hobby, but my academic background was very techy and I often found ways to design some of the code for programs I was in charge of. Wrote several custom OS's, a couple of compilers, and have been on numerous adjunct faculty's over the years teaching various math and computer science courses. Did a fair number of custom systems in the late 70's and early 80's; some on microcomputers; some on supercomputers; and nearly everything in-between. Some for the Department of Defense; some as a private consultant. Haven't written any significant code since the very early 90's. I wouldn't categorize myself as a "code jockey" -- just a long-time computer hobbyist.

06.30.2006 at 06:40AM PDT, ID: 17017726

Rank: Genius

Callandor:

> You're very good at hardware. Don't see that too often from a code jockey :)

I make my living writing code in the finance industry, but I like hardware, too. I just finished building my second terabyte video server with a fast Areca 1220 RAID-5 card, Hauppauge PVR150 tuner, and BeyondTV software. Maybe when I retire, I'll open up a shop and get some tips from you guys about the business end (but that's a several years down the road).

06.30.2006 at 07:06AM PDT, ID: 17017962

... guess I should close this => we've patted Dalton on the back for over a day now; time for him to get to work on his Sage cert :-)

06.30.2006 at 07:09AM PDT, ID: 17017982

Rank: Wizard