<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

I had just been letting it happen to Steel Fan. That's why it has taken me 18 months to get this far. But why let it take another 18 months to ge the rest of the way there? You're only 90 out. You will probably beat all 4 of us by just "letting it happen".

I was a big time Linux guy for many years - I remember installing Debian 2.0 from a few floppy disks to a pentium 60 with 32 mb of ram, then dialing up at 14.4 over a modem to download the rest of the packages. It took me three or four months to figure out how to get X11 up and running on my hardware, and GNOME and KDE weren't even a glimmer in their creators' eyes at that point. Good times.

When I entered grad school, I was doing a lot of C, C++, and FORTRAN programming on Linux machines - mostly Debian still, but a much better version <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

However, my advisor decided we should be able to work at home or whatever, so we weren't chained to our offices, so he bought us all G4 iBooks with OS X Panther installed.

At first, I hated it - I was a Linux guy for the longest time, and tolerated Windows, but this Mac setup was just screwy to me. Eventually, however, I realized I was spending a lot more time getting work done, and a lot less time trying to make linux work right.

I had all the familiar tools - BASH terminal, GCC compiler, SSH, grep/awk/sed, EMACS, etc etc etc. After installing FINK, I had the full debian-style apt-get environment, where I could basically install any linux software my heart could desire, including X11 and Gnome. On top of that, the Apple development environment (Xcode) is basically a big graphical front-end to all of the classic GNU development tools, with a super slick interface. It's the best IDE I've ever used.

Basically, for me, a Mac combines everything I ever need on a linux machine, with none of the hassles. Now, between my fiance and me, we have 5 macs in our house right now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />



Plus the mac integrates seamlessly with the iphone <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I am back <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> What did I miss ?

I hate making straps by the way.

The only thing you missed was posting time. More straps, less posting <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

post fellas! Postpostpost!

Working is getting in the way of posting <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif" alt="" /> Then again I have to work so I can buy knives <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" /> So instead of post, post, post. It's work, post, work, post <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

loser buys both challenge coins......... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I just had a meeting, so my posting was interrupted. Now I'm staring at an experiment, and posting away while I collect data.

Now wait a minute, there are four of us in this. That's $80.00 to loser. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> This was just for fun. We'd better leave it that way <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, I'm spending enough on knives, I don't think I need to go further in debut due to a race in which I started way behind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

You not that behind