What did you do today?

[Soul_Est]

Finally got around to upgrading the horrible 45% sRGB panel in my P50 with a decent 72% panel that's also 50 nits brighter.
--snip--

Remember when ThinkPads were designed with form following function? I'd tell you who they're marketing them too now (not you or I who have to settle), but I cannot find the review to link to since Lenovo conveniently removed them all when updating the site.

Also converted this Soviet CVC helmet from 1984 to work with Western electronics as a...unique headset.
No crappy tank intercom and throat mic for me! I used an Antlion ModMic and salvaged the drivers from a Sennheiser HD202.
--snip--

Brilliant mod there. I especially enjoy that it looks as if it came way.

 

[PNP]

Remember when ThinkPads were designed with form following function? I'd tell you who they're marketing them too now (not you or I who have to settle), but I cannot find the review to link to since Lenovo conveniently removed them all when updating the site.

Well, at least they're keeping one IBM tradition: garbage displays.

In all seriousness though, I feel that the CS15 design language (the basis of all chassis newer than the Yoga 260) is about as much of a return to form as we can expect, and certainly much more utilitarian than any consumer laptop. Even more than most other workstations. In fact, I still get questions about the age of my Thinkpad...

Though the surprise from a "power in a thin-and-light" owner when they've got to reach for an outlet because their thermal-throttling Core-U machine is dying while my Core-HQ machine still has 2 hours to go never gets old.

 

[Soul_Est]

Well, at least they're keeping one IBM tradition: garbage displays.

In all seriousness though, I feel that the CS15 design language (the basis of all chassis newer than the Yoga 260) is about as much of a return to form as we can expect, and certainly much more utilitarian than any consumer laptop. Even more than most other workstations. In fact, I still get questions about the age of my Thinkpad...

Though the surprise from a "power in a thin-and-light" owner when they've got to reach for an outlet because their thermal-throttling Core-U machine is dying while my Core-HQ machine still has 2 hours to go never gets old.

With the exception of the FlexView IPS displays, I most definitely agree. I still do wonder why Lenovo decided to mess up the keyboard layout though. Six row keyboard, No media controls or browser controls in the arrow key cluster, system functions as primary on the function keys, changing key sizes arbitrarily, etc. The scooped, island style keyboard has no flex from what I've read and seen so that's a bonus.

 

[PNP]

Six row keyboard, No media controls or browser controls in the arrow key cluster, system functions as primary on the function keys, changing key sizes arbitrarily, etc.

The seventh row was removed to increase the amount of room available for the trackpad. I mean, personally I haven't used a trackpad with any regularity since 2008, but it's a simple fact of business than the loudest Thinkpad enthusiasts aren't IT procurement specialists who purchase machines by the pallet for large corporations.

 

[Soul_Est]

The seventh row was removed to increase the amount of room available for the trackpad. I mean, personally I haven't used a trackpad with any regularity since 2008, but it's a simple fact of business than the loudest Thinkpad enthusiasts aren't IT procurement specialists who purchase machines by the pallet for large corporations.

Point taken there. It's the rest of the statement that I truly have a problem. Moving from a seven row to a six keyboard helped with the change in screen aspect ratios and larger trackpads, but the movement, reassignment, and dropping of keys was haphazard and makes little sense compared to the IdeaPads. The initial design change for X240, T440, T540, and W540 had that accursed all-in-one trackpad. Lenovo has changed their design for the better but they have a good ways to go. The CS15 design language worked for a reason. Perhaps it's time for a CS16 design language? I think I may have found my next design project.

 

[EdZ]

I have more hate for the all-in-one trackpad on my Thinkpad Yoga than dropping a keyboard row. Thankfully that has since been abandoned for newer models. My old Yoga is due for replacement now the warranty has expired, just waiting for Lenovo to get around to bringing the new models to the UK.

 

[bledha]

Protip: be sure to make a cover for the sandbox so the neighbour's cats don't use the pit as their outdoor litter box.

Spoken like someone with experience...I am sorry to hear that

This community has grown a lot.

Partly due to the fact you are all so damn welcoming!

Having my other parent tell me to calm down

...pretty much the worst thing to tell someone who isn't calm, stay strong, friend! hope the nap helped.

3.8 magnitude earthquake just hit.....

Hope all is well, despite the low magnitude - they are a constant reminder that stuff is shaking beyond our control.

(for reference, here is a constantly updated list of recent quakes in NZ https://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/felt )

Awesome, always great to have another resource for this stuff. Here in Italy (outside of that dreaded ring of fire) we use the INGV earthquake (terremoti) list, but my favorite, always, has to be the USGS implementation. Best implementation of major fault systems and point visualizations for earthquakes, great breakdowns with coordinates and depths. I have actually seen this list updated faster than local earthquake lists.

 

[zovc]

I just got done going to a local restaurant's office, they wanted to see if I could help move an old program to their new computer.

I was thinking, "Ah crap, it's going to be a machine running on DOS or Windows 3.1 or something..."

Nah, the computer itself was running XP with that PENTIUM 4 AND 512MB OF RAM! It was left at a prompt where Microsoft Outlook was saying it's configured to break large emails up into multiple emails, would you still like to send it?

...so the program was DOS-based, it was an accounting software that saves to floppy disks. I looked at the shortcut and it was pointed... to a networked drive? Well, hey, the new computer has the same network drive on the same letter! So I moved the shortcut over and got an architecture error...

The problem I saw was--even if I figured out how to get around Windows not wanting to run this old DOS program--the new computer doesn't have a floppy drive. The software saves to the floppy drive (I'm pretty sure it just targets A: ), and as far as I can tell it will only save one thing on any given disk at a time. I was trying to figure out an elegant solution with flash drives assigned the drive letter A: or something, but there was a pretty heavy usability issue. The elderly person responsible for entering the data and printing stuff (on this old business-y formatted printer paper) lost their hearing and is only starting to recover it thanks to an implant... it's really hard to train them on new methods.

So I don't really know. I suggested they get back with the company that 'made the program for them' (their words) many years ago, apparently they're still around but these customers wanted to keep their business local. I'd feel bad billing these folks for trying to hack away at this when I really have no idea what I'm doing or if I could even convince this old program to save to modern drives and print on more normal paper and stuff.

 

[jØrd]

DOSBox may or may not be worth looking into, iirc it has some support for mapping a virtual floppy drive

 

[PNP]

Perhaps it's time for a CS16 design language? I think I may have found my next design project.

Keep in mind that Lenovo re-uses chassis for at least one more generation for each line after its introduction. CS15 isn't even across all models yet. It's been recycled for the P51, just arrived on the T570, and the T470p is still CS13 I think.

 

[Soul_Est]

Keep in mind that Lenovo re-uses chassis for at least one more generation for each line after its introduction. CS15 isn't even across all models yet. It's been recycled for the P51, just arrived on the T570, and the T470p is still CS13 I think.

I see. It is quite hard to find the design language used without looking. I did look into the keyboard and found this. Nothing on the chassis design though.

Worked on my resume for a Junior Product/Industrial Designer position, took a walk around the block, worked on my case designs, and worked on my blog.

 

[CC Ricers]

@zovc reminds me of the nightmares I had with a company replacing my old programming machine with a new one. They didn't have a proper IT department so they required me to build the computer on my own time. Hit a few snags along the way including the fact that SCSI hard drives didn't play well with the upgrade from Win 2000 to XP.

 

[Brokoii]

(hopefully) fixed a Impact VII that i got for 15€
That bent pin in the top-ish is a ground pin surrounded by ground pins, so i'm not to worried about that

 

[Arboreal]

(hopefully) fixed a Impact VII that i got for 15€
That bent pin in the top-ish is a ground pin surrounded by ground pins, so i'm not to worried about that

Max VII Impact, nice board. Hope you get it running; I can't see any point in upgrading my Max VI Impact - I have an i5 4670K arriving next week, a tasty upgrade from the i3.

 

[Brokoii]

Max VII Impact, nice board. Hope you get it running; I can't see any point in upgrading my Max VI Impact - I have an i5 4670K arriving next week, a tasty upgrade from the i3.

you belonged to a very small group of people running an i3 in such a high-end mobo
I'm probably gonna end up selling the board since i don't have the money for a 2nd pc.

 

[VegetableStu]

Previously:

Day Off #2 (on or off a few times in-between, but most of the differences done today):

90% prepwork done, small components currently at 15-ish layers. What's left are those ICs with those teeth or fingers and properly figuring out how to go about doing/marking the blank solders. After that I'll start off with the big ones (the LGA 2011 ILM and Socket, ports, plugs and headers, battery, etc)

Base photo I worked off from:

 

[LocoMoto]

Just finished initial play test with 3 people on my first try at setting up a Minecraft server, SUCCESS!
Spigot configuration next and if all that works out I may just change to a Linux OS on a dedicated Minecraft HDD #Win

Kind of sad why I'm working on Minecraft though... a Mass Effect Andromeda LAN was planned this weekend, but after checking some first impressions on the game prior we decided too pass on the game for the time being... You fell lower than UBISOFT, EA! LOWER THAN UBISOFT!

 

[Soul_Est]

Just finished initial play test with 3 people on my first try at setting up a Minecraft server, SUCCESS!
Spigot configuration next and if all that works out I may just change to a Linux OS on a dedicated Minecraft HDD #Win

Kind of sad why I'm working on Minecraft though... a Mass Effect Andromeda LAN was planned this weekend, but after checking some first impressions on the game prior we decided too pass on the game for the time being... You fell lower than UBISOFT, EA! LOWER THAN UBISOFT!

That's not much of a drop.

 

[LocoMoto]

That's not much of a drop.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean!

 

[Arboreal]

you belonged to a very small group of people running an i3 in such a high-end mobo
I'm probably gonna end up selling the board since i don't have the money for a 2nd pc.

That's probably true! The i3 was a stop gap while finding something better - that's taken 2 years.
I set out to get a used s1155 ITX board + i5 K, but the boards were stupidly expensive used, and I found a Max VI Impact locally on the 'bay.
I could have had a low end i5 for a few £ more or the i3 that I bought on my limited budget, but the i3 single threaded performance was better. Balancing finances with family stuff isn't always easy, when it's PC number 3 in terms of importance in the house .
What is good, is the i3 will go into an H81 ITX board I picked up recently to replace the H55N/G6950/SG05 in the main family PC, along with a boot SSD, and keep the 1TB SSHD for data.