Thu May 9 22:25:02 2002
Our second programmer guy is in and we're working together like a well-oiled machine. He codes, I do the GUI, I build the hardware + platform and do the testing, etc.
So we got the first actual build going that actually does something, and it's running right now. So naturally, from my experiences at EA, the first thing I want to do is find bugs in it, which I do. I start writing them down on paper, then I realize, fuck, I have Access installed right here, maybe now is the time to learn how the hell to use it.
Half an hour later I have a functioning bug database and I've entered the first 10 bugs in it. Shared it on the network, everyone can access it. TOTALLY SLICK. At EA, there was one guy whose FULL TIME JOB was to maintain the bug database... okay, that was like 100+ people and multiple projects, but still, I did this in like half an hour without knowing ANYTHING about Access, and it works practically the same.
Now I'm tightening up the interface, adding some new buttons, etc.
This is fucking cool. We can ship this baby, it'll take a few more weeks to get the bugs out and optimize and shit, but this isn't bad for a total development team of THREE people. Two programmers, and one guy to do everything else, namely, me.
Fuck yeah. This is starting to seriously rock.
Thu May 9 22:56:32 2002
Fri May 10 01:58:58 2002
Fri May 10 02:00:58 2002
Fri May 10 02:01:09 2002
Fri May 10 16:32:29 2002
Fri May 10 16:43:11 2002
M.
Fri May 10 17:36:39 2002
For all the sound and fury in the Battlefront, how many people can actually say they get paid to work on all three platforms every day?
I got the VNC server/client working now, so I can log onto the BSD box with my Windows box. It's slow (networked GUI always is) but it's pretty kickass to see our BSD program running in remotely in a window on Windows...
Fri May 10 17:53:04 2002
And from then, to SQL 2000?
And then...
And then...
Fri May 10 18:04:23 2002
I mean, without knowing about Access at all, other than being able to type data into fields, in half an hour I had figured out how to create a working database, and in an hour it was done. Share the directory, boom, everyone has access to it. People slam Microsoft all the time but producing a relational database that has some muscle and GUI capabilities yet doesn't take ages to whip up a custom internal DB... damn, it's useful! It's not like it's my job to write databases, but here's an example of how I could take very little time and yet make something that is actually useful to people.
I'm going to make another one for tech support.
Fri May 10 19:56:17 2002
It's like comparing a Miata and a Viper.
M.
Fri May 10 20:08:20 2002
Fri May 10 20:14:56 2002
Fri May 10 20:19:21 2002
Damn, it's close in spots #7-10.
(Edited by Imitation Gruel at 1:19 pm on May 10, 2002)
Fri May 10 20:20:30 2002
Fri May 10 20:46:01 2002
Fri May 10 20:59:45 2002
Also note, the closeness between RQE and Duffman
Yes. Kind of sad considering that if RQE continued to post the way he did in the first month or so, he'd probably be near 10,000 by now. Alone.
Fri May 10 21:19:08 2002
Damn, it's close in spots #7-10.
I will remind you all that I'm a lazy bastard and the above have all been a pack of lies!
Continue. :D
Fri May 10 21:21:25 2002
Fri May 10 22:46:00 2002
Fri May 10 23:46:56 2002
Sat May 11 02:10:21 2002
Sat May 11 02:10:48 2002
Sat May 11 06:35:21 2002
Access is fine but SQL Server 7/2k is SOOOOOO much better.
I don't really view them as either/or, as Access 2002 ships with MSDE2000, which is basically the SQL2000 engine. If you go to your MSDE2000 folder and install MSDE, you can "upsize" your access database to MSDE, still share the "front end" around (it's now an ADP, or access data project) file, you get much much better multiuser performance, and you get a very scalable back end.
Jeremy's right though. For in-house apps that you need to knock up now, Access can't be beat.
Sat May 11 21:10:45 2002
We have a development team of THREE. Three fucking people, two coders and one person to do everything else, namely ME. And we've built something that already kicks the shit out of any DVR I've seen, especially the Korean crap (sorry, Korea, try playing some more Starcraft)
Anyway.
Sat May 11 22:32:19 2002
Sat May 11 22:48:30 2002
If we don't do it, I fully intend on building my own little BSD box, populating it with hard drives, and putting our software on top to do just that. Would take considerable munging with the source code, though... might just ask our lead programmer to do it for me. ;)
EDIT: just realized, it would take some additional hardware work to split the cable signal. With a nice 16-channel box, though, you could conceivably record 16 programs at the same time!
The main problems with doing a consumer unit is that the hardware (mostly hard drives) required to do decent storage push the price of the final unit up beyond the consumer acceptance point. That's why you see bullshit things like subscriptions-- these companies have to make money somehow.
But as hard drives get cheaper, chips get faster and compression codecs get more intelligent (it's happening all the time) I bet you'll see more Tivo-like products. With a little tweaking you could add things like picture-in-picture, saving clips for later viewing, storing entire movies on DVD-R, etc.
This stuff is coming. I remember years and years and years ago when VCRs were first getting popular, I wondered why someone couldn't do it all digitally so you wouldn't have to pan through all those tapes... well, it's happening. Pretty exciting stuff.
Sun May 12 15:59:00 2002
Sun May 12 17:53:54 2002
Sun May 12 20:24:04 2002
from Jeremy Reimer posted at 1:53 pm on May 12, 2002
Freestyle??
My thoughts, too.
Please, elaborate on this, PH. :)
Mon May 13 07:26:47 2002
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ehome/default.asp
Scheduled for about October. There's some WinHEC stuff I was reading that made FreeStyle look v. v. "Open", so actually writing surveillence apps to it (for example) should be a peice of cake. AFAIK it should be an XPembedded component too.
Mon May 13 13:30:28 2002
I wonder when Apple will copy it. ;)
Mon May 13 16:29:10 2002
Mon May 13 17:01:47 2002
Timed recordings, automatic post recording recompression, pause live tv - and bunch of useless crap too.
The sercurity DVR sounds like a killer product though.
(Edited by Stainless at 11:05 am on May 13, 2002)
Mon May 13 17:03:43 2002
from fuX0ringM0r0n posted at 12:29 pm on May 13, 2002
Hmmm...I just realized something and been wondering...are you the same Harbinger that posts on the Ambrosia boards?
Nope. Never been there myself.
Mon May 13 19:02:51 2002
Mon May 13 19:58:59 2002
from fuX0ringM0r0n posted at 3:02 pm on May 13, 2002
Congrats on post 1234, Harbinger.
I'm feeling very sequential... ;)
Tue May 14 23:17:10 2002