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Thread: RS-232 Interface into Emotion Processor

  1. #1
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    RS-232 Interface into Emotion Processor

    So I'm sitting in the airport-waiting just a short bit for a connecting flight-in one of those hard plastic, ergonomic if you will, seats that I'm sure someway, somehow, were paid for by us taxpayers. I picked up a computing magazine from the newsstand, can't remember which one now, for $6.95, but let's chalk that up as per diem expenses and be done with it--business trip of course. Head down, eyes focused down, partially reading reviews of some new handheld Windows PCs...I thought I heard someone call my name. Did someone just call my name?

    "Can't be. I don't know anyone here. Probably just lonely and wanting to hear what will never be uttered aloud at this place and time," I rationalize to myself--but there it is again! I look up and look around and there off to the left is a friend I haven't seen in ages. Must be at least 5 years now. My friend's entire body has a comfortable glow to it--as if the skylight above is raining sunbeams straight down upon my friend. Ok--maybe it was the skylight, but the warmth is contagious, and I notice myself cracking one of those genuine, involuntary smiles; not the spur-of-the-moment-say-cheese-I'm-taking-your-picture smiles.

    My central nervous system comes to life and "like riding a bicycle" it starts firing all the right signals until I'm feeling happy again for the first time in a great while. You see, this is one of those friends with whom nothing but fond memories are made. Similarities are exploited for maximum enjoyment and differences are few and far between, although discussion thereof is lively, educated, educating, and above all, respectful. This person has the character to draw thousands of people together from all across the globe on one team striving to be the best. The type of person you start to find yourself missing when not around.

    We stand there speechless for what seems like hours. "We must catch up! What have I been doing? What has my friend been doing these past 5 years? What was my life like back then? What have I missed?" are the thoughts that race uncontrollably through me; not in a nervous manner, but more of a "Hey I've never done this before. Is this my taking inventory of myself? Have I really aged enough and so rapidly that I now have YEARS rather than days or weeks of my life upon which to take stock?" I guess so.

    We start chatting it up little by little, exchanging information about each other that could easily be Googled--not that I have--but little tidbits about professions and marriage and parenthood. All public record, as I like to call it. Not so much an awkward engagement, but I'm comfortably and satisfyingly content enough with the reacquaintance itself that listening to my friend verbalise an EULA would've sufficed as conversation.

    My friend interrupts. A Crackberry emerges from a pocket and finds its way to an ear. A finger comes at me like a "Please wait" progress bar signifying of course that I should stand by while other matters are addressed with which I don't bother to concern myself. Instead images start flashing in my head of my old "dungeon"--the basement where all my computing was done 5 years ago. Conversations I've had come back to life. One-liners from back then trigger vivid recollection of history, events, happenstances, memes. Were there memes back then?

    I've long since moved out of that dungeon...that house...and that life. My what a life it was. It was hell. It really was. HELL. Sure there were some great joys and some great life lessons but there are plenty of times where I think I would've traded those 5 years of "learning through suffering" for "revelling in ignorance"--or would I?

    I decide not to burden my friend with the previous thoughts at the risk of sounding like a major bummer...or would I?

    ...
    ...
    ...

    There was no airport
    no magazine
    no skylight
    no Crackberry.

    However, the friend's name? amdusers.com
    The smile? Real.

    I'm back.
    After 5 long years. I have to get resituated. I apologize if the post seems a bit corny and outlandish, but I decided to open a small pipeline into the heart & soul, hence the title, and it's there now.


    You last visited: 10-02-2003 at 11:15 PM

  2. #2
    NeoGen's Avatar
    NeoGen is offline AMD Users Alchemist Moderator
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    Wooow!! You must be one of the most senior members around here Goatherder.


    Welcome Back!


    I'm trying to build a kind of historical record of the Team and Members in wiki format, and I've seen you in a handful of (now retired) projects:
    - RSAttack576
    - Distributed Folding
    - ECC2-109
    - DHEP
    - SETI@Home (Classic)
    - Zetagrid
    - D2OL (Phase 1)
    - TSC (Phase 1)

    It's still work in progress, but check it out if you like.
    www.amdusers.com/wiki
    Last edited by NeoGen; 09-03-2008 at 01:29 AM.

  3. #3
    NeoGen's Avatar
    NeoGen is offline AMD Users Alchemist Moderator
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    Anyways... to bring you up to speed in what changed over the last 5 years...
    - there's now at least 10x more projects to crunch on than 5 years ago (see our stats page: http://stats.amdusers.com/)
    - We are currently crunching on all those projects and always looking for more.
    - AMD Users is among the strongest teams in the world, with members from all "corners" of the globe!
    - We have a pretty neat site, forum, and stats pages
    - No matter how many machines you can buy or borg... it will never be enough. But I guess that also applied 5 years ago, and will also apply in 5 years from now.

  4. #4
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    Goatherder, I recognize your avatar from "Tim and Eric Awesome Show" on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network. Quite a corny show, but its got its funny parts.

  5. #5
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    Awww, thanks for the warm welcome back

    All these new things to discover; stats page, newsletters...the wiki is very impressive, Neo. Grats on a job well done!

    And ah ol' DHEP. That project for some reason is held dear in my heart. I did a quick check for it yesterday and it looks like it's vanished.

    DHEP most recent stats page from archive.org -> Here

    DHEP AMD Users team stats page from archive.org -> Here

    LOL, I remember I submitted a cheesy logo back when the project was in its infancy, and sure enough it's still there if you dig.

    @Sentient_life: TAEASGJ is the best show on the planet, hands up, hands down, now shake them all around! I love it. I admit it's corny and totally off the mark at times, but other times it's comedic gold!

    Now I'm going to have to juggle time between playing Spore and setting up a 3rd PC for crunching if I haven't zombified it too terribly past the point of resuscitation. It's "genetically enhanced" twin brother is busy here crunching on SETI@home and Einstein@home because those subjects are tickling my fancy at the moment, and the reason why I came back here. I put the homegrown/hacked XP Performance Edition on it and can't complain too much, but now I'm gonna have to roll out some 98SE magic on it again and compare benchmarks. Boy howdy how I've missed 98SE. I may even try slapping it on this Athlon for kicks! weeehoo! Vintage Distributed Computing!

    It's funny because today at work I spent quite a bit of time thinking of ways to blow some more money on more PCs so I can get them crunching too!

    By the way, I switched from Goatherder to GoatJuggler a while back because for some odd reason Goatherder started becoming a taken nick in various places, so to defeat that and maintain uniqueness I've been GoatJuggler ever since, but either's fine with me. So if you see one nick or the other in stats, it's usually me.

  6. #6
    NeoGen's Avatar
    NeoGen is offline AMD Users Alchemist Moderator
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    Goatherder, for celebrating the special occasion of your return, I quickly created your member page at the wiki.
    http://www.amdusers.com/wiki/tiki-in...r%3AGoatherder


    I know you're present in a few more projects (SOB, SETI@Home, Einstein@home, Folding@Home, and maybe more) but I am only listing retired projects yet.


    There's a bunch of projects to which I did not find final stats, and so I only put in the people I found out that participated. Do you remember if you participated in any of the following projects?
    - Operation Project X
    - BOINC Beta Test
    - Grid On Tap
    - TKC (Tiny Key Counter)
    Last edited by NeoGen; 09-03-2008 at 10:55 PM.

  7. #7
    AMDave's Avatar
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    Wow.
    I remember you in the classic stats, before I saw the light and joined AMD Users.
    Welcome back!

    I like your entrance, too, by the way.
    Kind of like an old coat that loves you back, isn't she?
    Last edited by AMDave; 09-04-2008 at 12:23 PM.
    . . . . . ___
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    . . . . . . . \__AMD___\\__
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  8. #8
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    Welcome back Goat (something or other) lol.

    DHEP was my favourite too. I was heading for world rank 1 when it was pulled
    Darkness isn't there, but you can't see through it

  9. #9
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    RS-232 Interface into Emotion Processor

    Welcome back to the herd Goatherder! Nice to see humorous posts all the time. We miss friendly people when they have been gone so long. I am young compared to your first post. I see myself saying Wow what an entrance..!!!!!.





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    …Pursuit is always hard, capturing is really not the focus, it’s the hunt ...

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