i work on PCs and electronics.

dacow wrote:

I was adamant that the serial mouse was as gimmicky as the analogue joystick and that no one in their right mind would ever end up using it. Even in Windows 3.1 you could quite happily navigate through keyboard shortcuts such as CTRL TAB, ALT TAB, and the obligatory cursor and enter keys. I'm fairly certain I placed a bet with my high school friend that mice were a fad that would come and go and have no useful purpose in the PC era. My saving grace was I was a mere 10 year old child back then :D

I first experienced the computer mouse using Windows at a friend's place when I was 10. It was a 3-button mouse and I kept trying to figure out why the middle button didn't seem to do anything outside of Minesweeper. XD

Beyond that though, I adapted to it extremely fast. As much as I like retro computing stuff, I have no aversion to making things more efficient, faster, more convenient, etc., so long as you're not breaking things in the process. You only tread into "gimmicky" territory when the technology itself makes mistakes that weren't the user's fault. This is why keyboards and mice are still around after all these decades. ;)

I'm a Conductor for a class 1 railroad (Norfolk Southern).

I enjoy my job (I'm a train nut aside from having an interest in computers).

Private_Ops wrote:

I'm a Conductor for a class 1 railroad (Norfolk Southern).

I enjoy my job (I'm a train nut aside from having an interest in computers).

That's pretty awesome. Are you also interested in model trains?

Private_Ops wrote:

I'm a Conductor for a class 1 railroad (Norfolk Southern).

I enjoy my job (I'm a train nut aside from having an interest in computers).

Do you have any of the Train Simulators on PC ?

I noticed a ton of them on Steam but they are expensive to say the least, but if you are a train nut then you will pay whatever they are asking to have something like this 😉

My father is into trains, ever since he was a kid growing up in PDX.

He remembers when there were a ton of regional and small companies like SP&S around Portland to the large companies like Union Pacific.

We have visited the Train Museum in Sacramento a few times, I love the old time Coal Fired Steam Locomotives like the Big Boys 😁

Then there are the narrow gauge loco's like the Shay and others that climb steep grades for mining and logging.

Stull wrote:

Private_Ops wrote:

I'm a Conductor for a class 1 railroad (Norfolk Southern).

I enjoy my job (I'm a train nut aside from having an interest in computers).

That's pretty awesome. Are you also interested in model trains?

Yea, to a lesser extent.

BigBodZod wrote:

Do you have any of the Train Simulators on PC ? […]
Show full quote

Private_Ops wrote:

I'm a Conductor for a class 1 railroad (Norfolk Southern).

I enjoy my job (I'm a train nut aside from having an interest in computers).

Do you have any of the Train Simulators on PC ?

I noticed a ton of them on Steam but they are expensive to say the least, but if you are a train nut then you will pay whatever they are asking to have something like this 😉

My father is into trains, ever since he was a kid growing up in PDX.

He remembers when there were a ton of regional and small companies like SP&S around Portland to the large companies like Union Pacific.

We have visited the Train Museum in Sacramento a few times, I love the old time Coal Fired Steam Locomotives like the Big Boys 😁

Then there are the narrow gauge loco's like the Shay and others that climb steep grades for mining and logging.

Used to like the train sims.. Since I work on the real thing, I get bored with the simulators.

Private_Ops wrote:

Used to like the train sims.. Since I work on the real thing, I get bored with the simulators.

Yeah I get you on that one, back in the USAF I worked on the C-130 Flight Simulator at McChord AFB.

It was a Singer-Link type with full motion control.

I only wish I could have had a chance to fly the real thing, these birds are built like tanks.

BigBodZod wrote:

Yeah I get you on that one, back in the USAF I worked on the C-130 Flight Simulator at McChord AFB. […]
Show full quote

Private_Ops wrote:

Used to like the train sims.. Since I work on the real thing, I get bored with the simulators.

Yeah I get you on that one, back in the USAF I worked on the C-130 Flight Simulator at McChord AFB.

It was a Singer-Link type with full motion control.

I only wish I could have had a chance to fly the real thing, these birds are built like tanks.

Since I'm only a conductor, I'm not a qualified engineer... but, I have "ran" before. It's amazing the power a locomotive has. Working the yard job (on an extra board now), it can be surprising how unforgiving a piece of railroad equipment is.

Government contractor for living, vintage game & hardware collector and audio enthusiast for pleasure. 😁

sgt76 wrote:

I'm a porn reviewer

Yeah, but do you actually get paid?

hi guys, new here. i didnt have the pleasure in experiencing the joy of playing with hardwares before 2005. my first diy pc which i build myself was a 939 venice 3k and am currently in the process of assembling one, i am kind of jealous with most of the members here with the knowledge they have of retro/past pcs ):

anyway, back to topic. i used to be a firefighter from 2009 to 2011. was actually more of a conscription.i had the opportunity to continue it as a career, but i decided to test myself in the civilian world. i had 2 career paths, 1 was IT the other was engineering. i chose engineering, which was what i had studied when i was in school. i had alot of IT related work experience due to the part-time jobs i had in the past. even applied as an entry level server technician after my firefighting stint. so, long story short, im currently a project engineer in the construction industry. but my passion for pc (especially hardware) will never die!

Hi KRACKD and welcome!

Where are you from that has a fireman conscription?

hi badmojo!

thanks for the welcome! im from singapore. we are obligated to serve the nation for 2 years. im lucky to be a firefighter tho, a rewarding job.

What are people up to these days? Any interesting job changes? What do you new members do in real life?

When I started this thread I was programming for a directories / media company which was slowly failing. With 8 years under my belt, hanging around and waiting for a redundancy was probably the smart thing to do but the boredom was soul destroying, so I resigned and accepted a .NET dev role at a small stock broking firm.

My broking knowledge was (and still is) non-existent and working for a small company was odd. The majority of the brokers were completely computer illiterate, as were the clients, and I was required to take painful support calls when the lone helpdesk guy was busy. It was a great place to work in a lot of ways but when a friend offered me a .NET dev role back at the superannuation company I left 9 years prior, I jumped at the chance. It’s a big company (no support calls!), I already know a lot of people, and the concepts are familiar.

Google it aint, but I spend most of my days coding and the hours are good, so no complaints here (yet).

I kick ass and take names.

I dropped out of high school in 2005 when I was 16 and started doing scrap metal with my father, that is where I got into retro computing getting all these old machines as junk and it didn't take me long to find out that most of them worked and with the advice from people on forums like this I was able to get most of them working properly. Also work on and build PCs for most of my family and friends most people think I am some sort of genius because I work on computers and have no education 🤣

I could have been someone™

I have worked with everything from docking and loading trucks, mailman, sales rep (industry machines) to computers.

At the moment Im in the metal buissness like the above poster but not as a scrapper. I program CNC machines and make all kinds of parts in metal, mostly single items or small series.

Unix support, especially AIX. Security, shell scripting etc.

Did mostly computer related part time jobs during university years, like IT service tech, network admin, PC magazine author, MS-DOS/Windows tutor for minions, etc.

My first full time real job was also computer related even after having my degree (aerospace engineer), IT head (an butt) guy for a small state owned research institute for national defense. After a while, they remembered that I'm not only ok for IT related things, but also an aerospace engineer, and I started working literally as a rocket scientist! 😈

After two years, I fed up with that low paying job, and decided to get rid of my conscription, so served in air force for the next 1.5 years doing...well, stuff.

After that, I decided not to go with my profession by education, and started a carrier path in manufacturing businesses as a general purpose engineer/manager. So, for the next 17 years, I worked as a project manager, quality manager, process engineering manager, engineering services (maintenance) manager, and production manager in many different sectors (Cu/Al tubular part manufacturing, tempered glass manufacturing, architectural hardware - locks, door closers, panic exit devices, etc.- manufacturing, finally small firearms manufacturing).

Now I'm a production manager in my last company (two years already?) which produces pistols and sporting rifles. There is still 10 years to go for retirement, though.

Games programmer, (over?) specialising in graphics & performance tuning, although I'll write gameplay code if needed.
Been doing it for over 10 years now at various companies. I often think I should have a plan B, but luckily people still buy new games 😀