AVR Freaks

I hope the guy who was smart enough to register the name wins, I know its all very judgemental of me and I could be way way off  but when I look at that Banzi guy I think he looks like a bit of a bully, Gianluca looks like a mouse, if they were all friends then something made Gianluca register the name on the sly and it must of been pretty major, there is more to the story

I think gianluca is the smart one and if he regisrtered it first then surely its his?, Banzi and Cuartielles are crapping them selves, I just don't like either of them for reasons I don't know, I think both of them need to have a shave in order to present a clean image, the beards just look stupid

All sweeping generalisations and massive assumptions at this end I am aware of this its like a soap opera

It's a product for "electronics challenged" people

 I like that, it makes me smile then I feel like I am being arrogant but I suppose it took a lot of work to be not so challeged

The Arduino is just too dumbed down for me and you hear the people raving about the community when the reality is the community is a bit toxic and the unfriendliness to n00bs is what puts me off posting on there.

This place is far more friendly and the level of knowledge is really unique, yeah I do like AVR Freaks a lot its just a little quieter than the Arduino Forum

Now correct me if I am wrong here because I am relatively new to this site but am I right that just in recent times this site has become more busy? thats how it feels to me like in the last year

On the arduino forums, if you ask a deep technical question, they start criticizing your coding style, the formatting of your post (because you didn't read the "how to use this forum" sticky), and other things about your post that had nothing to do with your question.

Here, you'll mostly get flamed for not having read the datasheet (which at least IS a route to the answer.)

I think the arduino forums are currently without anyone quite as saintly as Cliff...  :-)

I don't see that my posts here are really any different to the other 20+ top posters - it's just I have a bigger gob!

Well, exactly.  I mean, I like to think that my posts are generally pretty good, but I'll often ignore questions that I find particularly clueless, lacking in sufficient explanation, or that have been answered many times before, have tutorials, and are about things that are clearly documented.  And then I see that you've helped anyway.  Saintly, I say (and exactly as per Mandela)!

Me too.  I have only been here a couple more years than Bignoob, but I remember the moderators having to discipline the old timers for being rude and jumping down the throats of people posting sort of dumb questions.  This used to be a much harsher place than it is now.  I sort of miss it.   Now it is so civilized. 

And yes, Cliff is about as nice as a person can be.  Plus, he has 2 cats.

I like the "electronically challenged" description. 

Although, I must admit, I bought some Chinese Arduino Nano clones that are 1.6" x 0.7", have a 32 pin ATmega328P, a 16 MHz crystal/ceramic oscillator, a CH340G USB chip and mini USB connector, a reset button that is not terminated correctly, and a 6 pin ISP header, all for $2.55.  I used to make my own, and the ATmega cost me more than that.  It would take me a whole day, or more, to solder it up on a proto board because I was too cheap to spin a board.  I don't use the Arduino IDE or libraries, since C is my second language and I like Atmel Studio, but the little boards are just too easy for me to pass up on.

Which is the whole downside of the movement for someone like me who is trying to learn electronics.  Just about any little project I would have had to build myself, and learn from 5 years ago, is now available as a shield.  I guess I shouldn't complain about it.  If I build my own, which I try to do, and it doesn't work, I can always just buy one, usually for a ridiculously low price.  Although, I still make my own RFID detectors for less than I have seen them anywhere.

I hope Cliff doesn't get so self conscious from us telling him how much we like him that he stops posting.  I would like to see him with a big blush on his face, I must admit. 

I am just a hobbyist.  I did software algorithms for almost 40 years, and somebody else did the hardware.  Now I wish I had been an experimentalist instead of a theorist in graduate school.  I would have had all those years to figure this stuff out.  Now I'm old and retired and still learning basics.  It's OK.  It keeps me out of the bars.  I always am a little intimidated by how much people like Cliff and Kartman know.  They always have answers for me and when I display my ignorance trying to contribute nobody gets in my face too much.  I usually just ask questions.  I understand the difference between commercial electronics and hobby stuff.  There are lots more considerations for a board that is going into production than something I am building just to see if I can do it.  I have a friend who has been doing electronics for about as long as I did software, and he tells me I am at about where he was in 8th grade.  That is sooo good for my ego.

Keep on keepin' on.  Good luck with your career.

Yeah, the Arduino forums have some very prolific posters that aren't very ... tolerant of perceived "bad questions."

OTOH, the Arduino forums get a lot more bad questions...

Wow, thanks for the kind words Nard, didn't expect that.

I've just made a new thread in the Site-Feedback section and posted it there.

Keith.