Author Topic: What's Your Favorite Productivity or Programming Supplement? (Read 24475 times)

Ralf Maximus · « **on:** November 28, 2007, 06:30 AM »

Forget compilers, forget IDEs, forget debuggers. Everyone knows programmers love to overclock their perception during crunch time, or sometimes to make dull jobs more interesting. Sure, it also means we procrastinate more efficiently, but face it: without at least one of these tools in your arsenal you're not a coder -- you're just somebody that plinks around on a keyboard.

If you're of the "my body is a temple" persuasion, go away. Anyone who can do yoga while working a keyboard would work twice as fast with a caffeinated bloodstream; you're not living up to your potential.

Select all that apply, but if you feel compelled to check them all -- you might expect an intervention.

UPDATE: Modified the description to better match the multi-selectivity of the new poll format.

justice · « **Reply #1 on:** November 28, 2007, 06:31 AM »

tea?

Ralf Maximus · « **Reply #2 on:** November 28, 2007, 06:35 AM »

Eep! Showing my Americanist viewpoint; I'll fix it.

f0dder · « **Reply #3 on:** November 28, 2007, 06:48 AM »

Haha, that graph is great, pure genius of the type you'd expect to see on http://xkcd.com/

I had to vote "Coffee/Tea", although it's more like "Pick one of {Coffee, Coke, Coffee + Coke, Beer, Beer + Coke, Beer + Coffee + Coke}"

tinjaw · « **Reply #4 on:** November 28, 2007, 06:57 AM »

My secret mix seems to be Coffee, Diet Cherry Cola, and Techno music.

Renegade · « **Reply #5 on:** November 28, 2007, 07:28 AM »

Everything, All The Time!

It used to be coffee & cigarettes in the morning on up till beer & cigarettes in the evening. But I quit drinking. Sobriety sucks. These have been the longest 31 days of my life! I haven't been sober since high school!

If you're of the "my body is a temple" persuasion, go away.
-Ralf Maximus (November 28, 2007, 06:30 AM)

Hahaha~!

My secret mix seems to be Coffee, Diet Cherry Cola, and Techno music.
-tinjaw (November 28, 2007, 06:57 AM)

+1 for techno! Or Slayer... Or techno covers of Slayer... If I had any of those... I'd love to get a rave version of "Hell Awaits" or "Angel of Death". But Slayer still has some pretty funky tunes that are almost danceable... "South of Heaven" has a lot like that. I do have an Orbital cover of "Fade to Black", but that's Metallica and I'm scared they'll sue me for listening to it, so I just won't tell you that I listen to it so that nobody knows that I like metal techno covers. Or is that techno metal covers?

Oh - Did I mention the 8 hour Zarbizarre mix? (seems to be an error there at the moment - should be good later though) Now THAT'S a code-a-thon!

tinjaw · « **Reply #6 on:** November 28, 2007, 08:38 AM »

Oh - Did I mention the 8 hour Zarbizarre mix?
-Renegade (November 28, 2007, 07:28 AM)

Yep. Apparently you stopped remembering things when you stopped drinking.

I'm happy to hear that you have that under control. We all have horror stories about friends and family that don't. I send good karma your way. Keep it up. Oh, I've heard some pretty good mashups of techno and metal. I haven't kept track of them, but I'll start to as I hear them again.

mouser · « **Reply #7 on:** November 28, 2007, 09:12 AM »

as a tea drinking snob i object to coffee and tea being lumped together.
i think they should be separated.

app103 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 28, 2007, 09:20 AM »

Where is chocolate?

mouser · « **Reply #9 on:** November 28, 2007, 09:37 AM »

yeah really where is the chocolate and candy ?

tinjaw · « **Reply #10 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:04 AM »

How the heck did I forget to mention cold pizza?!?

mouser · « **Reply #11 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:14 AM »

I reset the poll and made it "choose as many as you want"

Ralf Maximus · « **Reply #12 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:20 AM »

Eep! I didn't even know you could do that.

What? I should RTFM? :-)

mouser · « **Reply #13 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:22 AM »

actuallly we found out recently that for an unknown reason only admins can set that option -- i'm not sure why or how to change it!

Edvard · « **Reply #14 on:** November 28, 2007, 10:25 AM »

Let me tell you, the bottom of that curve is not too far off...

I have been a heavy coffee drinker since 16.
Monday. The day before payday and I couldn't afford coffee, so I dug in for the long haul with a bottle of aspirin and a positive outlook.
Unfortunately I spun off into caffeine withdrawals that would kill a horse.

Seriously. Good thing I'm not a horse...

I went home early, almost threw up on the freeway twice, went to bed at 4:30 in the afternoon with a queasy stomach and a pounding headache.
Woke up at 12:30 with a smaller pounding and a familiar acid taste in my mouth that told me I should eat something even though I didn't want to. Ate half a bowl of Cheerios and settled on to the couch in case I needed to shout for Huey without waking my wife. Two hours later, I ate another half a bowl of Cheerios and felt well enough to go to bed.
From there to the time my alarm clock went off, I had the strangest, most vivid dreams I have had in a long time.

This morning, I am still reeling from the aftereffects, taking it one cup at a time with a resolve to eventually switch to decaf, with rocket fuel reserved for necessary events...

Lashiec · « **Reply #15 on:** November 28, 2007, 12:52 PM »

Hehe, I wonder who voted "Illegal Substances"...

Renegade · « **Reply #16 on:** November 28, 2007, 03:12 PM »

What? Everything All The Time is gone? Poll is missing beer & whiskey...

cranioscopical · « **Reply #17 on:** November 28, 2007, 03:38 PM »

What? Everything All The Time is gone? Poll is missing beer & whiskey...
-Renegade (November 28, 2007, 03:12 PM)

... and Mozart!

Deozaan · « **Reply #18 on:** November 28, 2007, 03:49 PM »

Crap I don't do any of those!

Music should be on the list though

urlwolf · « **Reply #19 on:** November 29, 2007, 04:25 AM »

hmm, I use none

Damn, am I weird.
Maybe comics reading in my scheduled rest is my secret productivity booster...

Darwin · « **Reply #20 on:** November 30, 2007, 03:53 PM »

Coffee, coffee, coffee. When I can get my hands on it chocolate, too. I love tea as well but didn't vote for it because I don't tend to drink it as much as coffee.

tinjaw - +1 for cold pizza. I'm drooling just thinking about it (as much as a fossilized skull can drool, of course).

lanux128 · « **Reply #21 on:** November 30, 2007, 04:03 PM »

it's always coffee but since tea was mentioned several times suddenly i have this craving..

tomos · « **Reply #22 on:** November 30, 2007, 04:09 PM »

as a tea drinking snob i object to coffee and tea being lumped together.
i think they should be separated.
-mouser (November 28, 2007, 09:12 AM)

you a black tea drinker mouser?
I only need two cups a day, but if I dont get them people think I havent had any sleep the previous night.
Good irish tea (they grow it on the misty mountain slopes - no, actually they blend it from indian & african teas i think. ah well..)
drink with milk

or when abroad (in cafe, etc) a good strong cup of assam. ahh, it's great to enjoy legal drugs
(just BTW, I didnt select anything illegal)

Darwin · « **Reply #23 on:** November 30, 2007, 04:17 PM »

Orange pekoe all the way for me (in the UK this is PGTips, Tetleys, and the like - I drink Tetleys in Canada - it's not labelled Orange Pekoe in the UK, but it's the same AFAICT). When I'm feeling decadent I have it North England style - blisteringly hot with a thimblefull of milk and more sugar than is healthy. More normally I drink it strong with a bit more milk and hold the sugar.

Daleus · « **Reply #24 on:** December 07, 2007, 08:14 AM »

Hehe, I wonder who voted "Illegal Substances"...
-Lashiec (November 28, 2007, 12:52 PM)

Not to detract from the intent of this thread, but hell, I'll fess up! My little green friends in the basement have been riding shotgun on my adventures for decades. They keep me calm, relax my dysfunctional back, and open my otherwise shuttered and shackled mind, to the possibilities.