Quick update yet again, as I've finished jotting down my list of features. At this point everything looks like it is possible with the exception of directly interfacing with TMCC. That's also possible, but beyond the scope of what I'm looking for right now. I may add a connection point that would allow such an interface down the road.
I've come to the conclusion that at this point there is actually no real need for an external programer to access any of the functions, but plan on allowing for one anyway so that it's in the framework in case I decide to add something that does need one.
Consolidated Leo, I think RTR above hit the nail on the head pretty well. some folks are interested in picking up new skills, others are not. I'm not looking to force anyone to learn something they don't want to, and over all my target here is the folks that don't want to do it them selves. I can't think of the name right now, but I've even seen a recurring post from one user that they work with computers all day, and when they play with their trains they don't want to have anything to do with them. There are a large number of similar folks in this hobby. It's not that they don't have the skills or can't learn them, it is that they do not want to use or learn those skills.
As for Mr. Galt, I think the quote found in my signature sums up my view. Selflessness is an evil when done for it's own sake. No person should be forced to help others if they don't want to. If, on the other hand, they want to help others, they can do so of their own free will, and for whatever reason they have to do so. In my case I just enjoy tinkering with electronics and solving problems. Over all I tend to think Mrs. Rand got most of it right, as far as the meat and potatoes.
This is the only forum I regularly participate in that has anything to do with trains or electronics, and that is mostly to do with the generally strict moderation here. Things tend to stay polite most of the time, though there are occasional exceptions. As far as I can tell I'm one of the younger folks here, so I don't think age has much to do with it, perhaps just a different set of priorities. The internet in chat and forums also has a culture all its own that this forum does not partake in.
JGL
"What is the moral code of altruism? The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value.
Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute, is self-sacrifice—which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction—which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.
Do not hide behind such superficialities as whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the issue. The issue is whether you do or do not have the right to exist without giving him that dime. The issue is whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence. The issue is whether man is to be regarded as a sacrificial animal. Any man of self-esteem will answer: “No.” Altruism says: “Yes "
- Philosophy: Who needs it - AR
