What's a Toaster?

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What's a Toaster?

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Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004406 More actions · Answer 1

Oddly enough, one of my toasters also begins with a "T"... T-SQL. My other toaster is my trusty pork chop launcher... heh... I've only had to change the bands on it once it ten years. 😛

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jamie-2229 SSCrazy Eights Points: 8156 More actions · Answer 2

Winzip had me at Hello but v14? wow, I am still using a registered copy of v9.

Oh, and of course, I should mention my toaster oven is Windows.

Jamie

sreid08 SSC Veteran Points: 290 More actions · Answer 3

Who needs MS Office when you can get OpenOffice? To me, OpenOffice is the ultimate toaster.

TomThomson SSC Guru Points: 104773 More actions · Answer 4

majorbloodnock (2/5/2010)
I could be missing the point, but it seems to me that a lot of the "toasters" mentioned in this thread aren't toasters so much as wishlist utilities. I thought Steve's point was that a "toaster" is a utility that does what you want well enough to forget about it, but no better or worse than a myriad of other similar products.

I too may be missing the point, because the above describes exactly my reactions to the posts I've read so far.

For example I can't see a browser as a toaster, there is far too much variation between different browsers and I actually find it useful to have three different ones available on my laptop; would you have three toasters in your kitchen?

Text editors and word processors are maybe good candidates for being toasters - but if so one has to exclude some of the more bizarre text editors!

So are compilers - show me a compiler, and I'll almost certainly see a piece of fairly nice software that turns a source code written in a pretty bad programming language into object code (maybe F# will break the pattern - most earlier compilers for FP languages were either for academic toy languages or for some not at all well worked out compromise between academic "purity" and industrial "usefulness"). Maybe even that is a bit like having several different toasters - maybe one for white moulded bread and one for wholemeal molded bread and one for Pita? (So is even a toaster a toaster?)

An Email client is a toaster. Just now I'm using Outlook 2003, but switch me to Thunderbird or Eudora or... well, you get the picture, they all let me compose and send email and recieive and read email and they are all pretty much the same (or at least the features I actually use are common to all of them).

There must be many more toasters in IT, but I can't recall what they are. Oh dear, maybe I'm getting old and senile; or is it just that toasters are eminently forgettable (until you want to toast something)?

Tom

frederico_fonseca SSCoach Points: 16167 More actions · Answer 5

These would be my toasters

Agent Ransack - searching for files is a must.

Vim ... (unix guy here so a must)

7zip

redtux1 Old Hand Points: 320 More actions · Answer 6

By definition a toaster cannot be a specific application so

1. Text Editor (notepad++ on windows, gedit on Linux)

2. Spreadsheet for quick data checks/distribution (prefer OO but have learned to deal with the MS office monstrosity)

3. Browser (prefer Firefox - on all platforms)

4. Scripting Language (perl preferably, VBA if no choice)

5. RDBMS (generally which dictated by environment)

alan008 Newbie Points: 5 More actions · Answer 7

WinRAR, Far Manager, Notepad, Calc, QIP, Skype, Everything (amazing file searcher), Thunderbird, Firefox, DropBox, Teamviewer, ACDSee, all of them are toasters for me.

Core6430 Old Hand Points: 363 More actions · Answer 8

Grep utilities are my toaster. Any one of them work fine. I have a favorite toaster, but they pretty much perform the same function well no matter which one you get.

Ironically, word processors are also toasters. They all allow me to write a paper.

Notepads are not my toasters. I am lost without Notepad++.

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 9

Ben Moorhouse (2/5/2010)
Mine's got to be Notepad. I use it to write SO MUCH code, and it's always there as a quick 2nd clipboard. Plus, as with the IE comment from jshailendra, it's on every windows box so you can rely on it 🙂

I too use notepad as an additional pseudo clipboard.

I work freelance so assume that I cannot add to the standard client mix of Windows, Office and Visual Studio. Sometimes I don't even have ol' SQL Server.

No toast for me.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

david-945038 Grasshopper Points: 18 More actions · Answer 10

Actually for me most hardware and even software has become a commodity or "toaster", they all do very much the same with a few small features either way and in reality, most of the differences can be accomplished by approaching the problem differently. I think that 80% of choices are really made around brand loyalty.

It is really the subscribers to this forum that take their preferred "toaster" and make it perform like a stove. It is the people behind the machine that make the magic!

I guess that is my biased view!:-)

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 11

Gary Varga (10/24/2014)
Ben Moorhouse (2/5/2010)
Mine's got to be Notepad. I use it to write SO MUCH code, and it's always there as a quick 2nd clipboard. Plus, as with the IE comment from jshailendra, it's on every windows box so you can rely on it 🙂
I too use notepad as an additional pseudo clipboard.
I work freelance so assume that I cannot add to the standard client mix of Windows, Office and Visual Studio. Sometimes I don't even have ol' SQL Server.
No toast for me.

That Gary Varga is a right old Muppet!!! I think he means that it is ONLY toast for him.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

Erwin Oosterhoorn SSCrazy Points: 2320 More actions · Answer 12

graymer (2/5/2010)
I'm surprised at how many are saying Notepad++. That's my favorite too. I just wish my current situation would allow me to use it. So it's back to just Notepad for me. 🙁

Have you tried using the portable version? I use it at work as I can't install anything, but portable works a treat.;-)

edit:

just read further and seen your replies. That does make it harder, install and un-install each time is a pain.

Can't think of a toaster for me so quickly, any music playing bit of software maybe.

feed reader, just use whatever is already part of another bit of software.

Sioban Krzywicki One Orange Chip Points: 27770 More actions · Answer 13

Code repositories. I don't care what we're using, SVN, GIT, Team whatever. It is peripheral to my job, just tell me what to use.

EMail clients too.

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bill.fleming Grasshopper Points: 16 More actions · Answer 14

bill.fleming

Grasshopper

Points: 16

October 24, 2014 at 6:46 am

#1754623

For me it's thumb drives and external hard drives.

OCTom SSChampion Points: 11785 More actions · Answer 15

I disagree with the premise that a toaster is simply a generic applicance and any one will do. They are not all the same and their performance is key to toast/bagel satisfaction.

There is nothing worse than partially toasted toast or bagels. That's what you get with many cheap ones. Cheap ones also only have two slots that are too narrow for bagels or Texas toast. Step up and spend more to get at least four slots that are wide and can handle most anything.

Likewise, I think the "toasters" we use often come in a wide variety of models. Some cost money, some are free. I usually find that those where you have to spend a bit are better utilities and make my life easier. The exception I have found is Notepad++. It is free and is very handy. I use it daily. I have contributed money to the Notepad++ cause. There is no requirement to pay for it, but, I do to keep the project going.

Tom