Darkfeign

I've got one with a pair of Sennheiser headphones, and the mic is great but possibly a little quiet.

I have the Dark Rock pro 2 and it's sexy as sheeet, but it is beefy and while it's performance is excellent, the Dark Knight performs very well for the price/size.

If you're more inclined to look at something like Python, PyGame might be something to look at =]

Glad we could help. Just let us know if you need any help.

I agree that learning that books won't cover the new versions, but most like Think Python and the Python reference books will cover the fundamentals of the language and also provide indications for when they use specific 2.* or 3.* language features. It would always be better to learn Python 3.* over the older version, as it's bound to be discontinued sooner or later; always better to stay ahead of the curve.

Check out the Programming Resources thread, or Learn Python The Hard Way (online).

Filco is the only easy-to-access brand in the UK, and while I love my Filco majestouch ninja w/browns, I'd love to upgrade to a backlit keyboard, but their keycaps are usually pretty cheap so the price will go up plenty for lasered keys.

Just started reading the same author's Think Complexity and it seems well written and great for moving onto intermediate python, so I guess his original for python beginners would be at a similar level of quality.

This, with extra emphasis on a decent book. Something like Java: How to Program is a great resource, but Java is not necessarily everyone's starting choice. Python is brilliant, but I struggle to identify a decent programming book for Python, other than Learn Python The Hard Way.

I'm starting my PhD this september and the only way to increase my earnings at the university is to take up teaching in programming classes for undergraduates, as apparently they're always in need of PhD students with strong programming skills. I just feel Java is going to be the initial language they choose. I'd imagine C++ as well but I'm not sure if they push Python as much as my university did with our degree. Absolutely. C++ is always going to be a standard programming language to know for core concepts and actual practice, but Python can really teach the higher-level aspects applicable to most imperative languages.

This was a good suggestion.

The Dark Rock Pro 2 is a pure beast, in both looks and performance. You cannot be disappointed.

Really? That's good to hear. I mean when looking at things like Unity I can see that support for C# is growing quickly, and the availability of C# is coming to linux it seems. I am definitely hoping for a decent Java replacement as, while I do prefer developing with Java than C++ for example, it does have quirks of its own. I'll probably have to be teaching Java for the next few years though, so I'm probably going to have to go back and relearn that properly first =/

Congrats on the feature, man!

I've owned a fair amount of sub-par headsets in the past, but nothing will make me go back from using my Sennheiser HD 558s with a ModMic from AntLion. I'd suggest looking into it. It's so much better to separate Headphones from the microphone so you can have brilliant sound quality for music and games, and a decent microphone when you need it for VoIP.

I'm starting to notice this as a recommendation over people looking at Java, and I think I would probably agree that C# is really picking up speed and seems to provide far more security than Java's VM. I'd just be cautious with developing in linux as their OpenSource C# implementations are still a bit lacking I believe.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I mean ideally I was looking at getting this sound card: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-Xonar-D2X-XDT-Express/dp/B0011BC1FO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=10D1SH5VEFNFH&coliid=I1SET3XIJWRVQR As I wouldn't need amazing sound at the office it was just more about closed rather than open headphones, so ideally i'd get the 80ohm DT770s to take with me, but I figured if the soundcard or an FiiO will drive the 250ohm version, maybe it would be worth getting them? I really don't want to get the 250 version if it won't make a massive difference and just get the easier 80ohm as long as a soundcard will still bump up the sound quality of both headsets, and not be too powerful for either.

I've read a lot of good stuff about these, thanks guys.

So over the summer I'm intending to upgrade my hard drives and refresh them a bit, as they're starting to get fairly noisy, so I'm unsure how much money i'll have to spare. However, for the past year I've been thinking about investing in a soundcard. I figured it wasn't so necessary for myself until around Christmas time where I found a pair of Sennheiser HD 558s in the Blue Cross sale over here in the UK for just £100, which was a fantastic deal at the time! Since then, I've been blown away by the comfort and sound quality of these headphones, and have considered saving up for a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros (80 ohms). So I'm just wondering, considering these are both low impedance headphones, (particularly the 558s, at 50ohms I believe), is it worth purchasing a soundcard such as this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-Xonar-D2X-XDT-Express/dp/B0011BC1FO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=10D1SH5VEFNFH&coliid=I1SET3XIJWRVQR I'm really into my music and a lot of the video games I play, I play to enjoy the surroundings as much as the gameplay (The Witcher 2 for example). I'm just not sure if it's worth getting a decent soundcard for my current set up, or if it would be more worthwhile a purchase with the 250ohms version of the DT770s? Thanks for any advice.

C++ is always an important one to learn, but Java is great if you need to be a little more productive. I think we'll see a big shift in Java's popularity soon though, given that the JVM is flawed and constantly introducing security risks. C++ has already stood the test of time for a fair while, so it won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Not the Java will, but I think sooner than C++.

I've used Coda before and it was really nice to work with, I have to say. For all your web-dev stuff, it's brilliant.

Well it's double the cooler, with a 135mm fan I think it is, sat between both towers, and the standard be quiet fan attached to the side in push-pull-push. I've recently installed the Dark Rock Pro 2 and it's a beast. PWM control is a lifesaver as my old noctua, while quiet with the noise adapters, was still constantly the loudest part in my PC. With Be Quiet!'s PWM control it'll only crank up when necessary, and tbh it's still a lot quieter I believe, than my old Noctua NH-C14. The standard dark rock 2 I hear is a very good performer, but as always, if you can spare the room and clear the ram, a bigger heatsink is always better for performance.

Python. Syntactically basic, extremely powerful.

Hi guys, So I've been using a pair of Sennheiser HD558s since Christmas (my girlfriend found them in the HMV sale for £99, which I thought was a steal) and I've never been happier with a purchase. The comfort is phenomenal compared to any other headphones I've had to wear for an extended period of time. At the time of purchasing, I was attempting to decide between the (at the time, equally priced) Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO (not sure which version, will get to that in a minute) or my current HD 558s. I am still thinking of eventually looking into getting a pair of DT770s when I begin further studies in September and have some sort of an income, but I am confused which set would really make a difference. My HD 558s don't really leave my PC at the moment as they're too big for me, personally, to wear commuting to university and other places, but I would have no problem storing them at my office to use at my desk, rather than keeping them at home. I am simply trying to decide, if I were to opt for an additional pair of headphones that were closed and more suitable for office environments like university (postgrad), would I be better off getting the DT770 PROs in the 80ohm version that should be drivable by my laptop, or the 250ohm version and purchase a soundcard to keep them for my PC and take my (open =[) sennheisers with me. As an additional question to this, would purchasing a soundcard at this time (HD 558s only) be worthwhile, and worth the money (as I would spend out for a higher-end card, around £60~ like the Xonar DX) or would it be more worth while waiting to purchase a higher-end xonar card if I end up purchasing the 250ohm DT770s? I'm also wondering if a Xonar DX would drive the 250ohm version or if it's only suitable for the 80ohm version? Thanks for any help guys.

Seeing the results of the cooler compared to the old H100 I was really surprised that such a light heatsink could outperform (with an additional fan of course) such a well respected pre-compiled watercooler. Personally, I just upgraded from the NH-C14 downdraft CPU cooler from Noctua which I got great results from - and quite liked the peace of mind knowing I was helping cool other parts of my motherboard - to the Dark Rock Pro 2. PWM control was lacking on noctua's heatsinks, otherwise I might have opted for the NH-D14. It's so nice to have the fans crank way down when the CPU is at idle. The noisiest part of my PC before swapping my CPU cooler was the NH-C14.