I have to agree with you. It would fine with me if I wasn't allowed to buy|play violent or graphic video games(not that I do, but never mind that) if it meant that I was carded if I tried to buy alcohol or cigarettes (not that I do that, either, but oh well). I think dangerous and addictive substances are much more of a threat than "unconstitutional" restrictions on violence or sex. -J
I'm no expert when it comes to Linux, drivers, or open-sourcing, but is it possible to just make part of the driver closed? Or even the whole thing? Surely every single thing on your computer doesn't need to be completely open source. -J
Er, i have worked with VB, and I like it, though I do recognize it has limitations. It's just that I so often hear it decried and so infrequently hear reasons. The "13 ways" list is quite interesting, and some may be valid, but it mostly seems to be personal "peeves." For instance, I think "Dim" is a bit intuitive, as in "Dimension." Also, I don't see why similarity in syntax for referring to arrays and functions is a reason for loathing. Mild annoyance if you are very attached to another language's way of doing things, maybe. The fact that Integers are 16-bit is the way VB is. Use another type if you need more. An If missing an End If is an error. Many of these arguments seem that they could be boiled down to "It doesn't work exactly like [insert language of choice, eg C++, C, Perl, Pascal...]!" No, it doesn't. It's not [language of choice]. It's VB.
So I can understand how one can dislike (or hate, if you're feeling extreme) VB if one has a great deal of experience with other languages, like Delphi in your case. But for myself, who learned to program in QBasic, it's fine.
Oh, and the author of the list does get bonus points for the bit about annoying dialog boxes. It has only gotten worse with each verison. -J
Ooh, thanks for the reference. Lessee. Legitimate arguments?
It promotes sloppy code and completely lacks elegance Er. That's a statement, not argument. I don't see how, and I think elegance is amtter of perspective.
Mind you this requires something like 28 megs of DLLs for the runtime, and 16 megs of RAM just to launch a Hello World program. Not with my VB3 for win3.1, I know that. Hmmm.
I still don't see any legit reasoning behind VB being as evil as people seem to claim. Interesting, though, that the Delphi node includes the following quote: [Delphi] is powerful, easy to use, and fast....for those who absolutely crave a bloated, random, cryptic language, there is also C++ Builder.
I ask this in innocent and honest curiosity (so flaming shouldn't be necessary): What is so bad about VB? Besides being based on BASIC and being a Microsoft product, that is. (I don't have any problem with either of the above, but some people do, I guess) -J
turn any TV into a desktop, you don't even need a VGA monitor.
An intriguing idea, what about the resolution issue? Text that is normal-sized and easy to read on a desktop monitor will become incomprehensible on the average TV. -J
How old are you? I shall use my amazing psychic powers and attempt to answer this for him. 14? The reasoning being he discovered it when he was eleven and it was three years ago... so it's around 14. -J
Yeah, I've done a bit of fencing myself (though school has been too busy this past year). But the first guy mentioned rubber balls, so I figured what the heck. Referential humor and all that.:) That's a great description of the sabre, BTW. === -J
I'd like to add that nothing strikes fear in the hearts of your enemies quite like a foil with a little ball of rubber on the end. Exactly! And then you can lash them with it, leaving all sorts of delightful red marks!
...so the beauty/elegance of the piece will outweigh (pun!) its real usefulness. Ouch. Touché.
I'm pretty sure I could take out-- or at least really annoy-- a Komodo Dragon with a mere sabre. Yes, well, a saber is different. It lacks, among other things, the grace, elegance, and rubber ball. === -J
Right, so we should all use rapiers! Er, no, wait, hang on... Yes, I see your point. You're right. I just meant to point out that it's a bit more elegant, and might be more interesting to reproduce. Hmm. Anyone want to bring back sword dueling? === -J
Top ten, eh? Lessee: 1. NetHack 2. Rogue 3. SC2K 4. Commander Keen 5. Dangerous Dave 6. Lemmings 7. Blake Stone 8. Walls of Rome 9. Terminal Velcoity 10. Minesweeper
So let's examine the very best of the very best. Rogue has infinite replay value because it is TOTALLY random. There were always more potions to find, scrolls to discover, letters to identify, and somewhere was the Amulet... I still play this on my PalmPilot. It's called iRogue, and it's a fairly faithful clone. NetHack is all the amazing things of Rogue and then some. The DevTeam must be a bunch of lunatics; there is always some new twist just waiting to be discovered. So here we are. Roguelikes are, I believe, as close to the ultimate game as we have come. They have completely infinite replay value and are engaging and fun. The graphics are as good as they need to be (NetHack offers simple color graphics for those who wants 'em). Once you're familiar with the symbols, ASCII-based graphics are far better than any super-rendered polygonal 3D stuff. I guess this makes the market kind fo hard to exploit, what with most roguelikes being freeware. NetHack 3.3, which is quality gaming, is even less than half of the price of, say, Diablo, or Quake, or whatever you care to name. So, for that matter, are Rogue, *Angband, Moria, Omega, etc... Enough of this writing business. I have to go slay the Wizard of Yendor. === -J
Despite its (all too) frequent use in fantasy stuff, a broadsword is a really ungainly and (IMO) silly weapon. It is little more than a large steak knife, albeit double-edged. I guess it has its advantages in pitched battle. But if you want a quality sword, a rapier (or longsword, or smallsword) is the way to go. I would dare to say that it requires even more skill than a broadsword, though they are different types of skill. I'd take a simple, lightweight, flexible rapier over a broadsword any day.
Of course, I guess you can't kill a dragon wih a rapier, unless it's one of Terry Pratchett's swamp dragons... === -J
I'm in the midst of a three-year project on US involvement in the ISS. At the end of the second school year, the one that just ended, I wrote a paper against US involvement, which contradicts everything I believe. Anyway, one of my main arguments was that we can't trust the Russians. Now, I have nothing against the Russians. I practically am one. But they have held this project up for several years at least (Zvezda should've gone up in 1998). We have had to divert funding to construction of replacement parts for the Zvezda and other modules (primarily, NASA created the Interim Control Module to take Zvezda's place). And with the recent news about Mir being turned into a "space hotel," Russian commitment has been more and more doubtful. But with Zvezda up there, all will be relatively well and good. The systems it offers make many other additions now possible. One thing still worries me: Zvezda is being launched on a Proton rocket, the standard Russian launch vehicle. If memory serves, the last two Proton launches exploded soon after take-off. Now, all this has gone a bit fuzzy in my mind since the start of summer break, so I don't know if "modified" means that they've fixed this or not. But maybe the US shouldn't put the ICM into storage just yet. PS: I just went and checked my research paper and found that the Russians still haven't delivered on the Science Power Platform, which NASA now has to construct. *sigh*... === -J
I don't agree with the guy entirely either, but I think you're on the wrong track.
If we're universally hated, how come we have the highest immigration rate in the world? Because in an immigrant's eyes, methinks, there's a difference between the actions of the US governemnt and the possibility of a "better life in America." === -J
The Post also covered it here. qu ote { "You could say it's a 'bet the company' thing," [said Gates]..."Our entire strategy is defined around this platform." } Sure it is, Bill. === -J
The blurb for this review says "every major desktop OS." Then how come I still can't find an MP3 player for my Windows 3.1 machine (whaddaya mean win 3.1 isn't major?)? WinPlay3 refused to play my mp3 files, saying they were an unsupported format. Every other player I've found is for win 9x. Anyone have any suggestions? === -J
I just read "candle" by John Barnes. Aside from the fact that it got kind of incomprehensible toward the end, it got me thingking about "memes" - programs that run in people's heads. Assuming this is plausible, why not write a sort of background meme (TSR-style?) that "optimizes" brain power, or maybe organizes knowledge or something. No more mucking about with genes. It's just a thought. IANNNHEBASOGEOFTMAEIAOT. (I am not now nor have ever been a scientist or genetic engineer or for that matter an expert in any of this) === -J
Build a better mousetrap, and the world will flock to your door. Build a better mouse, and the peasants will break out the torches and pitchforks. === -J
I've thought this for a while, but whenever I try to explain it, people sort of look at me funny and go, "What?" Anyway, I think you're right. One of the more disturbing prospects for human evolution was in the Star Trek: Voyager episode in which travel beyond "Warp 10" causes a couple of crewmen to hyper-evolve into giant fish-slugs. Great...;) To draw on another sci-fi source, Simon R Green has a series of (five? six?) books called the "Deathstalker" saga. All silliness aside. the first book features a mysterious and ancient alien artifact which induces evolution, to the point where the characters who pass through it develop abilities and strengths beyond normal humans. That's an interesting thought: We've halted our own evolution, so we have to do it "manually." Would we cause everyone to evolve the same way? That would kind of defeat the purpose... Okay, enough stream-of-consciousness. I heartily agree with you. === -J
Au contraire, methinks that the people who are wary of ables and such like might just be more likely to get one of those PCs with all sorts of gizmos installed, like the internal Zip drives which seem to have become increasingly popular. === -J
Slashdot Mirror
I have to agree with you. It would fine with me if I wasn't allowed to buy|play violent or graphic video games(not that I do, but never mind that) if it meant that I was carded if I tried to buy alcohol or cigarettes (not that I do that, either, but oh well).
I think dangerous and addictive substances are much more of a threat than "unconstitutional" restrictions on violence or sex.
-J
I'm no expert when it comes to Linux, drivers, or open-sourcing, but is it possible to just make part of the driver closed? Or even the whole thing? Surely every single thing on your computer doesn't need to be completely open source.
-J
Er, i have worked with VB, and I like it, though I do recognize it has limitations. It's just that I so often hear it decried and so infrequently hear reasons.
The "13 ways" list is quite interesting, and some may be valid, but it mostly seems to be personal "peeves." For instance, I think "Dim" is a bit intuitive, as in "Dimension." Also, I don't see why similarity in syntax for referring to arrays and functions is a reason for loathing. Mild annoyance if you are very attached to another language's way of doing things, maybe. The fact that Integers are 16-bit is the way VB is. Use another type if you need more. An If missing an End If is an error.
Many of these arguments seem that they could be boiled down to "It doesn't work exactly like [insert language of choice, eg C++, C, Perl, Pascal...]!" No, it doesn't. It's not [language of choice]. It's VB.
So I can understand how one can dislike (or hate, if you're feeling extreme) VB if one has a great deal of experience with other languages, like Delphi in your case. But for myself, who learned to program in QBasic, it's fine.
Oh, and the author of the list does get bonus points for the bit about annoying dialog boxes. It has only gotten worse with each verison.
-J
Ooh, thanks for the reference. Lessee. Legitimate arguments?
...for those who absolutely crave a bloated, random, cryptic language, there is also C++ Builder.
It promotes sloppy code and completely lacks elegance
Er. That's a statement, not argument. I don't see how, and I think elegance is amtter of perspective.
Mind you this requires something like 28 megs of DLLs for the runtime, and 16 megs of RAM just to launch a Hello World program.
Not with my VB3 for win3.1, I know that. Hmmm.
I still don't see any legit reasoning behind VB being as evil as people seem to claim.
Interesting, though, that the Delphi node includes the following quote:
[Delphi] is powerful, easy to use, and fast.
Now I'm even more confused.
-J
I ask this in innocent and honest curiosity (so flaming shouldn't be necessary): What is so bad about VB?
Besides being based on BASIC and being a Microsoft product, that is.
(I don't have any problem with either of the above, but some people do, I guess)
-J
turn any TV into a desktop, you don't even need a VGA monitor.
An intriguing idea, what about the resolution issue? Text that is normal-sized and easy to read on a desktop monitor will become incomprehensible on the average TV.
-J
Perhaps they are called Parental Control sbecause they control the parents... by lulling them into a false sense of security... or something.
-J
How old are you?
I shall use my amazing psychic powers and attempt to answer this for him.
14?
The reasoning being he discovered it when he was eleven and it was three years ago... so it's around 14.
-J
Yeah, I've done a bit of fencing myself (though school has been too busy this past year). But the first guy mentioned rubber balls, so I figured what the heck. Referential humor and all that. :)
That's a great description of the sabre, BTW.
===
-J
I'd like to add that nothing strikes fear in the hearts of your enemies quite like a foil with a little ball of rubber on the end.
...so the beauty/elegance of the piece will outweigh (pun!) its real usefulness.
Exactly! And then you can lash them with it, leaving all sorts of delightful red marks!
Ouch. Touché.
I'm pretty sure I could take out-- or at least really annoy-- a Komodo Dragon with a mere sabre.
Yes, well, a saber is different. It lacks, among other things, the grace, elegance, and rubber ball.
===
-J
You know, you could probably make could money off of that.
===
-J
Right, so we should all use rapiers!
Er, no, wait, hang on...
Yes, I see your point. You're right. I just meant to point out that it's a bit more elegant, and might be more interesting to reproduce.
Hmm. Anyone want to bring back sword dueling?
===
-J
Top ten, eh? Lessee:
1. NetHack
2. Rogue
3. SC2K
4. Commander Keen
5. Dangerous Dave
6. Lemmings
7. Blake Stone
8. Walls of Rome
9. Terminal Velcoity
10. Minesweeper
So let's examine the very best of the very best. Rogue has infinite replay value because it is TOTALLY random. There were always more potions to find, scrolls to discover, letters to identify, and somewhere was the Amulet... I still play this on my PalmPilot. It's called iRogue, and it's a fairly faithful clone.
NetHack is all the amazing things of Rogue and then some. The DevTeam must be a bunch of lunatics; there is always some new twist just waiting to be discovered.
So here we are. Roguelikes are, I believe, as close to the ultimate game as we have come. They have completely infinite replay value and are engaging and fun. The graphics are as good as they need to be (NetHack offers simple color graphics for those who wants 'em). Once you're familiar with the symbols, ASCII-based graphics are far better than any super-rendered polygonal 3D stuff.
I guess this makes the market kind fo hard to exploit, what with most roguelikes being freeware. NetHack 3.3, which is quality gaming, is even less than half of the price of, say, Diablo, or Quake, or whatever you care to name. So, for that matter, are Rogue, *Angband, Moria, Omega, etc...
Enough of this writing business. I have to go slay the Wizard of Yendor.
===
-J
Despite its (all too) frequent use in fantasy stuff, a broadsword is a really ungainly and (IMO) silly weapon. It is little more than a large steak knife, albeit double-edged. I guess it has its advantages in pitched battle.
But if you want a quality sword, a rapier (or longsword, or smallsword) is the way to go. I would dare to say that it requires even more skill than a broadsword, though they are different types of skill. I'd take a simple, lightweight, flexible rapier over a broadsword any day.
Of course, I guess you can't kill a dragon wih a rapier, unless it's one of Terry Pratchett's swamp dragons...
===
-J
I'm in the midst of a three-year project on US involvement in the ISS. At the end of the second school year, the one that just ended, I wrote a paper against US involvement, which contradicts everything I believe. Anyway, one of my main arguments was that we can't trust the Russians.
Now, I have nothing against the Russians. I practically am one. But they have held this project up for several years at least (Zvezda should've gone up in 1998). We have had to divert funding to construction of replacement parts for the Zvezda and other modules (primarily, NASA created the Interim Control Module to take Zvezda's place). And with the recent news about Mir being turned into a "space hotel," Russian commitment has been more and more doubtful.
But with Zvezda up there, all will be relatively well and good. The systems it offers make many other additions now possible.
One thing still worries me: Zvezda is being launched on a Proton rocket, the standard Russian launch vehicle. If memory serves, the last two Proton launches exploded soon after take-off. Now, all this has gone a bit fuzzy in my mind since the start of summer break, so I don't know if "modified" means that they've fixed this or not. But maybe the US shouldn't put the ICM into storage just yet.
PS: I just went and checked my research paper and found that the Russians still haven't delivered on the Science Power Platform, which NASA now has to construct. *sigh*...
===
-J
I don't agree with the guy entirely either, but I think you're on the wrong track.
If we're universally hated, how come we have the highest immigration rate in the world?
Because in an immigrant's eyes, methinks, there's a difference between the actions of the US governemnt and the possibility of a "better life in America."
===
-J
The Post also covered it here.
qu ote {
"You could say it's a 'bet the company' thing," [said Gates]..."Our entire strategy is defined around this platform."
}
Sure it is, Bill.
===
-J
The blurb for this review says "every major desktop OS." Then how come I still can't find an MP3 player for my Windows 3.1 machine (whaddaya mean win 3.1 isn't major?)? WinPlay3 refused to play my mp3 files, saying they were an unsupported format. Every other player I've found is for win 9x. Anyone have any suggestions?
===
-J
Does this also suggest the presence of interstellar artificial sweetener?
===
-J
If it was a near a star, why not spectral analysis?
===
-J
I just read "candle" by John Barnes. Aside from the fact that it got kind of incomprehensible toward the end, it got me thingking about "memes" - programs that run in people's heads. Assuming this is plausible, why not write a sort of background meme (TSR-style?) that "optimizes" brain power, or maybe organizes knowledge or something. No more mucking about with genes. .
It's just a thought. IANNNHEBASOGEOFTMAEIAOT
(I am not now nor have ever been a scientist or genetic engineer or for that matter an expert in any of this)
===
-J
Build a better mousetrap, and the world will flock to your door.
Build a better mouse, and the peasants will break out the torches and pitchforks.
===
-J
I've thought this for a while, but whenever I try to explain it, people sort of look at me funny and go, "What?" ;)
Anyway, I think you're right. One of the more disturbing prospects for human evolution was in the Star Trek: Voyager episode in which travel beyond "Warp 10" causes a couple of crewmen to hyper-evolve into giant fish-slugs.
Great...
To draw on another sci-fi source, Simon R Green has a series of (five? six?) books called the "Deathstalker" saga. All silliness aside. the first book features a mysterious and ancient alien artifact which induces evolution, to the point where the characters who pass through it develop abilities and strengths beyond normal humans. That's an interesting thought: We've halted our own evolution, so we have to do it "manually." Would we cause everyone to evolve the same way? That would kind of defeat the purpose...
Okay, enough stream-of-consciousness. I heartily agree with you.
===
-J
The likeness between Robonaut and 'Star Wars' bounty hunter Boba Fett is strictly a coincidence, NASA said
Sure...
===
-J
Au contraire, methinks that the people who are wary of ables and such like might just be more likely to get one of those PCs with all sorts of gizmos installed, like the internal Zip drives which seem to have become increasingly popular.
===
-J