Ah yes, the "I'm better than you because I have thick skin" argument. True, life is better if you're a bit resilient, and it's unreasonable to expect that everyone will play nice. Your language suggests that you have an equally strong reaction to people who want a functional and supportive community. What about that bothers you? I suspect that you, like any other human, have a desire to belong. Since people don't want to be around you (I can't imagine why), you adopt this anti-social attitude and delude yourself into thinking you're a better person for it.
I'm quite capable of dealing with people like you, and I don't even have to ignore you. I don't resort to name-calling or promoting myself at the expense of others. As a result, I get along with people, and get the sense of community I need. You might want to try some steps in that direction, before you kill yourself or someone else.
Also being a 'seasoned' developer I'm wondering why not a 'real' language like C as opposed to scripting languages
I'd tend to agree with this. I was learning x86 assembly when I was 12. This is an age where a child can learn a lot, and school won't teach you about a lot of the "under-the-hood" stuff. Actually managing memory and understanding how a computer works at a bare-metal level is a skill that will give you a leg-up later in life. In all likelihood, he won't use C/C++ in the industry, but it is easy to learn managed languages like Java and C# once you learn C. C is all about efficiency, something that a lot of Java programmers could stand to know a little better.
A little digging has shown that the plaintiff has a claim on re-definable keyboards, as they relate to assistive technology. However, the idea of remapping keyboards definitely pre-dates their 1995 patent claim (which said nothing about speech synthesis, BTW). Two possibilities that spring to mind are HP calculators, which would have differing keyboard layouts depending on the mode that was set. Thus, multiple symbols could be applied to the same key. This covers the "providing access to higher-level keyboards" part. Another possibility is a synthesizer. Once again, setting modes could change the functions of many keys on the device. Come to think of it, even a pipe organ could fall into this category. Depending on the stops pulled (which could be labelled with a symbol), the organ could take on different voices. Arguably, each voice could be considered a different higher-level keyboard.
Is the patent dead obvious? I suppose not. I hope some better researchers are able to come up with a more concrete example to be used against the plaintiff. I'd hate to see such a useful app die over money. I think the key here is to find prior art on the first patent. The second patent is simply the first patent "as it applies" to speech synthesis.
they want to have an easier time fighting copycats like, say, Mugbook or Assbook or Pornbook
Then maybe they should have picked a more unique name. Branding is, after all, a part of marketing. The lawyers should have considered this when determining their brand.
As is always the case with shared web hosting vs. VPS, you will have to decide how much control you want over your website. The reason shared web hosting is so cheap is that someone else does the system administration. VPS is not really more expensive, and gives you full control over the site (including direct access to the filesystem). Bottom line: do research to ensure you get the hosting option that meets your needs.
Easy. Create an account (or use the webserver's account) for the PHP program and store credentials in $HOME/.my.cnf. Ensure.my.cnf is only readable by the program's account.
This story has a lot of valuable lessons to be learned. The first lesson, I think, that you can take from your experience is that you are wholly unqualified to deal with the political and management issues involved. Therefore, do not involve yourself in management or politics. The (non-technical) suggestions given have all involved either an upward appeal to authority, or coercive measures. These will only make matters worse for you. If you want to keep your job, and think that you actually have a chance to make things work, ingratiate yourself to some people who can support you if things go south. I doubt very much that you are being deliberately set up as a fall guy. The school, after all, has a need to stay somewhat technologically relevant, but they're doing it on increasingly less money.
I'm guessing you went into education because you want to make a difference. Some people I know did as well, and they all tell the same story. Long, hard hours with very little acknowledgement. I would guess that's a reality of education these days. With a budget that's always short on funds, management will squeeze every last drop of effort from every employee. So, work under the assumption that the people who hold the purse strings are under at least as much pressure as you are. Maybe it's not true, but there's nothing you can do about it except quit.
Off the top of my head, the best people to get on your side are teachers and students. While you can't solve everything all at once, perhaps there are some small problems you can solve for specific people. And, while someone joked about making network maintenance an elective, there's probably some truth to it. I volunteered to help out the sole network admin when I was in high school. Perhaps some bright students would be willing to help out in exchange for some tutoring. The important thing is that some people know who you are and what you do, and can commiserate since your job is just as difficult as theirs. If it's important to you, hang in there. If it's not, then it's probably time to look for something less stressful.
I'm surprised that Interpol allows membership from nations that would so badly abuse human rights and civil liberties. I've always considered Interpol "one of the good guys". I guess not.
I used to lean toward the second camp, but now I lean toward the first camp:)
Glad to hear it. I'm the first to admit that I don't always document well enough, but I'm a build-it-then-fix-it kind of guy. I've been at it long enough to get an extensible architecture off the ground right away. I'd work better with someone that's a get-it-right-the-first-time kind of guy telling me what I'm doing wrong, though.
The developer can add comments, or rename variables, or restructure the code to make it clearer, but the end result should be readable code with fewer bugs (bugs live in hard-to-understand code, simply adding some intermediate variables to a complex formula can make them go away)
"Don't get suckered by the comments -- they can be terribly misleading. Debug only code." -- Dave Storer
This is why I always add my documentation at the end. A good programmer knows how to use his debugger. Properly named variables and methods will allow you to step through a program until you understand how it works. Once your understanding is clear, and you are quite certain that the code is good enough for somebody else, add enough documentation to aid other programmers in using or maintaining your code. The only way to know how much is needed is through the code review. The only exception I can think of to this process is when releasing the source code to the general public or to a client for their own maintenance. Since you don't usually have a code review with them, it's best to go for overkill. A pain sometimes, but a necessary part of a complete product.
The crux of the case will lie in proving that there is a causal link between the lack of laws requiring ISPs to block websites, and the damages claimed. The precedent is Francovich v. Italy. However, given that the judge in a ruling against British Telecom forcing them to use Cleanfeed to block access to websites like Newzbin and TPB acknowledge that tools to circumvent the system were available. And, in fact, Newzbin has released a client allowing access to their website despite the Cleanfeed block. The same software allows access to TPB. It relies on both encryption and the TOR network. Newzbin told BBC news that 93.5% of UK users have downloaded their Cleanfeed circumvention software. This flies in the face of the judge's comment that "Even assuming that they all have the ability to acquire [the means to circumvent Cleanfeed], it does not follow that they will all wish to expend the time and effort required."
93.5% of UK Newzbin users may not be "all" people in the UK who want to use file sharing networks, but it certainly means that establishing the causal link between lack of ISP blocking remedies and damages from file sharing will be difficult. People want access to those files, and Cleanfeed has proven largely ineffective at stopping two of the main sites involved in sharing. It should also be noted that these sites are not the actual hosters of the allegedly damaging files; they are merely portals to peer-to-peer networks that have other access methods available (e.g. DHT on BitTorrent). Again, the claim that blocking these websites would prevent financial damage is rather dubious.
protip: If you're going to karma-whore, you might try being less abrasive. This isn't Reddit, and we're glad that it's not. If you don't like it here, then leave. No one will miss you.
I much prefer Pathfinder. 4th ed. removed too many things and made a single-page character sheet extremely difficult. I don't like the attempt to make D & D more "video-gamey". Our D & D group runs a Pathfinder/d20 Modern mix that's quite enjoyable. I have no intention of moving away from 3.5-compatible source material (just like the 1st ed. people have no need of moving away from the one they learned.)
As long as the ignorance of rights goes both ways, I'm happy. It's the perceived imbalance where those with money get no end of laws made for them, while those who don't can become collateral damage, whether they have infringed on somebody's rights or not.
I suspect we'll take the coward's way out and shut down processing for a minute before until a minute after and resync the clocks in the interim.
This was how I figured transaction processing would be handled. It sucks that you have to pay high-priced consultants to get that answer; plenty of people would give it to you for free.
That will, of course, be charged to our SLA downtime
I didn't consider this aspect. Thinking about it makes me realize just how stupid a leap second is. A lot of transaction processing requires >99.999% uptime, and even that two minutes (assuming everything goes perfectly smoothly) is expensive. Couldn't they be accumulated and have an extra leap year once every 86400 years?
OR the electricity for a dedicated rig for it either
Don't spend it all in one place. The dedicated rig does other useful stuff that I wouldn't want bogging down my desktop.
I've actually passed English courses in college while earning 2 degrees no less (A grades usually) - have you??
Yep. This is, after all, a "News for Nerds" site. You're not the only genius here. And the rest of us don't tend to use terms like "superior technical firepower" and go off on rants about things that represent a minute portion of IT.
I know DAMN WELL I do, & it kicks the trolls asses SO BADLY, that when I challenge them to disprove my technical points I posted on ANYTHING I POSTED?
I'm not trying to disprove your technical points; I'm saying that people aren't listening to you because of the way you present your argument. I'm happy with what I've got, you're happy with what you've got.
talk about obvious, playing "pretend english professor on/." & "the MaSteR oF All ThiNgS PoStiNg MyStiCaL
This borders on delusional. I don't know how your mind got from a sincere comment on how I felt your writing represented yourself to making assumptions about the purpose of my post. The purpose of my post was to say that the content of your original post had technical merit. It still does. I just choose not to go down that road. If that requires you to tear apart my post looking for flaws not related to the original discussion, well, it's no wonder no one bothers to have a discussion with you based on technical merits.
If you're willing to do this much work to avoid malware, well, go for it. Your performance gains, when compared to network latency, are probably so slight as to be imperceptible. Personally, I use AdBlock Plus and a local DNS server, and have never had issues with either malware, unwanted ads, or network performance. To each his own. If you don't want to get modded Troll, you might want to tone down on the caps and excessive bolding. You may have a legitimate technical point to make, but it gets lost in a tone that reminds me of a child throwing a tantrum.
You, my friend, take crazy to a whole new level. Why be brief when you can be loquacious?
What you want is for someone to kiss your ass and say things delicately to suit your tastes, to mince words and be diplomatic to avoid your ire.
What you want is a people-pleaser who cares about your approval.
You claim to know an awful lot about me. It seems your megalomania gives you deep insight into the thoughts of others. Unfortunately, you are as wrong as you are insane.
Slashdot Mirror
Ah yes, the "I'm better than you because I have thick skin" argument. True, life is better if you're a bit resilient, and it's unreasonable to expect that everyone will play nice. Your language suggests that you have an equally strong reaction to people who want a functional and supportive community. What about that bothers you? I suspect that you, like any other human, have a desire to belong. Since people don't want to be around you (I can't imagine why), you adopt this anti-social attitude and delude yourself into thinking you're a better person for it.
I'm quite capable of dealing with people like you, and I don't even have to ignore you. I don't resort to name-calling or promoting myself at the expense of others. As a result, I get along with people, and get the sense of community I need. You might want to try some steps in that direction, before you kill yourself or someone else.
I have bills to pay and want something for work
I couldn't imagine working in an IDE without widescreen now. Sure, it's only 1360x768, but it's plenty clear on a 32" HDTV.
Also being a 'seasoned' developer I'm wondering why not a 'real' language like C as opposed to scripting languages
I'd tend to agree with this. I was learning x86 assembly when I was 12. This is an age where a child can learn a lot, and school won't teach you about a lot of the "under-the-hood" stuff. Actually managing memory and understanding how a computer works at a bare-metal level is a skill that will give you a leg-up later in life. In all likelihood, he won't use C/C++ in the industry, but it is easy to learn managed languages like Java and C# once you learn C. C is all about efficiency, something that a lot of Java programmers could stand to know a little better.
A little digging has shown that the plaintiff has a claim on re-definable keyboards, as they relate to assistive technology. However, the idea of remapping keyboards definitely pre-dates their 1995 patent claim (which said nothing about speech synthesis, BTW). Two possibilities that spring to mind are HP calculators, which would have differing keyboard layouts depending on the mode that was set. Thus, multiple symbols could be applied to the same key. This covers the "providing access to higher-level keyboards" part. Another possibility is a synthesizer. Once again, setting modes could change the functions of many keys on the device. Come to think of it, even a pipe organ could fall into this category. Depending on the stops pulled (which could be labelled with a symbol), the organ could take on different voices. Arguably, each voice could be considered a different higher-level keyboard.
Is the patent dead obvious? I suppose not. I hope some better researchers are able to come up with a more concrete example to be used against the plaintiff. I'd hate to see such a useful app die over money. I think the key here is to find prior art on the first patent. The second patent is simply the first patent "as it applies" to speech synthesis.
they want to have an easier time fighting copycats like, say, Mugbook or Assbook or Pornbook
Then maybe they should have picked a more unique name. Branding is, after all, a part of marketing. The lawyers should have considered this when determining their brand.
Look on the bright side... At least people are learning to use Google.
As is always the case with shared web hosting vs. VPS, you will have to decide how much control you want over your website. The reason shared web hosting is so cheap is that someone else does the system administration. VPS is not really more expensive, and gives you full control over the site (including direct access to the filesystem). Bottom line: do research to ensure you get the hosting option that meets your needs.
Easy. Create an account (or use the webserver's account) for the PHP program and store credentials in $HOME/.my.cnf. Ensure .my.cnf is only readable by the program's account.
This story has a lot of valuable lessons to be learned. The first lesson, I think, that you can take from your experience is that you are wholly unqualified to deal with the political and management issues involved. Therefore, do not involve yourself in management or politics. The (non-technical) suggestions given have all involved either an upward appeal to authority, or coercive measures. These will only make matters worse for you. If you want to keep your job, and think that you actually have a chance to make things work, ingratiate yourself to some people who can support you if things go south. I doubt very much that you are being deliberately set up as a fall guy. The school, after all, has a need to stay somewhat technologically relevant, but they're doing it on increasingly less money.
I'm guessing you went into education because you want to make a difference. Some people I know did as well, and they all tell the same story. Long, hard hours with very little acknowledgement. I would guess that's a reality of education these days. With a budget that's always short on funds, management will squeeze every last drop of effort from every employee. So, work under the assumption that the people who hold the purse strings are under at least as much pressure as you are. Maybe it's not true, but there's nothing you can do about it except quit.
Off the top of my head, the best people to get on your side are teachers and students. While you can't solve everything all at once, perhaps there are some small problems you can solve for specific people. And, while someone joked about making network maintenance an elective, there's probably some truth to it. I volunteered to help out the sole network admin when I was in high school. Perhaps some bright students would be willing to help out in exchange for some tutoring. The important thing is that some people know who you are and what you do, and can commiserate since your job is just as difficult as theirs. If it's important to you, hang in there. If it's not, then it's probably time to look for something less stressful.
I'm surprised that Interpol allows membership from nations that would so badly abuse human rights and civil liberties. I've always considered Interpol "one of the good guys". I guess not.
Like anyone would trust the Americans to follow a "code of conduct". Rules are for chumps.
I used to lean toward the second camp, but now I lean toward the first camp :)
Glad to hear it. I'm the first to admit that I don't always document well enough, but I'm a build-it-then-fix-it kind of guy. I've been at it long enough to get an extensible architecture off the ground right away. I'd work better with someone that's a get-it-right-the-first-time kind of guy telling me what I'm doing wrong, though.
The developer can add comments, or rename variables, or restructure the code to make it clearer, but the end result should be readable code with fewer bugs (bugs live in hard-to-understand code, simply adding some intermediate variables to a complex formula can make them go away)
"Don't get suckered by the comments -- they can be terribly misleading. Debug only code." -- Dave Storer
This is why I always add my documentation at the end. A good programmer knows how to use his debugger. Properly named variables and methods will allow you to step through a program until you understand how it works. Once your understanding is clear, and you are quite certain that the code is good enough for somebody else, add enough documentation to aid other programmers in using or maintaining your code. The only way to know how much is needed is through the code review. The only exception I can think of to this process is when releasing the source code to the general public or to a client for their own maintenance. Since you don't usually have a code review with them, it's best to go for overkill. A pain sometimes, but a necessary part of a complete product.
Just punch it into a calculator with base conversion. Wikipedia has an article about Hexadecimal.
The crux of the case will lie in proving that there is a causal link between the lack of laws requiring ISPs to block websites, and the damages claimed. The precedent is Francovich v. Italy. However, given that the judge in a ruling against British Telecom forcing them to use Cleanfeed to block access to websites like Newzbin and TPB acknowledge that tools to circumvent the system were available. And, in fact, Newzbin has released a client allowing access to their website despite the Cleanfeed block. The same software allows access to TPB. It relies on both encryption and the TOR network. Newzbin told BBC news that 93.5% of UK users have downloaded their Cleanfeed circumvention software. This flies in the face of the judge's comment that "Even assuming that they all have the ability to acquire [the means to circumvent Cleanfeed], it does not follow that they will all wish to expend the time and effort required."
93.5% of UK Newzbin users may not be "all" people in the UK who want to use file sharing networks, but it certainly means that establishing the causal link between lack of ISP blocking remedies and damages from file sharing will be difficult. People want access to those files, and Cleanfeed has proven largely ineffective at stopping two of the main sites involved in sharing. It should also be noted that these sites are not the actual hosters of the allegedly damaging files; they are merely portals to peer-to-peer networks that have other access methods available (e.g. DHT on BitTorrent). Again, the claim that blocking these websites would prevent financial damage is rather dubious.
3259560367 = 0xc2476b0f = 194.71.107.15
Not really. I remember the black pages, but had no idea why they were black.
protip: If you're going to karma-whore, you might try being less abrasive. This isn't Reddit, and we're glad that it's not. If you don't like it here, then leave. No one will miss you.
I much prefer Pathfinder. 4th ed. removed too many things and made a single-page character sheet extremely difficult. I don't like the attempt to make D & D more "video-gamey". Our D & D group runs a Pathfinder/d20 Modern mix that's quite enjoyable. I have no intention of moving away from 3.5-compatible source material (just like the 1st ed. people have no need of moving away from the one they learned.)
As long as the ignorance of rights goes both ways, I'm happy. It's the perceived imbalance where those with money get no end of laws made for them, while those who don't can become collateral damage, whether they have infringed on somebody's rights or not.
I suspect we'll take the coward's way out and shut down processing for a minute before until a minute after and resync the clocks in the interim.
This was how I figured transaction processing would be handled. It sucks that you have to pay high-priced consultants to get that answer; plenty of people would give it to you for free.
That will, of course, be charged to our SLA downtime
I didn't consider this aspect. Thinking about it makes me realize just how stupid a leap second is. A lot of transaction processing requires >99.999% uptime, and even that two minutes (assuming everything goes perfectly smoothly) is expensive. Couldn't they be accumulated and have an extra leap year once every 86400 years?
Ugh. You have reminded me why I left Perl behind for a language that has strict typing.
OR the electricity for a dedicated rig for it either
Don't spend it all in one place. The dedicated rig does other useful stuff that I wouldn't want bogging down my desktop.
I've actually passed English courses in college while earning 2 degrees no less (A grades usually) - have you??
Yep. This is, after all, a "News for Nerds" site. You're not the only genius here. And the rest of us don't tend to use terms like "superior technical firepower" and go off on rants about things that represent a minute portion of IT.
I know DAMN WELL I do, & it kicks the trolls asses SO BADLY, that when I challenge them to disprove my technical points I posted on ANYTHING I POSTED?
I'm not trying to disprove your technical points; I'm saying that people aren't listening to you because of the way you present your argument. I'm happy with what I've got, you're happy with what you've got.
talk about obvious, playing "pretend english professor on /." & "the MaSteR oF All ThiNgS PoStiNg MyStiCaL
This borders on delusional. I don't know how your mind got from a sincere comment on how I felt your writing represented yourself to making assumptions about the purpose of my post. The purpose of my post was to say that the content of your original post had technical merit. It still does. I just choose not to go down that road. If that requires you to tear apart my post looking for flaws not related to the original discussion, well, it's no wonder no one bothers to have a discussion with you based on technical merits.
If you're willing to do this much work to avoid malware, well, go for it. Your performance gains, when compared to network latency, are probably so slight as to be imperceptible. Personally, I use AdBlock Plus and a local DNS server, and have never had issues with either malware, unwanted ads, or network performance. To each his own. If you don't want to get modded Troll, you might want to tone down on the caps and excessive bolding. You may have a legitimate technical point to make, but it gets lost in a tone that reminds me of a child throwing a tantrum.
You, my friend, take crazy to a whole new level. Why be brief when you can be loquacious?
What you want is for someone to kiss your ass and say things delicately to suit your tastes, to mince words and be diplomatic to avoid your ire.
What you want is a people-pleaser who cares about your approval.
You claim to know an awful lot about me. It seems your megalomania gives you deep insight into the thoughts of others. Unfortunately, you are as wrong as you are insane.