This is slashdot, not digg, and I hope that we have the capability to hold discourse to a higher standard.
I know this will be modded troll, but I must respond. Slashdot has very overt tendencies and biases (FOSS, libertarianism, privacy advocates, etc.) that doesn't align very well with the general population. To sit here on your slashdot soapbox and declare slashdot users as somehow being better because of some mythical "higher standard" is disingenuous to say the least. The "higher standard" you mention simply means that you must agree that FISA, DRM, and George Bush are BAD, and Linux, OpenOffice and Ron Paul are GOOD, no discourse allowed, for fear of being modded troll.
I agree with your sentiment. The problem is that the people who participate in this program do so voluntarily (and pay $100 a year for the , errr, benefit). If everyone was forced to have this pass then your post would be spot on.
There is no work-for-hire for active-duty personnel, because that is a huge conflict-of-interest. The code may belong to him but he belongs to the USAF, so by association (and about a million procurement regulations) the code belongs to the USAF as well. This shouldn't come as any surprise, as anybody who creates stuff for the military knows it belongs to the military.
This guy's plight is the real story, not the DMCA bit. Unfortunately for this guy, even though he created it on his own time, he made the mistake of bringing it to work. As an active-duty Airman, by bringing it into work and installing it, right then and there that property belongs to the USAF (not my rules, don't kill me). Not only that, but he also violated a bunch of rules in conflict-of-interest by trying to capitalize on selling his product to the USAF while still a member of the USAF (unless I read that part incorrectly).
yeah, I got that much (the skinny column being no good), but my point is that one big block of text is no good either. White space is good and can be achieved even in one-column spreads is all I'm saying.
The "marketing got wind of it" quote from the summary is attributed to the Blackhat organizer, not Apple's marketing department. There's you daily dose of slashdot bias for ya.
Poor usability? Is there really anybody who thinks that Internet Explorer 7's user interface is better than Firefox 3's?
Unfortunately, that's what is wrong with this thread. There are people (very LOUD people at that) on slashdot who can't accept the fact that just because they are used to one way, or even prefer one way, that there actually are quantifiably better ways to do something.
I didn't buy a 22" monitor so I could look at masses and masses of whitespace...
You prefer tightly-packed, illegible seas of text then? I'm guessing you are not a graphic designer, having made that comment. White space is your friend and white space isn't determined by how many columns our how wide the columns are either. You can have plentiful white space in one column text.
I don't really think it's possible to quantify "usability"
Pfeiffer Consulting (and about a billion others) disagree. http://www.publish.com/c/a/Opinions/User-Interface-Friction-Its-What-Makes-You-Hate-Computers/
Furthermore, being "similar" to Microsoft is a bit of flaw in logic because the "Microsoft Way" is often considered by many as one of the biggest offenders to sensible UI. Granted, a lot of things just take over as "the way", such as clutch on the left, gas on the right and brake in the middle. Maybe there's a better way to design car pedals, but it would be catastrophic to change it now. Fortunately, in the computing world, it is relatively safe to offer UI improvements that stray from the Microsoft Way.
I don't know where your baseless attack came from, considering ALL I'm insinuating is that somebody with a PhD in Library Science is probably more qualified to opine than an Anonymous Coward such as yourself. She also got pissed off when I read the dismissive attitude about "some librarian" making a decision. It's not like you become "some librarian" by going to Community College. You may not realize that most librarian positions require at least a Masters degree....even for crappy public school positions that pay in the 20-30k/year range.
Here's an idea for you Mr. Coward. How about you go get YOUR PhD in something, then let me piss on you for being "just some PhD"...as if you didn't do jack or as if YOUR choice of a PhD isn't worth a shit.
And pray tell, based on what I posted, how in the hell did you come up with this gem of jump-to-conclusion?
the radical-right political discussions she has at home with you?
Guess it's time to take down my Obama 08 signs, since I'm obviously some sort of radical-right winger all of a sudden.
Another example would be when Windows programs revert to accepting the default labels, such as "Save" when the button really is used to "attach" a file. You all know the drill. You want to add some file to a project you have open, so you use the "add" function of the software, navigate to the source file in the standard windows dialogue, click on the file, then click the "Save"??? button. Is it really that hard to change the text of the button, or is that just me, a DESIGNER, just being ignorant, and providing proof that I have to place in software since I can't code?
I recently got a MacBook Pro and find it nigh unusable. As a student of human nature, I'm aware that this is largely due to my own conditioning. So I don't trot around saying the problems are cause by its being a Mac, or an Apple, or Proprietary.
If only more people were like you, about 99% of the flame wars around here would disappear.
"Hi, I'm a PC. I just bought a Mac and this thing is soooo retarded, it doesn't even have a Start button!"
Slashdot's own form buttons come do mind (the Preview, Quote Parent, Options and Cancel buttons really seem out of place with the Aqua form widgets and probably with all the other OS widgets as well).
Not to mention that the "submit" and "continue" editing buttons break proximity rules. Those two buttons should be on opposite sides of each other (as far away apart as possible), not next to each other. The most "damaging" button should be furthest removed. In this case, the "submit" button should appear on the far right, as there is no going back once you hit submit (but there is if you hit preview, or continue editing, for example).
IF the developer designs it to the spec, then the spec sucks, not the code. But, how often does that really happen at your places of employment? That's the problem with this thread--developers get pretty clear specs on how something should look and work, but then developers go out of their way to make something that looks and works nothing like the spec they were given (i.e. told to produce by people in charge of them). Rogue developers suck. Bad specs suck. People who can't take criticism suck.
Jeezus people, nobody is saying one thing is better than another thing, only that a single thing either sucks or doesn't suck. Free software (mostly) sucks because it is free and it is free (mostly) because it sucks. If it didn't suck, it wouldn't be free, and if it weren't free it wou.....errr, it would probably still suck.
Comments like yours never cease to amaze me. There are entire professional disciplines, complete with high-level degrees that are devoted to usability and design. Surprisingly, these disciplines are MUCH older than the "code" that you seem to think is so important.
"Designers" who can't code have absolutely no business "working" in software.
As a Systems Engineer (and former designer) at a software company, I can't even know where to begin to tell you how WRONG, pig-headed, and ignorant this comment is. Let's flip that around on you. Programmers who can't understand simple, proven UI concepts shouldn't be allowed to work in a software company. Lemme put it another way. My job exists to tell you code guys HOW to code something, because without my input, you guys code trash that only other code-junkies would appreciate. Our customers demand better.
Right, because any librarian worth the weight of their Masters or PhD in Library Science didn't learn a thing about this sort of procedure? My wife takes exception to your overtly dismissive comment towards Library Sciences.
You hate people with opinions? After you spout off four lines of your own opinion of how the Bill of Rights are to be interpreted? My whole point is that your opinion and my opinion don't matter, because I'm just going to assume that you aren't a constitutional lawyer (and I know I'm not one).
I personally see nothing wrong with people who want or own Full Autos, as long as they have them legally.
The problem with your statement is that it doesn't matter in this conversation what your stance is. The fact remains that rights are not absolute, even if we think the Constitution says they are, because constitutional law has told us differently. Slander is illegal, in spite of free speech. Felons can't own guns, in spite of the right to bear arms. Every freedom outlined in the Constitution has some sort of legal fine-print, like it or not.
I understand that my "No solicitation" sign is nothing other than a plea for courtesy, yes. I don't need the sign though, since their are laws in my municipality that limit the times I can be solicited to what "society" considers to be acceptable.
So you are claiming there's no such thing as ban on assault rifles, and the right to bear arms in unconditional and absolute? That's why we have constitutional law--because nothing is absolute.
So if your objection is that the sign is not enough to expose anyone on their land to trespassing charges then we agree, and I have not suggested otherwise.
Oops, my bad. YOU haven't, but many others have in this thread so far. I got distracted with so many posts to disagree with in one morning!
Slashdot Mirror
This is slashdot, not digg, and I hope that we have the capability to hold discourse to a higher standard.
I know this will be modded troll, but I must respond. Slashdot has very overt tendencies and biases (FOSS, libertarianism, privacy advocates, etc.) that doesn't align very well with the general population. To sit here on your slashdot soapbox and declare slashdot users as somehow being better because of some mythical "higher standard" is disingenuous to say the least. The "higher standard" you mention simply means that you must agree that FISA, DRM, and George Bush are BAD, and Linux, OpenOffice and Ron Paul are GOOD, no discourse allowed, for fear of being modded troll.
I agree with your sentiment. The problem is that the people who participate in this program do so voluntarily (and pay $100 a year for the , errr, benefit). If everyone was forced to have this pass then your post would be spot on.
Then I'd have to mod you both down -1, Factually Incorrect. The "no made in the course of his job" argument is ludicrous.
That makes it his code, period.
There is no work-for-hire for active-duty personnel, because that is a huge conflict-of-interest. The code may belong to him but he belongs to the USAF, so by association (and about a million procurement regulations) the code belongs to the USAF as well. This shouldn't come as any surprise, as anybody who creates stuff for the military knows it belongs to the military.
This guy's plight is the real story, not the DMCA bit. Unfortunately for this guy, even though he created it on his own time, he made the mistake of bringing it to work. As an active-duty Airman, by bringing it into work and installing it, right then and there that property belongs to the USAF (not my rules, don't kill me). Not only that, but he also violated a bunch of rules in conflict-of-interest by trying to capitalize on selling his product to the USAF while still a member of the USAF (unless I read that part incorrectly).
"No longer bound"? WTF? It's always been that way. This little article isn't the catalyst that suddenly made the government immune from litigation.
yeah, I got that much (the skinny column being no good), but my point is that one big block of text is no good either. White space is good and can be achieved even in one-column spreads is all I'm saying.
The "marketing got wind of it" quote from the summary is attributed to the Blackhat organizer, not Apple's marketing department. There's you daily dose of slashdot bias for ya.
Poor usability? Is there really anybody who thinks that Internet Explorer 7's user interface is better than Firefox 3's?
Unfortunately, that's what is wrong with this thread. There are people (very LOUD people at that) on slashdot who can't accept the fact that just because they are used to one way, or even prefer one way, that there actually are quantifiably better ways to do something.
I didn't buy a 22" monitor so I could look at masses and masses of whitespace...
You prefer tightly-packed, illegible seas of text then? I'm guessing you are not a graphic designer, having made that comment. White space is your friend and white space isn't determined by how many columns our how wide the columns are either. You can have plentiful white space in one column text.
I don't really think it's possible to quantify "usability"
Pfeiffer Consulting (and about a billion others) disagree. http://www.publish.com/c/a/Opinions/User-Interface-Friction-Its-What-Makes-You-Hate-Computers/ Furthermore, being "similar" to Microsoft is a bit of flaw in logic because the "Microsoft Way" is often considered by many as one of the biggest offenders to sensible UI. Granted, a lot of things just take over as "the way", such as clutch on the left, gas on the right and brake in the middle. Maybe there's a better way to design car pedals, but it would be catastrophic to change it now. Fortunately, in the computing world, it is relatively safe to offer UI improvements that stray from the Microsoft Way.
I don't know where your baseless attack came from, considering ALL I'm insinuating is that somebody with a PhD in Library Science is probably more qualified to opine than an Anonymous Coward such as yourself. She also got pissed off when I read the dismissive attitude about "some librarian" making a decision. It's not like you become "some librarian" by going to Community College. You may not realize that most librarian positions require at least a Masters degree....even for crappy public school positions that pay in the 20-30k/year range.
Here's an idea for you Mr. Coward. How about you go get YOUR PhD in something, then let me piss on you for being "just some PhD"...as if you didn't do jack or as if YOUR choice of a PhD isn't worth a shit.
And pray tell, based on what I posted, how in the hell did you come up with this gem of jump-to-conclusion?
the radical-right political discussions she has at home with you?
Guess it's time to take down my Obama 08 signs, since I'm obviously some sort of radical-right winger all of a sudden.
Another example would be when Windows programs revert to accepting the default labels, such as "Save" when the button really is used to "attach" a file. You all know the drill. You want to add some file to a project you have open, so you use the "add" function of the software, navigate to the source file in the standard windows dialogue, click on the file, then click the "Save"??? button. Is it really that hard to change the text of the button, or is that just me, a DESIGNER, just being ignorant, and providing proof that I have to place in software since I can't code?
I recently got a MacBook Pro and find it nigh unusable. As a student of human nature, I'm aware that this is largely due to my own conditioning. So I don't trot around saying the problems are cause by its being a Mac, or an Apple, or Proprietary.
If only more people were like you, about 99% of the flame wars around here would disappear.
"Hi, I'm a PC. I just bought a Mac and this thing is soooo retarded, it doesn't even have a Start button!"
Slashdot's own form buttons come do mind (the Preview, Quote Parent, Options and Cancel buttons really seem out of place with the Aqua form widgets and probably with all the other OS widgets as well).
Not to mention that the "submit" and "continue" editing buttons break proximity rules. Those two buttons should be on opposite sides of each other (as far away apart as possible), not next to each other. The most "damaging" button should be furthest removed. In this case, the "submit" button should appear on the far right, as there is no going back once you hit submit (but there is if you hit preview, or continue editing, for example).
IF the developer designs it to the spec, then the spec sucks, not the code. But, how often does that really happen at your places of employment? That's the problem with this thread--developers get pretty clear specs on how something should look and work, but then developers go out of their way to make something that looks and works nothing like the spec they were given (i.e. told to produce by people in charge of them). Rogue developers suck. Bad specs suck. People who can't take criticism suck.
Jeezus people, nobody is saying one thing is better than another thing, only that a single thing either sucks or doesn't suck. Free software (mostly) sucks because it is free and it is free (mostly) because it sucks. If it didn't suck, it wouldn't be free, and if it weren't free it wou.....errr, it would probably still suck.
Comments like yours never cease to amaze me. There are entire professional disciplines, complete with high-level degrees that are devoted to usability and design. Surprisingly, these disciplines are MUCH older than the "code" that you seem to think is so important.
"Designers" who can't code have absolutely no business "working" in software.
As a Systems Engineer (and former designer) at a software company, I can't even know where to begin to tell you how WRONG, pig-headed, and ignorant this comment is. Let's flip that around on you. Programmers who can't understand simple, proven UI concepts shouldn't be allowed to work in a software company. Lemme put it another way. My job exists to tell you code guys HOW to code something, because without my input, you guys code trash that only other code-junkies would appreciate. Our customers demand better.
I don't want some librarian making the decision
Right, because any librarian worth the weight of their Masters or PhD in Library Science didn't learn a thing about this sort of procedure? My wife takes exception to your overtly dismissive comment towards Library Sciences.
You hate people with opinions? After you spout off four lines of your own opinion of how the Bill of Rights are to be interpreted? My whole point is that your opinion and my opinion don't matter, because I'm just going to assume that you aren't a constitutional lawyer (and I know I'm not one).
I personally see nothing wrong with people who want or own Full Autos, as long as they have them legally.
The problem with your statement is that it doesn't matter in this conversation what your stance is. The fact remains that rights are not absolute, even if we think the Constitution says they are, because constitutional law has told us differently. Slander is illegal, in spite of free speech. Felons can't own guns, in spite of the right to bear arms. Every freedom outlined in the Constitution has some sort of legal fine-print, like it or not.
Jeezus. Some people are impossible. Ok, how about this then: Free Speech/*Slander
I understand that my "No solicitation" sign is nothing other than a plea for courtesy, yes. I don't need the sign though, since their are laws in my municipality that limit the times I can be solicited to what "society" considers to be acceptable.
So you are claiming there's no such thing as ban on assault rifles, and the right to bear arms in unconditional and absolute? That's why we have constitutional law--because nothing is absolute.
So if your objection is that the sign is not enough to expose anyone on their land to trespassing charges then we agree, and I have not suggested otherwise.
Oops, my bad. YOU haven't, but many others have in this thread so far. I got distracted with so many posts to disagree with in one morning!