This is the correct response. Swift is good because it makes it easy for the programmer to provide lots of type information to the compiler. Obj-C was/is also good, and has picked up all of these recent improvements, just with more verbosity.
I was working as a Jr. Network admin, helping to install some new cisco PoE switches to facilitate our building's move to VoIP phones. I aligned a brand new 48-port poe switch slightly off when inserting it into the chassis, and bent the insanely-complex connector at the back of the card, rendering it unusable.
Fortunately, we had a ridiculous service agreement with cisco, and a new card arrived at our office within 4 hours. I distinctly remember buying burritos and beer for me and the Sr. admin to help make up for the fact that neither of us got to sleep that night.
I'm sure there are many SimCity fans out there who would love to play the latest iteration. Unfortunately, EA has proven time and again that they're willing to sacrifice players' freedom in the name of profit. The online requirement is arbitrary DRM. Their backend is not thought out at all. This isn't WoW, there is no reason to tied to a particular server. Players are dealing with all the downsides of online play (long queues to log in, savegame problems, disconnects), and none of the benefits (finding friends, co-op play, etc).
And yes, there will be micro-transactions. Be prepared for the worst.
"Looks like a hurricane is headed for your city. Pay $5.99 now to save your citizens!"
I went in to college as a CS major, and eventually switched out of it because I was bombing Calc 4. However, I did pick up the fundamentals of OOP and programming in Java. Prior to that, I had been "programming" with things like batch files, IRC script, html, and css.
Graduated, began working at an internal corporate helpdesk at a large ISP. Started off doing Tier 1/2 stuff. Moved up, gained experience with the server side of things, began doing on-site support for a consulting company a major city. Hated it, and moved back to a corporate helpdesk in the same city. Acquired a macbook and iPhone. Took a liking to the mac ecosystem (i was a windows guy up until then). Decided iOS development was what i wanted to do.
Studied and programmed in Obj-C with my free time for about a month (free courses from Stanford available on iTunes). My OOP knowledge was still there, and I decided to quit my helpdesk job, study iOS full time, and try to get a job with that. As luck would have it, I was so essential to my helpdesk that they offered to train and transition me to development, in exchange for an additional month at my old position. (2 weeks was not enough time to backfill).
Went to an excellent bootcamp-style training course which solidified my skills and built up my confidence. Have been programming full-time for just under a year, could not be happier about the switch.
TL;DR:
Smoking pot during adolescence is correlated with a drop in IQ. The researchers themselves acknowledge that there could be some unknown factor that was not controlled for. Furthermore, they also suggest that the adolescent group dragged down the entire average, and it has very little effect in adulthood.
In the small group of participants who became cannabis dependent before age 18 -- a total of 23 cohort members -- the decline translated to an average of about 8 IQ points, whereas 14 participants who also showed heavy cannabis use but only beginning in adulthood showed only a very small drop in full-scale scores (P=0.02), Meier and colleagues indicated online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
However, the strongest relationships between persistent dependence and IQ decline applied to those who began heavy use in adolescence. Meier and colleagues suggested that, actually, the relationship between dependence and IQ decline may be entirely driven by this group.
I used to play a PC game online called "Interstate 76". It was a game where you would drive cars around a virtual desert, and shoot at each other with turrets mounted on the cars. Shortly after the game was released, people started to figure out how to "hack" their cars by manipulating the game's files locally. With a bit of knowledge and a hex editor, you could customize the art on your car (although it would only be visible locally), and you could also override the number/type of turrets you were allowed to mount on a particular class of vehicle. There was no server-side check on the number/type, so if you went into an online game like this you could have a significant advantage over any players using "stock" vehicles.
This sort of "hacking" was a lot of fun, and I believe that it extended the gameplay experience for myself as well as many others. It was terribly unfair to everyone else, so people began hosting games which would specify "NO HAX" in the name. Of course this was unenforceable at the time, but it would be nice to have a walled-garden-type area to mess around in.
PS. great funk soundtrack on I'76, find it if you can.
Cheating is in the mind of the beholder.
It is difficult to learn something without seeing it done, and more information is always better.
If cheating is defined by "answering the question without having your mind go through the appropriate process first",
no one except the student can truly answer that.
This school is freaking out at students for posting math online.
FWIW, starting up faster does make a difference to me. When you're in the middle of a busy workday, operating at 110%, nothing breaks your rhythm and frustrates like waiting for Java's fsking libraries to load. That 5-10 seconds is an ETERNITY at that moment.
Without fail, it gives me an overwhelming urge to punch the monitor and throw my laptop across the room.
(i cant be alone in this)
For me, its about trust. Microsoft has abused its position with respect to updates, and after that (widely discussed) silent, forced update went out a few weeks ago, I'm turned off MS forever. (not that ever DLd them before that).
I'll secure my operating system by keeping it behind a good, configured firewall, not using IE for ANYTHING EVER (EVER!), and not visiting shady sites and opening spam. This is far from "secure", but its a passable system for user who knows about computers and realizes what s/he is clicking on. In addition, these solutions can be applied to any operating system, not just windows.
To be fair, my personal laptop is running win2000 tho.. and i use XP SP2 at work, updates are forced by group policy.
You're falling into a trap. Lets evaluate what you suggested: You either use "evil" techniques like stopping distributing the old OS, shutting down upgrade servers or making your new software exclusive to the new OS
Your first choice for MS is to create disincentives to running XP/2000. Its a way of artificially removing value that once existed, something that the customer will never support.
Or you use "good" techniques like publishing articles about how bad your previous OS was
This is simply marketing in action, preying on uncertainty, fear, and ignorance. (Indeed, does M$ cite any facts or statistics in TFA that might illustrate their points? No, they speak only in vague generalizations.)
Another technique that is not in the best interest of the customer.
whats important to note is
THESE AREN'T THE ONLY TWO OPTIONS!
There is at least one more option: that is to stop working against their customers, and compete based on PRODUCT. Add VALUE to windows instead of adding restrictions. Make it work BETTER than your previous iteration. Indeed, if it WAS better, the whole issue of 'planned obsolescence' would be moot, because the majority would upgrade on their own! They dont get it, and i dont expect them to, but it still irks me...
There are plenty of ways to sell upgrades that don't require dissing your previous product. All you need to do is offer value that justifies the cost of upgrading. (see: people who own more than 1 generation of ipod) Vista obviously falls far short of that, if it was actually a product people WANTED, wouldn't they be lining up to get a copy?
I think your definition of 'brick' differs from that of the majority. Lets define it as a device that is not functioning and cannot be repaired without external assistance. Look at this from the viewpoint of someone without your computer knowledge
1) Install patch
2) Play game
3) Shutdown, go to sleep
4) Power on system, boot.ini not found
Now we have a system that is basically useless. Other concerns:
We can't assume the user has anything other than an XP installation, because thats (presumably) all the game required. (booting to another OS, or from a USB key/CD is therefore out of the question as a large-scale solution)
In addition, since the system failure didnt occur until well after (in my example, the following day), there is really no good feedback to the user which might let them know the patch actually caused this problem. (remember, they've probably patched their game before many times without issue)
So now the user is sitting at a blank screen. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt and assume they realize a boot.ini message is a clue as to whats causing the problem. This file is way beyond the scope of what we'd expect the EVE to be touching, so no help there. If I didn't have access to the internet to research the issue, I might even have mis-diagnosed this as failing sectors on a hard drive and moved on.
This got kind of long, but the point is:
we can't assume the user has any troubleshooting tools or knowledge of whats going on inside the computer.
We can assume they know how to use Windows XP, since that is what the game runs on and (presumably) requires. But unfortunately the patch just hosed the only systems we could count on the user to operate - the user's OS, and the game itself.
as such, i'm comfortable saying the systems were bricked
Looks like poetic justice to me. They're the ones who asked for that ridiculous tax in the first place, and now its coming back to haunt them. Serves them right- it was an obvious corporate cash grab, apparently rammed down the throat of innocent Canadians (with the aid of the government, no less) for no good reason.
I say, don't let them repeal it.
I know its unpopular to fellate google as much as I'm about to, but a lot of/.ers seem to be missing the mark. This is an interesting move by google, and I predict it will add a lot of value to their news page. Think about the tremendous public service news.google provides; A quick-loading, easy-to-find, free-as-in-beer virtual newspaper...it attempts to neutralize political spin/bias by linking to multiple sources for each story, and by using the web it is capable of pulling from tons of lesser known, local newspapers that you would not otherwise know about/hear from (more sources also helps remove bias). This new addition is a step forward because it attempts to get information straight from the source (those involved in the story), removing the middlemen (remember the 'whipser down the lane' effect?). At the end of the day, all of google's actions seems to be aimed squarely at improving the quality of information available to the public, and making available to them as quickly and easily as possible... and did I mention, for free? This is a huuuggee asset for keeping the general public informed about the state of the nation/world/etc. I know a lot of people think google is the next m$, but google has done nothing to break my trust so far. happy 4:20!
mod parent up! how a post stating "the internet IS dangerous" gets modded +5 insightful is beyond me. the internet is a bunch of machines connected by cables with 1s and 0s traveling between them... correct me if I'm wrong fellow slashdotters, but that does not pose a threat to our well-being. Statements like that only perpetuate the constant stream of FUD, influencing the opinions of those not fortunate enough to have the same knowledge as the average/. reader.
How could I tell this article was written by an IT project manager? Plenty of vague buzzwords and friendly-sounding phrases, zero mention of technical skills/information, and most importantly - no coherent definition of what an "IT project" is. Many IT projects "fail" because many IT project managers don't have the slightest clue what they're managing.
Slashdot Mirror
This is the correct response. Swift is good because it makes it easy for the programmer to provide lots of type information to the compiler. Obj-C was/is also good, and has picked up all of these recent improvements, just with more verbosity.
I was working as a Jr. Network admin, helping to install some new cisco PoE switches to facilitate our building's move to VoIP phones. I aligned a brand new 48-port poe switch slightly off when inserting it into the chassis, and bent the insanely-complex connector at the back of the card, rendering it unusable. Fortunately, we had a ridiculous service agreement with cisco, and a new card arrived at our office within 4 hours. I distinctly remember buying burritos and beer for me and the Sr. admin to help make up for the fact that neither of us got to sleep that night.
Apple makes their money primarily from selling hardware. By making OS updates free it makes moving to the Mac ecosystem that much more attractive.
Aren't all 'big brother' systems put into place "with good intent"?
And yes, there will be micro-transactions. Be prepared for the worst.
"Looks like a hurricane is headed for your city. Pay $5.99 now to save your citizens!"
Graduated, began working at an internal corporate helpdesk at a large ISP. Started off doing Tier 1/2 stuff. Moved up, gained experience with the server side of things, began doing on-site support for a consulting company a major city. Hated it, and moved back to a corporate helpdesk in the same city. Acquired a macbook and iPhone. Took a liking to the mac ecosystem (i was a windows guy up until then). Decided iOS development was what i wanted to do.
Studied and programmed in Obj-C with my free time for about a month (free courses from Stanford available on iTunes). My OOP knowledge was still there, and I decided to quit my helpdesk job, study iOS full time, and try to get a job with that. As luck would have it, I was so essential to my helpdesk that they offered to train and transition me to development, in exchange for an additional month at my old position. (2 weeks was not enough time to backfill).
Went to an excellent bootcamp-style training course which solidified my skills and built up my confidence. Have been programming full-time for just under a year, could not be happier about the switch.
One day we'll figure out how to vote like a civilized nation. Today is not that day.
Great song, great dynamics, thanks very much Jonathan. Keep it up! Now I want to go pick up a tele...
here is the source i used: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/34415 i would bet there is some external factor not controlled for.
Did they just try to patent UITableView? as an iOS developer, I welcome our brushed-aluminum overlords.
I'd gladly see him make $10mil if he did the job well; the internet is important enough to warrant that expenditure IMO.
I used to play a PC game online called "Interstate 76". It was a game where you would drive cars around a virtual desert, and shoot at each other with turrets mounted on the cars. Shortly after the game was released, people started to figure out how to "hack" their cars by manipulating the game's files locally. With a bit of knowledge and a hex editor, you could customize the art on your car (although it would only be visible locally), and you could also override the number/type of turrets you were allowed to mount on a particular class of vehicle. There was no server-side check on the number/type, so if you went into an online game like this you could have a significant advantage over any players using "stock" vehicles.
This sort of "hacking" was a lot of fun, and I believe that it extended the gameplay experience for myself as well as many others. It was terribly unfair to everyone else, so people began hosting games which would specify "NO HAX" in the name. Of course this was unenforceable at the time, but it would be nice to have a walled-garden-type area to mess around in.
PS. great funk soundtrack on I'76, find it if you can.
Cheating is in the mind of the beholder.
It is difficult to learn something without seeing it done, and more information is always better.
If cheating is defined by "answering the question without having your mind go through the appropriate process first", no one except the student can truly answer that.
This school is freaking out at students for posting math online.
When you're in the middle of a busy workday, operating at 110%, nothing breaks your rhythm and frustrates like waiting for Java's fsking libraries to load.
That 5-10 seconds is an ETERNITY at that moment.
Without fail, it gives me an overwhelming urge to punch the monitor and throw my laptop across the room. (i cant be alone in this)
I tend not to use software that frustrates me
I'll secure my operating system by keeping it behind a good, configured firewall, not using IE for ANYTHING EVER (EVER!), and not visiting shady sites and opening spam. This is far from "secure", but its a passable system for user who knows about computers and realizes what s/he is clicking on. In addition, these solutions can be applied to any operating system, not just windows. To be fair, my personal laptop is running win2000 tho.. and i use XP SP2 at work, updates are forced by group policy.
You either use "evil" techniques like stopping distributing the old OS, shutting down upgrade servers or making your new software exclusive to the new OS
Your first choice for MS is to create disincentives to running XP/2000. Its a way of artificially removing value that once existed, something that the customer will never support.
Or you use "good" techniques like publishing articles about how bad your previous OS was
This is simply marketing in action, preying on uncertainty, fear, and ignorance. (Indeed, does M$ cite any facts or statistics in TFA that might illustrate their points? No, they speak only in vague generalizations.) Another technique that is not in the best interest of the customer.
whats important to note is THESE AREN'T THE ONLY TWO OPTIONS! There is at least one more option: that is to stop working against their customers, and compete based on PRODUCT. Add VALUE to windows instead of adding restrictions. Make it work BETTER than your previous iteration. Indeed, if it WAS better, the whole issue of 'planned obsolescence' would be moot, because the majority would upgrade on their own! They dont get it, and i dont expect them to, but it still irks me...
There are plenty of ways to sell upgrades that don't require dissing your previous product. All you need to do is offer value that justifies the cost of upgrading. (see: people who own more than 1 generation of ipod) Vista obviously falls far short of that, if it was actually a product people WANTED, wouldn't they be lining up to get a copy?
1) Install patch
2) Play game
3) Shutdown, go to sleep
4) Power on system, boot.ini not found
Now we have a system that is basically useless. Other concerns: We can't assume the user has anything other than an XP installation, because thats (presumably) all the game required. (booting to another OS, or from a USB key/CD is therefore out of the question as a large-scale solution) In addition, since the system failure didnt occur until well after (in my example, the following day), there is really no good feedback to the user which might let them know the patch actually caused this problem. (remember, they've probably patched their game before many times without issue)
So now the user is sitting at a blank screen. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt and assume they realize a boot.ini message is a clue as to whats causing the problem. This file is way beyond the scope of what we'd expect the EVE to be touching, so no help there. If I didn't have access to the internet to research the issue, I might even have mis-diagnosed this as failing sectors on a hard drive and moved on. This got kind of long, but the point is: we can't assume the user has any troubleshooting tools or knowledge of whats going on inside the computer. We can assume they know how to use Windows XP, since that is what the game runs on and (presumably) requires. But unfortunately the patch just hosed the only systems we could count on the user to operate - the user's OS, and the game itself.
as such, i'm comfortable saying the systems were bricked
Either way, what is the appropriate recourse when a government proves itself so grossly incompetent?
Looks like poetic justice to me. They're the ones who asked for that ridiculous tax in the first place, and now its coming back to haunt them. Serves them right- it was an obvious corporate cash grab, apparently rammed down the throat of innocent Canadians (with the aid of the government, no less) for no good reason. I say, don't let them repeal it.
I know its unpopular to fellate google as much as I'm about to, but a lot of /.ers seem to be missing the mark. This is an interesting move by google, and I predict it will add a lot of value to their news page. Think about the tremendous public service news.google provides; A quick-loading, easy-to-find, free-as-in-beer virtual newspaper...it attempts to neutralize political spin/bias by linking to multiple sources for each story, and by using the web it is capable of pulling from tons of lesser known, local newspapers that you would not otherwise know about/hear from (more sources also helps remove bias). This new addition is a step forward because it attempts to get information straight from the source (those involved in the story), removing the middlemen (remember the 'whipser down the lane' effect?). At the end of the day, all of google's actions seems to be aimed squarely at improving the quality of information available to the public, and making available to them as quickly and easily as possible... and did I mention, for free? This is a huuuggee asset for keeping the general public informed about the state of the nation/world/etc. I know a lot of people think google is the next m$, but google has done nothing to break my trust so far.
happy 4:20!
mod parent up! how a post stating "the internet IS dangerous" gets modded +5 insightful is beyond me. /. reader.
the internet is a bunch of machines connected by cables with 1s and 0s traveling between them... correct me if I'm wrong fellow slashdotters, but that does not pose a threat to our well-being. Statements like that only perpetuate the constant stream of FUD, influencing the opinions of those not fortunate enough to have the same knowledge as the average
How could I tell this article was written by an IT project manager? Plenty of vague buzzwords and friendly-sounding phrases, zero mention of technical skills/information, and most importantly - no coherent definition of what an "IT project" is. Many IT projects "fail" because many IT project managers don't have the slightest clue what they're managing.