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User: Larry_The_Canary

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Comments · 33

  1. Re:A suggestion on Contributors Leaving Wikipedia In Record Numbers · · Score: 1

    What about the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada?

  2. Re:Great defence! on Brain Scans Used In Murder Sentencing · · Score: 1

    A better example to banks would be dog breeding. In order to create todays "standard" breeds humans selectively picked the dogs that had traits they thought were desirable and bred those dogs and their offspring together in order to preserve those traits. Now it's turning out that many pure-bred dogs have _predictable_ problems, meaning the deficiency is a result of their genetics which were, in effect, selected by humans.

  3. Re:While we're at it ... on HTTP Intermediary Layer From Google Could Dramatically Speed Up the Web · · Score: 1

    I stopped reading as soon as you said that you used table layouts, here's why:

    Solution 1:
    <table>
          <tr><td colspan="2"><table id="header">...</table></td></tr>
          <tr><td><table id="menu">...</table></td><td><table id="content">...</table></td><td>..... OK I'm so f*cking annoyed already just making this example that I can guarantee that you're annoyed reading it!

    Solution 2:
    <div id="header"> ... </div>
    <div id="menu"> ... </div>
    <div id="content"> ... </div>
    <div id="footer"> ... </div>

    Not only is it painfully obvious that the non-table solution is easier to create, read and understand but it is also reusable since a different look can be applied to it by just changing a style sheet.

    So please, take another shot at justifying table layouts. (HINT: Being too lazy to learn and understand the box model is not a good reason)

  4. Re:You know whats ironic? on China's New Military Space Stations Coming Soon · · Score: 1

    mod parent up, it needs to be seen.

  5. Re:Read some core Java books on Java, Where To Start? · · Score: 1

    Good list! When I first read the question the first thing that popped into my mind was design patterns. I would add 'Unit Testing in Java' to that list. Also I don't know if one exists but if you can find a book/article on effective use of java-doc not only will you benefit but you'll be more popular with the group of people who have to read your code.

  6. Re:Disruption != peaceably assembling on In MN, Massive Police Raids On Suspected Protestors · · Score: 1

    What about what you quoted isn't peaceful? There are no violent words at all. A blockade is not violent, just annoying, and has been a staple tactic of demonstrators (union strikers do this all the time, it's called a picket line) for a long time.

    Maybe there's something else on the site you 'forgot' to mention.

  7. Re:Might As Well Try to Discuss This on Slashdot's Disagree Mail · · Score: 1

    Yes it was a funny joke.

  8. Re:Might As Well Try to Discuss This on Slashdot's Disagree Mail · · Score: 1

    That's not actually my opinion, I was just using it as an example that I thought the people on this board would identify with, I guess I should have used a car analogy.

    'Cars are evil and polute the environment' - Flaimbait
    'I'm concerned about the environment so I'm going to buy a car that uses Bio-fuel' - Troll

  9. Re:Might As Well Try to Discuss This on Slashdot's Disagree Mail · · Score: 1

    Well sir, then I do apologize and sincerely hope that I have not offended you in any harmful, stick with you for the rest of your life, constantly nagging at the back of your mind, until it's sub-conscious perverseness manifests itself physically as a brain tumor, kind of way. Your criticism is well received.

    I do find it amusing that my original post has beed modded as a troll since the post itself is about the art and subtlety of trolling, making it a self-referential post. Douglas Hofstadter would be impressed.

  10. Re:Is being too dumb for the internet bannable? on Slashdot's Disagree Mail · · Score: 1

    If it's clearly a troll, it's not a troll, it's just stupid.

  11. Re:Might As Well Try to Discuss This on Slashdot's Disagree Mail · · Score: 0, Troll

    It is for this reason that the 'troll' mod is the most over/incorrectly used. Most posts labelled troll should really be labelled flamebait, redundant, offtopic or just plain fucking stupid. 'Trolling' internet forums is an art, the key to which is to 'bait' people with a character/opinion that is obviously off/wrong but in a way that's believable, thus 'hooking' replies by good souls trying to help by correcting the flaws with the character/opinion. As an example: 'George bush is a lying nazi scum and anyone voted for him should be imprisoned' is not a troll, because it's too obviously a flamebait. Something like: 'George lied to us, so we should impeach him so that we can throw him in jail' is a troll because even though there are several problems with the sentence, it is innocent/naive enough to be realistic. This is why I browse with comments marked 'Troll' +4, because a good troll post is something to admire and appreciate, but it doesn't work so well when no one properly moderates trolls.

  12. Re:Modularity on PhD Research On Software Design Principles? · · Score: 1

    It makes me sad that I can't get into a PhD program, with thesis topics already lined up to go, and you have apparently never taken a Software Engineering under-grad class. Parnas and Boehm did their most influential work in the (70's?) 80's and 90's, if you're not hearing about them until a grad program consider switching schools. On a serious note, Beautiful Code is a book I'm currently working my way through and it has proved to be an enjoyable read (for most of the chapters) as well made me re-examine some of my methods and practices. Not the most technical book out there but it's like looking over the shoulder a experienced designer at work.
  13. Re:Fanbois, have you actually tried one? on Review of the Model M-Inspired Unicomp Customizer Keyboard · · Score: 1

    There are some things in this world us lefties just have to learn to do right handed. Fire a rifle would be another one.

  14. Re:Yes, yes, and... on Expert Dissects Estonian Cyber-War · · Score: 1

    And in Canada it was Mercury preservatives will give you autism....

    It's not a single vaccine you should be worried about, because the amount of mercury in a single vaccine is nothing, really. It the cumulative effects of multiple vaccines.

  15. Re:And people ask why I support Jesse Ventura? on Senator Proposes to Monitor All P2P Traffic for Illegal Files · · Score: 1

    I hate to break it to you but your one vote isn't going to make a difference in this one election whether you vote for the person you like or against someone you don't like. Your vote will make a difference in the long run if you consistently support the candidate that appeals to you most. In my opinion, your view is defeatist and only serves to preserve the status quo. If you don't believe me just look at the Green party in Canada. They are quickly becoming a political force and get more total votes each election. This is possible because of people who vote for what they believe instead of against what they don't believe.

  16. Re:Assembly language and VB? on A Congressman Who Can Code Assembly · · Score: 1

    Believe it or not my high school programming course taught VB and Assembly. The transition was a little rough.

    Day 1: Ok folks, use your mouse to draw what you want your program to look like. It's as easy as MS Paint!
    Day 2: Alright moving on, today I would like you to create a stack frame for passing arguments to a C function.

    .... crickets

  17. Re:How about a dream machine? on The Century's Top Engineering Challenges · · Score: 1

    much of the world would be hooked on it permanently

    I think the novelty would wear off pretty quickly. Part of the joy of living involves growing as a person which is in large part done by facing and possibly overcoming obstacles and challenges. If you lived in a world where you could always do whatever you wanted there would be no obstacles and challenges. I for one would be very bored and depressed living in such a world.

    The dream machine you describe though is a great idea and could become an invaluable tool for personal reflection and insight.

  18. Re:Not That Tough on Is the Game Boy the Toughest Product Ever Made? · · Score: 1

    I agree, not that tough. I had a gameboy and there was a point where I got bored with the games I had and didn't get any new ones. So the gameboy spent probably a couple of months in my backpack until I got a new game. And then when I went to use it the thing just wouldn't turn on no matter what I did.

    That wasn't even the bad part. Since the gameboy was broken I got excited at the prospect of being able to crack it open and take a look at what was inside but I couldn't do that either because it had these stupid screws that needed a triangle shaped screwdriver that I didn't have. Hmmmm, I guess the fact that I couldn't open it up was a bit of a testament to it's toughness... Anyway, I ended up throwing the thing off the top of my school (or some other tall building, but most likely my school). That showed it who was the boss.

  19. Re:Yeah, right! on The Life of a Software Engineer · · Score: 1

    It's not what someone happens to be doing at any particular moment that determines whether or not they are an engineer it's the knowledge of a process that they hold. Just because the project on which someone with this knowledge is currently working doesn't require them to fully apply that process doesn't make them any less of an engineer. If an engineer builds a backyard patio does that mean that they are no longer an engineer?

    Most people who would call themselves 'Software Engineers' have learned a process to guarantee, barring any unforeseen circumstances, that what they build will work correctly. This process may not be perfect but neither is a 'real' engineer's process. Bridges collapse, buildings fall down, shuttles blow up, planes crash and people die in car accidents.

    The fact that you are studying both civil engineering AND computer science makes me think that you have a limited knowledge of software development processes and the progress that has taken place in that field. The domain of software engineering has grown very specialized in the past decade and encompases alot more than UML and unit tests and is not something that can be studied casually or would even be touched on in a computer science minor. I sure as hell hope there was a better process used to develop the software that controls nuclear power plants than some wanker with UML and unit tests.

  20. Harmoniums on Messenger Discovers "Spider" Crater on Mercury · · Score: 1

    Looks like the work of Harmoniums feeding off the vibrations of the impact that created the crater. I guess there were no Chronosynclastically Infundibulated humans around to rearrange the harmoniums to spell 'This is no moon'. /Vonnegut Tribute

  21. Re:Two things on How to Recognize a Good Programmer · · Score: 1
    Ok, so there are others I could have replied to but this just happened to be the ump-teenth post praising the article and modded +5 insightful that moved me to action. (I apologize if the post after the quote below actually was insightful but I stopped reading after the first sentence.)

    That list is very, VERY good in my opinion, if obvious (but not so obvious to HR people).

    This article sounds very good and says some things that are right but _really_ misses addressing the most important fundamental knowledge a good programmer needs to have: development process. Sure, someone can be familiar with 100+ different bleeding edge technologies but unless they know how to build maintainable, correct code they are absolutely useless as a programmer in a professional setting.

    Here's why: Programmers change jobs. If someone one else can't come in a make sense of what the last guy was doing (even if the new guy knows jack shit), the old guy was not a good programmer and now your vision is going to be set back and could possible fail simple because of a staffing change. Here's the kicker, the original programmer could have perfectly satisfied the criteria set out by the article.

    This article is most useful, once you have narrowed the field, to separate the great from the good. But before that point is reached you need to find out if the person sitting across the table from you knows what version control is, has worked on a sizeable open source project before, knows what the Composite pattern is, knows what the spiral model is, knows how to comment code correctly, etc. Basically, the fundamentals of _professional_ coding.

    Being able to write an ad-hoc instant messenger using a thousand different technologies means diddly-squat unless you know the fundamentals of writing quality code. That's where this article falls short.

  22. Re:Completely Offtopic on Former OLPC CTO Aims to Create $75 Laptop · · Score: 1

    I think it's a slashdot problem. From the page source:

    <a href="http://technocrat.net/d/2008/1/10/33518">fear of "the entire third world learning Linux</a> <a> as children."</a>

  23. Re:Did it ever occur to anyone on Brain Changes When Viewing Violent Media · · Score: 1

    The article isn't claiming increased activity anywhere in your brain. It claims less activity in an area of your brain known to suppress aggressive behavior. I know this is slashdot so I can understand not RTFA but at least RTFS!

  24. Re:Power consumption? on Maglev On the Drawing Boards · · Score: 1

    Clap, clap. You got me sir. Well done.

  25. Re:They're going to make a fortune... on Single Nanotube Becomes World's Smallest Radio · · Score: 1

    I can already hear the late night infomercials

    - ...if you buy a brand new carbon nanotube radio for the low, low, cost of only $1337.69 in the next 15 minutes we'll throw in a powerful electron microscope for the amazing price of only ten thousand dollars! With this puppy you'll never again mistake a spec on the floor for your radio. This one of a kind deal won't last for long so buy..............right now!!!!!!11!!!!!one!!!one!!!eleven!!!