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User: Tim4444

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Comments · 158

  1. next to relevant on How To Get Developers To Document Code · · Score: 1

    Nice. Right after Hostess files for bankruptcy TFA cites "hacker machismo" with a link to a list of "real programmer" attributes which includes 'surviving on Twinkies'. Seems like there's not much demand for that "food" after all.

  2. Re:work an election before you tout pen and paper. on 7000 e-Voting Machines Now Deemed Worthless By Irish Government · · Score: 2

    That's only relevant if you screw up your own ballot. If the monkeys at the booth smudge your marks or if the voting device malfunctions behind the scenes, you won't know you need to ask for a new ballot. If we didn't consider voter intent it would be awfully easy to selectively mishandle ballots when determining which ones should be discarded for not having clear marks.

  3. Don't judge a book by its cover on Are Programmers Ruining the Design of eBooks? · · Score: 1

    It's an ironic criticism considering how ugly the font is that they used for the article.

    The complete lack of care and attention

    That's an odd generalization for programmers. If you hire people who don't pay attention to detail, you'll get sloppy resuls whether they're programmers or designers.

    I’m desperate for the book industry to produce some work that blows me away, but for now there’s a few Alice clones and not much else.

    Is he actually reading the books or just looking at the pictures?

  4. Re:A Inspiration to all on How Stephen Hawking Has Defied the Odds For 50 Years · · Score: 1

    Yesterday... just FYI

  5. Re:Higher Power on Mathematics Says Romney and Santorum Tied In Iowa · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wow. Mod troll. Looks like I hit a sore spot : )

    Parry with an A Gate is a reference to Stephen Colbert poking fun at the fact that Republican straw polls (like the primaries) are not official events and therefore not subject to the same oversight rules.

    In 2000 the US Supreme Court ordered Florida to stop counting votes and the results never were properly tallied (Even George W Bush signed legislation as Governor of Texas declaring hand recounts to be the preferred method to resolve discrepancies. Why his campaign went to the US Supreme court to interfere with Florida's decision to do the same is beyond me. So much for States' rights). I assumed this is what OP was referring to.

    I'm sorry you find these facts to be so disturbing. Mod away.

  6. Re:First hands-on exposure... on Looking Back At the Commodore 64 · · Score: 1

    I had the same track. A 400 then a 130xe. After years of the 400 keyboard I was actually excited to learn how to type properly on a 'real' keyboard. My saving grace was that we had a copy of Action! so I learned to program in a relatively structured language instead of Basic. It sounds like I was a few years behind you (my systems were second hand) meaning that I was still young when we finally got a 386. To me it actually seemed like a step backwards - until we got a cdrom and a sound card at least.

    I heard a lot of good things about the C64 but I never had access to one (in its prime) unfortunately.

  7. Re:Higher Power on Mathematics Says Romney and Santorum Tied In Iowa · · Score: 1, Troll

    Parry with an A Gate -- we will not forget

    It's not like we count the votes in real elections either. Remember Floriday 2000?

  8. Re:No reason to celebrate now. on IE6 Almost Dead In the US · · Score: 1

    Remember, M$ claims it's part of the OS. By their logic you have to first run the upgrade to 95 then the upgrade to 98 and presto - your OS is now IE.

  9. Re:Best viewed with a browser other than yours on IE6 Almost Dead In the US · · Score: 2

    Indeed, I haven't seen that. However, I have seen plenty of websites saying something to the effect of "Your brand new web browser doesn't work with our website. Please use IE to continue."

  10. Re:No reason to celebrate now. on IE6 Almost Dead In the US · · Score: 1

    Don't be silly. IE isn't something you install. It's actually one with the operating system.

    Question is, if standards compliance and cutting edge features are so important to OP, why didn't he switch to something better long ago instead of waiting for IE to finally catch up? Maybe he doesn't know how to install software and he only uses what comes with the OS. I'll bet he's a huge Paint and Notepad fan too!

  11. Re:PHP is great on Ask Slashdot: Which Web Platform Would You Use? · · Score: 1

    I think he's saying those languages make it easier to write bad code, "but that certainly doesn't make them bad languages."

  12. Re:In English next time, please on Spanish Website Blocking Law Implemented · · Score: 4, Informative

    It should have been polemical (polemic is the noun) but it is English. From Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polemical) :

    polemical adj 1: of, relating to, or being a polemic : controversial 2: engaged in or addicted to polemics : disputatious

    Unfortunately there's no mod for ignoramous so I had to.... oh right, simple English. So I guess that's just "dumb-ass" then (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dumb-ass).

    You don't have to be so xenophobic. It was in the quote of the article. /. shouldn't have to simplify/edit a quote every time there's a big scary looking word in it.

  13. Re:Occupy Wall Street protesters are creating thei on Occupy Protesters Are Building a Facebook for the 99% · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This little exchange is representative of what's been happening in the lead up to the Republican primaries with each candidate (save for Ron Paul perhaps) trying to prove they have the biggest straw man bat.

    Of course none of this has anything to do with whether or not OWS people really represent the 99% they claim to be or why anyone would think that a technology that has thus far apparently contributed to their continued existence would suddenly need to be rebuilt from the ground up. I suppose first they'll need to invent their own Internet running on their own OS's and hardware before they can get back to protesting whatever it is that they're protesting.

  14. Re:Hey dumb ass on Ask Slashdot: Handing Over Personal Work Without Compensation? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As someone who worked for years as a contract developer I have to agree.

    It's not like this was a side project with application outside of the company. Even if it was he'd need approval before implementing it in house if he wanted to get paid for it. It sounds like this software was developed specifically for this specific company rather than being a side project (truly on the side) that happens to be something that he could sell to his company. That he was dumb enough to apply his personal time and resources to company work is his problem, not theirs.

    If it's not in your job description and you don't think you're paid to do something then don't do it. This is a little bit like mowing your neighbor's lawn without his knowledge or consent and then asking him to pay you for it after the fact. It's also a little bit like that Reader's Digest scam where they'd send you a book you didn't order and then send you a bill a month later.

  15. Great man - RIP

    Don't worry folks. We'll always have the zombie process to remember him by.

    Seriously though. C is still an active language of choice for everything from embedded to server to desktop applications and Unix is the gold standard for operating systems. Most people will never know how much these technologies have and continue to impact their lives.

  16. Re:Lameness on Steve Jobs Dead At 56 · · Score: 1

    Oh, just because you don't have a sense of humor.

    Sent from my Linux 3.0.4 x86_64 GNU/Linux

  17. Re:Lameness on Steve Jobs Dead At 56 · · Score: 1

    There are far less successful companies that also demand insane hours from their people with no overtime pay or comp days. At least at Apple those people were more than rewarded if they had a 401k with some stock in the company.

    Seems to me that Jobs put in his overtime during the early years building Apple.

    Pixar. Many of the people putting in long hours have become known personalities, Lasseter, Stanton, etc. Jobs was almost a faceless CEO in that role by comparison.

  18. Re:This just makes sense on Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly · · Score: 1

    “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” -Gandhi

    Most American "Christians" don't even stand up to those two commandments.

    If you want to get technical, the Bible is a mix of legend and history often written down generations after the supposed events took place. Accounts have been merged and rewritten leaving a mess of self contradicting passages. Modern "Christians" are oblivious to this and simply cherry pick what they like.

  19. Re:Moral of the story.... on After Firing CEO, Yahoo Puts Itself Up For Sale · · Score: 1

    There's also a huge difference in leadership requirements to satisfy a board that wants the ceo to run a company for growth vs one that only wants the ceo to make the company look as profitable as possible on paper so they can sell it off to the highest bidder.

  20. Re:Moral of the story.... on After Firing CEO, Yahoo Puts Itself Up For Sale · · Score: 1

    Carol Bartz is not just some idiot that got a masters in Business Administration and high profile job through connections. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Bartz I don't much care for her management style personally, and based on the turnover at Yahoo! in the last few years I think I'm not alone, but I do respect her as a person and also her many achievements. Let's face it. The board destroyed Yahoo! when they fired Jerry Yang. All they wanted then was to sellout the company for quick cash and it seems that's still all they want. As far as I can see, the idiots in this story are the members of the Board.

  21. cool, but... on PayPal Co-Founder Gives Out $100,000 To Not Go To College · · Score: 1

    Does the world need 20 new pot dispensaries, record labels, and social media copycat companies? Why not just hire 20 people who didn't go to college for jobs that would otherwise require a college degree? Then he can tell us in 6 months how well that worked out for Paypal.

  22. Re:It might just be me, but... on Trade Your Bible For Porn · · Score: 1
    Buddhism does one better than put your kids in a camp, they take them to live in a monastery where they get their heads shaved and parade around in church robes - somewhat more radical than anything Dawkins has proposed.

    would anyone ever become angry about Shingon Buddhism

    The history of China shows quite the backlash against Buddhism in general. When Buddhism started taking over culturally, the resistance was also far more radical than anything Dawkins proposes.

    The Jains do have a legitimate claim to peace and non violence and like their hindu neighbors generally are not evangelical (the people I've met in my travels have confirmed that). However, like the Hindus, the Jains also build large temples devoted to their beliefs, which IMHO is still at least one step more radical than anything Dawkins has ever proposed.

    You would have done better to cite Japanese ancestor worship. At least their ancestors did exist at one point, unlike the the gods of other religions.

  23. Re:It might just be me, but... on Trade Your Bible For Porn · · Score: 1

    simply consider a vile person to be avoided

    good idea - for those who can identify what is vile

  24. Re:It might just be me, but... on Trade Your Bible For Porn · · Score: 2, Insightful

    sexual assault on a child is sometimes less damaging than teaching a child to follow Christianity

    Interesting proposition considering that the Catholic Church does both. I believe Dawkins never actually said that as such, but rather made an insensitive comment about "the Church's real child abuse" or something to that effect. Still, is he more vile than the people actually abusing children or the institution that protects the abusers?

    Dawkins is just one voice among many. Attempts to use him to brand a single unified atheist movement are more a result of his detractors than the efforts of the people he has come to represent - willingly or unwillingly. BTW, you can no more do a disservice to atheism, that is "not religious," than you can do a disservice to "not small" or "not a number" or "not bowling" or "not evil." Asserting anything at all about a "not" when nothing else is known about it is complete nonsense. Perhaps you mean Dawkins is doing a disservice to British people, or the scientific community, or to advocates for the separation of church and state, or to humanists, or to people who simply refuse to believe in anything for which there is no evidence.

    People could be forgiven for not understanding much of philosophy.

  25. Re:It might just be me, but... on Trade Your Bible For Porn · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is he as Dogmatic, radical, and evangelistic as some religions? Absolutely.

    Really? Which religions? Dawkins never trained any suicide bombers; he never tortured people in an Inquisition; he never launched a Crusade; he never advocated ostracizing people from their communities who don't agree with him; he never started any political parties; he never put "in Dawkins we trust" in the pledge or on the money of any nation; he never lobbied any nation to engrave excerpts from his writings on their military hardware; he never even organized any camps where parents could send their children to memorize passages from his books. Is there such a religion that does none of these things? He does advocate that you think critically about ideas presented to you and demand proof for people's conclusions. If you call this radical, certainly Christianity, just to pick a religion at random, is far more radical.

    There's an old story about a child who claimed that a certain emperor who marched through the streets of his town was not wearing any clothes. I could be wrong, but I think that the child did not also wish to be emperor - he just wanted to point out that the emperor was not wearing any clothes.