There *is* something wrong with the way advertising is handled in these mags. No company can be trusted to be objective when they get money from the companies whose products they review.
Of course, down deep, I'm sure all of us are aware that magazines have to advertise to survive. They *don't*, however, have to advertise computer-related products.
Computer geeks may be obsessed with computers, but generally they have most of the system they want/can afford. But do they have enough whiskey?
A magazine that wanted to make it clear that it was impartial would, in my opinion, seek out advertising that cannot possibly affect its judgement. Alcohol, cologne, watches, laundry soap, movies, cars, makeup; the things about which normal people get advertisements.
As for the computer companies who put ads in computer magazines, I think they are stupid and/or foolish. Most of their ads are for whole systems, usually advertised at around $1500, which seems totally inane to me - what kind of geek spends $1500 on a factory-assembled PC?
Clearly, the first priority is to produce on time. That makes all the sense in the world.
The second priority - for the products to be operational. So far so good.
The third, of course, is for all bugs and inefficiencies to be ironed out.
But shouldn't style come into play at some point? If the situation is code that has been, is being, and will be altered by a variety of people, shouldn't one feel at all obligated to lighten the load for the next guy?
Paint your car red - fine! But give the next guy the owner's manual, for heaven's sake!
In my opinion (which admittedly belongs to a lowly Undergrad), professional ethics dictate that the job be done to the utmost - salary and competition be damned!
I use a similar method, except I take the algorithm farther.
I have several of these vanity-plate type phrases, in a variety of languages. So, if all else fails, I can just try each of them in succession.
But that doesn't always work, since I not only have two handfuls of passwords, but two handfuls of UID's. So I make sure that each password has a unique character or series of characters that is non-alphabetic, and I keep a file hidden away that contains a list of the machine name, my UID, and the single non-numeric character in the appropriate password (for each account).
I don't bother to encrypt the file because I find it unlikely that someone could guess the phrase from looking at a series of non-alphabetic characters, let alone tell the difference between machine names and user names and passwords. Basically, it's encrypted by my own logic and personal knowledge. If I really wanted to encrypt it, I could turn the list into a story. . .:)
I am an ex- Windows user; I'm trying to wean myself of it. In the process of doing that, I decided I needed a decent word processor for linux. So, naturally, I go download StarOffice. I finished installing it yesterday, and opened it up, and laughed so hard I cried. StarOffice may not be very fast, but it's sure as hell entertaining. The "Start" menu on the desktop... the buttons. ..hehehee. . . StarOffice seems to have learned from Windows what Windows learned from Mac. heeheeheeheeeeeeeee. . .
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There *is* something wrong with the way advertising is handled in these mags. No company can be trusted to be objective when they get money from the companies whose products they review.
Of course, down deep, I'm sure all of us are aware that magazines have to advertise to survive. They *don't*, however, have to advertise computer-related products.
Computer geeks may be obsessed with computers, but generally they have most of the system they want/can afford. But do they have enough whiskey?
A magazine that wanted to make it clear that it was impartial would, in my opinion, seek out advertising that cannot possibly affect its judgement. Alcohol, cologne, watches, laundry soap, movies, cars, makeup; the things about which normal people get advertisements.
As for the computer companies who put ads in computer magazines, I think they are stupid and/or foolish. Most of their ads are for whole systems, usually advertised at around $1500, which seems totally inane to me - what kind of geek spends $1500 on a factory-assembled PC?
Clearly, the first priority is to produce on time. That makes all the sense in the world.
The second priority - for the products to be operational. So far so good.
The third, of course, is for all bugs and inefficiencies to be ironed out.
But shouldn't style come into play at some point? If the situation is code that has been, is being, and will be altered by a variety of people, shouldn't one feel at all obligated to lighten the load for the next guy?
Paint your car red - fine! But give the next guy the owner's manual, for heaven's sake!
In my opinion (which admittedly belongs to a lowly Undergrad), professional ethics dictate that the job be done to the utmost - salary and competition be damned!
I use a similar method, except I take the algorithm farther.
:)
I have several of these vanity-plate type phrases, in a variety of languages. So, if all else fails, I can just try each of them in succession.
But that doesn't always work, since I not only have two handfuls of passwords, but two handfuls of UID's. So I make sure that each password has a unique character or series of characters that is non-alphabetic, and I keep a file hidden away that contains a list of the machine name, my UID, and the single non-numeric character in the appropriate password (for each account).
I don't bother to encrypt the file because I find it unlikely that someone could guess the phrase from looking at a series of non-alphabetic characters, let alone tell the difference between machine names and user names and passwords. Basically, it's encrypted by my own logic and personal knowledge. If I really wanted to encrypt it, I could turn the list into a story. . .
I am an ex- Windows user; I'm trying to wean myself of it. In the process of doing that, I decided I needed a decent word processor for linux. So, naturally, I go download StarOffice. I finished installing it yesterday, and opened it up, and laughed so hard I cried. StarOffice may not be very fast, but it's sure as hell entertaining. The "Start" menu on the desktop... the buttons. . .hehehee. . . StarOffice seems to have learned from Windows what Windows learned from Mac. heeheeheeheeeeeeeee. . .