I would only point out a mature IDE is not only proof that the language has widespread adoption and is a tremendous productivity aid.
But in principle I can't disagree with you. The goodness of the IDE has nothing to do with the goodness of the language (although I can't imagine programming in C++ without a class browser built into the IDE, but maybe I'm just getting old). My preference is to let coders use whatever IDE they like.
I'll be the 1st to admit that when I'm putting together a quick and dirty C program in windows I'll use Notepad as my "IDE", but then, I don't get to do as much programming as I'd like anymore .
Its interesting to see the results of a short study, even though the author admits to the flaw in his methodolody (primarily the subjects were self-chosen). Still, I don't think that's a fatal flaw, and I think his results do have some validity.
However, I think the author misses a more important issue: development involving a single programmer for a relatively small task isn't the point for most organizations. Maintainability and a large pool of potential developers (for example) are a significant factor in deciding what language to use. LISP is a fabulous language, but try to find 10 programmers at a reasonable price in the next 2 weeks. Good luck.
Also, while initial development time is important, typically testing/debug cycles are the costly part of implementation, so that's what should weigh on your mind as the area that the most gains can be made. Further, large projects are collaborative efforts, so the objects and libraries available for a particular language plays a role in how quickly you can produce quality code.
As an aside, it would've been interesting to see the same development done with experienced Visual Basic programmer. My guess is he/she would have the lowest development cycle, and yet it wouldn't be my first choice for a large scale development project (although at the risk of being flamed, its not a bad language for just banging out a quick set of tools for my own use).
Some of thing things I believe are more important when thinking about a programming language:
1) Amenable to use by team of programmers
2) Viability over a period of time (5-10 years).
3) Large developer base
4) Cross platform - not because I think cross-platform is a good thing by itself; rather, I think its important to avoid being locked-in to a single hardware or Operating System vendor.
5) Mature IDE, debugging tools, and compilers.
6) Wide applicability
Computer languages tend to develop in response to specific needs, and most programmers will probably end up learning 5-10 languages over the course of their career. It would be helpful to have a discussion of the appropriate roles for certain computer languages, since I'm not sure any computer languages is better than any other.
Regardless of your political/religious belief or feelings of privacy, you have to recognize it is this passage which guarantees we won't have this kind of number for the immediate future.
If you thought the furor over stem cells was loud, this would be an order of magnitude worse.
Take a look at http://www.pressnews.net/cmcsk/home.htm
To summarize:
COMCAST Makes Proposal To Merge With AT&T Broadband
Offers $58 Billion for Core Broadband Assets Plus Additional Value for Non-Core Investments
Looks like Comcast was using @home until they could partner or buy another broadband network.
Re:Is /. Really that Naive about the Gaming Scene?
on
$1200 Cheap!
·
· Score: 1
"I was forced to buy mine with two games--period. Luckily, I had two games I wanted, so no biggie... "
I went down to Wal-Mart on the day it was released and bought 2 GBAs, no bundling for $90 apiece. I did not reserve anything in advance.
So clearly, while bundling did occur, it was not the only experience people had for GBAs.
This doesn't make sense
on
$1200 Cheap!
·
· Score: 1
Microsoft is a new name in the console industry.
They're facing Sony PS2 which has backwards compatibility with a good PS1 library.
They're facing Nintendo's Cube which has first party games which can sell millions of cubes.
They have a game selection which for all intents and purposes is the same selection as the PS2.
I'll bet Sony and Nintendo are begging Microsoft to jack up the price. That will be the action that loses the console war for Microsoft.
I looked at the bottom of my keyboard, and it has 6 screws holding it together. You'd need a fair amount of time to install it, plus you always leave scratches on the screw heads.
My guess it that its software.
A probably a replacement for the windows keyboard driver. If you run BSD, I think the spooks are out of luck.
"ASN.1 is a standard interoperability protocol (ISO IS 8824 and 8825) that defines a transfer syntax irrespective of the local system's syntax"
I think everyone understands what ASN.1 is intended for. In this particular application though its being touted as a clever way of compressing XML streams to minimize bandwidth.
It doesn't appear to be the best general purpose tool to do the job in most cases.
If the goal is a reduction in the size of XML structures, why not compress the XML streams after generation and uncompess before parsing? What's described here is nothing more than an intelligent compression algorithm which is clever, but it seems to require an understanding of the "compression algorithm" before you get it.
But it looks like this would horribly complicate something like SOAP, and make every tool that uses XML (including web browsers) even more complicated.
Then you start thinking about the other emerging XML based standards, and you realize this looks suspiciously like a solution in search of a problem.
"Is it ok to break laws you don't personally care for? "
Sometimes its a moral imperative.
When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, she was breaking a law. Was it OK to do that?
When Chinese students stood up to the government in Tianaman Square, was that wrong? I mean, it was against the law and all.
Does the DMCA raise that kind of moral imperative? I think so. It essentially putss corporations above the law in regards to fundamental rights we take for granted such as free speech, and the ability to express our ideas openly without fear of retribution by the government. If this case doesn't scare you, then nothing will. Our children deserve better than this mess.
"Personally, I believe that this is open ground for a civil lawsuit between Adobe and Elcomsoft, and Adobe would be in the right"
I think you may be right. But you're saying something completely different than what's actually happening.
A civil lawsuit is essentially an argument about money. The point is to try to make the wronged party whole by giving them money (or some representation thereof).
Lets get to the point...Elcomsoft may be wrong, but they aren't criminally wrong, and certainly decrypting a file format shouldn't be grounds to throw someone in jail, particularly since there are no claimed national defense arguments to hide behind.
People need to keep asking the question: Why has the FBI become the enforcement arm of the MPAA, RIAA, and the software industry?
"Copyright law's purpose is the protection of the content owner's wishes"
Actually it isn't. This is a major misunderstanding of copyrights and patents.
The founding fathers, by and large, weren't strong believers in copyrights. In England, they were previously used as a censorship device by the government to prohibit the publishing of unpopular literature. So you can understand the strong distrust of these devices.
Jefferson, in fact, was a strong opponent of copyrights. He felt that a copyright created essentially a false shortage and that any good would be overshadowed by the potential harm of these government granted monopolies. Still, he accepted a limited term for copyrights and patents (I wouldn't be surprised if Jefferson would be opposed to copyrights by corporations for that reason).
So the purpose of copyright isn't to allow the author the right to do anything he wants with his work. It is a bargain with the public. What the government is saying is "Look, we'll grant you a very limited exclusive right to profit from your work. In exchange, you have to agree to certain fundamental rights such as fair-use, and the understand that the person who buys that work has full control over the use and disposal of that work".
So please, don't blindly assume a copyright is a long-term way to ensure you have complete and exclusive control over your work, because that's not the intention of a copyright.
The fact that DMCA creates this from whole cloth doesn't make it right or moral.
The fact the FBI has now become the enforcement arm for unpopular software should be reason to give you pause.
I'm surprised more people don't talk about this aspect of DVDs. They're good, but they're not great.
While its certainly true that DVDs are sharper and are an improvement over VHS tapes, many of the DVDs I've watched have a set of flaws that become distracting once you're made aware of them.
Of course, the fact that most people find video recorded on SLP VHS acceptable gives you an idea that people are pretty forgiving of video flaws.
Free speech is in the constitution to permit people to criticise leaders.
I fully realize this may have been put up as a troll, but I hear this enough in everyday life that I think this bears discussing again.
The guys who wrote the US constituion were pretty clever. I think part of being clever is that your writing style is clear, and to the point. Legalese may impress some, but I always think its a way to cover up the fact that you can't express yourself very well.
Looking at the 1st amendment is says:
Congress shall make no law [...] prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech [...]
I've clipped just the mention of religion.
Note the language is unequivacal. It says "no law". Not "political speech is protected". It gives a blanket "no law".
In practice I realize this means that some laws do get passed restricting speech (the overworn example of shouting fire in a theater). But in all cases the law has to assume that speech is protected unless an overwhelming societal need exists to curtail that protection.
Protecting the MPAA would probably not fall under that burden.
I think as soon as the judge accepts DeCSS is equal to speech, he almost has to rule in favor of 2600. I think the questions from the judge show the thinking in this respect. They're looking for a good reason to call it speech.
Apple doesn't care about Darwin on x86. OS X isn't going to ever be run on x86 chips, never on PCs... It just isn't in Apple's best interest
I think its inevitable that OS X will run on Intel. The PowerPC chips apple is selling these days are getting dangerously underpowered compared with the AMD/Intel rivalry.
I think Apple will go X86. That doesn't mean they'll use white box PCs to run; but I don't see the advantage apple has right now using PPC chips.
except American consumers have some inertia and tend to view a landline as a necessity and the mobile phone as the luxury item that they will pay more for
I think you've missed an important part about wireless versus "standard" phones. A standard phone costs about $20/month, unlimited calls, with consistent quality.
On the other hand, a wireless (cellular) phone will cost significantly more for unlimited time, and in metropolitan areas there are significant under-capacity issues, particularly at rush hour and during any type of traffic emergency.
When was the last time a land-line call just "dropped" for no reason? And yet we accept that as the norm for cellular calls.
In a nutshell, cellular is still expensive and unreliable compared to more traditional phones. Cellular phone will continue to get better, and hopefully the price will drop.
To equate people with cars is a mistake, but I don't think that's where you make your big mistake.
The problem with your approach is that this "junk employee" as you call him (or her) needs to find a job somewhere. Should people be condemned to a life of minimum wage jobs because of poor genetics?
Does this junk person sit around all day and collect public monies until they die? Who pays for that?
Further, who decides they're junk? Companies will screen for a disposition to be obese, addiction, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancers of all types, baldness, and stuff that you or I can't imagine.
Based on your premise, you could screen based on race and/or skin color, since every ethnic group has a disposition towards some types of medical conditions.
I think you look for a person's ability, attitude and willingness to do the job should be first and foremost.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree, however, the implementations of J2EE have so far been so expensive they aren't practical for most people.
It would be nice if Sun released a free J2EE implementation for Solaris.
I would only point out a mature IDE is not only proof that the language has widespread adoption and is a tremendous productivity aid.
But in principle I can't disagree with you. The goodness of the IDE has nothing to do with the goodness of the language (although I can't imagine programming in C++ without a class browser built into the IDE, but maybe I'm just getting old). My preference is to let coders use whatever IDE they like.
I'll be the 1st to admit that when I'm putting together a quick and dirty C program in windows I'll use Notepad as my "IDE", but then, I don't get to do as much programming as I'd like anymore .
Its interesting to see the results of a short study, even though the author admits to the flaw in his methodolody (primarily the subjects were self-chosen). Still, I don't think that's a fatal flaw, and I think his results do have some validity.
However, I think the author misses a more important issue: development involving a single programmer for a relatively small task isn't the point for most organizations. Maintainability and a large pool of potential developers (for example) are a significant factor in deciding what language to use. LISP is a fabulous language, but try to find 10 programmers at a reasonable price in the next 2 weeks. Good luck.
Also, while initial development time is important, typically testing/debug cycles are the costly part of implementation, so that's what should weigh on your mind as the area that the most gains can be made. Further, large projects are collaborative efforts, so the objects and libraries available for a particular language plays a role in how quickly you can produce quality code.
As an aside, it would've been interesting to see the same development done with experienced Visual Basic programmer. My guess is he/she would have the lowest development cycle, and yet it wouldn't be my first choice for a large scale development project (although at the risk of being flamed, its not a bad language for just banging out a quick set of tools for my own use).
Some of thing things I believe are more important when thinking about a programming language:
1) Amenable to use by team of programmers
2) Viability over a period of time (5-10 years).
3) Large developer base
4) Cross platform - not because I think cross-platform is a good thing by itself; rather, I think its important to avoid being locked-in to a single hardware or Operating System vendor.
5) Mature IDE, debugging tools, and compilers.
6) Wide applicability
Computer languages tend to develop in response to specific needs, and most programmers will probably end up learning 5-10 languages over the course of their career. It would be helpful to have a discussion of the appropriate roles for certain computer languages, since I'm not sure any computer languages is better than any other.
A curious as it sounds, doesn't it strike you odd that someone would sue over an $18 CD?
Nope. At worst, you'd take it back.
You wouldn't sue because what are the damages? At most, $18.
So it is possible the RIAA is essentially suing themselves to get a particular legal precedent? Are they looking for a judge to say:
"Consumers have no right to expect an MP3 of their CD"
I'm just speculating, but this doesn't add up.
Regardless of your political/religious belief or feelings of privacy, you have to recognize it is this passage which guarantees we won't have this kind of number for the immediate future.
If you thought the furor over stem cells was loud, this would be an order of magnitude worse.
But the reaction of the RIAA was predictable several years ago. Why no reaction then?
RIAA = Millions of dollars in campaign contributions
ACM = Bunch of egg heads that have no effect on getting re-elected.
This sums up the situation in a nutshell.
Take a look at http://www.pressnews.net/cmcsk/home.htm
To summarize:
COMCAST Makes Proposal To Merge With AT&T Broadband
Offers $58 Billion for Core Broadband Assets Plus Additional Value for Non-Core Investments
Looks like Comcast was using @home until they could partner or buy another broadband network.
"I was forced to buy mine with two games--period. Luckily, I had two games I wanted, so no biggie... "
I went down to Wal-Mart on the day it was released and bought 2 GBAs, no bundling for $90 apiece. I did not reserve anything in advance.
So clearly, while bundling did occur, it was not the only experience people had for GBAs.
Microsoft is a new name in the console industry.
They're facing Sony PS2 which has backwards compatibility with a good PS1 library.
They're facing Nintendo's Cube which has first party games which can sell millions of cubes.
They have a game selection which for all intents and purposes is the same selection as the PS2.
I'll bet Sony and Nintendo are begging Microsoft to jack up the price. That will be the action that loses the console war for Microsoft.
In essence, her computer tried to stop her from watching the emminantly forgettable "Fight club".
Perhaps computers are more sophisticated than we think.
I looked at the bottom of my keyboard, and it has 6 screws holding it together. You'd need a fair amount of time to install it, plus you always leave scratches on the screw heads.
My guess it that its software.
A probably a replacement for the windows keyboard driver. If you run BSD, I think the spooks are out of luck.
"You seem to be assuming that this will be an automatic guilt machine just because you have been identified by the camera. "
As an experiment, find a highway with a police officer using radar to measure speed.
Now, go too fast down the street and get a ticket. Take it to court.
Will you be found guilty or innocent? You already know the answer. Do you know why you'll be found guilty? Right. Because RADAR said you were guilty.
Ask your question again.
Decent sized show, and I always come away with a trunk full of cool junk for under $100.
They have a fall show though, but its not so big.
There are small shows every weekend. Look for hamfests as well as computer shows.
"ASN.1 is a standard interoperability protocol (ISO IS 8824 and 8825) that defines a transfer syntax irrespective of the local system's syntax"
I think everyone understands what ASN.1 is intended for. In this particular application though its being touted as a clever way of compressing XML streams to minimize bandwidth.
It doesn't appear to be the best general purpose tool to do the job in most cases.
If the goal is a reduction in the size of XML structures, why not compress the XML streams after generation and uncompess before parsing? What's described here is nothing more than an intelligent compression algorithm which is clever, but it seems to require an understanding of the "compression algorithm" before you get it.
But it looks like this would horribly complicate something like SOAP, and make every tool that uses XML (including web browsers) even more complicated.
Then you start thinking about the other emerging XML based standards, and you realize this looks suspiciously like a solution in search of a problem.
"Is it ok to break laws you don't personally care for? "
Sometimes its a moral imperative.
When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, she was breaking a law. Was it OK to do that?
When Chinese students stood up to the government in Tianaman Square, was that wrong? I mean, it was against the law and all.
Does the DMCA raise that kind of moral imperative? I think so. It essentially putss corporations above the law in regards to fundamental rights we take for granted such as free speech, and the ability to express our ideas openly without fear of retribution by the government. If this case doesn't scare you, then nothing will. Our children deserve better than this mess.
"Personally, I believe that this is open ground for a civil lawsuit between Adobe and Elcomsoft, and Adobe would be in the right"
I think you may be right. But you're saying something completely different than what's actually happening.
A civil lawsuit is essentially an argument about money. The point is to try to make the wronged party whole by giving them money (or some representation thereof).
Lets get to the point...Elcomsoft may be wrong, but they aren't criminally wrong, and certainly decrypting a file format shouldn't be grounds to throw someone in jail, particularly since there are no claimed national defense arguments to hide behind.
People need to keep asking the question: Why has the FBI become the enforcement arm of the MPAA, RIAA, and the software industry?
"Copyright law's purpose is the protection of the content owner's wishes"
Actually it isn't. This is a major misunderstanding of copyrights and patents.
The founding fathers, by and large, weren't strong believers in copyrights. In England, they were previously used as a censorship device by the government to prohibit the publishing of unpopular literature. So you can understand the strong distrust of these devices.
Jefferson, in fact, was a strong opponent of copyrights. He felt that a copyright created essentially a false shortage and that any good would be overshadowed by the potential harm of these government granted monopolies. Still, he accepted a limited term for copyrights and patents (I wouldn't be surprised if Jefferson would be opposed to copyrights by corporations for that reason).
So the purpose of copyright isn't to allow the author the right to do anything he wants with his work. It is a bargain with the public. What the government is saying is "Look, we'll grant you a very limited exclusive right to profit from your work. In exchange, you have to agree to certain fundamental rights such as fair-use, and the understand that the person who buys that work has full control over the use and disposal of that work".
So please, don't blindly assume a copyright is a long-term way to ensure you have complete and exclusive control over your work, because that's not the intention of a copyright.
The fact that DMCA creates this from whole cloth doesn't make it right or moral.
The fact the FBI has now become the enforcement arm for unpopular software should be reason to give you pause.
I'm surprised more people don't talk about this aspect of DVDs. They're good, but they're not great.
While its certainly true that DVDs are sharper and are an improvement over VHS tapes, many of the DVDs I've watched have a set of flaws that become distracting once you're made aware of them.
Of course, the fact that most people find video recorded on SLP VHS acceptable gives you an idea that people are pretty forgiving of video flaws.
I fully realize this may have been put up as a troll, but I hear this enough in everyday life that I think this bears discussing again. The guys who wrote the US constituion were pretty clever. I think part of being clever is that your writing style is clear, and to the point. Legalese may impress some, but I always think its a way to cover up the fact that you can't express yourself very well.
Looking at the 1st amendment is says:
Congress shall make no law [...] prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech [...]
I've clipped just the mention of religion.
Note the language is unequivacal. It says "no law". Not "political speech is protected". It gives a blanket "no law".
In practice I realize this means that some laws do get passed restricting speech (the overworn example of shouting fire in a theater). But in all cases the law has to assume that speech is protected unless an overwhelming societal need exists to curtail that protection.
Protecting the MPAA would probably not fall under that burden.
I think as soon as the judge accepts DeCSS is equal to speech, he almost has to rule in favor of 2600. I think the questions from the judge show the thinking in this respect. They're looking for a good reason to call it speech.
I think its inevitable that OS X will run on Intel. The PowerPC chips apple is selling these days are getting dangerously underpowered compared with the AMD/Intel rivalry.
I think Apple will go X86. That doesn't mean they'll use white box PCs to run; but I don't see the advantage apple has right now using PPC chips.
I think you've missed an important part about wireless versus "standard" phones. A standard phone costs about $20/month, unlimited calls, with consistent quality.
On the other hand, a wireless (cellular) phone will cost significantly more for unlimited time, and in metropolitan areas there are significant under-capacity issues, particularly at rush hour and during any type of traffic emergency.
When was the last time a land-line call just "dropped" for no reason? And yet we accept that as the norm for cellular calls.
In a nutshell, cellular is still expensive and unreliable compared to more traditional phones. Cellular phone will continue to get better, and hopefully the price will drop.
"But if I hire a junk employee"
To equate people with cars is a mistake, but I don't think that's where you make your big mistake.
The problem with your approach is that this "junk employee" as you call him (or her) needs to find a job somewhere. Should people be condemned to a life of minimum wage jobs because of poor genetics?
Does this junk person sit around all day and collect public monies until they die? Who pays for that?
Further, who decides they're junk? Companies will screen for a disposition to be obese, addiction, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancers of all types, baldness, and stuff that you or I can't imagine.
Based on your premise, you could screen based on race and/or skin color, since every ethnic group has a disposition towards some types of medical conditions.
I think you look for a person's ability, attitude and willingness to do the job should be first and foremost.
So don't install MS's player.
Their player has never been particularly friendly to use, and I noticed in Windows ME, the player had the Digital Rights Management built in.
So I just don't use it on my PC. I use 3rd party players for video and audio.
That's the thing about MS's OS. They're so pervasive that people are always hacking the heck out of them.
And while I use OS X and Linux on a daily basis, I really like Win2K.
Based on what I've read about XP, I might only install it under Virtual PC on my Mac.
"Basically, you place a reflective dot on your forehead "
I want to see how the marketing people deal with this little issue.