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User: grimw

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  1. Re: When AIs write code on Does the Rise of AI Precede the End of Code? (itproportal.com) · · Score: 1

    There's a real disconnect between the marketing you have heard about ANNs and what they actually do. In fact, the top researchers no longer make the inaccurate comparison to "it's like a brain". What ANNs are are great pattern marchers, but they need supervision (I.e. pre-labeled inputs, by humans or a program human wrote) to learn how recognize those patterns. Then, on top of that, the human has to iterate a set of ANN models multiple times to find the best settings for the best recognition. However, this only works well for the given problem. Once the parameters (e.g. data distribution) changes, the ANN needs retrained or rebuilt. Also, training and prediction are two distinct steps. And while genetic algorithms and things like that can help figure out the best turnings, a good bit of human "art" goes into this task. That's because humans actually have creative thinking. Machines do not. The "creative" things that companies and individuals come up with are just pattern recognizes or evolutionary algorithms or fractal designers, or the like. They're important and worthy of doing real work, but they're not even close to being creative or taking over anything except SPECIFIC tasks that would bore a human anyway and let the human concentrate on more important goals. All of this is true no matter if you had limitless computing power available. Now, it's not to say we won't create a real AI, but right now, none of our tech gets near this. And also, human-level intelligence is actually a good proxy for many natural tasks, since we are probably close to the Bayes optimal error for many of these tasks, especially in the visual arena. Although, computers can be better at different kinds of tasks, but they're not currently creative and able to take your job, unless they are trained for a very specific task, in which case you can learn a different task, hopefully.

  2. No to Proposition Black Links on Google Testing a Radical Change By Turning People's Search Results Black (telegraph.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    I hated it so much I stopped using Google and moved to duckduckgo. I hope they record the fact I stopped using Google after using it all the time for years and change me back.

  3. Enforcement on Steve Jobs Weighs In On iPhone Programming Language Mandate · · Score: 1

    I can only assume that the .NET and Adobe compilers generate code that uses the Objective-C libraries. Considering Apple only checks that you're using the public frameworks, what is the big deal? It's not like they're going to be able to prove you were using something other than Objective-C. I do know the .NET framework takes up a ridiculous 9+MB of space for even a hello world app, and I'm not opposed to getting rid of that crap. Besides, the apps that take real advantage of the phone are going to be written in the native language anyway, purely so they can keep up with the feature set released by Apple.

  4. Visual Basic on Designing the Computer UIs In Movies · · Score: 1

    I'll create a GUI interface in Visual Basic to track his IP address!

  5. LOL on Bono Hopes Content Tracking Will Help Media Moguls · · Score: 1

    Bono, LOL! You're the biggest piece of shit.

  6. Re:Wrong on all accounts on Myths About Code Comments · · Score: 1

    I should say that one area where we do keep updated documents are outside the code. They're in the form of requirements documents and high-level component overviews with the general idea behind them. This has always been enough for my colleagues and me to get a good grasp of what the code is doing when we encounter it. Still... we don't comment the code itself.

  7. Re:Wrong on all accounts on Myths About Code Comments · · Score: 1

    You really have all that experience and need all that commenting? I think you need to check your experience at the door. Hell, I've got "two years real world experience outside school", and no one comments their code where I work, including me. I would hardly call them unprofessional or bad programmers, even if occasional things do pop up that seem, and may be, retarded, because it's almost always a big waste of time. After looking at code like that for over two years, across several projects in several languages, I can say it's not as hard to read uncommented code as you make it out to be. In fact, I often skip reading comments for the sheer fact that they're usually incorrect because they're either not maintained as the code is updated or were always wrong.

    Except for some extremely obscure pieces of code, generally revolving around optimizations, architecture-specific workarounds, compiler-bug workarounds, etc., have I ever found comments to be useful outside of documenting an API. In point of fact, there will never be a comment stating more correctly what the code is doing than the code itself.

    As one caveat, I've seen good use of comments in ASM. However, with the ability to use more advanced assembler features in GCC or LLVM these days, you can put pretty sophisticated names on your code-flow elements and not require nearly as many comments as in the past. And with being able to inline ASM into code for those cases you need it, you can even use sophisticated meta-names for your registers that are obvious to the reader. Also, being the fact that the only person that work on an optimized piece of code would be someone that already knows that architecture's ASM or can learn what they need, you can rest assured that they'll have all the tools necessary to read and modify your code.

  8. Re:One person's myth is another person's fact. on Myths About Code Comments · · Score: 1

    I have, and then, after getting more experience, I've decided it's best not to fix code that's not broken (i.e. is not optimal or does not have any major anti-pattern in it). Besides, as you gain more experience, you will be able just to read your own code and figure out why you did something a particular way. If you really did have an obscure reason for why something was done a particular way, put a very brief comment, but don't make a drawn-out explanation that is boring and difficult to maintain as the code is updated, because a comment is worse than no comment if it's an incorrect comment.

  9. Re:Yes on Netflix Sued For Privacy Invasion · · Score: 1

    I was in Edwardsville, IL during the '06 tornado. I was in my ex-girlfriend's apartment at that time.

    Never been to or heard of Felber's. I do love The Magic Kitchen though. I haven't been able to find any place quite like it, even here in NY.

  10. Re:What? No Due Process? on Texas County Will Use Twitter To Publish Drunk Drivers' Names · · Score: 1

    1. Your grammatical errors make it appear like YOU'VE been drinking too much! Try not to hit the bottle so hard.
    2. You are not legally required to blow into anything. It's called the 5th amendment; look it up.
    3. I wouldn't demand a blood test either (see 5th amendment (look it up)). However, if forced to take one, I really have no choice at that point, but it would only help my case in court if I didn't give up my 5th amendment right (look it up).

    Thank you.

  11. Re:Anyone else read that as on The Chinese Route To a Web Free of Porn · · Score: 1

    I definitely did read it like that. I was like, "Wow, the Chinese are pulling a 180!" Then I read the summary and got a little confused.

  12. Re:Yes on Netflix Sued For Privacy Invasion · · Score: 1

    Sweet, someone referenced my home town! And yes, the Simpsons are from there. P.S. Don't go to the neighborhood where the Simpsons live (Evergreen Terrace) if you want to live very long. P.P.S. It says they liev in Evergreen Terrace at the beginning of the show when they pan out of the their neighborhood, away from the sign.

  13. Re:Understandable on Google Apologizes For "Michelle Obama" Results · · Score: 1

    Since you're not a total moron, presumably you can tell me whether Google has just accept that they can - and therefore should - remove links to anything libellous, regardless of whether the subject has complained to them or not?

    Just so you stop making things up that are completely untrue, I want to inform you about an image like this: it is parody and not libel. Parodies are a well-established form of protected first amendment speech. If you think Michelle Obama really is a monkey because of something like this (which would be libel), you really are stupid. Fortunately, the courts are not.

  14. Re:Wow on Verizon Doubles Early Termination Fee and More · · Score: 1

    The GP can also purchase the Nokia N900 (available tomorrow in flagship stores; available online for preorder today). It follows the European model you mention and is an awesome phone. I don't know if the Milestone has tethering, but the N900 does and doesn't tell your cell provider that you're tethering. The N900's 3G will only work on T-Mobile towers, unless you're living in an area where AT&T has some 2100 MHz towers. The N900's EDGE connection will work on both T-Mobile and AT&T though.

    Only thing the N900 lacks, software-wise, is Android. In it's place it has Maemo, which looks amazing, but let's face it, we also want Android. I can't wait for someone to port it; maybe I'll look into trying it. The other thing I wish Nokia had done better with the hardware are the frequencies it can handle. I would absolutely love a phone I could setup to work on any of the US carriers with full bandwidth, but I'm willing to accept T-Mobile over AT&T any day right now.

  15. I love Optimum Online Ultra. Cablevision is a company that "gets it." http://www.speedtest.net/result/612762349.png

  16. Recycling Bin on Installing Linux On Old Hardware? · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Take it to your local recycling bin and just forget about this piece of garbage. Really, buy something better and more power efficient. I recommend a Sheevaplug if you want to keep price low, power consumption low, and get a lot better system in general.

  17. Re:Right balance? What .uk has on ICANN Studies Secretive Domain Owners · · Score: 1

    What if I'm a trading individual? I'm not giving my details to anyone but the person I'm doing business with. Get over it.

  18. Re:Yes! on "Right To Repair" Bill Advances In Massachusetts · · Score: 1

    That is fantastic news. I signed the petition and got a friend to do the same. I hope the FTC considers our input and bans DRM especially.

  19. Re:Desktop multitouch: a tool looking for a purpos on Windows 7 Touch, Dead On Arrival · · Score: 1

    How about taking notes and having the computer later "textify" your hand-written outline via OCR? I would love that! Depending on the price, if it had a high-precision touchscreen, I'd ditch paper for most things and move to that! If the interfaces are designed correctly, it should be pretty functional for a bit more than just note-taking even. Think of all the media you could get on your system: education material, movies, songs, etc. That would just be fantastic! I'd use it as I go back to school part-time next semester.

  20. Re:its not about money on Go For a Masters, Or Not? · · Score: 1

    By that logic, I could've just foregone a college degree in general and just relied on a HS diploma; after all, I could've been making cash at some low-level software job for 4 years! Except, in CS positions I've seen, a MS makes quite a bit of difference in the opportunities and pay presented to you.

  21. Re:Wow, did anyone RTFB? on Goldman Sachs Tries To Shut Down Dissident Blogger · · Score: 1

    Of course there's a limit to how much he can lose. He can't lose any more cash than he decided to short, multiplied by how much he leveraged. If he decides not to put in more money when his brokerage asks for more money, they will just sell his shares and collect the cash.

  22. Fluff Articles? on How To Build an Openfire Chat Server On Debian 5 · · Score: 1

    Something this basic requires a posting on the front of Slashdot? Great choice, kdawson!

    I'll be sure to try and get my article about setting Openfire up on FreeBSD here soon..........

  23. Re:Should have used PHP. on Twitter On Scala · · Score: 1

    Oh, I know a lot about ORMs. You just seem a little angry that people don't agree with your views on them. You calling me inexperienced demonstrates this when, in fact, the contrary about me is true.

    Also, they put the ability to write your own code in there for a reason. Reasons like I discussed in the GP. I'll bet that between your code and mine, people will pick up and learn my code faster than your convoluted object model ;-).

    Peace.

  24. Re:Should have used PHP. on Twitter On Scala · · Score: 1

    I'd guess they compare RoR to PHP because that's the only "compelling" tool in Ruby to use for web development. At least, it's the most well-known one, meaning it's better for production environments, because it will be more stable and have more developer mindshare than X framework in Ruby.

    So, I think the real debate is over whether to do things in PHP, where mindshare is massive and there is no ORM (which I think is great... though maybe a PHP ORM does exist) or whether to do things in Ruby+RoR, where mindshare is much smaller and ORMs are in play (you already know my personal opinion about this).

  25. Re:Should have used PHP. on Twitter On Scala · · Score: 1

    Any RoR developer I've ever talked to was just into it because it was "hip". That's fine and all for toy projects, as I've used that excuse in the past, but it's not an appropriate reason for choosing production-level languages. For that, you just have to sit down and hammer out the details of what the tools/languages are going to offer you or prevent you from doing (easily).

    My comments aren't to say that RoR doesn't have benefits that actually make it useful. In fact, that'd be difficult for me to say either way, because I have not used it.

    I do know that, in general, ORMs are slow, difficult, and language/library-specific when compared to some more general DB access libraries out there. Really, it doesn't take a lot of code to setup an object that can use a DB in an optimized fashion if you just write that code yourself, and it'll be a lot clearer without all the "magic objects" floating around.

    For examples of slow code, try writing Hibernate apps in Java that must use saveOrUpdate() when you could easily write some more explicit code to do any pre-caching for you. Same principle will apply to other ORMs.