I wouldn't be at all surprised if quite a few Kickstarter projects are actually using it as part of their funding, not all of it. It's a lot easier to get backing from a bank if you can go to them and say "we already have £x and n guaranteed customers".
In the case of Neal Stephenson, he and his existing team have already done the initial prototyping and development. What they're funding for is the expansion of the team, continued development, and creation of a final product.
Microsoft bends over backwards to make sure software written for old versions of Windows continues to work. That's why the WinMain() entry point in the Win32 API still takes a HINSTANCE parameter called hPrevious that's always NULL - it's a vestige of the last 16-bit version of Windows.
They even persist internal API functions when they're no longer needed: because external developers used them, even though they're undocumented internal functions. OK so in some cases they renamed them to things like "BOZOLIVESHERE", although under the circumstances I think that's entirely fair. (Also a vestige of 16-bit Windows, where all functions had to be exported).
The only time they break things is when they miss something or when they absolutely have to, because continuing to try and support the old software is the worse alternative of continuing to support it or break it (16-bit software won't run on 64-bit Windows, for example - it will run on 32-bit Windows).
I can run Visual Basic 6 on my 64-bit Windows 7 install without any problems...
The only reason I have to do so is because we have a bunch of production tools at work written in VB6, half of which I appear to have become the other person who can maintain them when the person who wrote them is away (not because I could code VB6 - I'd never picked it up until I started my current job - but because I understand the thing it's producing data for).
I just wish he wouldn't use VB6 for something new he created in the last year or so. That and I wish he'd actually keep his code in revision control, and not scattered over his workstations' hard disks.
I don't listen to music because it helps me concentrate because of being music, I listen to music because it helps me block out all the other noise which stops me from concentrating.
At work I'm stuck in the same office as 9 sales/account managers. When they're all in the office, it's distracting. Their job - when in the office - is basically to be on the phone all day and talk to their clients. Their manager's job is to talk to them when they're not on the phone and to talk to the overseas people...
Plus we have the two developers who share a common native language - when they're discussing something complicated they often switch to it, and their volume increases when they do (it's one of the excitable romance languages).
I find it extremely hard to block out people talking, music is easy to ignore - I've listened to most of my music countless times, it just becomes a single source of background noise I can ignore.
It's lovely when the people who talk are all out of the office, it just becomes quiet and you can concentrate more easily.
Although I'm not sure which bit is more amusing, the idea of a federation of anarchists or the line "no word on whether anyone noticed the difference between an anarchist attack and a normal Wednesday on the UK's railways". The answer to the rhetorical question is alsmost certainly "no".
Because it lets you prepare all the updates you need before you start, so you can run them in straight away after you're done, without needing to connect it to a network. It's also useful if you're doing more than one machine, because you only download it all once.
That's what I end up doing when a manufacturer doesn't supply the "driver only" download option. Unpack the massive installer and just look for the driver portion, which is almost always in a format you can just point Windows itself at and say "install driver from this directory".
They were using a combination of GPS and CCTV. For the Olympics the system is automated, afaik - I'm fairly sure the ability is already there for emergency vehicles to use anyway, so they're probably just giving official Olympic vehicles the same doobie they have.
I wish I didn't work in London. When the games are on we'll have moved office to North London and I'll need to go to Stratford to change trains. It is going to suck.
You know how to make me feel encouraged or valued? Just acknowledge what I'm doing from time to time. Say "thank you" or even just comment on the fact that I did some work over the weekend.
Where I work this actually happens, and it sure as hell means more to me than some fucking gold star or my name on a board. I hate attention being drawn to me publicly, I much prefer private acknowledgement. The letter I got from HR noting my contributions to a specific project along with telling me I had a £2k pay rise effective immediately? Also nice.
An amateur is just someone who doesn't do it for a living, it has nothing to do with competency or ability. The world is full of amateurs who are as good as, if not better than, people who claim the appellation of professional.
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And yet quite a few would make their way back to the UK, despite the penalty for returning being the gallows...
If you're actually any good at it, possibly.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if quite a few Kickstarter projects are actually using it as part of their funding, not all of it. It's a lot easier to get backing from a bank if you can go to them and say "we already have £x and n guaranteed customers".
In the case of Neal Stephenson, he and his existing team have already done the initial prototyping and development. What they're funding for is the expansion of the team, continued development, and creation of a final product.
Microsoft bends over backwards to make sure software written for old versions of Windows continues to work. That's why the WinMain() entry point in the Win32 API still takes a HINSTANCE parameter called hPrevious that's always NULL - it's a vestige of the last 16-bit version of Windows.
They even persist internal API functions when they're no longer needed: because external developers used them, even though they're undocumented internal functions. OK so in some cases they renamed them to things like "BOZOLIVESHERE", although under the circumstances I think that's entirely fair. (Also a vestige of 16-bit Windows, where all functions had to be exported).
The only time they break things is when they miss something or when they absolutely have to, because continuing to try and support the old software is the worse alternative of continuing to support it or break it (16-bit software won't run on 64-bit Windows, for example - it will run on 32-bit Windows).
I can run Visual Basic 6 on my 64-bit Windows 7 install without any problems...
The only reason I have to do so is because we have a bunch of production tools at work written in VB6, half of which I appear to have become the other person who can maintain them when the person who wrote them is away (not because I could code VB6 - I'd never picked it up until I started my current job - but because I understand the thing it's producing data for).
I just wish he wouldn't use VB6 for something new he created in the last year or so. That and I wish he'd actually keep his code in revision control, and not scattered over his workstations' hard disks.
And I'll point you at the Clean Air Act (1956). Because, you know, we realized things were wrong and did something about it.
I don't listen to music because it helps me concentrate because of being music, I listen to music because it helps me block out all the other noise which stops me from concentrating.
At work I'm stuck in the same office as 9 sales/account managers. When they're all in the office, it's distracting. Their job - when in the office - is basically to be on the phone all day and talk to their clients. Their manager's job is to talk to them when they're not on the phone and to talk to the overseas people...
Plus we have the two developers who share a common native language - when they're discussing something complicated they often switch to it, and their volume increases when they do (it's one of the excitable romance languages).
I find it extremely hard to block out people talking, music is easy to ignore - I've listened to most of my music countless times, it just becomes a single source of background noise I can ignore.
It's lovely when the people who talk are all out of the office, it just becomes quiet and you can concentrate more easily.
Although I'm not sure which bit is more amusing, the idea of a federation of anarchists or the line "no word on whether anyone noticed the difference between an anarchist attack and a normal Wednesday on the UK's railways". The answer to the rhetorical question is alsmost certainly "no".
He'd been going out with her since they were at Harvard together.
Because it lets you prepare all the updates you need before you start, so you can run them in straight away after you're done, without needing to connect it to a network. It's also useful if you're doing more than one machine, because you only download it all once.
That's what I end up doing when a manufacturer doesn't supply the "driver only" download option. Unpack the massive installer and just look for the driver portion, which is almost always in a format you can just point Windows itself at and say "install driver from this directory".
They were using a combination of GPS and CCTV. For the Olympics the system is automated, afaik - I'm fairly sure the ability is already there for emergency vehicles to use anyway, so they're probably just giving official Olympic vehicles the same doobie they have.
You can already pay to drive over the limit, it's called a fine :)
I wish I didn't work in London. When the games are on we'll have moved office to North London and I'll need to go to Stratford to change trains. It is going to suck.
Yeah, and stop sending all your ex-Neighbours and Home & Away actors to the UK as well :P
Except Kylie.
You know how to make me feel encouraged or valued? Just acknowledge what I'm doing from time to time. Say "thank you" or even just comment on the fact that I did some work over the weekend.
Where I work this actually happens, and it sure as hell means more to me than some fucking gold star or my name on a board. I hate attention being drawn to me publicly, I much prefer private acknowledgement. The letter I got from HR noting my contributions to a specific project along with telling me I had a £2k pay rise effective immediately? Also nice.
Some of us still think of it as Freshmeat, even if it changed its name. I still refer to Starburst as Opal Fruits, because I'm old.
I refer you to the concept of "Pardoner" in the mediaeval RC church.
Meh, most MIT side projects are hardly ground breaking, it doesn't stop them being interesting. The LED dance floor one group did was my favourite.
(Also, I quibble about the requirement "without permission". You can hack something with or without permission.)
I don't think anyone who had anything to do with the design or build of the Titanic said it was unsinkable - that was the press.
It should be noted the sister ship RMS Olympic survived until 1935 - 24 years at sea. RMS Britannic was sunk in 1916 by a German mine.
The Royal Navy frequently has a clue, the MOD and government in general, does not.
If they turn out to be in good enough condition to be made flyable I will squee, a lot.
An amateur is just someone who doesn't do it for a living, it has nothing to do with competency or ability. The world is full of amateurs who are as good as, if not better than, people who claim the appellation of professional.
You're also a lot younger than them - experience tends to result in greater pay.
an? a. Note to self: actually read the preview.