The biggest problem with the Agenda is the handwriting recognition. It is completely unusable as is.
Some developers are toying with different HWR systems. Unfortunately, the existing HWR is hard-wired into the X server, and the source for the X server is not available, so no one can hack on it.
So, if you're willing to telnet to your PDA to get real work done, then it's great. But if you actually want a portable device that can take text input, they've got a ways to go.
I'd really like to moderate this up, as it's the nicest rant-counterrant exchange I've ever seen on/. Kudos to both of you. It's too bad that more posters don't act like this.
Everyone knows that the team with the most money is going to win the World Series. I don't see why anyone can be excited about MLB. It's as rigged as wrestling.
I've thought about doing something like this myself. I was looking for something like this around Christmas. In addition to wedding gifts, it would be useful for all sort of other gift-giving occasions (baby showers, birthdays, housewarming, etc.).
I don't think it's overkill. It would be useful for every family to have its own little wishlist management facility.
All the developers who contributed code "FOR FREE" did so knowing that they wouldn't get paid. If you want to get paid, don't release your code for free.
Libranet is charging for the work they've done in putting together the distribution and in providing a download site. $15 is pretty reasonable. If they were charging for all the software on the CD's, $1500 would be pretty reasonable.
"computers are the only consumer product that actually provides an interface that allows anyone (and I mean "anyone") to make a device that plugs into it"
Counterexamples:
telephones, answering machines, etc.
stereo components
television and cable, VCR, DVD player, video game consoles, WebTV
MIDI devices
If my Sony Playstation were incompatible with my Magnavox television, I'd consider that a defect.
The counter-argument to this is that there are people who want offspring but can't procreate in the normal way. A clone gives these people the chance to have a "child" who is related genetically. Procreation is generally considered to be a basic human right. Cloning allows people to exercise that right, much like in-vitro fertilization and other advanced reproductive techniques.
Of course, this is BS. A clone is not really "offspring" of the clonee. Instead, a clone is more like a twin sibling. Genetically, the parents of the clone are the parents of the clonee.
However, I don't think that overpopulation is really a valid point against cloning. Clones are, and always will be, much more difficult and expensive to produce than non-clones. People seem to have this notion that cloning somehow enables the creation of factories that just stamp out copy after copy of people at high speed. It doesn't. Clones still have to go through the normal gestation period, inside a human mother's womb.
This is good advice. However, it is not clear how big the scope of this research project is. If it's a relatively small project, requiring only one or two programmers, then it may not be worth the effort to hire a programming manager or for the scientists to take computer science courses.
If you need some tips on how to evaluate candidates for a programming position, here are some suggestions:
Look for variety of knowledge. Beware of anyone who knows only one programming language or who has used only one operating system. Good programmers tend to like to play with lots of different things. And anyone who thinks one-size-fits-all is clearly an idiot.
Look for some knowledge of assembly language. You don't necessarily need an expert, but if you need hardware hackers, then don't even consider anyone who claims "No one ever uses assembly language anymore".
Judge their communications skills. Ask them to go up to the whiteboard and explain how some system works. Describe a program you might want them to create, and ask them how they would implement it. If they use terms you don't understand, ask them to explain. You need to make sure that these people can communicate effectively with the non-techies. In addition to speech skills, try to evaluate written skills (maybe by exchanging e-mail, or with written essay questions).
If the candidate seems fanatical about any particular development tool or philosophy ("I only use free software!", "Everything must be object-oriented!", etc.), don't bother. There are projects where such devotion would be useful, but for a general-purpose jack-of-all-trades programmer, this would be a problem.
Ask them about what sort of methodology they use for analyzing requirements and creating designs for software. The details of the answer aren't necessarily important--but if they have no methodology whatsoever, that's a bad sign.
Show them your existing software, and ask how they might improve it. Give them the opportunity to really play with it. If they seem uninterested, or if they don't really explore the capabilities, take that as a warning sign.
Well, it's certainly not simple. Yes, it has a lot of macros. TAO is portable to a zillion different platforms, and those macros hide the differences between OS's, compilers, run-time libraries, etc.
I'm not sure what you mean by "no evidence of modular physical design". TAO is incredibly modular: practically any part of it can be replaced with a different implementation, and most parts have multiple implementations that you can choose from. The real problem is that the design is not documented in a manner that people outside the development team can understand.
The TAO team has been working to reduce the footprint, and to modularize the shared libraries so that you don't have to install the whole damn thing on every machine. The fact that it works on these phones indicates that it is already suitable for embedded environments, and it's going to get smaller.
Like most open-source projects, TAO's biggest failings are that it is under-documented, and doesn't have a simple "It works right out of the box" configuration.
In short, you're trying to find someone with talent, training, inclination to your topics and circumstances, and a lack of awareness of how much s/he could be making elsewhere.
As a mid-thirties geek, I'd say that reality isn't quite as bleak as that. My salary has doubled over the last couple of years, and I could probably make more, but I'd gladly take a pay cut to do work I found interesting. I think the same is true for a lot of the top-notch people I've worked with.
The best programmers are generally more interested in having "cool" work than in maximizing their incomes. As long as you pay them enough and keep them interested and happy, you'll keep them. But you'll lose them when the work becomes boring/tedious, if they have an opportunity to work on an even cooler project, or if you piss them off in some way. Good people generally know that they're good people, so they expect to be treated well.
The difference between talented programmers and untalented programmers is truly staggering, and it's not easy even for knowledgeable people to tell the difference during the recruiting process. You really have to work with someone for a few weeks to figure out if they know what they're doing. But it is fairly easy to judge the results: if their programs work, and they're enthusiastic about improving them, then they're good people. If their programs suck, and they get defensive when that fact is pointed out, then they should be let go.
The relationship of computer science to software engineering is like the relationship between mathematics and other engineering disciplines. An engineer needs a grounding in mathematics, and mathematicians can come up with stuff that is useful to engineers. But a mathematician is not an engineer, and vice versa.
Banging out code is not computer science. It's either "software engineering", or "hacking", depending upon how serious you are about it. Unfortunately, most universities don't have a software engineering degree, so people who want to write software get CS degrees instead.
IANAL implies "I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about". I'd like to see more comments on legal issues from people who do know what they're talking about.
Everyone should read the article. The summary posted here seems to indicate that Amazon has won and everyone else is apologizing and in full retreat. In reality, the article states that, while the novelty of the specifics of the patent can't be disputed, the patent's scope is very narrow and enforcement will be difficult.
My point was that using the last few days of Nasdaq closes as an indicator of the nation's economic strength is silly. I'm not saying that the economy is great, but let's focus on something more substantial that stock market indices.
It's unfortunate that no one is free to dispense any sort of useful legal information on Slashdot. Someone who is a lawyer won't do it for fear of being sued for malpractice, and someone who is not a lawyer will be shouted down if they try.
Lawyers have a monopoly on legal information, and have set up all sorts of "ethics rules" and other mechanisms to keep any lawyers from breaking free of the cartel.
Imagine what the free software community would be like if every newbie question ("How do I compile the kernel?") as answered with "Well, I don't know enough about your sufficient situation to offer technical advice. I suggest you hire a $120/hour consultant to solve your problem. Ignore any advice you hear to the contrary."
It's too bad we don't have a GPL-like agreement for free legal advice. Something like "This information is provided to all who want it, but the author cannot be held liable for its correctness or for any consequences of anyone acting upon it. Anyone is free to amend or comment on this information as they see fit."
This is silly. If you listed every version of every Linux distro (including the embedded ones), along with every patch, you'd get a heck of a lot more than 20 entries.
And even so, with all these "Windows distributions", there is one vendor, and one place to go for tech support.
The sad thing is that I'm sure many of those laid-off workers were busting their butts all weekend (can anyone say "unpaid overtime"), just to get axed today after their successful distribution of the product.
Not that I feel too sorry for them. Anyone who agrees to work for a company that has such an obviously unrealistic business plan deserves what they get.
USB and Springboard would be enough for me to choose the Edge over a Palm. USB syncs much faster. And the Springboard Backup Module is something I wouldn't want to give up.
Slashdot Mirror
Some developers are toying with different HWR systems. Unfortunately, the existing HWR is hard-wired into the X server, and the source for the X server is not available, so no one can hack on it.
So, if you're willing to telnet to your PDA to get real work done, then it's great. But if you actually want a portable device that can take text input, they've got a ways to go.
I'd really like to moderate this up, as it's the nicest rant-counterrant exchange I've ever seen on /. Kudos to both of you. It's too bad that more posters don't act like this.
Everyone knows that the team with the most money is going to win the World Series. I don't see why anyone can be excited about MLB. It's as rigged as wrestling.
I don't think it's overkill. It would be useful for every family to have its own little wishlist management facility.
Libranet is charging for the work they've done in putting together the distribution and in providing a download site. $15 is pretty reasonable. If they were charging for all the software on the CD's, $1500 would be pretty reasonable.
Counterexamples:
- telephones, answering machines, etc.
- stereo components
- television and cable, VCR, DVD player, video game consoles, WebTV
- MIDI devices
If my Sony Playstation were incompatible with my Magnavox television, I'd consider that a defect.Of course, this is BS. A clone is not really "offspring" of the clonee. Instead, a clone is more like a twin sibling. Genetically, the parents of the clone are the parents of the clonee.
However, I don't think that overpopulation is really a valid point against cloning. Clones are, and always will be, much more difficult and expensive to produce than non-clones. People seem to have this notion that cloning somehow enables the creation of factories that just stamp out copy after copy of people at high speed. It doesn't. Clones still have to go through the normal gestation period, inside a human mother's womb.
If you need some tips on how to evaluate candidates for a programming position, here are some suggestions:
True. Remember that a recruiter's goal is to get candidates placed. Finding the best candidate for a particular job is not the goal.
I'm not sure what you mean by "no evidence of modular physical design". TAO is incredibly modular: practically any part of it can be replaced with a different implementation, and most parts have multiple implementations that you can choose from. The real problem is that the design is not documented in a manner that people outside the development team can understand.
The TAO team has been working to reduce the footprint, and to modularize the shared libraries so that you don't have to install the whole damn thing on every machine. The fact that it works on these phones indicates that it is already suitable for embedded environments, and it's going to get smaller.
Like most open-source projects, TAO's biggest failings are that it is under-documented, and doesn't have a simple "It works right out of the box" configuration.
As a mid-thirties geek, I'd say that reality isn't quite as bleak as that. My salary has doubled over the last couple of years, and I could probably make more, but I'd gladly take a pay cut to do work I found interesting. I think the same is true for a lot of the top-notch people I've worked with.
The best programmers are generally more interested in having "cool" work than in maximizing their incomes. As long as you pay them enough and keep them interested and happy, you'll keep them. But you'll lose them when the work becomes boring/tedious, if they have an opportunity to work on an even cooler project, or if you piss them off in some way. Good people generally know that they're good people, so they expect to be treated well.
The difference between talented programmers and untalented programmers is truly staggering, and it's not easy even for knowledgeable people to tell the difference during the recruiting process. You really have to work with someone for a few weeks to figure out if they know what they're doing. But it is fairly easy to judge the results: if their programs work, and they're enthusiastic about improving them, then they're good people. If their programs suck, and they get defensive when that fact is pointed out, then they should be let go.
BTW, the TAO CORBA ORB is open-source. And is way cool...
Banging out code is not computer science. It's either "software engineering", or "hacking", depending upon how serious you are about it. Unfortunately, most universities don't have a software engineering degree, so people who want to write software get CS degrees instead.
IANAL implies "I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about". I'd like to see more comments on legal issues from people who do know what they're talking about.
Everyone should read the article. The summary posted here seems to indicate that Amazon has won and everyone else is apologizing and in full retreat. In reality, the article states that, while the novelty of the specifics of the patent can't be disputed, the patent's scope is very narrow and enforcement will be difficult.
Eighth grade is high school in some school districts. (It was for me.)
My point was that using the last few days of Nasdaq closes as an indicator of the nation's economic strength is silly. I'm not saying that the economy is great, but let's focus on something more substantial that stock market indices.
Lamentation that /. isn't as good as it used to be.
In my world, no. But in the world where too many operating system variants is considered to be a problem, yes.
Lawyers have a monopoly on legal information, and have set up all sorts of "ethics rules" and other mechanisms to keep any lawyers from breaking free of the cartel.
Imagine what the free software community would be like if every newbie question ("How do I compile the kernel?") as answered with "Well, I don't know enough about your sufficient situation to offer technical advice. I suggest you hire a $120/hour consultant to solve your problem. Ignore any advice you hear to the contrary."
It's too bad we don't have a GPL-like agreement for free legal advice. Something like "This information is provided to all who want it, but the author cannot be held liable for its correctness or for any consequences of anyone acting upon it. Anyone is free to amend or comment on this information as they see fit."
And even so, with all these "Windows distributions", there is one vendor, and one place to go for tech support.
Refutation of angry denial. Revelation of inconsistency in angry denial. Setup for attempt at witty attack on poster. Punchline.
Oh, but the Nasdaq went up almost 5% today, so I guess the economy is bouncing back!
Not that I feel too sorry for them. Anyone who agrees to work for a company that has such an obviously unrealistic business plan deserves what they get.
USB and Springboard would be enough for me to choose the Edge over a Palm. USB syncs much faster. And the Springboard Backup Module is something I wouldn't want to give up.