Every Web company's marketing department gets their software team to include these on their sites. They only too happily send your info to Facebook, Google, and others. Every click, every page load.
Clocks that rely on AC power frequency have always been inaccurate. That fact annoyed me since I was a kid, and I always opted for quartz clocks for that reason. According to these test results, AC power in the US can drift from 30-70 seconds per typical day. This is in keeping with my own experience.
Those companies that were "successful" at manufacturing AC-driven clocks were successful because there was no better option at the time, or people didn't care enough about time precision. AC has never been a great way to keep time.
Interesting. I don't think this is the case in the US. The main purpose for synchronization is to ensure that various generators on the grid are in sync with each other, not for timekeeping per se.
Even though it's a documented feature, as you say, the primary purpose of the grid is not timekeeping. Timekeeping is still a secondary feature. If that secondary feature is not implemented correctly or is not achieved through errors, you're certainly not getting your money back!
I didn't say anything about chips. Gadgets, including clocks, have had "bugs" long before anyone started creating computer chips.
Electric clocks synchronize their motors to AC power through electromechanical means. Thus, they rely on a side effect of AC power, that is, that it is usually stable enough to allow for crude timekeeping.
In software, good programmers learn not to rely on undocumented side effects, because they can change with time and cause strange bugs.
The ability to build a timekeeping device based on AC oscillation is like an undocumented side effect. The grid wasn't built for keeping time. It just (usually) happens to do so.
If you want accurate timekeeping, use a method that is designed specifically for the purpose, like quartz crystals.
Amazon is not Bell. Yes, Amazon is powerful, but there are still many, many competitors online who also sell products, including Nest, both online and off. walmart.com, homedepot.com, lowes.com are just three.
By contrast, at the height of AT&T, you couldn't get phone service from anyone else, even if you wanted to.
Yes, Amazon has a certain stranglehold on a segment of the population, people who won't buy a product if it's not on Amazon. Sounds a lot like Apple fans, doesn't it! But nobody is calling for Apple to be broken up.
Many CEOs are just technical enough to be dangerous. Never give your CEO: - Direct access to your database server - Administrator passwords of any kind, even to their own laptop - Access to server rooms - PRIVATE KEYS!
You CAN give a CEO a MacBook Air. They'll be happy with the sleek design, and they won't be able to do much damage, since not a lot of "work" software actually runs on it.
There is something to your argument, but it's not the whole picture. My $200 Moto G has 32GB of onboard flash memory, and still has an SD slot. I never even get close to using all of my storage.
There doesn't seem to be a straight line of cost vs. quality in phones. My theory is that the big names charge what they do because they can, not because they have to.
Ironically, it's the less expensive phones that are NOT getting rid of useful features like SD slot, headphone jack, and user replaceable batteries. It's just the top-of-the-line phones that ditched these features.
Are you a worse plumber if you don't have to make your own pipes? Are you a worse carpenter if you don't have to cut down your own trees? Your local mechanic may not know the basics of metallurgy, but they can still fix your car. That's the point. These days, you can focus more on the task at hand, instead of having to first build your own tools. And you might not know the details of the LZW compression algorithm, but you can still write good software that makes use of a Zip library.
In fact, I would argue that software is better overall when you don't have to build your own basic tools. Although I could implement LZW, I don't think I'd be able to devote as much time and energy into that component as the developers of a dedicated library would, so mine is going to be worse.
Yes, we do have Web developers who don't know what they are doing. But those guys would be completely lost in a world where they have to create their own input field. That doesn't argue that programming is harder these days, but easier, because even a DIY hobby programmer can make something that actually works, even if it has annoying quirks. On the Commodore 64 days...forget about it.
Your Commodore 64 example doesn't show that it was easier back then, it only illustrates that there weren't any "users" back then. If you wanted to use a computer, you had to become a programmer.
In those days,it took a lot more effort to create anything useful. There were no libraries to do things like Zip/Unzip files, perform encryption, display windows, use fonts, establish an Internet connection, send an email. You had to write all this stuff yourself if you wanted it.
These days, the typical user doesn't know how to program. In those days, such people simply didn't use computers.
Using computers, and programming, have both gotten much easier.
The whole point of Linux is to be _different_ from Windows, to be free and open source. The main point of Linux is NOT to be user friendly to the point that your grandma can use it without help. Every tinkerer out there thinks they have a better idea how to do each and every task that a computer does. Grandma doesn't care about all that, she just wants something that you can click and go.
The design of Windows and OSX are controlled from the top. Linux is controlled from the bottom. This is why Windows and OSX are relatively coherent and user friendly--this is a major goal of both companies. User friendliness is not on the top of the list of Linux attributes.
So...we needed a study to prove that seeds are good for birds? I'm glad they figured this out. Now the birds can be a little less stressed about the dangers of eating coffee beans. But then, this might be offset by the caffeine jitters.
OK, I know C# isn't the most popular language on slashdot. But it is really popular with businesses. The fact that it's not even on the list makes me question the survey's methodology. Other surveys certainly include C#, such as http://www.codingdojo.com/blog....
Slashdot Mirror
The thing that has replaced cookies is the "tracking pixel." https://en.ryte.com/wiki/Track...
Every Web company's marketing department gets their software team to include these on their sites. They only too happily send your info to Facebook, Google, and others. Every click, every page load.
"Nobody does business there any more, it's always too crowded."
Clocks that rely on AC power frequency have always been inaccurate. That fact annoyed me since I was a kid, and I always opted for quartz clocks for that reason. According to these test results, AC power in the US can drift from 30-70 seconds per typical day. This is in keeping with my own experience.
Those companies that were "successful" at manufacturing AC-driven clocks were successful because there was no better option at the time, or people didn't care enough about time precision. AC has never been a great way to keep time.
Interesting. I don't think this is the case in the US. The main purpose for synchronization is to ensure that various generators on the grid are in sync with each other, not for timekeeping per se.
Even though it's a documented feature, as you say, the primary purpose of the grid is not timekeeping. Timekeeping is still a secondary feature. If that secondary feature is not implemented correctly or is not achieved through errors, you're certainly not getting your money back!
I didn't say anything about chips. Gadgets, including clocks, have had "bugs" long before anyone started creating computer chips.
Electric clocks synchronize their motors to AC power through electromechanical means. Thus, they rely on a side effect of AC power, that is, that it is usually stable enough to allow for crude timekeeping.
In software, good programmers learn not to rely on undocumented side effects, because they can change with time and cause strange bugs.
The ability to build a timekeeping device based on AC oscillation is like an undocumented side effect. The grid wasn't built for keeping time. It just (usually) happens to do so.
If you want accurate timekeeping, use a method that is designed specifically for the purpose, like quartz crystals.
You're right about different audiences! One audience is willing to pay for beauty, the other is willing to pay for raw power.
You can pay $1,000 for Apple's bottom-of-the-line MacBook Air, or for just $150 more, you can get an Alienware 13.
Besides being a beast of a (small) laptop, the Alienware...has a headphone jack! And an RJ45, 3 USB 3 ports (type A and C), Thunderbolt, and HDMI.
If I were to buy a small laptop for around $1,000, I know which one I'd pick!
You mean, like Apple products? Apple sells a brand name at an inflated price, when the customer just wants a good cell phone or computer that works.
I agree, inflating prices is an issue. But it doesn't give others the right to lie and pretend that their product is the same brand, when it isn't.
Amazon is not Bell. Yes, Amazon is powerful, but there are still many, many competitors online who also sell products, including Nest, both online and off. walmart.com, homedepot.com, lowes.com are just three.
By contrast, at the height of AT&T, you couldn't get phone service from anyone else, even if you wanted to.
Yes, Amazon has a certain stranglehold on a segment of the population, people who won't buy a product if it's not on Amazon. Sounds a lot like Apple fans, doesn't it! But nobody is calling for Apple to be broken up.
Many CEOs are just technical enough to be dangerous. Never give your CEO:
- Direct access to your database server
- Administrator passwords of any kind, even to their own laptop
- Access to server rooms
- PRIVATE KEYS!
You CAN give a CEO a MacBook Air. They'll be happy with the sleek design, and they won't be able to do much damage, since not a lot of "work" software actually runs on it.
Selling a hook is not the problem. Using someone else's brand name to do it...is.
For a second there, I thought you were talking about Apple!
There is something to your argument, but it's not the whole picture. My $200 Moto G has 32GB of onboard flash memory, and still has an SD slot. I never even get close to using all of my storage.
There doesn't seem to be a straight line of cost vs. quality in phones. My theory is that the big names charge what they do because they can, not because they have to.
Ironically, it's the less expensive phones that are NOT getting rid of useful features like SD slot, headphone jack, and user replaceable batteries. It's just the top-of-the-line phones that ditched these features.
We're a group of people who are trying to change the world for the better, that's who we are
Whole Foods is a group of people who are trying to change the world's food supply for the better.
Yes, that's all fine, but when you gouge people for your products in the process, it kind of takes the shine off your noble intentions.
Well, it's all the same anyway. What they don't advertise is that the oil that "backs" the currency is oil that's...still in the ground.
Are you a worse plumber if you don't have to make your own pipes? Are you a worse carpenter if you don't have to cut down your own trees? Your local mechanic may not know the basics of metallurgy, but they can still fix your car. That's the point. These days, you can focus more on the task at hand, instead of having to first build your own tools. And you might not know the details of the LZW compression algorithm, but you can still write good software that makes use of a Zip library.
In fact, I would argue that software is better overall when you don't have to build your own basic tools. Although I could implement LZW, I don't think I'd be able to devote as much time and energy into that component as the developers of a dedicated library would, so mine is going to be worse.
Yes, we do have Web developers who don't know what they are doing. But those guys would be completely lost in a world where they have to create their own input field. That doesn't argue that programming is harder these days, but easier, because even a DIY hobby programmer can make something that actually works, even if it has annoying quirks. On the Commodore 64 days...forget about it.
Because that "experienced" foreign worker is actually just a junior developer, whose level of experience is exaggerated by his outsourcing firm.
You get what you pay for.
So...take another college class or two, then you qualify as a student.
Your Commodore 64 example doesn't show that it was easier back then, it only illustrates that there weren't any "users" back then. If you wanted to use a computer, you had to become a programmer.
In those days,it took a lot more effort to create anything useful. There were no libraries to do things like Zip/Unzip files, perform encryption, display windows, use fonts, establish an Internet connection, send an email. You had to write all this stuff yourself if you wanted it.
These days, the typical user doesn't know how to program. In those days, such people simply didn't use computers.
Using computers, and programming, have both gotten much easier.
The whole point of Linux is to be _different_ from Windows, to be free and open source. The main point of Linux is NOT to be user friendly to the point that your grandma can use it without help. Every tinkerer out there thinks they have a better idea how to do each and every task that a computer does. Grandma doesn't care about all that, she just wants something that you can click and go.
The design of Windows and OSX are controlled from the top. Linux is controlled from the bottom. This is why Windows and OSX are relatively coherent and user friendly--this is a major goal of both companies. User friendliness is not on the top of the list of Linux attributes.
So...we needed a study to prove that seeds are good for birds? I'm glad they figured this out. Now the birds can be a little less stressed about the dangers of eating coffee beans. But then, this might be offset by the caffeine jitters.
Also, when you pick up the food yourself, you are much more likely to get fresh, hot food than you are if you have it delivered.
OK, I know C# isn't the most popular language on slashdot. But it is really popular with businesses. The fact that it's not even on the list makes me question the survey's methodology. Other surveys certainly include C#, such as http://www.codingdojo.com/blog....