Unfortunately, lots of large enterprises have so much in-house crapware written that works only on IE 8 or 9 that they aren't going to be allowing their employees off IE for a long time. The medical industry, oil, banking all fell into the Microsoft-only trap and can't get out.
The biggest problem with Outlook isn't the UI, it's that it stinks at search. It takes FOREVER to search all your folders if you have any significant amount of email, and what it does find is often not relevant.
I for one am thankful that my company has moved to GMail for business.
Yes of course it does. And knowing metallurgy, engine construction, and car repair can help you be a better driver, especially if you're a race driver. But for the typical auto owner, knowing that level of detail is not necessary. And for many programmers, that level of knowledge is also not necessary.
Clearly, you and I drive different kinds of cars. I never would even think to ask a potential travel companion of they knew how to fix a car! I would focus instead on ensuring that the car is in good running condition before the trip, and ride with the people I'm most interested in riding with.
The analogy holds. If you choose good quality software components, you don't need to have someone on-site who understands their inner workings, just the interface.
Code reuse, libraries, sharing, and open-source are very important to software engineering, but we should be careful to not enable the belief that programming should be as easy as gluing things together
This is the wrong conclusion. Most of the time, we should give preference to tools and practices that have already become best practices, without necessarily questioning each one every time. Of course, there is room for challenging best practices and libraries, but that's for people who are interested more in the best practices and libraries, than for the people trying to use them to create something useful to end users.
You don't need to know how to repair a car to drive one. The guy who repairs your car doesn't need to know how to build a motor or a transmission, only how to install them. The guy who assembles the motor doesn't need to know the finer points of metallurgy. The guy who refines the metals doesn't need to know the finer points of mining. Each of these stages of production can have their own issues that need to be resolved, but the guy driving the car needs to worry only about staying safe on the road and reaching his destination.
Programming should be the same way. I shouldn't have to debug the IP stack to make my program connect to the Internet, nor should I have to reinvent build systems to produce a product.
There are several points of view that all encompass "good." A piece of writing might be - funny - insightful - artistic - emotional - provocative - motivational - well-crafted
Each of these (and other characteristics) might characterize writing as "good" even if it doesn't possess all of them.
In other words, beauty (or goodness) is in the eye of the beholder.
In the American "wild west," you could wander through the countryside, stop someplace random, build a shack or a house, and nobody would notice or stop you. You could claim land just by agreeing to live on it. You were free to farm that land, or hunt, or prospect, or whatever you wanted to do to survive. You had to have your own weapons, because there were no police to protect you from others.
These days, the government is firmly in control of pretty much all US land. You can't pitch a tent on somebody's ranch any more, without permission. People tend to live in insulated, sometimes walled, subdivisions, where rules are strict and plentiful.
The Internet is going through the same growing pains. It started out free and open, anybody could do pretty much anything they wanted, legal or not. But civilization is creeping in, and government is taking control. It's good and bad...it's getting harder for criminals to get away with their mischief on the Internet, but it's also getting easier for oppressive governments to oppress on the Internet. Subdivisions like Twitter and facebook have their little walled gardens that have lots of rules and not so much freedom.
All is not lost. We have to change with the times, learn how to exercise and protect our freedoms even in the new reality. It's not impossible, just harder, but it's worth the effort.
No, there shouldn't. The cell phone is still, historically speaking, quite new. People will figure out that it's not smart to walk around with your face in the phone. But being human, we all seem to have to figure it out individually.
It wasn't so long ago when people would sit at restaurant tables talking out loud on their (dumb) phones, ignoring the people they were with. That trend has mostly gone away, replaced by people texting or playing video games at those same tables. It will wear off.
People who start new businesses are rarely good at maintaining and growing them once they have taken off. They are the people with the vision and foresight, not the ones with the ability to manage people and deal with politics.
Any software project, open source or otherwise, could be seen as an enterprise. There are a few people who can both start and maintain a business, or a project, but not many.
I lived through the dot-com bubble bursting. From about 2001-2005, it got really tough out there. Only those who truly loved software development stayed in. All in all, it had a good result--the quality of the people still in the business went up dramatically.
This time around is nothing compared to that time period. Yes, I do think we're at the peak of another bubble, but not as big. This time, people actually know they want software, and why.
If you're ready to leave the industry, please do! I for one am sticking around.
A lot of "native" apps are already just wrappers for Web content. It really is a pain for developers.
OK, so let's talk about security. If done right, a Web browser could implement the same security scheme (or better) that is now enforced for apps. Desktop browsers have started to do this somewhat, asking you if you want to provide location info, for example. A more comprehensive permissions system could directly port native permissions to Web content.
Everybody wants you to install their app, for no good reason. If you want to stream your local TV station, they want you to install their app, one for each station. An app for CBS, one for NBC, and so on. Every store wants you to install their app so you can see their hours of operation or apply for a job. LinkedIn, which works perfectly well in a browser, wants you to install an app. Same for Facebook. Next, Slashdot will want you to install an app to read their stories on mobile, and you KNOW they will force you to see their ads.
And that leads to probably the biggest advantage of browser-based content: you can use an ad-blocker.
Those deals that seem too good to be true...often are. There are so many restrictions in the fine print, and you have to wait six months, by the time you realize you aren't getting the $650 because of some technicality, it's too late.
I grew up in the golden age of audio cassettes. They had lots of great audio features: - Tape decks routinely came with specs stating the level of "wow" and "flutter" effects you could expect from the deck, caused by variations in the motor speed and gearing system. - Left and right channel tracks routinely bled into each other. - Tapes stretched and degraded with each use, further distorting the sound quality. - And the hiss...the ever-present hiss! You could turn on Dolby NR, which eliminated a lot of the hiss, but also deadened the sound.
No, I have no desire to go back to the "good old days" of audio cassettes. Warm subtleties? Maybe, if you are willing to put with all the extra racket to get that precious warmth. No thanks!
They might start installing ABP, but does this mean they'll stop installing crapware (that you can't uninstall) on their devices? I doubt it. This gives Asus the monopoly for advertising on your device--only the ads that come through their own software will get through.
You currently have two choices if you want ABP on mobile: 1) you can install the ABP browser (which isn't Chrome or Firefox), or 2) you can can set up an ABP proxy to use your normal browser. Both options are slower and less reliable than a "real" browser.
Perhaps life for programmers in Silicon Valley is worse than in other parts of the country. But in my experience, unemployment for programmers is so low that they ARE generally treated and paid well. It's not perfect, what job is? Good programmers can easily make six-figure salaries, even without climbing the management ladder. The is true even outside of Silicon Valley, where six figures is still a lot of money. In my experience, programmers are able to demand better benefits, too, because employers are so worried about losing them. Many programmers are in the top 10% of wage earners in the country. How is that something to complain about?
The Bill of Rights recognizes that the government needs to be kept at arm's length, to be limited in its power. In the last few decades, we've been slowly giving more and more power to the government, sometimes in the name of "national security," (Patriot Act) sometimes in the name of "fairness for all" (Affordable Care Act). We've been taught to let the friendly folks at Washington take care of us. Now we're starting to see the dark side again. The government is saying, "Trust us with your data!"--either when they take it secretly (NSA/Snowden) or when they demand it publicly (backdoors). Maybe it's time for a digital Bill of Rights. The problem is, the government isn't just going to sit down and let go of the power they already have.
Back in the 80s, we wrote code and threw it over the fence to the users. If nobody complained, we assumed it was working fine! Ah, the good old days. What's old is new again!
Driverless cars aren't about traveling at high speeds, packed together like sardines. Commercial aircraft fly themselves these days, but traffic controllers still keep them 3 miles apart. Such close formations of driverless cars would still result in massive pileups when one of the cars malfunctions and crashes.
The point of driverless cars is to let me do something else while I'm traveling. I won't care so much about my one-hour commute if I can read the news or get started on my work day while I'm on the way. I'll also be less stressed. An then there is long-distance car trips, which will be far more pleasant when it is no longer necessary to watch the road.
In some scenarios, the licensing for SQL Server has gone up from about 20K to about 90K, due to the per-core licensing scheme. It was enough to persuade my company to move to PostgreSQL.
Slashdot Mirror
Fine. But do you then sue the bank for not having a strong enough vault?
So if they catch the people who breached Michaels, prosecute them. Michaels is not the criminal here!
If only 5 GB were a large email store!
Yes, Instant Search helps somewhat, but it doesn't make the results any more relevant.
Unfortunately, lots of large enterprises have so much in-house crapware written that works only on IE 8 or 9 that they aren't going to be allowing their employees off IE for a long time. The medical industry, oil, banking all fell into the Microsoft-only trap and can't get out.
The biggest problem with Outlook isn't the UI, it's that it stinks at search. It takes FOREVER to search all your folders if you have any significant amount of email, and what it does find is often not relevant.
I for one am thankful that my company has moved to GMail for business.
If duct tape didn't fix it, you didn't use enough duct tape!
...except for one thing. Duct tape does not work well on ducts!
Yes of course it does. And knowing metallurgy, engine construction, and car repair can help you be a better driver, especially if you're a race driver. But for the typical auto owner, knowing that level of detail is not necessary. And for many programmers, that level of knowledge is also not necessary.
Clearly, you and I drive different kinds of cars. I never would even think to ask a potential travel companion of they knew how to fix a car! I would focus instead on ensuring that the car is in good running condition before the trip, and ride with the people I'm most interested in riding with.
The analogy holds. If you choose good quality software components, you don't need to have someone on-site who understands their inner workings, just the interface.
Code reuse, libraries, sharing, and open-source are very important to software engineering, but we should be careful to not enable the belief that programming should be as easy as gluing things together
This is the wrong conclusion. Most of the time, we should give preference to tools and practices that have already become best practices, without necessarily questioning each one every time. Of course, there is room for challenging best practices and libraries, but that's for people who are interested more in the best practices and libraries, than for the people trying to use them to create something useful to end users.
You don't need to know how to repair a car to drive one. The guy who repairs your car doesn't need to know how to build a motor or a transmission, only how to install them. The guy who assembles the motor doesn't need to know the finer points of metallurgy. The guy who refines the metals doesn't need to know the finer points of mining. Each of these stages of production can have their own issues that need to be resolved, but the guy driving the car needs to worry only about staying safe on the road and reaching his destination.
Programming should be the same way. I shouldn't have to debug the IP stack to make my program connect to the Internet, nor should I have to reinvent build systems to produce a product.
Specialize!
Who's to say what is "legitimately" good?
There are several points of view that all encompass "good." A piece of writing might be
- funny
- insightful
- artistic
- emotional
- provocative
- motivational
- well-crafted
Each of these (and other characteristics) might characterize writing as "good" even if it doesn't possess all of them.
In other words, beauty (or goodness) is in the eye of the beholder.
In the American "wild west," you could wander through the countryside, stop someplace random, build a shack or a house, and nobody would notice or stop you. You could claim land just by agreeing to live on it. You were free to farm that land, or hunt, or prospect, or whatever you wanted to do to survive. You had to have your own weapons, because there were no police to protect you from others.
These days, the government is firmly in control of pretty much all US land. You can't pitch a tent on somebody's ranch any more, without permission. People tend to live in insulated, sometimes walled, subdivisions, where rules are strict and plentiful.
The Internet is going through the same growing pains. It started out free and open, anybody could do pretty much anything they wanted, legal or not. But civilization is creeping in, and government is taking control. It's good and bad...it's getting harder for criminals to get away with their mischief on the Internet, but it's also getting easier for oppressive governments to oppress on the Internet. Subdivisions like Twitter and facebook have their little walled gardens that have lots of rules and not so much freedom.
All is not lost. We have to change with the times, learn how to exercise and protect our freedoms even in the new reality. It's not impossible, just harder, but it's worth the effort.
You are clearly over 50!
There should be a law!
No, there shouldn't. The cell phone is still, historically speaking, quite new. People will figure out that it's not smart to walk around with your face in the phone. But being human, we all seem to have to figure it out individually.
It wasn't so long ago when people would sit at restaurant tables talking out loud on their (dumb) phones, ignoring the people they were with. That trend has mostly gone away, replaced by people texting or playing video games at those same tables. It will wear off.
People who start new businesses are rarely good at maintaining and growing them once they have taken off. They are the people with the vision and foresight, not the ones with the ability to manage people and deal with politics.
Any software project, open source or otherwise, could be seen as an enterprise. There are a few people who can both start and maintain a business, or a project, but not many.
I lived through the dot-com bubble bursting. From about 2001-2005, it got really tough out there. Only those who truly loved software development stayed in. All in all, it had a good result--the quality of the people still in the business went up dramatically.
This time around is nothing compared to that time period. Yes, I do think we're at the peak of another bubble, but not as big. This time, people actually know they want software, and why.
If you're ready to leave the industry, please do! I for one am sticking around.
A lot of "native" apps are already just wrappers for Web content. It really is a pain for developers.
OK, so let's talk about security. If done right, a Web browser could implement the same security scheme (or better) that is now enforced for apps. Desktop browsers have started to do this somewhat, asking you if you want to provide location info, for example. A more comprehensive permissions system could directly port native permissions to Web content.
Everybody wants you to install their app, for no good reason. If you want to stream your local TV station, they want you to install their app, one for each station. An app for CBS, one for NBC, and so on. Every store wants you to install their app so you can see their hours of operation or apply for a job. LinkedIn, which works perfectly well in a browser, wants you to install an app. Same for Facebook. Next, Slashdot will want you to install an app to read their stories on mobile, and you KNOW they will force you to see their ads.
And that leads to probably the biggest advantage of browser-based content: you can use an ad-blocker.
Those deals that seem too good to be true...often are. There are so many restrictions in the fine print, and you have to wait six months, by the time you realize you aren't getting the $650 because of some technicality, it's too late.
I grew up in the golden age of audio cassettes. They had lots of great audio features:
- Tape decks routinely came with specs stating the level of "wow" and "flutter" effects you could expect from the deck, caused by variations in the motor speed and gearing system.
- Left and right channel tracks routinely bled into each other.
- Tapes stretched and degraded with each use, further distorting the sound quality.
- And the hiss...the ever-present hiss! You could turn on Dolby NR, which eliminated a lot of the hiss, but also deadened the sound.
No, I have no desire to go back to the "good old days" of audio cassettes. Warm subtleties? Maybe, if you are willing to put with all the extra racket to get that precious warmth. No thanks!
They might start installing ABP, but does this mean they'll stop installing crapware (that you can't uninstall) on their devices? I doubt it. This gives Asus the monopoly for advertising on your device--only the ads that come through their own software will get through.
You currently have two choices if you want ABP on mobile: 1) you can install the ABP browser (which isn't Chrome or Firefox), or 2) you can can set up an ABP proxy to use your normal browser. Both options are slower and less reliable than a "real" browser.
Perhaps life for programmers in Silicon Valley is worse than in other parts of the country. But in my experience, unemployment for programmers is so low that they ARE generally treated and paid well. It's not perfect, what job is? Good programmers can easily make six-figure salaries, even without climbing the management ladder. The is true even outside of Silicon Valley, where six figures is still a lot of money. In my experience, programmers are able to demand better benefits, too, because employers are so worried about losing them. Many programmers are in the top 10% of wage earners in the country. How is that something to complain about?
The Bill of Rights recognizes that the government needs to be kept at arm's length, to be limited in its power. In the last few decades, we've been slowly giving more and more power to the government, sometimes in the name of "national security," (Patriot Act) sometimes in the name of "fairness for all" (Affordable Care Act). We've been taught to let the friendly folks at Washington take care of us. Now we're starting to see the dark side again. The government is saying, "Trust us with your data!"--either when they take it secretly (NSA/Snowden) or when they demand it publicly (backdoors). Maybe it's time for a digital Bill of Rights. The problem is, the government isn't just going to sit down and let go of the power they already have.
Back in the 80s, we wrote code and threw it over the fence to the users. If nobody complained, we assumed it was working fine! Ah, the good old days. What's old is new again!
Driverless cars aren't about traveling at high speeds, packed together like sardines. Commercial aircraft fly themselves these days, but traffic controllers still keep them 3 miles apart. Such close formations of driverless cars would still result in massive pileups when one of the cars malfunctions and crashes.
The point of driverless cars is to let me do something else while I'm traveling. I won't care so much about my one-hour commute if I can read the news or get started on my work day while I'm on the way. I'll also be less stressed. An then there is long-distance car trips, which will be far more pleasant when it is no longer necessary to watch the road.
When driverless cars are a reality, I'm in!
In some scenarios, the licensing for SQL Server has gone up from about 20K to about 90K, due to the per-core licensing scheme. It was enough to persuade my company to move to PostgreSQL.