Note: The health of a programming language is based not on the number of apps sold, that used it, but on the number of programmers who bought compilers / development systems. Quite a different thing, sometimes.
We have unions in Denmark and you can fire people easy enough. And then there are countries like France, where you can't fire people at all, not thanks to unions.
The unions in the US have way too much power, and that is a business stifling problem; but that doesn't mean unions are a bad thing.
Unions are not bad, but -huge- unions are bad. Any organization that gets too big goes bad. The only question is how big is too big...
For the word "unions", substitute any other organization. 8-)
I'm guessing you've never looked at or went into any field that requires memorization for course work. As a hint, there's a lot of areas of work that require that in order to be successful even in a job that requires logical thinking, problem solving, and "thinking outside the box."...
Every area, that a person learns, has it's own "technical language", even areas that are not technical. Those "languages" are not logical and cannot be learned using logic. Often the same words even have their meaning re-defined. The terms used must be memorized. But without the "language", you are somewhat useless. And the "language" is needed to learn anything more. So there are some things in any field that -must- be memorized.
Disclosure: I hate memorizing stuff and find it very difficult. Tip: See "Mnemonic Device" for memory.
No. Most employers even of engineering and programming talent don't want creativity. They want to be able to turn you into anonymous cog....
They -want- creativity and problem solving, they just don't know how to find it. And neither does any one else...
However, being creative all by yourself, without the rest of the team, is not of much use. You need to be able to coordinate with the other people, and that is even harder to find.
... There is no way to pack an efficient transformer into such a small space.
In theory, there is no way to do it. In reality, it has already been done....
To be a bit picky:
In theory it is easy, in practice it is hard. But they do it anyway, because they have been doing it long enough to learn how. (sorry...)
But a society, that only connects anonymously, has less incentive to be polite.
The Internet will probably continue to be rude, until many people are "armed" with a way to defend themselves.
Backstory: My several-greats Grandfather killed a man in broad daylight, in the middle of Broad Street in Charleston, SC, because the man snapped his fingers in my grandfather's face. The Judge ruled it "Justifiable Homicide". The customs of other times were Different, what you see today is -not- necessarily normal.
8-}
No, the problem wasn't that they referred to it as "Y2K", the problem was the mass media got hold of a 'possible' problem that 'might' affect 'some' computers and spun the issue to be so large as to throw civilization back to the dark ages...
Or, they were correct and it really was going to cause massive damage but we fixed it, or most of it that we could find. Years later, we were still finding remnants of it.
This ^
The reason the essential systems didn't crash, was that several thousand programmers and engineers worked their butts off to fix it in time!
And then the "wise" people claimed it was a false alarm.
Like the fire alarm goes off, the building is evacuated, the fire department comes and puts out the fire... and the news reports that it was a false alarm because the building didn't burn down! 8-P
The fastest way to get gun control is to have black people carry guns....
Modern gun control laws started in the south after the civil war, pushed by the southern democrats to dis-arm the former slaves. The democrats still push gun control, and want their rights as slave owners back. I grew up in south carolina and saw it...
At the time the US just got through fighting the revolutionary war. In that war the average citizen was about as well-armed as a professional soldier, with most people providing their own arms. Stuff like artillery was of course controlled by armies,......., and a bunch of guys with guns aren't going to improvise an air defense using captured aircraft the way a bunch of people could man the guns at a fort to defend against a counter-attack that takes three months to arrive....
Where do you think those old cannons that used to be in many town squares came from? They were once used by the local militia, when they had more to do.
A couple of guys couldn't take over a base, but a hundred could, if they had the element of surprise. And there are many citizens who can operate the anti-aircraft systems, some better than the regulars. What light arms get you, is the ability to capture heavy arms.
But the major purpose is deterrent, as a psycological force to prevent the "control-freaks" from getting out of hand.
Not so funny - it's inevitable. It's like trying to cut the ends off a rope - you make your rope shorter, but the number of ends doesn't change. In this case we make the spectrum of things humans do to each other shorter by lopping off something really horrible, but soon enough the new most horrible thing on the remaining spectrum starts to look pretty bad compared to the rest. Especially to those to whom the old horrors are only stories of things that happened long before they were born.
If we someday eliminate all the horrible things people actively do to each other, then simply ignoring someone in need of aid will start looking pretty horrible - the only thing left to compare it to will be all the good things you could do for them. I suppose some might argue that that's evidence that things can never really improve, but I think most every victim of human atrocities in the world would agree that a world without such atrocities would be better, even if nobody knew how good they had it.
To carry the anology a bit further, when the nice neat cut end of the rope starts to fray and unravel, then we need to trim it. Maybe someday we will learn to "frap" or seal the ends of the rope so it no longer unravels. I am not sure where that idea is leading, but maybe we will learn how to prevent things from "unraveling".
People who understand development will be glad of the info. People who do not understand it may very well be frightned, and could "punish" you for scaring them. This applies to many things, not just of software.
Make sure the people who need it can find it, but don't push it in the faces of the ones who don't want it.
Like most of the ideas here, it was already thought of back in World War 2.
When I was a kid, I could not convince anyone around me that people would someday carry small radios that could talk all over the world. Consider what you think is the least likely out of the ideas here, and it will probably be what comes true.
Near-lightspeed ships running on zero-point energy, with star-jump capability? That's probably not wild enough to come true! 8-)
You don't have to be in the same orbit to attack, just passing close. Then just get in their way!
Oh, you want to survive? Then your guns or missiles need reprogramming, but could still work. If you can just get close in distance.
Actually, opponents would probably end up in the same orbit, anyway. If they are contesting the same thing, they need to stay in the same area to continue the fight. So all fights are by mutual agreement, and the orbital mechanics "disappear".
Besides, we are postulating technology way ahead of ours. So, if you want to discuss possibilities then talk about natural laws, not engine mechanics that would be much different. A reactionless drive might make orbital mechanics "ignorable". See the Microwave resonator drive that NASA just tested, might be the beginning of something...
Objects hitting the hull would make noise. The gas molecules from the explosion are objects. The amount of noise depends on both mass and speed, so if they are fast enough it would be audible, even if at some distance.
Also, electromagnetic effects can cause sound in the hull, and many explosions have electromagnetic effects. Particularly nuclear explosions.
This applies also to the engines of passing ships. But it would be a bit eary, with no sound until it had passed. Like a supersonic jet sounds in atmosphere. It all depends on the technology used.
"In theory, theory is the same as practice. In practice, it's not."
Only humans would round up all the alpha males and go to an extended war. Meanwhile the 2nd tier males are left alone with the women.
Actually, I have seen nature documentaries where the lesser male is seen mating with the females, while the alpha males are fighting! Not just humans... 8-P
Slashdot Mirror
Do you want it blown again?
It is object-oriented now!
COBOL
Wow! Way to put the newbies in their place.
And yes, Cobol is still used. Really...
Note: The health of a programming language is based not on the number of apps sold, that used it, but on the number of programmers who bought compilers / development systems. Quite a different thing, sometimes.
If the company you work for is not desperate to keep you, then you are working for the wrong company and maybe in the wrong job...
Ah bullshit, but thanks for playing.
We have unions in Denmark and you can fire people easy enough. And then there are countries like France, where you can't fire people at all, not thanks to unions.
The unions in the US have way too much power, and that is a business stifling problem; but that doesn't mean unions are a bad thing.
Unions are not bad, but -huge- unions are bad. Any organization that gets too big goes bad. The only question is how big is too big...
For the word "unions", substitute any other organization. 8-)
I'm guessing you've never looked at or went into any field that requires memorization for course work. As a hint, there's a lot of areas of work that require that in order to be successful even in a job that requires logical thinking, problem solving, and "thinking outside the box." ...
Every area, that a person learns, has it's own "technical language", even areas that are not technical. Those "languages" are not logical and cannot be learned using logic. Often the same words even have their meaning re-defined. The terms used must be memorized.
But without the "language", you are somewhat useless. And the "language" is needed to learn anything more. So there are some things in any field that -must- be memorized.
Disclosure: I hate memorizing stuff and find it very difficult.
Tip: See "Mnemonic Device" for memory.
No. Most employers even of engineering and programming talent don't want creativity. They want to be able to turn you into anonymous cog. ...
They -want- creativity and problem solving, they just don't know how to find it. And neither does any one else...
However, being creative all by yourself, without the rest of the team, is not of much use. You need to be able to coordinate with the other people, and that is even harder to find.
Even a lot of engineering can fall back to 2 significant figures, because once you've added a safety margin the precision just isn't usually critical.
Shades of the SlideRule! 2.5 significant digits, but the decimal in your head...
But if that calculation is the basis for the next calculation, and so on, pretty soon you end up with zero significant digits...
In my world, sometimes, plus or minus ten to the minus 15th power is "close".
Walking around in a long robe with a sign that says "The World Is Going To End Tomorrow!"
It's not that they don't have a valid point (maybe), but that they are not actually concerned with fixing anything...
... There is no way to pack an efficient transformer into such a small space.
In theory, there is no way to do it. In reality, it has already been done. ...
To be a bit picky:
In theory it is easy, in practice it is hard. But they do it anyway, because they have been doing it long enough to learn how.
(sorry...)
"An armed society is a polite society."
But a society, that only connects anonymously, has less incentive to be polite.
The Internet will probably continue to be rude, until many people are "armed" with a way to defend themselves.
Backstory: My several-greats Grandfather killed a man in broad daylight, in the middle of Broad Street in Charleston, SC, because the man snapped his fingers in my grandfather's face. The Judge ruled it "Justifiable Homicide".
The customs of other times were Different, what you see today is -not- necessarily normal.
8-}
People in the US have an allergy to government-issued ID cards...
No, the problem wasn't that they referred to it as "Y2K", the problem was the mass media got hold of a 'possible' problem that 'might' affect 'some' computers and spun the issue to be so large as to throw civilization back to the dark ages ...
Or, they were correct and it really was going to cause massive damage but we fixed it, or most of it that we could find. Years later, we were still finding remnants of it.
This ^
The reason the essential systems didn't crash, was that several thousand programmers and engineers worked their butts off to fix it in time!
And then the "wise" people claimed it was a false alarm.
Like the fire alarm goes off, the building is evacuated, the fire department comes and puts out the fire... and the news reports that it was a false alarm because the building didn't burn down!
8-P
Well, fry me for an oyster!!!
Very informative. This is the first I've heard of it. I had a feeling it was a labeling convention outside my scope.
Thank you.
I had not seen this either.
Thanks for the info.
There is a significant difference between knowing something and having faith in something.
"Knowing" something that is actually not known, is a big problem for religions. And other people.
It is also a big problem when troubleshooting computer software, and other technical systems...
The fastest way to get gun control is to have black people carry guns. ...
Modern gun control laws started in the south after the civil war, pushed by the southern democrats to dis-arm the former slaves. The democrats still push gun control, and want their rights as slave owners back. I grew up in south carolina and saw it...
At the time the US just got through fighting the revolutionary war. In that war the average citizen was about as well-armed as a professional soldier, with most people providing their own arms. Stuff like artillery was of course controlled by armies, .... ..., and a bunch of guys with guns aren't going to improvise an air defense using captured aircraft the way a bunch of people could man the guns at a fort to defend against a counter-attack that takes three months to arrive. ...
Where do you think those old cannons that used to be in many town squares came from? They were once used by the local militia, when they had more to do.
A couple of guys couldn't take over a base, but a hundred could, if they had the element of surprise. And there are many citizens who can operate the anti-aircraft systems, some better than the regulars. What light arms get you, is the ability to capture heavy arms.
But the major purpose is deterrent, as a psycological force to prevent the "control-freaks" from getting out of hand.
I used to have a screen saver with lots of pigs flying... Does that quality? 8-)
Maybe...
See this report, and the comments pro and con.
http://science.slashdot.org/st...
Not so funny - it's inevitable. It's like trying to cut the ends off a rope - you make your rope shorter, but the number of ends doesn't change. In this case we make the spectrum of things humans do to each other shorter by lopping off something really horrible, but soon enough the new most horrible thing on the remaining spectrum starts to look pretty bad compared to the rest. Especially to those to whom the old horrors are only stories of things that happened long before they were born.
If we someday eliminate all the horrible things people actively do to each other, then simply ignoring someone in need of aid will start looking pretty horrible - the only thing left to compare it to will be all the good things you could do for them. I suppose some might argue that that's evidence that things can never really improve, but I think most every victim of human atrocities in the world would agree that a world without such atrocities would be better, even if nobody knew how good they had it.
To carry the anology a bit further, when the nice neat cut end of the rope starts to fray and unravel, then we need to trim it.
Maybe someday we will learn to "frap" or seal the ends of the rope so it no longer unravels.
I am not sure where that idea is leading, but maybe we will learn how to prevent things from "unraveling".
People who understand development will be glad of the info. People who do not understand it may very well be frightned, and could "punish" you for scaring them.
This applies to many things, not just of software.
Make sure the people who need it can find it, but don't push it in the faces of the ones who don't want it.
Like most of the ideas here, it was already thought of back in World War 2.
When I was a kid, I could not convince anyone around me that people would someday carry small radios that could talk all over the world. Consider what you think is the least likely out of the ideas here, and it will probably be what comes true.
Near-lightspeed ships running on zero-point energy, with star-jump capability? That's probably not wild enough to come true! 8-)
You don't have to be in the same orbit to attack, just passing close. Then just get in their way!
Oh, you want to survive? Then your guns or missiles need reprogramming, but could still work. If you can just get close in distance.
Actually, opponents would probably end up in the same orbit, anyway. If they are contesting the same thing, they need to stay in the same area to continue the fight. So all fights are by mutual agreement, and the orbital mechanics "disappear".
Besides, we are postulating technology way ahead of ours. So, if you want to discuss possibilities then talk about natural laws, not engine mechanics that would be much different. A reactionless drive might make orbital mechanics "ignorable". See the Microwave resonator drive that NASA just tested, might be the beginning of something...
Objects hitting the hull would make noise. The gas molecules from the explosion are objects. The amount of noise depends on both mass and speed, so if they are fast enough it would be audible, even if at some distance.
Also, electromagnetic effects can cause sound in the hull, and many explosions have electromagnetic effects. Particularly nuclear explosions.
This applies also to the engines of passing ships. But it would be a bit eary, with no sound until it had passed. Like a supersonic jet sounds in atmosphere. It all depends on the technology used.
"In theory, theory is the same as practice. In practice, it's not."
You don't scan everything at once. That is not what they appear to be doing.
Instead you scan each thing seperatly and then put them together as needed. Sort of like what they do with things, for polygon models, today.
Half of what is being dismissed, is not what they were saying...
Not that think it will work, they don't give enough info to know.
Only humans would round up all the alpha males and go to an extended war. Meanwhile the 2nd tier males are left alone with the women.
Actually, I have seen nature documentaries where the lesser male is seen mating with the females, while the alpha males are fighting!
Not just humans... 8-P
... Agriculture and slavery ended cannibalism (mostly).
Ah! So slavery was the progressive, humane solution.
Funny how so many "new better ways" end up to be the next evil...