..that I lived in the golden age of computer freedom, and future generations will only read about it in history books.
Walled gardens, virtual machines, signed code, app stores etc may be useful, but little by little, are removing our freedom to actually control the machine.
I fear that in the future, you will need a license to write code under constant government scrutiny. Kinda like making explosives.
Altium Designer
Orcad
Autocad
Quartus
VisualStudio
AVR Studio
Cubase
Audition
Photoshop
AutoPano
Illustrator
Phoenix R/C Simulator
All the various windows only interfaces to the various devices I have
Lots more I don't remember
Linux is fine if you only do web, email, word processing and spreadsheet, and a few other really popular things.
And please, don't tell me that I can use some other cad system, other music program etc. I like the software I use now.
Computer science = an academic discipline that explores the theory and limits of computability. Hard to get a job unless you are really good, and at least a little lucky.
Programming = somewhere between an artform and an engineering discipline, can turn into a deathmarch of long hours.
IT = maintenance, troubleshooting, helpdesk, market research, vendor negotiation, corporate politics, high stress, even longer hours
Yeah, they all involve computers, but in practice are totally different.
I have been programming since 1972. Wrote a lot of useful code. Have a solid reputation as a master programmer. Made employers happy enough to pay me well.
But, I can't touch type. I tried to learn, but there is something about my brain that just can't get it. (I also tried and failed to learn how to play the piano.)
I don't view this as a handicap. I spend more time thinking than typing, so my overall productivity isn't affected. Besides..I can type fairly fast with 2-4 fingers.
If you have a local app, you can run it pretty much forever. It might not get updated, and you might need to run it on old hardware/OS, but you will almost always have access to it.
In the cloud, things can appear, disappear and change.
If you depend on a program, or the specific behavior of a particular version, you lose.
What are the laws, rules, traditions and the other stuff that define a country, society, tribe or corporation?
That's right, its all software.
Not rigorous or precise. Not written in a programming language. Not always executed by a computer. Certainly not bug-free, but still, a form of software.
Slashdot Mirror
..kill the theater experience for me.
I refuse to go to a theater that forces me to watch commercials.
Does it cause cancer? Probably not.
What about nutrition?
What about tiny, subtle effects that don't show up for 40 years?
I am not against GM tech. (I am an engineer, I believe we will eventually conquer the universe)
I am just a little skeptical. I fear that we don't know enough yet.
We are like monkeys sticking twigs in a precision machine..."Ah, that seems to slow it down"..
..that I lived in the golden age of computer freedom, and future generations will only read about it in history books.
Walled gardens, virtual machines, signed code, app stores etc may be useful, but little by little, are removing our freedom to actually control the machine.
I fear that in the future, you will need a license to write code under constant government scrutiny. Kinda like making explosives.
But then, maybe I'm just a curmudgeon...
Orcad
Autocad
Quartus
VisualStudio
AVR Studio
Cubase
Audition
Photoshop
AutoPano
Illustrator
Phoenix R/C Simulator
All the various windows only interfaces to the various devices I have
Lots more I don't remember
Linux is fine if you only do web, email, word processing and spreadsheet, and a few other really popular things.
And please, don't tell me that I can use some other cad system, other music program etc. I like the software I use now.
Simple guide..
Computer science = an academic discipline that explores the theory and limits of computability. Hard to get a job unless you are really good, and at least a little lucky.
Programming = somewhere between an artform and an engineering discipline, can turn into a deathmarch of long hours.
IT = maintenance, troubleshooting, helpdesk, market research, vendor negotiation, corporate politics, high stress, even longer hours
Yeah, they all involve computers, but in practice are totally different.
Software is still an immature engineering discipline.
There is no set of rules that, when followed carefully, will guarantee perfect, bug-free, secure software.
Demanding perfect software today is like ordering a bronze age blacksmith to build a Ferrari.
I am a software engineer.
Mostly, I do embedded systems and realtime control.
For a variety of reasons, I ended up in a company where there were no engineering projects available at the time, so I volunteered to do IT.
Yeah, it's vaguely computer related, but not at all like engineering. And, for me at least, not enjoyable at all.
Now, when I talk about that time, I refer to it kinda like being in jail.... "I served a sentence in the IT department"
I have been programming since 1972. Wrote a lot of useful code. Have a solid reputation as a master programmer. Made employers happy enough to pay me well.
But, I can't touch type. I tried to learn, but there is something about my brain that just can't get it. (I also tried and failed to learn how to play the piano.)
I don't view this as a handicap. I spend more time thinking than typing, so my overall productivity isn't affected. Besides..I can type fairly fast with 2-4 fingers.
Since you mentioned biodiesel..
If you have a local app, you can run it pretty much forever. It might not get updated, and you might need to run it on old hardware/OS, but you will almost always have access to it.
In the cloud, things can appear, disappear and change.
If you depend on a program, or the specific behavior of a particular version, you lose.
I have always believed that tablets were a very small niche application.
They can not, and will not replace real computers.
Theoe apple fanboys really can distort perceptions when they get going.
What are the laws, rules, traditions and the other stuff that define a country, society, tribe or corporation?
That's right, its all software.
Not rigorous or precise. Not written in a programming language. Not always executed by a computer. Certainly not bug-free, but still, a form of software.
It's hard enough to get stuff to run reliably when you are dealing with real hardware.
Adding another layer just increases the number of dark corners where bugs can hide.
>>Modern programmers have increasingly turned away from native compilation
Uh, not me.
I never saw the benefit, only the pain.
The so-called "managed" environments solved a problem I didn't have while adding complexity I didn't need.
If you spend a lot of time writing something, and then somebody decides that it's not "notable", it's unlikely that you will contribute again.
Wikipedia is just bits, bits are cheap, why do the editors act like they are rationing a scarce resource?
Asked "why should I use this"?
Couldn't come up with a good answer.
Went back to Win32 and C++
Could it be that maybe I was right?
When I need to do something important, I focus. No distractions, just pay attention.
Now, when goofing off, it's OK to multitask, but not when it's important to get it right.
It may just be a young people's problem. Us old farts know that if you want to do something right, you need to pay attention.
You don't need a PHD or a complex study, just common sense.
Why do so many people in finance continue to insist on growth?
We should be focusing on steady state sustainability.
The old UI was fine.
They should fire all the designers, and concentrate on bug fixes and functional improvements.
There is nothing to be gained by changing the UI. It seems to be done just for fashion.
Some people, like my wife, really find it difficult to relearn new UIs constantly.
Location based taxation makes no sense in a world where location is increasingly unimportant.
States need to invent an alternative to sales tax.
1953 to 1993.
Believe it or not, in the 60s, we thought we lived in the modern world.
Of course, today I can't imagine life without internet.
Autorun is bad..very bad!
Used it for a while..
As time went on, I used it less and less each day
Haven't looked at it for months now
Guess I'm just not that social...and I have lots of other things to do
Some frills like color highlighting can be nice, but all you really need to edit a web page is a test editor.
Learn to do it yourself.
Get it running reliably.
Troubleshooting is easier on equipment you control.
There is no substitute for knowledge and experience.
Once it is running smoothly, if the expected traffic actually happens, decide where to go from there.