Ray, I've always been curious about something and was wondering if you could comment...
When you post comments (and blog, for that matter) you generally seem to post your opinion, as well as humor and even attacks on "the bad guy" without holding too much back. You appear to be somewhat more restrained when discussing cases which you are personally involved in - and appear to be most restrained in cases in which you are being directly attacked (ie the RIAA lawsuit). This is all as I would expect from a professional -- if anything, you appear more open than I would have expected.
So: Are you ever concerned that comments made here will come back to bite you? Where do you draw the line? Are you ever concerned that, for example, a judge may read your comments here (or on your blog) and that may influence their decisions?
I have always enjoyed your sense of humor (sometimes self-deprecating, sometimes biting sarcasm, etc) and would not like to see that stop - I was just curious if you ever write something and think "No, I better not post that - that'll come back to haunt me."
Unfortunately, they screwed THAT up too, and ended up merging in the wrong direction. All of the original watchlist entries ended up getting hired by the TSA.
To study the effects of a belief in a socialogical sense one must first understand the real belief, not the view of the uneducated on the topic.
To study the effects of a belief in a socialogical sense, one must first understand the view of the uneducated (also known as "the masses") on the topic. The "real belief" -- also known as "from the point of view of the scholars who study the belief" only peripherally comes into play here. The sociological effects of a movement rests FIRMLY in the viewpoint of the masses who believe in it. Their view may not be completely accurate, but they have momentum on their side. Truth is a casualty of this effect.
This is true for ALL beliefs - religious or secular. ID has nothing to do with this. It's pure sociology (as defined by me - someone FIRMLY entrenched in the role of The Uneducated Masses)
I have the Motorola V262 and it does pretty much what you want. It does not have a camera. It does have a speakerphone. It has some basic calendar functionality. It has voice activated dialing. It is a small clamshell (small enough that it fits comfortably in that little changepocket above the right-front pocket in a pair of jeans). I've been pretty happy with it.
The problem isn't "should we comment" or even "how many comments should there be" -- the problem is actually "what should the comments say"
at my work I have seen several different styles of comments and invariably, one type of comment stands out as useful and other comments are mere distractions, at best.
Comments should never be used to document how code works. The code itself shows how it works -- or at least it SHOULD. If your code isn't readable, THEN RE-CODE IT! It's not maintanable. I don't care how you were able to make 18 things occur in one line of code. that's not elegant. that's dumb. It's not maintainable. Rewrite it so it's clear.
Comments should document WHY the code is written that way. I don't care that:
while(i<10) {/* repeat until i is greater than 10 */
That's useless. that just takes up space. and what happens if you change it to
while(i<20)
? then your comment is out of date.
However,
while(i<10) {/* spin through the list, searching for blah */
tells me the purpose of this while() statement, and tells me something about the body of the loop as well. Even better would be a block comment above it, of course (describing the entire body of the loop, for example)
What I do is I write the comments FIRST -- I lay out the high-level design of the program in the comment block, then go and add the code in the appropriate place within the comments. That way my design is documented and my code is created from the design. That ensures the comments are correct, at least initially. The other thing do is document changes within the comments:
while(i<20) {/* Spin through the list, searching for blah *//*@01C*/
then in the prolog of my program, I have a comment that describes changeflag 01, who made the change, the date of the change, and the location of the document describing the need for the change (bugzilla number, etc). This not only keeps the documentation up to date, but provides a paper trail. If someone else looks at the code and doesn't understand why we stop at 20, they can just look up that changeflag and come find me to talk about it.
Re:Cheaper than a taxi ride.
on
Space Tourism?
·
· Score: 4, Funny
(I couldn't find the pound thingy on my keyboard so I typed $)
Here ya go. I included a few extras for the next time you need them...
Our local theater is doing just that. They are attempting to turn the theater experience into more than just a movie.
The first thing they did was expand their snackbar. Previously, you could get popcorn, a Coke, and some candy. That was about it. They added a fast-food line (burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, etc).
They then started special screenings of movies. "Mommy & Me" movies -- regular movies (not necessarily kids shows) but screened in the afternoons and early evenings, with the lights turned on low so new parents could go to the shows and bring their babies with them. Since EVERYONE there has babies, nobody gets upset if one cries... This was wildly successful.
Next was the midnight screenings. They pick a classic movie every week (it might be Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark or the Exorcist) and screen it at midnight -- charging $1.00 per ticket. This has also been a huge success.
After that, they started inviting local bands to play in their lobby before the midnight shows. Now people can go early, catch some good local music (and the bands get exposure!) before their movie.
The most recent thing they have done are video game competitions. They hook a PS2 or XBOX up to their projector and and have a competition. HALO on a fullsize movie theater screen definately has generated some interest...
Things like this are keeping that theater open and generating a lot of revenue -- above and beyond anything the mediocre overhyped movie of the day could possibly bring in.
IM has become an ESSENTIAL part of my work. We pass code snippets, ask each other design questions, and even share pieces of screenshots ("I'm seeing something really weird. Here is a shot showing the anomoly" etc...)
IM has the advantage of being slightly more immediate than email, yet can be freely ignored if you're busy with something else. When you're concentrating on something important and someone sends an IM, you can just hit ESC and close the window. That's a bit more difficult to do with a ringing phone...
Also, IM has the advantage of automatic logging. Everything I send or receive is logged on my PC (with the option for manual deletion). I can go back and refer to an answer later. You can't do that with a phone conversation either.
All in all, my work would be much more difficult without IM.
1. Phone NASA. Their phone number is (731) 483-3111. Explain that it's very important that you get away as soon as possible.
2. If they do not cooperate, phone any friend you may have in the White House (202) 456-1414 to have a word on your behalf with the guys at NASA.
3. If you don't have any friends at the White House, phone the Kremlin (ask the overseas operator for 0107-095-295-9051). They don't have any friends there either (at least, none to speak of), but they do seem to have a little influence, so you may as well try.
4. If that also fails, phone the Pope for guidence. His telephone number is 011-39-6-6982, and i gather his switchboard is infallible.
5. If all these attempts fail, flag down a passing flying saucer and explain that it's vitally important you get away before your phone bill arrives.
When I was in college, I worked for the computer services department on campus. A coworker of mine put a sign on the door to the network room: "WARNING! This room contains radiation in the visible spectrum." (ie light)
The system administrator made him take it down after a month or so because the janitor refused to enter and it was getting really messy in there.
This is why I still have a landline as my primary phone. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, it's annoying to pay that monthly bill.
I have a 2 year old daughter. I have never needed to call 911 but I DEFINATELY need to know it is accessible at a moments notice and that 911 can find me without having to worry about it. Also, when my daughter gets a little older I need to know she can dial 911 and get help, even if she doesn't know our address.
We have a landline and two cellphones. We contemplated dropping the landline and just going with the cells because it's so much cheaper -- 911 service is the primary reason we did not do so. Even cell 911 is limited and they cannot always figure out where you are located -- and what happens if you let the battery run down???
Until alternative methods of contacting emergency personnel are proven to be effective, I will stick with my landline. It's worth the extra cost.
Also, having the landline means we can give people we really don't care about (ie the plumber) our landline number and we aren't spreading our cell number around to everyone in the world.
OOPS! I misspelled the group! I meant... umm... aah... I meant... MICROSOFT.PUBLIC.DOTNET.LANGUAGES.CSHARP yea h that's it. Thats the group I want the barb^H^H^H^Hslashdotters to check out! That's where all the COOL programmers hang out!:)
(in all seriousness, since I'm "polluting" usenet by recommending good groups, I'd also recommend comp.programming)
There are still some very good groups out there. They tend to be very highly-policed (either as officially moderated groups, or via a cadre of regulars who keep things firmly ontopic.)
comp.lang.c is a great example of this. I owe them a LOT regarding my growth in understanding of C.
The practice of bolting useless crap to your car, sticking stickers (for products that are not installed on your car), having 6 foot tall wings, a tailpipe the size of a coffee can, and generally making a relatively nice subcompact car total junk is called "ricers" because the people who do that to cars tend to use Honda Civics, etc. Since they tend to use cheap subcompact Japanese vehicles, the derogatory term "Ricer" evolved.
Type-R stickers refer to the Civic type-R line (not sold in the USA --The only type-R line sold in the US is the Acura Integra.) The type-R Civics are highly-tuned performance cars. Therefore, ricers who are trying to impress their friends will buy a type R sticker and slap it on their stock civic and try to convince people they have a true type R.
The running joke is that a type R sticker instantly adds 10 horsepower to a ricer:)
For a good example of ricers, see the movie The Fast and the Furious. Prepare to laugh. Also visit http://www.riceboypage.com for definitions and pictures (their hall of shame is pretty good)
What I want is a power button on my keyboard (NOT one of the stupid "sleep" buttons)
My PC is inside a little cupboard under my desk, and you have to open the door in order to turn it on. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but I have a 15-month old daughter who has figured out doors and thinks buttons are pretty cool things (geek in training!) so I need one of those safety catches on the door to keep it closed.
In a nutshell, it's a pain to use. What I would like is a power button on the keyboard that connects to the power on/off pins on the motherboard so I could disconnect the button on the case and just use the one on the keyboard (and therefore wouldn't have to open that darn cupboard door to turn it on)
Yeah I'm lazy. I know. yeah I could make one myself (my current keyboard has a "sleep" button that I could hack and run a 2nd wire down to the PC or something) but as I mentioned in the previous sentence, I'm lazy:)
Slashdot Mirror
Ray, I've always been curious about something and was wondering if you could comment...
When you post comments (and blog, for that matter) you generally seem to post your opinion, as well as humor and even attacks on "the bad guy" without holding too much back. You appear to be somewhat more restrained when discussing cases which you are personally involved in - and appear to be most restrained in cases in which you are being directly attacked (ie the RIAA lawsuit). This is all as I would expect from a professional -- if anything, you appear more open than I would have expected.
So: Are you ever concerned that comments made here will come back to bite you? Where do you draw the line? Are you ever concerned that, for example, a judge may read your comments here (or on your blog) and that may influence their decisions?
I have always enjoyed your sense of humor (sometimes self-deprecating, sometimes biting sarcasm, etc) and would not like to see that stop - I was just curious if you ever write something and think "No, I better not post that - that'll come back to haunt me."
Aah but he came out ahead on that one... A new man - nay, A rebuilt man. Better, stronger, faster.
While that approach definitely has merit, it takes too much time and can be too subtle.
I prefer the direct approach: an airhorn blown right into the microphone.
That's already been tried.
Unfortunately, they screwed THAT up too, and ended up merging in the wrong direction. All of the original watchlist entries ended up getting hired by the TSA.
Slashdot, on the other hand, makes me smile. Sometimes even laugh out loud. This is the fun part of my day.
I'm not sure whether to say "You're welcome" or "oh I am so sorry to hear that!"
The way I always heard it, the English shipped their criminals to Australia and they shipped their religious nutjobs to America.
The Australians got the better deal.
Sounds like vaporware to me... just a lot of hot air...
ascii stupid question, get a silly ansi...
To study the effects of a belief in a socialogical sense, one must first understand the view of the uneducated (also known as "the masses") on the topic. The "real belief" -- also known as "from the point of view of the scholars who study the belief" only peripherally comes into play here. The sociological effects of a movement rests FIRMLY in the viewpoint of the masses who believe in it. Their view may not be completely accurate, but they have momentum on their side. Truth is a casualty of this effect. This is true for ALL beliefs - religious or secular. ID has nothing to do with this. It's pure sociology (as defined by me - someone FIRMLY entrenched in the role of The Uneducated Masses)
I have the Motorola V262 and it does pretty much what you want. It does not have a camera. It does have a speakerphone. It has some basic calendar functionality. It has voice activated dialing. It is a small clamshell (small enough that it fits comfortably in that little changepocket above the right-front pocket in a pair of jeans). I've been pretty happy with it.
http://www.alltel.com/phones/motorola/v262.html
(I couldn't find the pound thingy on my keyboard so I typed $)
Here ya go. I included a few extras for the next time you need them...
£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Hope that helps.
Our local theater is doing just that. They are attempting to turn the theater experience into more than just a movie.
The first thing they did was expand their snackbar. Previously, you could get popcorn, a Coke, and some candy. That was about it. They added a fast-food line (burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, etc).
They then started special screenings of movies. "Mommy & Me" movies -- regular movies (not necessarily kids shows) but screened in the afternoons and early evenings, with the lights turned on low so new parents could go to the shows and bring their babies with them. Since EVERYONE there has babies, nobody gets upset if one cries... This was wildly successful.
Next was the midnight screenings. They pick a classic movie every week (it might be Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark or the Exorcist) and screen it at midnight -- charging $1.00 per ticket. This has also been a huge success.
After that, they started inviting local bands to play in their lobby before the midnight shows. Now people can go early, catch some good local music (and the bands get exposure!) before their movie.
The most recent thing they have done are video game competitions. They hook a PS2 or XBOX up to their projector and and have a competition. HALO on a fullsize movie theater screen definately has generated some interest...
Things like this are keeping that theater open and generating a lot of revenue -- above and beyond anything the mediocre overhyped movie of the day could possibly bring in.
IM has become an ESSENTIAL part of my work. We pass code snippets, ask each other design questions, and even share pieces of screenshots ("I'm seeing something really weird. Here is a shot showing the anomoly" etc...)
IM has the advantage of being slightly more immediate than email, yet can be freely ignored if you're busy with something else. When you're concentrating on something important and someone sends an IM, you can just hit ESC and close the window. That's a bit more difficult to do with a ringing phone...
Also, IM has the advantage of automatic logging. Everything I send or receive is logged on my PC (with the option for manual deletion). I can go back and refer to an answer later. You can't do that with a phone conversation either.
All in all, my work would be much more difficult without IM.
Here you go (courtesy of Douglas Adams)
1. Phone NASA. Their phone number is (731) 483-3111. Explain that it's very important that you get away as soon as possible.
2. If they do not cooperate, phone any friend you may have in the White House (202) 456-1414 to have a word on your behalf with the guys at NASA.
3. If you don't have any friends at the White House, phone the Kremlin (ask the overseas operator for 0107-095-295-9051). They don't have any friends there either (at least, none to speak of), but they do seem to have a little influence, so you may as well try.
4. If that also fails, phone the Pope for guidence. His telephone number is 011-39-6-6982, and i gather his switchboard is infallible.
5. If all these attempts fail, flag down a passing flying saucer and explain that it's vitally important you get away before your phone bill arrives.
When I was in college, I worked for the computer services department on campus. A coworker of mine put a sign on the door to the network room: "WARNING! This room contains radiation in the visible spectrum." (ie light)
The system administrator made him take it down after a month or so because the janitor refused to enter and it was getting really messy in there.
I showed up for work. On time. Showered & shaved.
It THOROUGHLY confused people. They are still talking about it.
This is why I still have a landline as my primary phone. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, it's annoying to pay that monthly bill.
I have a 2 year old daughter. I have never needed to call 911 but I DEFINATELY need to know it is accessible at a moments notice and that 911 can find me without having to worry about it. Also, when my daughter gets a little older I need to know she can dial 911 and get help, even if she doesn't know our address.
We have a landline and two cellphones. We contemplated dropping the landline and just going with the cells because it's so much cheaper -- 911 service is the primary reason we did not do so. Even cell 911 is limited and they cannot always figure out where you are located -- and what happens if you let the battery run down???
Until alternative methods of contacting emergency personnel are proven to be effective, I will stick with my landline. It's worth the extra cost.
Also, having the landline means we can give people we really don't care about (ie the plumber) our landline number and we aren't spreading our cell number around to everyone in the world.
A high school classmate of mine used to sign all his "J. Christ" and he never had a problem either.
But then, his name was Joel Christ.
It was always fun going to restaurants with him. "J. Christ, table for 12..."
Scalable is being able to run on many of one platform. Usually in unison.
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of...
Oh, never mind
OOPS! I misspelled the group! ...a h that's it. Thats the group I want the barb^H^H^H^Hslashdotters to check out! That's where all the COOL programmers hang out! :)
I meant... umm... aah...
I meant
MICROSOFT.PUBLIC.DOTNET.LANGUAGES.CSHARP
ye
(in all seriousness, since I'm "polluting" usenet by recommending good groups, I'd also recommend comp.programming)
There are still some very good groups out there. They tend to be very highly-policed (either as officially moderated groups, or via a cadre of regulars who keep things firmly ontopic.)
comp.lang.c is a great example of this. I owe them a LOT regarding my growth in understanding of C.
The practice of bolting useless crap to your car, sticking stickers (for products that are not installed on your car), having 6 foot tall wings, a tailpipe the size of a coffee can, and generally making a relatively nice subcompact car total junk is called "ricers" because the people who do that to cars tend to use Honda Civics, etc. Since they tend to use cheap subcompact Japanese vehicles, the derogatory term "Ricer" evolved.
:)
Type-R stickers refer to the Civic type-R line (not sold in the USA --The only type-R line sold in the US is the Acura Integra.) The type-R Civics are highly-tuned performance cars. Therefore, ricers who are trying to impress their friends will buy a type R sticker and slap it on their stock civic and try to convince people they have a true type R.
The running joke is that a type R sticker instantly adds 10 horsepower to a ricer
For a good example of ricers, see the movie The Fast and the Furious. Prepare to laugh. Also visit http://www.riceboypage.com for definitions and pictures (their hall of shame is pretty good)
That's not true at all.
I have a bone-stock winXP system here, and have been running online for almost an hou*(&^@ SD#&7*$^)_*( #$%@#&*() #
NO CARRIER
What I want is a power button on my keyboard (NOT one of the stupid "sleep" buttons)
:)
My PC is inside a little cupboard under my desk, and you have to open the door in order to turn it on. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but I have a 15-month old daughter who has figured out doors and thinks buttons are pretty cool things (geek in training!) so I need one of those safety catches on the door to keep it closed.
In a nutshell, it's a pain to use. What I would like is a power button on the keyboard that connects to the power on/off pins on the motherboard so I could disconnect the button on the case and just use the one on the keyboard (and therefore wouldn't have to open that darn cupboard door to turn it on)
Yeah I'm lazy. I know.
yeah I could make one myself (my current keyboard has a "sleep" button that I could hack and run a 2nd wire down to the PC or something) but as I mentioned in the previous sentence, I'm lazy
Anybody know of such a beast?