Well, sure. Coding C++'ll put hair on your chest. It's kinda like how athletes and Marines commit brutal hazing acts on one another to prove their manliness.
"I invented the term Object-Oriented, and I can tell you I did not have C++ in mind." --Alan Kay:)
I don't mind C++ (or Java) that much but spend enough time on the Squeak ML and you get an idea just how much the other OO languages have been playing "catch-up" to Smalltalk, from a power standpoint.
Part of the reason why I think Extreme Programming exists is to make a mundane task sound exciting again. I mean think of it. Sounds like something skater kids would do while chugging Dew, doesn't it?
While XP is hardly suitable for all applications, it does formalize the refine-the-design-as-you-implement process Graham talks about. Nevertheless, 99% of projects I've tackled, either for pay or on my own, have been achieved using othing more than GOFH (Good Old Fashioned Hacking).
No game has amazed and enthralled me in the same way Rez has. It is dense, dreamlike, and beautiful and I feel like I'm playing it for the first time, each time I play it.
Why don't we just open our borders and let the terrorists waltz in and blow up whatever the heck they want? Build your own cruise missile... geez, what is the world coming to? If you ask me this guy should be shut down and put in jail for a long long time without a trial, as is the American way to fight terror.
(Special note: the above was sarcasm and should be regarded as such.)
I thought someone was going to mention Rez. This is by far, the most mind-boggling game I've ever played. It's not exactly like synaesthesia, but in many cases it's pretty damn close: I've always imagined techno music as being like flying through an abstract, dark cityscape, which easily describes much of Rez.
Anyone who is a gamer, must play this game at least once in their lives.
It also looks like any one of a number of help systems may qualify, including Apple Help and Microsoft Help. I remember the old MSDN CD's which would show a table of contents to the left and the document you selected in a large right-hand pane. There was even a search facility. Sounds a lot like what is being covered by this patent. Prior art out the wazoo.
Call it the law of Open Source Pangloss Parity: No one will use a piece of consumer oriented open source software unless it looks and behaves exactly like some piece of Microsoft software, no matter how badly the behavior of said MS software was designed.
While the American IT economy deteriorates into near nothingness, the Indian economy grows by a factor of 250%... carry the one... that works out to about doubling, yeah.
We could be dealing with a phenomenon wherein Wince devices obsolesce faster than desktop boxen, in terms of fashion if not in technology. Sure, you could get by with last year's desktop PC or even one from the year before. But if you're caught with an old HP Jornada or a black-and-white first-gen Palm, you're going to lose face. Yeah, they do all the basic stuff, but Joe just bought a new backlit-screen, Wince-based XScale PDA that he can use to beam his baby's photos all over the planet.
So it's not that Wince devices are obsoleting PC's, it's just that they are obsoleting each other faster than PC's can, which generates more revenues as the marketing push for the next generation of handheld electronic frobnitz takes hold.
Even though Alan Kay is often mentioned as a dim shadow of the past, in reality he's busily working on what may be the cutting edge of many computing aspects. The Squeak project is his current baby. I heartily recommend it to anyone who pines for the good old days when programming was fun, and only seriously undertaken by those who thought it so.
after all these years why are we still programming with text files? there are so many other possibilities. Not everything needs to be on a screen! We could use Blocks, music, colors, lights, shapes--with today's tech the possibilities are endless!
Squeak incorporates a system called eToys wherein the user draws objects on the screen and then programs them using drag-and-drop "tiles" that represent the various properties and actions associated with the object.
I haven't played much with it myself, and it's rather primitive still but there are kids successfully making rather complex programs with it.
I mean would it be normal music from acts I like, or would it be "See the USA in your Chevrolet" type stuff?
I remember getting free music with a McDonald's meal once. One of those cardboard punch-out disposable phonograph records with the catchy menu jingle recorded on it. And if the class sings it successfully through to the end, you win like a lot of money or something.
Actually Java sucks because it doesn't do enough of those things you mentioned.
You want a serious enterprise language? Try LISP or Smalltalk.
XML: Good for some things, horrible for others.
on
Why XML Doesn't Suck
·
· Score: 1
I can see XML finding purchase in the same kinds of things HTML and SGML were used for: document-type representations where the amount of text in between the start and end tags is much greater than the amount of markup.
Things like databases, RPC calls, freakin' programming languages (I didn't make that stuff up about XML programming languages being said to obsolete normal languages in Dr. Dobbs), stuff like that, would probably benefit much more from a format that isn't as cluttered as XML.
Look at an old-school NeXTStep-style propertylist, and look at one of the new Mac OS X XML propertylists, and tell me which one looks better, and easier to edit.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, sure. Coding C++'ll put hair on your chest. It's kinda like how athletes and Marines commit brutal hazing acts on one another to prove their manliness.
"I invented the term Object-Oriented, and I can tell you I did not have C++ in mind." --Alan Kay :)
I don't mind C++ (or Java) that much but spend enough time on the Squeak ML and you get an idea just how much the other OO languages have been playing "catch-up" to Smalltalk, from a power standpoint.
Part of the reason why I think Extreme Programming exists is to make a mundane task sound exciting again. I mean think of it. Sounds like something skater kids would do while chugging Dew, doesn't it?
While XP is hardly suitable for all applications, it does formalize the refine-the-design-as-you-implement process Graham talks about. Nevertheless, 99% of projects I've tackled, either for pay or on my own, have been achieved using othing more than GOFH (Good Old Fashioned Hacking).
No game has amazed and enthralled me in the same way Rez has. It is dense, dreamlike, and beautiful and I feel like I'm playing it for the first time, each time I play it.
Why don't we just open our borders and let the terrorists waltz in and blow up whatever the heck they want? Build your own cruise missile... geez, what is the world coming to? If you ask me this guy should be shut down and put in jail for a long long time without a trial, as is the American way to fight terror.
(Special note: the above was sarcasm and should be regarded as such.)
I thought someone was going to mention Rez. This is by far, the most mind-boggling game I've ever played. It's not exactly like synaesthesia, but in many cases it's pretty damn close: I've always imagined techno music as being like flying through an abstract, dark cityscape, which easily describes much of Rez.
Anyone who is a gamer, must play this game at least once in their lives.
It also looks like any one of a number of help systems may qualify, including Apple Help and Microsoft Help. I remember the old MSDN CD's which would show a table of contents to the left and the document you selected in a large right-hand pane. There was even a search facility. Sounds a lot like what is being covered by this patent. Prior art out the wazoo.
DirectX is based on COM. It uses COM interfaces to encapsulate its routines.
One of the reasons why I hate it.
Call it the law of Open Source Pangloss Parity: No one will use a piece of consumer oriented open source software unless it looks and behaves exactly like some piece of Microsoft software, no matter how badly the behavior of said MS software was designed.
I just have one thing to say concerning your dinosaur comics...
BEST THING SINCE POKEY.
Do you realize how many Moblins I have to kill to get 825 frickin' rupees?
Geez...
While the American IT economy deteriorates into near nothingness, the Indian economy grows by a factor of 250%... carry the one... that works out to about doubling, yeah.
Translation: If the customer is willing to pony up the additional $15/month or whatever for the "Commercial" connection package...
... why they're frequently called "case ricers".
Just think, video game future becomes reality... and we can have Rockman, Gutsman, Cutman, etc. on our PDA's to hack into the network for us!
(If you haven't yet played Rockman.EXE/Mega Man Battle Network, I recommend it.)
All this time passed, and Cid is still the only one with an airship...
Ell Oh Ell, Semicolon Right Parenthesis!
We could be dealing with a phenomenon wherein Wince devices obsolesce faster than desktop boxen, in terms of fashion if not in technology. Sure, you could get by with last year's desktop PC or even one from the year before. But if you're caught with an old HP Jornada or a black-and-white first-gen Palm, you're going to lose face. Yeah, they do all the basic stuff, but Joe just bought a new backlit-screen, Wince-based XScale PDA that he can use to beam his baby's photos all over the planet.
So it's not that Wince devices are obsoleting PC's, it's just that they are obsoleting each other faster than PC's can, which generates more revenues as the marketing push for the next generation of handheld electronic frobnitz takes hold.
Well, that's just my $0.02.
Even though Alan Kay is often mentioned as a dim shadow of the past, in reality he's busily working on what may be the cutting edge of many computing aspects. The Squeak project is his current baby. I heartily recommend it to anyone who pines for the good old days when programming was fun, and only seriously undertaken by those who thought it so.
:)
http://www.squeak.org
Get it. Have fun. Show it to your kids.
Squeak incorporates a system called eToys wherein the user draws objects on the screen and then programs them using drag-and-drop "tiles" that represent the various properties and actions associated with the object.
I haven't played much with it myself, and it's rather primitive still but there are kids successfully making rather complex programs with it.
Command line? Like, ohmigod, ew!
You're a marketing genius. Ford Ranger truck + country and western promotional = BIG SALES.
I mean would it be normal music from acts I like, or would it be "See the USA in your Chevrolet" type stuff?
I remember getting free music with a McDonald's meal once. One of those cardboard punch-out disposable phonograph records with the catchy menu jingle recorded on it. And if the class sings it successfully through to the end, you win like a lot of money or something.
Catchy, but not exactly chart-topping stuff.
Actually Java sucks because it doesn't do enough of those things you mentioned.
You want a serious enterprise language? Try LISP or Smalltalk.
I can see XML finding purchase in the same kinds of things HTML and SGML were used for: document-type representations where the amount of text in between the start and end tags is much greater than the amount of markup.
Things like databases, RPC calls, freakin' programming languages (I didn't make that stuff up about XML programming languages being said to obsolete normal languages in Dr. Dobbs), stuff like that, would probably benefit much more from a format that isn't as cluttered as XML.
Look at an old-school NeXTStep-style propertylist, and look at one of the new Mac OS X XML propertylists, and tell me which one looks better, and easier to edit.