As a basic principle of database design, saved queries will never be as fast as stored data. A DBFS is useful, but if I need a list of every.txt file on my system (out of about 300,000+ files) I'll take a stored list over a fast query any day.
I'm not bashing saved queries. Both are useful. But they're not the end-all to FS design.
In my college days I used to play Doom exclusively with my keyboard, and laughed at the lamers (l4m3rs hadn't yet been invented) who tried to play with their mice. It wasn't that they weren't good. The one big advantage was the ability to circle strafe; I was always moving at angles to them while they would run straight forward and use the mouse to turn. Also, being able to turn at a constant rate by holding a key let me predict when to fire. You can't make those kinds of predictions on a wildly analog input like a mouse.
We would usually play to 50 or 100 kills, and I would usually hit the mark before any of them got half that number.
Next-gen FPS games introduced the Hyper-Ludicrous Turning Speed(TM) and made using a mouse mandatory. But I held out for as long as I could, and it was surprisingly effective considering how outnumbered I was.
I've been doing a new type of puzzle called Sudoku (Daily Sudoku) for the past few weeks and have noticed that it's improved the way that I think about other things logically. It's not anything that I can put my finger on. It might mean that I've gotten a little smarter, although that would be a very subjective determination.
It would be hard to overstate how politically incorrect this paper is... [though] it's certainly a thorough and well-argued paper, not one that can easily be dismissed outright.
The question of why someone would want to outrightly dismiss a paper like this based on political correctness is a good argument against political correctness.
If you want an easy bug-free life, ALWAYS install to the default location when you can.
This might guarantee less bugs, but I doubt it would make life bug-free. And it won't make life easy, either. For example, here's a great LFN (with spaces, of course):
Wow, 74 characters for something that could've been C:\Apps\(common)\Microsoft\MSOfficeProject11 instead. For someone who is a fast-at-being-slow mouser, they probably don't care how long the paths are. But if you're a keyboard user like me, it really matters. I guess MS is just catering to the lowest common denominator.
Users are always stupid[1] and careless. Why make their lives harder by allowing files to mask themselves as something else? And it's trivial to give an executable a document's icon. The OS should do what it can to protect users from executables masquerading as files. Changing how spaces in filenames are displayed would be a good start.
Tab completion is great when you're using the CLI. There are still lots of (important) places in Windows that don't support it, like the Run dialog. (BTW, you don't need a power toy to enable tab completion in 2K. Just set HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionCharacter to 0x00000009.
Elegant, schmelegant. "Program Files" and "My Computer" were idiotically named. Who came up with that? Do you know how much grief C:\Progra~1 has caused? Why not C:\Apps or C:\Programs or anything except for a LFN name on an OS that barely supported LFNs.
Spaces in file name are bad for a number of reasons:
They're used by miscreants. Viruses send themselves around these days as readme.html [ I'd-insert-50-spaces-here-but-Slashdot-filters-the m-out ].exe. People click on the "web page" only to launch the program.
You can't see a space. You don't know if it's a normal space, a tab, a numeric space character, etc. Seeing the characters in a filename is important.
It's murder on command-line power users, who have to enclose everything in quotes. Also, allowing spaces in filenames make for some pretty long filenames, which is also bad for CLI users.
It's murder on scripts, for the same reasons.
It's never been implemented correctly. There are still old parts of Windows that bring up the Win16 file picker with its 8.3 formats.
I'm not against having some kind of space between words in a file name, but they should be clearly marked as such. An underscore, or a special unobtrusive glyph would do nicely.
And for those that tried to install MS apps anywhere other than "Program Files," I can sympathize. I tried installing everything to \Apps and \Dev and \Utils for a while, but everything ended up in C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1 anyway.
SpeedTreeRT(TM) Named Sole Foliage Middleware Partner for Next Generation Xbox® Platform
When you have to invent titles like that for exclusivity that should be a sign that something is wrong with your exclusivity. You won't find it in IDV's press release, but here are some of MS's other "Next Generation Xbox® Platform Middleware Partners":
Khazad Co: Sole Subterranian Middleware Partner for the Americas
Gollum NTerprises, Inc: Sole Subterranian Middleware Partner for Middle Europe
Lockheed-Martin Corp: Sole Airborne Projectiles Middleware Provider
Smith - Wesson: Sole Provider of Right-Handed Handheld Weapons Middleware Partner
Tom Skilling, Inc: Sole Precipitation Between 0 - 10 km and Middleware Partner
NOAA: Sole Atmospheric 11 - 50 km Middleware Partner
I'm not sure what you mean about dropping DLT tapes. The reason any tape-based disk is in a shell is because of drops, etc. And any drive worth its salt should be able to retension the tape instead of being destroyed by it. I guess you could even generalize that: any media reader should have physical safeguards in place so that it isn't destroyed by its media.
From time to time I've dropped DLT tapes and they've always read/wrote fine.
That's right. Lyon is one of the good guys. Still, Lyon's heroics weren't possible without Mickey Richardson's resolve. It's easy to forget that as Lyon worked to save him, Richardson considered paying off the extortionists. Now Richardson has a better option. Pay Lyon $50,000 a year and he's protected. He doesn't have to worry about paying extortionist's protection fees.
From a purely economic standpoint, it makes me wonder who's the real "extortionist"...
From TFA:
I've got a bone to pick with the never-ending stream of studies by tech research outfits comparing Linux to Windows. For starters, it seems like about half of them are paid for by one camp or another.
If we agree that this is the main premise, I have a problem with the write-up on Groklaw in the first place. I think it's unlikely that most corporations (to whom the original study was aimed at) will find much value in an article on a site that has never displayed much consideration for corporate interests.[1]
[1] Unless they happen to be interests that parallel the Linux community
On a slightly more serious note, let me just point out that despite all the bashing we give the Patriot Act, it's not actually been abused as much as some people would like to think (as this article explains, or just search Google News for "patriot act abuse" for recent articles on the Congressional hearings).
It'll be interesting to see if there is any "Restriction of Trade" in the old contract.
I just finished reading Showstopper, the story about the creation of Windows NT. IIRC, Lucovsky originally came to Microsoft with about a dozen or so former Digital employees. But instead of a nice honeymoon period, the first thing that happened was a showdown over MS's no-compete clause in their contract. After a legal standoff that lasted most the day, MS relented and the employees were allowed to start working without agreeing to that clause.
Some other interesting tidbits about Lucovsky, from the book:
Many people felt that Lucovsky was a jerk. He was hard to manage but showed the pep and initiative that every team needs. Even more valuable, Lucovsky sought to understand how the many pieces of NT interacted as a system. [...] Lucovsky had a rare ability to learn the intricate details of his own pieces and at the same time clearly see how all the pieces fit together.
At Cutlers behest, Mark Lucovsky, the team's most versatile programmer, filled the gap. He tracked check-ins on a white board in his office and managed the now twice-weekly builds. Before each build he compiled a list of proposed changes, then spoke with each code writer about the rationale for the change and its affect on the stability of NT. Lucovsky's opinions carried weight; he probably understood the mosaic of NT better than anyone else, including Cutler. And he didn't tiptoe around fellow code writers but battered their egos with criticism. "If Lucovsky didn't write it, everything is a piece of shit," said one colleague.
And for those of you who would make cracks about NT or its children, 2K and Win server, please read the book or know what you're talking about before you pipe up. Sure, MS gets a lot of things wrong, and I'm no MS apologist, but name one other company/organization that has released a world-class, brand new OS in the last decade that runs most of the world's servers and computers. Cutler, Felton, Kimura, Whitmer, Abrash, Lucovsky and a host of others I'm probably forgetting. If those names don't mean anythign to you then you don't know some of the best software engineers alive. From an engineering standpoint, NT was a damned fine achievement.
Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write
the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.
There's a common misconception here in the US that "my" social security number and "my" income data is personal information that belongs to me only. Breaking news: it's not. Once you file your taxes, buy stock, etc. these become public records. And public records, thanks to the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), are documents that can be accessed by the public at large.
Do you think it's bad that PayMaxx shows people's personal information on the web? Of course it is. But how about if you get it legallyfrom the IRS instead?
Slashdot Mirror
Here's the download link for the original: Download Expression 3
I'm not bashing saved queries. Both are useful. But they're not the end-all to FS design.
We would usually play to 50 or 100 kills, and I would usually hit the mark before any of them got half that number.
Next-gen FPS games introduced the Hyper-Ludicrous Turning Speed(TM) and made using a mouse mandatory. But I held out for as long as I could, and it was surprisingly effective considering how outnumbered I was.
I've been doing a new type of puzzle called Sudoku (Daily Sudoku) for the past few weeks and have noticed that it's improved the way that I think about other things logically. It's not anything that I can put my finger on. It might mean that I've gotten a little smarter, although that would be a very subjective determination.
The question of why someone would want to outrightly dismiss a paper like this based on political correctness is a good argument against political correctness.
Great post, and a great outlook on life. In my opinion the world is made better because of people like you. Thanks!
This might guarantee less bugs, but I doubt it would make life bug-free. And it won't make life easy, either. For example, here's a great LFN (with spaces, of course):
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft Office Project 11"
Wow, 74 characters for something that could've been C:\Apps\(common)\Microsoft\MSOfficeProject11 instead. For someone who is a fast-at-being-slow mouser, they probably don't care how long the paths are. But if you're a keyboard user like me, it really matters. I guess MS is just catering to the lowest common denominator.
Tab completion is great when you're using the CLI. There are still lots of (important) places in Windows that don't support it, like the Run dialog. (BTW, you don't need a power toy to enable tab completion in 2K. Just set HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionCharacter to 0x00000009.
[1] WRT to using computers
Spaces in file name are bad for a number of reasons:
I'm not against having some kind of space between words in a file name, but they should be clearly marked as such. An underscore, or a special unobtrusive glyph would do nicely.
And for those that tried to install MS apps anywhere other than "Program Files," I can sympathize. I tried installing everything to \Apps and \Dev and \Utils for a while, but everything ended up in C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1 anyway.
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/0 5/images/buckwheat_fly.jpg
What kind of fly is that?!
SpeedTreeRT(TM) Named Sole Foliage Middleware Partner for Next Generation Xbox® Platform
When you have to invent titles like that for exclusivity that should be a sign that something is wrong with your exclusivity. You won't find it in IDV's press release, but here are some of MS's other "Next Generation Xbox® Platform Middleware Partners":
- Khazad Co: Sole Subterranian Middleware Partner for the Americas
- Gollum NTerprises, Inc: Sole Subterranian Middleware Partner for Middle Europe
- Lockheed-Martin Corp: Sole Airborne Projectiles Middleware Provider
- Smith - Wesson: Sole Provider of Right-Handed Handheld Weapons Middleware Partner
- Tom Skilling, Inc: Sole Precipitation Between 0 - 10 km and Middleware Partner
- NOAA: Sole Atmospheric 11 - 50 km Middleware Partner
And the list goes on, ad naseumFrom time to time I've dropped DLT tapes and they've always read/wrote fine.
The LifeDrive runs Garnet, the latest multimedia SDK of Palm OS 5.
Oh, the humanity!
From a purely economic standpoint, it makes me wonder who's the real "extortionist"...
I've got a bone to pick with the never-ending stream of studies by tech research outfits comparing Linux to Windows. For starters, it seems like about half of them are paid for by one camp or another.
If we agree that this is the main premise, I have a problem with the write-up on Groklaw in the first place. I think it's unlikely that most corporations (to whom the original study was aimed at) will find much value in an article on a site that has never displayed much consideration for corporate interests.[1]
[1] Unless they happen to be interests that parallel the Linux community
From the it's-been-just-two-years-away-for-the-last-10-year s dept.
On a slightly more serious note, let me just point out that despite all the bashing we give the Patriot Act, it's not actually been abused as much as some people would like to think (as this article explains, or just search Google News for "patriot act abuse" for recent articles on the Congressional hearings).
Wow, reposting something he himself posted 6 articles ago. This must be a new dupe record for Taco. I guess we know who the April Fool is this year.
I just finished reading Showstopper, the story about the creation of Windows NT. IIRC, Lucovsky originally came to Microsoft with about a dozen or so former Digital employees. But instead of a nice honeymoon period, the first thing that happened was a showdown over MS's no-compete clause in their contract. After a legal standoff that lasted most the day, MS relented and the employees were allowed to start working without agreeing to that clause.
Some other interesting tidbits about Lucovsky, from the book:
Many people felt that Lucovsky was a jerk. He was hard to manage but showed the pep and initiative that every team needs. Even more valuable, Lucovsky sought to understand how the many pieces of NT interacted as a system. [...] Lucovsky had a rare ability to learn the intricate details of his own pieces and at the same time clearly see how all the pieces fit together.
At Cutlers behest, Mark Lucovsky, the team's most versatile programmer, filled the gap. He tracked check-ins on a white board in his office and managed the now twice-weekly builds. Before each build he compiled a list of proposed changes, then spoke with each code writer about the rationale for the change and its affect on the stability of NT. Lucovsky's opinions carried weight; he probably understood the mosaic of NT better than anyone else, including Cutler. And he didn't tiptoe around fellow code writers but battered their egos with criticism. "If Lucovsky didn't write it, everything is a piece of shit," said one colleague.
And for those of you who would make cracks about NT or its children, 2K and Win server, please read the book or know what you're talking about before you pipe up. Sure, MS gets a lot of things wrong, and I'm no MS apologist, but name one other company/organization that has released a world-class, brand new OS in the last decade that runs most of the world's servers and computers. Cutler, Felton, Kimura, Whitmer, Abrash, Lucovsky and a host of others I'm probably forgetting. If those names don't mean anythign to you then you don't know some of the best software engineers alive. From an engineering standpoint, NT was a damned fine achievement.
Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.
Do you think it's bad that PayMaxx shows people's personal information on the web? Of course it is. But how about if you get it legally from the IRS instead?
Once upon a time people called that a mini tower.
Amazing! How did they make them in that warehouse?
Running Postnuke? After a slashdotting you'll wish you had signed up for Prenuke.