... and the fact the standard C++ libraries don't do much (compared to Java), and libraries that do stuff are generally no portable, and there is no in-language support for multi-threading, and..... That is why C++ use declined and Java took over as King of the Hill in global development (according to the Tiobe Index at least).
Who cares if they build war infrastructure on-land. It'll only be real trouble if they start building a decent navy, like start building aircraft carriers, oh wait!...
You'll notice that he's admits his argument is mostly talking about OpenGL from the past. And yes, I am not so unreasonable as to not acknowledge where he has made a valid point. BTW, programming *only* for Windows when you can easily enough program for all platforms (including Windows) is pretty silly, yes? Only the blinkered can't see the choice clearly.
So your debate boils down to cursing and stating "it just is" ? I guess you haven't programmed OpenGL lately after you switched to Direct X. Turns out you very rarely need to check for extensions if you are using the shader pipeline unless you are targetting a specific optimisation for a specific piece of hardware. Most of the time is is not needed, especially as many extension migrate to the 'Core' as OpenGL evolves. These extensions give you access to features that you would otherwise have to wait for the OpenGL ARB/Khronos to make official. For example it lets Windows XP get Direct X 11-equivalent features. Can you do that with Direct X? I think you know the answer.
Regarding the cross-platform capability. You might even be a decent developer but you are clearly a poor businessman. Windows is dominant on the desktop for sure, but it turns out that the market pie is growing at a huge rate away from the desktop (consoles, tablets/pads and phones). Shame you have make a retarded business decision to lock yourself into the desktop based on a misguided belief the compting == Windows (a mindset of someone who is focussed on the path and was not prepared for the future). For us that have better strategic vision we have chosen OpenGL (despite its rough ride of late) not only because of the technology but also because of the strategic business factors (multi-platform being one). Unfortunately we can only lead the DirectX guys to water, we cant make them think (about the long term strategic aspects of their technology choice - we're clearly approaching the end of the 'Windows-only' era and only some of us are well-prepared). Don't believe me? That's cool, but how about you read the following article with an open mind, and see how choosing OpenGL personally made this guy $US 3.5 million in a month because of the *business* opportunity he was able to exploit due to that choice. And the world of computing is only going to get more diverse with time... (which is why your blinkered focus on the desktop shows poor business decision making)
That's right. It isn't Microsoft's responsibility to support file access (hard disk manufacturers should do this), or networking (IETF, W3C and Cisco should do this), or sound (Creative Labs should do this). Right? The sarcasm is particularly because Windows was pitched as having compliance for US Government requirements (POSIX etc).
Why write Direct X when you can write OpenGL and have it work on Windows *and* everywhere else (the phonez)? Oh yeah, for the web you have WebGL. Also, you can use Java (not going away) for your OpenGL. So there are certainly (IMHO better) alternatives to Direct X and.NET if you look around.
So you're a Configuration Manager rather than a web dev? So you don't actually get your hands dirty with the nuts and bolts Javascript development? So you think that 'raw' Javascript tweaked for each current browser will be easy to maintain on those sites a decade from now, rather than insulating yourself from the browser? This seems to be what you were advocating instead of insulating yourself through an excellent library like GWT that Google's horde of engineers maintain. I'm interested to hear how you think using straight Javascript route eases the maintenance aspect of these sites (this is not intended to be sarcastic, I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts here, in case there is some aspect I have missed).
I'm 39 and a flight simmer (DCS:A-10C, LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2, DCS:Ka-50 and IL-2:Clifss of Dover). Do play a little bit of twitch gaming but get bored of it. For my flight simming I have thousands of dollars of gear (Thrustmaster Warthog, rudder pedals, Track IR, multiple monitors, high-end PC). Most of my colleagues are of similar maturity and also have full sets of gear. We older gamers might be fewer in numbers but we are a goldmine in value (and we pay for our software since pirating is a complete hassle - and time is more precious to us fogies than money). Too bad we're completely invisible to the main-stream game reporting and gaming companies - especially the latter who produce games with purile content and weak storylines (I mean, effective modern combat units fight *for* their teammates, despite humored grumbling they don't bitch fight among themselves all the time).
Wrong. Google is not pissed about revenue loss. If they were worried about revenue loss they would have stayed in China, collected the advertising dollars in the growing market, and not given a sh!t about compromised users. Instead, they spurned the money on principle and withdrew from that market when the Chinese Government gave them crap conditions to operate under. Google's Sergei is particularly sensitive to repressive totalitarian governments like China because he grew up in the Soviet Union - and understands how bad such governments are to their own people (even if the people are brainwashed into believing it is good for them, and the government presents a happy face to the world while having a corrupt and brutal face internally). One the Chinese Government was implicated in the breaches of Google accounts Sergei was able to convince Larry to ignore the money and pull out on principle. This is actually a case of a big company doing something ethical (better late than never). But don't let me rain on your little conspiracy theory that Google is somehow more evil than the Chinese Government (something becoming fashionable to believe in the West, despite being a patent falsehood).
> People who can't program a complex website without the use of their beloved OOP is because they are unable to adapt to the web development workflow.
Whateverz. You know nothing about what I develop for, yet your four year 'experience' (which to me means you are still crawling in professional career development terms) you clearly think you know it all - and every web problem can be solved by resorting to Javascript. That's simply bollox!
The reason I suggest GWT is that Java is the most general purpose and widely used development language on the planet (at the moment). It is not the best language at any one particular thing but it can be used for just about everything (unlike sh!tty Javascript). You may not be aware but there are developers out there who aren't simple webmonkeys doing development for a mere four years (mate, I used to build stuff for Mosaic back in early part of the public web) and think they know it all. Some of us build very complex front-ends to very complex back ends (eg. one of my current clients requires me to to integrate multiple radar devices of differing types, mash the data in complex ways, and present a nice interactive front end). Can you do this integration all in Javascript? hell no! Can you do all this integration using only Java (with GWT as just another library)? hell yes! Furthermore, I choose Java not because it is most complex and it makes me feel 733t but instead because it is the *most simple* language that can be used anywhere (my PhD in Astrophysics makes me feel 733t, I don't feel the need to brag to others about all the development languages I know while suggesting Java is not l33t nor fashionable enough, and think crappy Javascript is better). Java's 'simplicity by design' pays off in terms of money and development time (since my customers aren't all running Windows or one browser, they are big and run a lot of everything) and on any big complex project there is never enough time (development time matters). So I find it laughable when someone thinks programming in Javascript is the shizzle for the web - you clearly have not done enough complex sites (all the way to the back end custom hardware integration) for huge enough customers to make a decent judgement. You clearly think people should waste their time hacking Javascript for each and every browser rather than solving the real business problems that matter to customers. People come to me asking to submit RFPs because I have a proven track record with Java/GWT and those tools are extremely agile with change, with the technologies I use I'm not a dime-a-dozen PHP and Javascript webmonkey hoping someone will give me a less than six figures job.
Incidentally, this is also the reason (if you care to look at the Tiobe Index for the figures) why there is so much Java development - its not cause the developers are stupid and have to choose a simple language because they can't cope - its because they are making smarter business decisions and leveraging the simple and fast pathway with extremely good tooling and libraries to improve productivity. It is a shame your stomach turns irrationally at the thought of Java since clearly you can't grok its considerable advantages from a business perspective. One day when you get to architect or manage big projects requiring large teams of developers you will certainly see the world differently. Good luck with your career.
Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is pretty darn good at sorting out the browser dependencies for you. There are some pre-browser CSS tweaks you have to do for layout, but basically GWT is to the Web what the Java Virtual machine is to hardware - you just don't have to care about it. Plus, you write GWT in Java, which you already know and are using on your back-end Enterprise cluster. Take a look at GWT, if you are writing a significant part of your AJAX web application at the level of HTML5 and ECMAScript then you are doing the Web-equiavalent of writing assembly code (sometimes necessary, but can be avoided most of the time).
So what is the solution then? dissolve the "scum" State of Israel? boycott Israel to what end? announce a new State of Palestine without a need to renounce violence from *both* the Israelis and Palestinians? I mean, you are against injustice but how would *you* solve the situation?
If you had been there you would see it is nothing like South Africa and the Israeli Arabs have all the rights and privileges of any other citizen.
> but the rest of the world is fast seeing thru the constant propagnda at the morally bankrupt Israel
And the political position of the Palestinian factions are any less morally corrupt? Fortunately many of those in decision making power have been to the region (as I have) and have a vastly better idea of the reality than yourself. Personally I hope the Palestinians get a their own state, and then use that to further themselves instead of gird themselves for more war - which incidentally is what most moderate Israelis also hope for (there are always extremist exceptions of course, but we're talking about the average person).
> Really? When was the last one? Was it 3 days ago? Was it the first for 2 weeks?
So you think it is acceptable at any time? You fail right there. Please examine your own prejudices. If you can't see this for the evil it is then there is something wrong. The end does not justify the means
>So you know where Israel's military bases are, right? You know there's a camp on the outskirts of Sderot, right? It's still not ok, because the weapons fired by Palestinians are wildly inaccurate, and can and do go anywhere, but if you're going to claim the moral high ground, don't build your military bases right next to civilian towns.
Fail again. The Gaza Palestinians are not targeting any installations. Their *stated* aim is to kill Israeli civilians and bring terror to the life of the civilians. Man, you can't recognize evil when it stares you in the face - now that is warped. Also, everyone places bases near the hosting town (you will find them in your own country) for the convenience of their servicemen. The target for Hamas has never been those bases but the towns. In contrast, Hamas and Hezbollah both place their sites in schools and residential blocks deliberately. Examine your own prejudices. If you can't see this for the evil it is then there is something wrong with your worldview. Even if you think the Israelis are wrong the end does not justify the means.
>Actually, you'll find that Israel hasn't paid a penny, it's all been the US and EU.
Incorrect. Israel collects tax on behalf of the PA and gives that tax portion to the PA. It is a shame you don't know the realities of the basic economics over there.
> You've read or listened to the original Arabic, have you? Or did you read it from the much-discredited MEMRI? You really should check your sources, or apply critical thinking.
Ad hominem attack (and no, I did not read MEMRI). Have you listened to the Arabic? Can you provide me with a factual counter to this statement? Or are you talking about how you would like it to be, rather than recognising the duplicity of Hamas' true position. Examine the facts and then please examine why your own prejudices cause you to ignore them.
> Sorry, but this is just a pro-Israel rant, and not a very good one either.
Sigh. You can't counter the facts I presented so you resort to this. Fail. Give me facts to disprove the mindless smashing of the greenhouses, and I will listen with an *open mind*, otherwise your are making indirect and ad-hominem arguments that can't counter the facts I have given - a result of your *closed mind* and inability to see that *both* sides have done bad things and good things, and that one side keeps its fanatics (mostly) in check while the other doesn't. Neither side is perfect but if you would like to dismantle Israel and expel its inhabitants that is not a realistic solution. The only solution is for both sides to negotiate the borders, both sides to recognise the legitimacy of each other, and both sides to renounce violence. Anything else is bullshit. Time you started researching to the facts by going there for some time (as I did when I went to these places in person, and met Lebanese Hezbollah guys in person, and Palestinians in person, and Israelis in person, it certainly changed my view of things, since the reporting by Western media is so bad and distorted by agendas from both sides).
Mucho gracias/obrigado. Thanks for taking the time to clarify. However, while some might consider it "unfair", from a global view it is optimizing the cost of one trip and one lot of burnt fuel. Too bad we humans are still thinking in our little tribes...
First of all you don't have to come through Tel Aviv. You can come across the Allenby Bridge from Amman, Jordan. The Palestinians may get some questions but it is the Pakistanis or Pakistani decendants who get the worst questioning (with some justification, given recent history). I know, I watched as they make a Pakistani-decended US citizen wait while they did an Interpol check (although, I also got the same checks having travelled from Syria, despite coming from harmless New Zealand). So really, they're paranoid of everyone (with good reason) - and it isn't as unfairly discriminatory as most people think (remember, Israel is a nation of immigrants from every point on the globe), pretty much every foreigner gets the same questions.
You ignore the fact that rockets and mortar shells are still fired daily from Hamas controlled territory and are deliberately targeted at Israeli civilian towns with no military purpose.
You also ignore the fact that despite this Israel transports sick Palestinians from the same hostile territory for treatment at Israeli facilities and pays for their treatment.
Then you ignore the fact that Israel has been paying the Palestinian Authority (and arming and training their Police) for all that time and have just stopped due to the recent political union between the PA (who Israel with deal with) and Hamas (who have sworn to destroy Israel and have never stated any other intention in Arabic [they will say anything in English, but never in Arabic]).
Then there is the fact that Israeli Universities have money because their country is hell-bent on making money, not on wiping the Palestinians off the face of the Earth (unlike Hamas). There are plenty of Arab Israeli citizens who have the same rights as everyone else (although they're not very well trusted). The Israelis actually spent their effort making things (eg. Intel CPUs and CPU designs, desalination equipment, weapons etc) that the rest of the World will pay for. The Palestinians make nothing significant for export in their territory (the first thing the Palestinians did when the Israelis unilaterally withdrew from Gaza was smash the greenhouses and infrastructure that was left in perfectly working order, when they could have made a lot of money exporting food in the region).
Israel is far from perfect, and makes plenty of mistakes, but admit to yourself you have such a poor understanding of what is going on in the region that you come across as an ill-informed anti-Semite. Disclaimer: I come from a country about as far away as it is to be, am not Jewish, but have visited Israel and all the countries that neighbour it. Israel is trying to survive in a very rough and unreasonable neighbourhood.
Oh, women are so smart many of them decide not to go into a career in software after dabbling with it for a while. Most women simply aren't interested in writing software and being a doctor, lawyer, politician or mother is what they aspire to. It has nothing to do with discrimination or intelligence, encouragement, or education - it has all to do with the fact that writing software has no interest for most of them. Yet everyone has to bring out the "gender discrimination" bollox (I know you were joking, it was a good joke too).
So wrong. You can enter the West Bank from Jordan (admittedly through an Israeli-controlled checkpoint). You fly to Amman rather than Tel Aviv. I know, I've done it.
Its the cellphones that were the real problem, for two principal reasons:
* When the 700+ cellphones and devices pass near all the cellphone towers visible to the high-flying aircraft those towers can be overloaded, and
* Having people jibber-jabbering on cellphones in close confines over longer flights will result in all sorts of social problems (conflicts, if someone can't stop talking really annoyingly over the entire flight).
Initially the 'navigation' angle was used as the effects were unknown, but pretty much that has been found to be a non-issue - but still a handy excuse to keep cellphone use down for the above reasons.
This is one of the scenarios where developing your product in Java makes sense. You can deploy your product from your dev box at home (running Windows) to a deployment in the cloud (mostly likely Linux) without having to re-code anything or worry about library gotchas (as a C#.NET to Mono switch would entail). Plus, all your tools and software infrastructure (Apache Tomcat etc) can be free, which means your growth can scale without software licenses constraining you.
C# is under ECMA but *the libraries are not*. The C# language is nothing (basically a sweetened version of Java - which C# is derived from via an intermediate language called "Cool"). It's the libraries that matter, and Microsoft has plenty of patents on them.
According to the following article and United Nations report (linked below) the Taliban were responsible for 76% of civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2009. NATO were responsible for 12% (although the media likes to pump it up as if NATO are the bad dudes). That's a ratio of 13:2, plus the Taliban will kill indiscriminately, take hostages as human shields (they consider 'involuntary matyrdom' of civilians as acceptable), and seize villagers as 'wives'. NATO generally tries to avoid killing civilians, unless they are within a compound there are armed Taliban in (likely to be wives and children of Taliban members than can't be separated from the gunmen). Then there is the classic Afghan trick of claiming 'casualties' in a village when in fact a goat has been killed (they get financial compensation from NATO for villagers killed, but not for goats - apparently this is a scam that the Afghans are all to happy to use on foreigners).
Slashdot Mirror
... and the fact the standard C++ libraries don't do much (compared to Java), and libraries that do stuff are generally no portable, and there is no in-language support for multi-threading, and ..... That is why C++ use declined and Java took over as King of the Hill in global development (according to the Tiobe Index at least).
Who cares if they build war infrastructure on-land. It'll only be real trouble if they start building a decent navy, like start building aircraft carriers, oh wait! ...
You'll notice that he's admits his argument is mostly talking about OpenGL from the past. And yes, I am not so unreasonable as to not acknowledge where he has made a valid point. BTW, programming *only* for Windows when you can easily enough program for all platforms (including Windows) is pretty silly, yes? Only the blinkered can't see the choice clearly.
Regarding the cross-platform capability. You might even be a decent developer but you are clearly a poor businessman. Windows is dominant on the desktop for sure, but it turns out that the market pie is growing at a huge rate away from the desktop (consoles, tablets/pads and phones). Shame you have make a retarded business decision to lock yourself into the desktop based on a misguided belief the compting == Windows (a mindset of someone who is focussed on the path and was not prepared for the future). For us that have better strategic vision we have chosen OpenGL (despite its rough ride of late) not only because of the technology but also because of the strategic business factors (multi-platform being one). Unfortunately we can only lead the DirectX guys to water, we cant make them think (about the long term strategic aspects of their technology choice - we're clearly approaching the end of the 'Windows-only' era and only some of us are well-prepared). Don't believe me? That's cool, but how about you read the following article with an open mind, and see how choosing OpenGL personally made this guy $US 3.5 million in a month because of the *business* opportunity he was able to exploit due to that choice. And the world of computing is only going to get more diverse with time ... (which is why your blinkered focus on the desktop shows poor business decision making)
http://techhaze.com/2010/03/interview-with-x-plane-creator-austin-meyer/
Oh yeah, and you don't have to check device capabilities in Direct3D either?
That's right. It isn't Microsoft's responsibility to support file access (hard disk manufacturers should do this), or networking (IETF, W3C and Cisco should do this), or sound (Creative Labs should do this). Right? The sarcasm is particularly because Windows was pitched as having compliance for US Government requirements (POSIX etc).
Why write Direct X when you can write OpenGL and have it work on Windows *and* everywhere else (the phonez)? Oh yeah, for the web you have WebGL. Also, you can use Java (not going away) for your OpenGL. So there are certainly (IMHO better) alternatives to Direct X and .NET if you look around.
So you're a Configuration Manager rather than a web dev? So you don't actually get your hands dirty with the nuts and bolts Javascript development? So you think that 'raw' Javascript tweaked for each current browser will be easy to maintain on those sites a decade from now, rather than insulating yourself from the browser? This seems to be what you were advocating instead of insulating yourself through an excellent library like GWT that Google's horde of engineers maintain. I'm interested to hear how you think using straight Javascript route eases the maintenance aspect of these sites (this is not intended to be sarcastic, I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts here, in case there is some aspect I have missed).
I'm 39 and a flight simmer (DCS:A-10C, LockOn: Flaming Cliffs 2, DCS:Ka-50 and IL-2:Clifss of Dover). Do play a little bit of twitch gaming but get bored of it. For my flight simming I have thousands of dollars of gear (Thrustmaster Warthog, rudder pedals, Track IR, multiple monitors, high-end PC). Most of my colleagues are of similar maturity and also have full sets of gear. We older gamers might be fewer in numbers but we are a goldmine in value (and we pay for our software since pirating is a complete hassle - and time is more precious to us fogies than money). Too bad we're completely invisible to the main-stream game reporting and gaming companies - especially the latter who produce games with purile content and weak storylines (I mean, effective modern combat units fight *for* their teammates, despite humored grumbling they don't bitch fight among themselves all the time).
Wrong. Google is not pissed about revenue loss. If they were worried about revenue loss they would have stayed in China, collected the advertising dollars in the growing market, and not given a sh!t about compromised users. Instead, they spurned the money on principle and withdrew from that market when the Chinese Government gave them crap conditions to operate under. Google's Sergei is particularly sensitive to repressive totalitarian governments like China because he grew up in the Soviet Union - and understands how bad such governments are to their own people (even if the people are brainwashed into believing it is good for them, and the government presents a happy face to the world while having a corrupt and brutal face internally). One the Chinese Government was implicated in the breaches of Google accounts Sergei was able to convince Larry to ignore the money and pull out on principle. This is actually a case of a big company doing something ethical (better late than never). But don't let me rain on your little conspiracy theory that Google is somehow more evil than the Chinese Government (something becoming fashionable to believe in the West, despite being a patent falsehood).
Whateverz. You know nothing about what I develop for, yet your four year 'experience' (which to me means you are still crawling in professional career development terms) you clearly think you know it all - and every web problem can be solved by resorting to Javascript. That's simply bollox!
The reason I suggest GWT is that Java is the most general purpose and widely used development language on the planet (at the moment). It is not the best language at any one particular thing but it can be used for just about everything (unlike sh!tty Javascript). You may not be aware but there are developers out there who aren't simple webmonkeys doing development for a mere four years (mate, I used to build stuff for Mosaic back in early part of the public web) and think they know it all. Some of us build very complex front-ends to very complex back ends (eg. one of my current clients requires me to to integrate multiple radar devices of differing types, mash the data in complex ways, and present a nice interactive front end). Can you do this integration all in Javascript? hell no! Can you do all this integration using only Java (with GWT as just another library)? hell yes! Furthermore, I choose Java not because it is most complex and it makes me feel 733t but instead because it is the *most simple* language that can be used anywhere (my PhD in Astrophysics makes me feel 733t, I don't feel the need to brag to others about all the development languages I know while suggesting Java is not l33t nor fashionable enough, and think crappy Javascript is better). Java's 'simplicity by design' pays off in terms of money and development time (since my customers aren't all running Windows or one browser, they are big and run a lot of everything) and on any big complex project there is never enough time (development time matters). So I find it laughable when someone thinks programming in Javascript is the shizzle for the web - you clearly have not done enough complex sites (all the way to the back end custom hardware integration) for huge enough customers to make a decent judgement. You clearly think people should waste their time hacking Javascript for each and every browser rather than solving the real business problems that matter to customers. People come to me asking to submit RFPs because I have a proven track record with Java/GWT and those tools are extremely agile with change, with the technologies I use I'm not a dime-a-dozen PHP and Javascript webmonkey hoping someone will give me a less than six figures job.
Incidentally, this is also the reason (if you care to look at the Tiobe Index for the figures) why there is so much Java development - its not cause the developers are stupid and have to choose a simple language because they can't cope - its because they are making smarter business decisions and leveraging the simple and fast pathway with extremely good tooling and libraries to improve productivity. It is a shame your stomach turns irrationally at the thought of Java since clearly you can't grok its considerable advantages from a business perspective. One day when you get to architect or manage big projects requiring large teams of developers you will certainly see the world differently. Good luck with your career.
Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is pretty darn good at sorting out the browser dependencies for you. There are some pre-browser CSS tweaks you have to do for layout, but basically GWT is to the Web what the Java Virtual machine is to hardware - you just don't have to care about it. Plus, you write GWT in Java, which you already know and are using on your back-end Enterprise cluster. Take a look at GWT, if you are writing a significant part of your AJAX web application at the level of HTML5 and ECMAScript then you are doing the Web-equiavalent of writing assembly code (sometimes necessary, but can be avoided most of the time).
Here's the link to GWT if you haven't seen it before: http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/overview.html
If you had been there you would see it is nothing like South Africa and the Israeli Arabs have all the rights and privileges of any other citizen.
> but the rest of the world is fast seeing thru the constant propagnda at the morally bankrupt Israel
And the political position of the Palestinian factions are any less morally corrupt? Fortunately many of those in decision making power have been to the region (as I have) and have a vastly better idea of the reality than yourself. Personally I hope the Palestinians get a their own state, and then use that to further themselves instead of gird themselves for more war - which incidentally is what most moderate Israelis also hope for (there are always extremist exceptions of course, but we're talking about the average person).
Very interesting! shame I've got no mod points at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
> Really? When was the last one? Was it 3 days ago? Was it the first for 2 weeks?
So you think it is acceptable at any time? You fail right there. Please examine your own prejudices. If you can't see this for the evil it is then there is something wrong. The end does not justify the means
>So you know where Israel's military bases are, right? You know there's a camp on the outskirts of Sderot, right? It's still not ok, because the weapons fired by Palestinians are wildly inaccurate, and can and do go anywhere, but if you're going to claim the moral high ground, don't build your military bases right next to civilian towns.
Fail again. The Gaza Palestinians are not targeting any installations. Their *stated* aim is to kill Israeli civilians and bring terror to the life of the civilians. Man, you can't recognize evil when it stares you in the face - now that is warped. Also, everyone places bases near the hosting town (you will find them in your own country) for the convenience of their servicemen. The target for Hamas has never been those bases but the towns. In contrast, Hamas and Hezbollah both place their sites in schools and residential blocks deliberately. Examine your own prejudices. If you can't see this for the evil it is then there is something wrong with your worldview. Even if you think the Israelis are wrong the end does not justify the means.
>Actually, you'll find that Israel hasn't paid a penny, it's all been the US and EU.
Incorrect. Israel collects tax on behalf of the PA and gives that tax portion to the PA. It is a shame you don't know the realities of the basic economics over there.
> You've read or listened to the original Arabic, have you? Or did you read it from the much-discredited MEMRI? You really should check your sources, or apply critical thinking.
Ad hominem attack (and no, I did not read MEMRI). Have you listened to the Arabic? Can you provide me with a factual counter to this statement? Or are you talking about how you would like it to be, rather than recognising the duplicity of Hamas' true position. Examine the facts and then please examine why your own prejudices cause you to ignore them.
> Sorry, but this is just a pro-Israel rant, and not a very good one either.
Sigh. You can't counter the facts I presented so you resort to this. Fail. Give me facts to disprove the mindless smashing of the greenhouses, and I will listen with an *open mind*, otherwise your are making indirect and ad-hominem arguments that can't counter the facts I have given - a result of your *closed mind* and inability to see that *both* sides have done bad things and good things, and that one side keeps its fanatics (mostly) in check while the other doesn't. Neither side is perfect but if you would like to dismantle Israel and expel its inhabitants that is not a realistic solution. The only solution is for both sides to negotiate the borders, both sides to recognise the legitimacy of each other, and both sides to renounce violence. Anything else is bullshit. Time you started researching to the facts by going there for some time (as I did when I went to these places in person, and met Lebanese Hezbollah guys in person, and Palestinians in person, and Israelis in person, it certainly changed my view of things, since the reporting by Western media is so bad and distorted by agendas from both sides).
Mucho gracias/obrigado. Thanks for taking the time to clarify. However, while some might consider it "unfair", from a global view it is optimizing the cost of one trip and one lot of burnt fuel. Too bad we humans are still thinking in our little tribes ...
First of all you don't have to come through Tel Aviv. You can come across the Allenby Bridge from Amman, Jordan. The Palestinians may get some questions but it is the Pakistanis or Pakistani decendants who get the worst questioning (with some justification, given recent history). I know, I watched as they make a Pakistani-decended US citizen wait while they did an Interpol check (although, I also got the same checks having travelled from Syria, despite coming from harmless New Zealand). So really, they're paranoid of everyone (with good reason) - and it isn't as unfairly discriminatory as most people think (remember, Israel is a nation of immigrants from every point on the globe), pretty much every foreigner gets the same questions.
You ignore the fact that rockets and mortar shells are still fired daily from Hamas controlled territory and are deliberately targeted at Israeli civilian towns with no military purpose.
You also ignore the fact that despite this Israel transports sick Palestinians from the same hostile territory for treatment at Israeli facilities and pays for their treatment.
Then you ignore the fact that Israel has been paying the Palestinian Authority (and arming and training their Police) for all that time and have just stopped due to the recent political union between the PA (who Israel with deal with) and Hamas (who have sworn to destroy Israel and have never stated any other intention in Arabic [they will say anything in English, but never in Arabic]).
Then there is the fact that Israeli Universities have money because their country is hell-bent on making money, not on wiping the Palestinians off the face of the Earth (unlike Hamas). There are plenty of Arab Israeli citizens who have the same rights as everyone else (although they're not very well trusted). The Israelis actually spent their effort making things (eg. Intel CPUs and CPU designs, desalination equipment, weapons etc) that the rest of the World will pay for. The Palestinians make nothing significant for export in their territory (the first thing the Palestinians did when the Israelis unilaterally withdrew from Gaza was smash the greenhouses and infrastructure that was left in perfectly working order, when they could have made a lot of money exporting food in the region).
Israel is far from perfect, and makes plenty of mistakes, but admit to yourself you have such a poor understanding of what is going on in the region that you come across as an ill-informed anti-Semite. Disclaimer: I come from a country about as far away as it is to be, am not Jewish, but have visited Israel and all the countries that neighbour it. Israel is trying to survive in a very rough and unreasonable neighbourhood.
Oh, women are so smart many of them decide not to go into a career in software after dabbling with it for a while. Most women simply aren't interested in writing software and being a doctor, lawyer, politician or mother is what they aspire to. It has nothing to do with discrimination or intelligence, encouragement, or education - it has all to do with the fact that writing software has no interest for most of them. Yet everyone has to bring out the "gender discrimination" bollox (I know you were joking, it was a good joke too).
So wrong. You can enter the West Bank from Jordan (admittedly through an Israeli-controlled checkpoint). You fly to Amman rather than Tel Aviv. I know, I've done it.
Its the cellphones that were the real problem, for two principal reasons:
Initially the 'navigation' angle was used as the effects were unknown, but pretty much that has been found to be a non-issue - but still a handy excuse to keep cellphone use down for the above reasons.
This is one of the scenarios where developing your product in Java makes sense. You can deploy your product from your dev box at home (running Windows) to a deployment in the cloud (mostly likely Linux) without having to re-code anything or worry about library gotchas (as a C#.NET to Mono switch would entail). Plus, all your tools and software infrastructure (Apache Tomcat etc) can be free, which means your growth can scale without software licenses constraining you.
C# is under ECMA but *the libraries are not*. The C# language is nothing (basically a sweetened version of Java - which C# is derived from via an intermediate language called "Cool"). It's the libraries that matter, and Microsoft has plenty of patents on them.
Awesome. A very handy term to know. Thanks for that.
According to the following article and United Nations report (linked below) the Taliban were responsible for 76% of civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2009. NATO were responsible for 12% (although the media likes to pump it up as if NATO are the bad dudes). That's a ratio of 13:2, plus the Taliban will kill indiscriminately, take hostages as human shields (they consider 'involuntary matyrdom' of civilians as acceptable), and seize villagers as 'wives'. NATO generally tries to avoid killing civilians, unless they are within a compound there are armed Taliban in (likely to be wives and children of Taliban members than can't be separated from the gunmen). Then there is the classic Afghan trick of claiming 'casualties' in a village when in fact a goat has been killed (they get financial compensation from NATO for villagers killed, but not for goats - apparently this is a scam that the Afghans are all to happy to use on foreigners).
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un
Thanks for asking with an open mind - wish more people were like that.