Simple message parsers are trivial, and once one is written, it's just as convenient for reuse as Xerces or any other XML parser... and it's a lot less complex.
For applications (such as airline Type B messaging) where customers are billed by data volume, it can make a large difference financially as well -- bandwidth is not the only consideration.
Baseball -- People whack the heck out of an innocent little ball with a large wooden club. Football -- People kick the heck out of an innocent ball. American Football -- Two teams blitz, bomb, and violently tackle each other. Hockey -- Nuff said. Basketball -- People bounce an innocent ball repeatedly against a hard floor. Pong Pong -- People whack a very small ball back and forth. Golf -- People whack a very small ball, often wounding it and/or sending it into water/sand.
But XML is used in many situations where it isn't the best solution, like in system-to-system message formats where a simple delimited list of fields is far more efficient and at least as understandable to the trained eye.
By using XML instead of something simpler, the size of each network message being passed is increased tremendously, and the amount of processing required to create and decode the message is increase considerably compared to a simpler format.
Yes, the size can be decreased via compression, but then the messages become unreadable if you are tracing the connection somewhere in the middle (whereas a simple delimited message remains readable).
One night at Kroger (fairly late at night) my wife and I were surprised to find that there was only one checkout person in the building and they were monitoring the self-checkout lanes. There were no manual check-out lanes open and running at all, and we were told we had to check out our cart full of groceries using the self-checkout.
We haven't been back to that Kroger for a while. My wife was kinda pissed off having to run $120 worth of groceries through the rather tedious machine...
I've seen a number of restaurants and gas stations both here and up in (Minneapolis where I used to live) that no longer accept checks, but both cash and credit cards are okay. I suspect it's the result of a lot of check fraud.
You admittedly make some very good points, but I still disagree with other parts of your response.:-)
Doing what is required is not mutually exclusive of not doing things that you DON'T want it to do. The day your machine becomes a zombie and is packed with trojans and viruses, it may still do what is required but it is also doing other things that you don't want.
Dumb is assuming that just because it does what is required that is also isn't doing something you don't want it to do.
My older machines are relatively static. Very little new software is installed on those machines, and the new stuff I *do* install is obtained from trusted sources and then scanned anyway before it's installed (as well as when it is executed each time). I also pay some attention to my firewall logs, so things like new programs calling home are quite likely to be noticed (many things show up on my IPTRAF screens).
In other words, I don't make assumptions about the condition of my machines. Even my non-Windows machines at home are monitored quite carefully.
Now, I certainly realize that not everyone is as aware of the state of their machines. However, I would guess that most of the folks who are running an older OS are also not very likely to be installing new software on those machines, expecially things like POS systems (which already do what the company needs to be done). That eliminates trojans and many traditional virus infections (file infectors), leaving only worms and macro viruses. I do acknowledge that those can represent real threats even on older platforms, but defenses still exist if one is aware of them (my F-Prot example is one of these), and systems like POS systems aren't really at risk.
Just because a product exists, doesn't mean it's up to date support. This product hasn't been up to date with current viruses for a LONG time. As I said, no one is writing virus UPDATES not virus software.
Dumb is assuming that just because you have a product, it is always going to be up to date.
F-Prot's virus and macrovirus signature files for the DOS and Win9x scanners are still updated daily by the program's author, and I have a wget runstream which updates my copies on a weekly basis. As you well know, it's those signature files which are most important when new viruses are discovered -- the scanning shell doesn't require updating in most cases.
Dumb is assuming the end user knows what he's doing.
While true, many of the folks I know who are running older machines fall into three categories:
* Hobbyists like myself who are aware of the risks.
* Small business owners or corporate users who are aware of the risks.
* End users or businesses who are not aware of the risks, but who only tend to engage in low-risk activities on those older OSes such as e-mail, web surfing, or running one or more dedicated applications (e.g., POS systems).
For those folks, the problems encountered by more active (but ignorant) home users are somewhat minimized.
On proprietary systems where no one else is allowed to look at the code, modify the code, patch or update? I tend to think the proprietary vendors support is a very highly regarded commodity. And you know what else? Businesses and IT departments do as well. This has nothing to do with blindly applying patches... it has to do with patches being available when no one else can patch.
We're talking about Windows 9x, which received VERY few patches or free updates from Microsoft. Don't map their current patch release practices to the reality which existed 7-10 years ago. For Win95 systems it's mostly a nonissue, and the only way to update things was to pay to
Dumb is an unsupported operating systems known to have a ton of bugs.
I run Windows 95 OSR2 on three machines at home, for example. No "bugs" that I'm aware of given the software mix I use. Most businesses running older boxes and older Windows variants are likely using a smaller mix of software than I am as a hobbyist, so chances are they haven't encountered any serious problems either (which is why they are still willing to run that software).
Dumb is replacing an older OS which is already paid for and which does what is required without intervention.
Dumb is having an OS that no one is writing anti-virus updates for
You are incorrect. F-Prot's DOS signature files are compatible with the old F-Prot scanner engine for Win9x, so that one is still being updated. I'm not aware if AVG or other common Windows scanners run on Win9x since I'm covered by the above.
Dumb is making erroneous assumptions about the support available for older platforms.
Dumb is hooking that OS up to the net to transfer data such as daily sales
...unless you're an intelligent user or business and are using a dedicated firewall between your LAN and your older Windows boxes with a good port blocking/stealthing configuration, in which case the network connection is still relatively secure.
Dumb is not using a firewall regardless of platform!
Dumb is having this operating system installed on hundreds of networks
That would depend on the financials involved, and also on the nature of the network connections. See my above comments about firewall usage.
Dumb is making sweeping assumptions about the business needs of all businesses.
Dumb is running an OS that no one else can update or patch because it is proprietary and no longer supported.
The first Microsoft OS that I ever patched/updated was Windows NT 4. I never updated Windows 95 OSR2 because it was never an issue, and were I running Windows 98 that would probably also be the case.
The dependency on vendor support is VASTLY overstated. Dumb is the act of blindly applying patches just because they've been released by the vendor.
What do other programmers do to motivate themselves?
I tend to listen to tunes a lot when I'm writing a lot of code or doing some heavy design work, and I find that certain types of music do help me focus. I also take web breaks from time to time, or sometimes I'll take a little time off to work on something completely different (since I wrote code professionally on two different platforms right now, I usually flip to the other side of my development life for 15-30 minutes just to clear my head out a bit). After the short break, I can usually dive right back in.
Do you work a specific set of hours? In a specific location?
Yes. I find that a consistent schedule helps me. I know when I'm supposed to be working, and I know how long I have until I can stop. A freeform schedule is harder for me to follow -- I need to have defined hours. It's a crutch of sorts, I know.
Are there types of breaks that you find really increase productivity? Does diet and/or coffee consumption make or break the deal?
I'll get up and walk about quite frequently when I'm working on something which requires intense thought. It helps me to get away from the desk for a little while so I can reflect on things.
Do you end up working late at night for the quiet?
No. I used to work later (usually noon until 8:30 or so) when I was at a previous position with very flexible hours, but I still went to my formal workplace every day. These days I tend to work from 10am local time until 6:30 or so. Consistently. It helps me to define a work context and helps me to get into a work-related frame of mind.
I realize that on some level you just need to suck it up and put in the time, or stop worrying about it and enjoy your time off. However, the question stands: How do you work best outside an office environment?"
I find that I have too many distractions outside the work environment. I can pull off working at home for a while, but it takes more effort for me to focus. If I'm actually at the office, I know I'm supposed to be working, and that helps motivate me to focus more.
Unfortunately, most of the places I've seen layoffs occur use the following criteria:
(1) Tenure. Junior people get axed, senior people stay. (2) Project. Folks working on noncritical projects get axed, folks working on critical projects stay.
Neither method takes into account individual performance.
Do you want to know who still uses Windows 3.1, or who still uses Win 3.1 applications?
I still use several, for example, but not under Windows 3.1 (I use the WinOS2 subssytem in Warp 4). They include Visio 4 Professional, Quicken 98, and Microsoft's 16-bit Word and PowerPoint viewers.
Not really. First of all, you can play Total Annihilation (a quite old RTS) with up to 8 players.
TA might be old, but it's still the best. Man, I can't wait until Supreme Commander comes out!!!
Second of all, there is room to have a game where there is a single commander per team, and people can jump into vehicles/units and control them, taking direction from the commander like any other unit, or ignoring them.
Kinda like the original Starsiege:Tribes where each side can have a commander giving orders...
For example, when I'm playing PONG on my PC, the experience is almost exactly like the real PONG video game. Down to the pixel. I can see it right there on my screen! Blip, blip, blip...
ReplayTV had a lot more than just a 30-second skip -- it also had skipping between keyframes as well as (in older models) the automatic skipping of commercial blocks between key frames.
In America, the receipt of purchase is also meant to prove ownership of physical items purchased, in addition to "proof of licensing". Where this gets "interesting" (and most people have no clue about it) is when it comes to automobiles. Do you have the receipt of purchase for your automobile?
Both Minnesota and Georgia (and I presume other states) require the issuance of a formal state Certificate of Title for any motor vehicles that you own, and those Certificates of Title are used as proof of ownership.
When my wife and I moved to Georgia, we had to convert the Certificates of Title for both of our automobiles to the local (GA) variant from the MN variant.
Okay, and if the family also lives in an older home that was purchased 20 years ago or something, the cost of that house would be a lot lower than current purchase costs.
I sit corrected on this one. Some folks might actually pay more for their cars (in total) than for their housing. It strikes me as a stupid/wasteful thing to do, but I could see it happening.
In the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area the "bypass" for I-35 is two roads (I-35W which runs through Minneapolis, and I-35E which runs through St. Paul), and the "bypass" for I-94 is three (I-694, I-394, and I-494).
None of those roads are lacking in offramps. In fact, the 694/494/35W corridors are the main arteries for the greater metro area, running through the center of major northern and southern suburban business districts.
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Simple message parsers are trivial, and once one is written, it's just as convenient for reuse as Xerces or any other XML parser ... and it's a lot less complex.
For applications (such as airline Type B messaging) where customers are billed by data volume, it can make a large difference financially as well -- bandwidth is not the only consideration.
Baseball -- People whack the heck out of an innocent little ball with a large wooden club.
Football -- People kick the heck out of an innocent ball.
American Football -- Two teams blitz, bomb, and violently tackle each other.
Hockey -- Nuff said.
Basketball -- People bounce an innocent ball repeatedly against a hard floor.
Pong Pong -- People whack a very small ball back and forth.
Golf -- People whack a very small ball, often wounding it and/or sending it into water/sand.
They all sound unacceptable violent to me...
Yes, she has nice cardigans. :-)
But XML is used in many situations where it isn't the best solution, like in system-to-system message formats where a simple delimited list of fields is far more efficient and at least as understandable to the trained eye.
By using XML instead of something simpler, the size of each network message being passed is increased tremendously, and the amount of processing required to create and decode the message is increase considerably compared to a simpler format.
Yes, the size can be decreased via compression, but then the messages become unreadable if you are tracing the connection somewhere in the middle (whereas a simple delimited message remains readable).
One night at Kroger (fairly late at night) my wife and I were surprised to find that there was only one checkout person in the building and they were monitoring the self-checkout lanes. There were no manual check-out lanes open and running at all, and we were told we had to check out our cart full of groceries using the self-checkout.
We haven't been back to that Kroger for a while. My wife was kinda pissed off having to run $120 worth of groceries through the rather tedious machine...
I've seen a number of restaurants and gas stations both here and up in (Minneapolis where I used to live) that no longer accept checks, but both cash and credit cards are okay. I suspect it's the result of a lot of check fraud.
The bad news is that the most mature variant only runs as a DPMI client under OS/2's VDM subsystem. :-)
My older machines are relatively static. Very little new software is installed on those machines, and the new stuff I *do* install is obtained from trusted sources and then scanned anyway before it's installed (as well as when it is executed each time). I also pay some attention to my firewall logs, so things like new programs calling home are quite likely to be noticed (many things show up on my IPTRAF screens).
In other words, I don't make assumptions about the condition of my machines. Even my non-Windows machines at home are monitored quite carefully.
Now, I certainly realize that not everyone is as aware of the state of their machines. However, I would guess that most of the folks who are running an older OS are also not very likely to be installing new software on those machines, expecially things like POS systems (which already do what the company needs to be done). That eliminates trojans and many traditional virus infections (file infectors), leaving only worms and macro viruses. I do acknowledge that those can represent real threats even on older platforms, but defenses still exist if one is aware of them (my F-Prot example is one of these), and systems like POS systems aren't really at risk.
F-Prot's virus and macrovirus signature files for the DOS and Win9x scanners are still updated daily by the program's author, and I have a wget runstream which updates my copies on a weekly basis. As you well know, it's those signature files which are most important when new viruses are discovered -- the scanning shell doesn't require updating in most cases.
F-Prot Antivirus for DOS Latest F-Prot signature files
While true, many of the folks I know who are running older machines fall into three categories:
* Hobbyists like myself who are aware of the risks.
* Small business owners or corporate users who are aware of the risks.
* End users or businesses who are not aware of the risks, but who only tend to engage in low-risk activities on those older OSes such as e-mail, web surfing, or running one or more dedicated applications (e.g., POS systems).
For those folks, the problems encountered by more active (but ignorant) home users are somewhat minimized.
We're talking about Windows 9x, which received VERY few patches or free updates from Microsoft. Don't map their current patch release practices to the reality which existed 7-10 years ago. For Win95 systems it's mostly a nonissue, and the only way to update things was to pay to
Then why doesn't the US get hit a lot more often?
Other than the events of 9/11 (which caught airlines offguard), not much has happened here in the US compared to many other parts of the world.
I run Windows 95 OSR2 on three machines at home, for example. No "bugs" that I'm aware of given the software mix I use. Most businesses running older boxes and older Windows variants are likely using a smaller mix of software than I am as a hobbyist, so chances are they haven't encountered any serious problems either (which is why they are still willing to run that software).
Dumb is replacing an older OS which is already paid for and which does what is required without intervention.
You are incorrect. F-Prot's DOS signature files are compatible with the old F-Prot scanner engine for Win9x, so that one is still being updated. I'm not aware if AVG or other common Windows scanners run on Win9x since I'm covered by the above.
Dumb is making erroneous assumptions about the support available for older platforms.
Dumb is not using a firewall regardless of platform!
That would depend on the financials involved, and also on the nature of the network connections. See my above comments about firewall usage.
Dumb is making sweeping assumptions about the business needs of all businesses.
The first Microsoft OS that I ever patched/updated was Windows NT 4. I never updated Windows 95 OSR2 because it was never an issue, and were I running Windows 98 that would probably also be the case.
The dependency on vendor support is VASTLY overstated. Dumb is the act of blindly applying patches just because they've been released by the vendor.
I tend to listen to tunes a lot when I'm writing a lot of code or doing some heavy design work, and I find that certain types of music do help me focus. I also take web breaks from time to time, or sometimes I'll take a little time off to work on something completely different (since I wrote code professionally on two different platforms right now, I usually flip to the other side of my development life for 15-30 minutes just to clear my head out a bit). After the short break, I can usually dive right back in.
Yes. I find that a consistent schedule helps me. I know when I'm supposed to be working, and I know how long I have until I can stop. A freeform schedule is harder for me to follow -- I need to have defined hours. It's a crutch of sorts, I know.
I'll get up and walk about quite frequently when I'm working on something which requires intense thought. It helps me to get away from the desk for a little while so I can reflect on things.
No. I used to work later (usually noon until 8:30 or so) when I was at a previous position with very flexible hours, but I still went to my formal workplace every day. These days I tend to work from 10am local time until 6:30 or so. Consistently. It helps me to define a work context and helps me to get into a work-related frame of mind.
I find that I have too many distractions outside the work environment. I can pull off working at home for a while, but it takes more effort for me to focus. If I'm actually at the office, I know I'm supposed to be working, and that helps motivate me to focus more.
Unfortunately, most of the places I've seen layoffs occur use the following criteria:
(1) Tenure. Junior people get axed, senior people stay.
(2) Project. Folks working on noncritical projects get axed, folks working on critical projects stay.
Neither method takes into account individual performance.
Why dumb? It sounds pragmatic to me, especially if they have a vendor in hand which is providing support for those older boxes (as many companies do).
Do you want to know who still uses Windows 3.1, or who still uses Win 3.1 applications?
I still use several, for example, but not under Windows 3.1 (I use the WinOS2 subssytem in Warp 4). They include Visio 4 Professional, Quicken 98, and Microsoft's 16-bit Word and PowerPoint viewers.
TA might be old, but it's still the best. Man, I can't wait until Supreme Commander comes out!!!
Kinda like the original Starsiege:Tribes where each side can have a commander giving orders...
For example, when I'm playing PONG on my PC, the experience is almost exactly like the real PONG video game. Down to the pixel. I can see it right there on my screen! Blip, blip, blip...
ReplayTV had a lot more than just a 30-second skip -- it also had skipping between keyframes as well as (in older models) the automatic skipping of commercial blocks between key frames.
Both Minnesota and Georgia (and I presume other states) require the issuance of a formal state Certificate of Title for any motor vehicles that you own, and those Certificates of Title are used as proof of ownership.
When my wife and I moved to Georgia, we had to convert the Certificates of Title for both of our automobiles to the local (GA) variant from the MN variant.
...and had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before we went to bed...
Sure, but then Minnesota Democrats will get confused. :-)
I know some some folks who live in smaller towns who might fit the profile, too.
Okay, and if the family also lives in an older home that was purchased 20 years ago or something, the cost of that house would be a lot lower than current purchase costs.
I sit corrected on this one. Some folks might actually pay more for their cars (in total) than for their housing. It strikes me as a stupid/wasteful thing to do, but I could see it happening.
Hey, the US is simply following the British. When they finally change over to kilometers from miles, the US might follow. :-)
Oh... The relatively new I-394 running E/W through the Twin Cities does have a directional express lane in places (on its western leg, anyway).
In the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area the "bypass" for I-35 is two roads (I-35W which runs through Minneapolis, and I-35E which runs through St. Paul), and the "bypass" for I-94 is three (I-694, I-394, and I-494).
None of those roads are lacking in offramps. In fact, the 694/494/35W corridors are the main arteries for the greater metro area, running through the center of major northern and southern suburban business districts.