Slashdot Mirror


User: craftycoder

craftycoder's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
132
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 132

  1. markets are evil on San Francisco Just Took a Huge Step Toward Internet Utopia (wired.com) · · Score: 0

    Without competition forcing market participants to improve the quality of their services and/or lower their prices there will be no improvement again. With the government providing it, it will also be more expensive (unions will drive up prices because their is no one with a large enough interest to bother to fight). Who will compete with a "free service" provided by the city? No one. Get ready for 9 month delays for hook up, no privacy, substandard support, and zero investment from the day it is installed until forever.

  2. Implementation IS the value. on US-EU Trade Agreement Gains Exaggerated, Say 41 Consumer Groups, Economist · · Score: 1

    "If the best-case outcome is just 0.03% extra growth per year, is TAFTA/TTIP worth the massive upheavals it will require to both US and EU regulatory systems to achieve that?"
    0.03% is essentially the cost to implement the massive upheaval in the regulatory systems I bet.

  3. Re:Low hanging fruit but where's the juice? on I Want a Kindle Killer · · Score: 1

    In my Nook's case, the it was the plastic bezel over the buttons that broke. The tactile switch was fine but the plastic they used was not correctly specced for the amount and repetition of flex I was putting on it. I'm sure my Nook was not the only one.

    http://thenewscraze.com/wp-con...

  4. Re:Low hanging fruit but where's the juice? on I Want a Kindle Killer · · Score: 1

    I broke the next page buttons on my nook in 6 months. I'm really looking forward to a force sensitive glass screen that will not break from continuous use.

  5. Re:Low hanging fruit but where's the juice? on I Want a Kindle Killer · · Score: 1

    I am trying to improve tablets for reading books. I recently wrote Android drivers for a novel pressure sensor mounted under the LCD on a tablet so that you can switch pages by pressing firmly on the screen allowing you to change pages without changing your grip. People are working on this.

  6. Re:slapping devs in the face on Apple Pushes Developers To iOS 7 · · Score: 1

    Trust me, I'll never make the mistake again.

  7. Re:You can use any code between XCode 4 and 5 on Apple Pushes Developers To iOS 7 · · Score: 1

    You are missing the point. When you install an IDE update you should not lose the ability to compile your old code like you did before. If they told you, "Hey installing this will cost you thousands; perhaps you should reconsider doing this.", then I'd give them a pass. That is not what they did. They merely suggested it was an update that fixed some bugs and provided new features. I'm perfectly OK with losing the ability to sell old code through their store but I should still be able compile my code like I did yesterday without significant disruption to my business.

    As for your cheap shot, I'd argue that if Apple provided an API to apply a custom image to their UISwitch that it was in fact meant to have custom images. Just because you read a website once written by some anonymous internet guy who proclaimed to understand the one true motivation of the Apple doesn't mean either of you actually know what you are talking about. APIs are meant to be used.

    Happy holidays to you.

  8. Re:You can use any code between XCode 4 and 5 on Apple Pushes Developers To iOS 7 · · Score: 1

    After I updated to XCode 5 I lost access to the old UISwitch. I could no long compile the code and have my apps function without a complete redesign of the UI.

  9. Re:You can use any code between XCode 4 and 5 on Apple Pushes Developers To iOS 7 · · Score: 1

    Nope, this was the gold copy of XCode and so far I've only tried two projects through it and both were completely screwed up by XCode 5. For example, I'm rendering custom graphics inside the UISwitch. Well, guess what, the UISwitch is a different size now. How is that supposed to work? It cannot. You write your software, I'll write mine. The point is that the least Apple can do is allow you to continue what you were doing yesterday while you plan for a new OS. They ought not force you to stop all development and redo the entire UI of your app before you can continue writing the core functionality. Doing the layout of the app is low skill work while hiring good devs to do the complex software is expensive. If I've got my $100/hour guys on this project when Apple tells me that I need to to UI stuff I'm losing tons of money on good talent doing monkey work.

  10. slapping devs in the face on Apple Pushes Developers To iOS 7 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've been a programmer for decades and I write my share of mobile apps. I write in many languages and for many platforms so I'm not married to any particular target system. I am in the middle of a project and have some beta testers running an iOS app with OTA updates using a OTA provisioning profile which is a fancy way of saying users can update apps over the air without needing to use the app store. My provision profile, a digital signature like thing, expired in November and the users needed a new version of the app to keep testing. I opened up my MacBook and it informed me that XCode 5 was available and "would I like to update it?" Sure, why not? Well, I can tell you why not. XCode 5 made software written in previous version not work! Significant rewrites needed to be done in order to do any changes and there was no option to compile for previous version. In short, an errant software update created two weeks work. Nowhere in there notice to update did it say clicking YES will cost you $10,000. This is screwed up! Backward compatibility should be available for development. If they want to no longer accept iOS6 apps into the store, that is fine. I should be able to compile old code without error by selecting the correct target device. This sort of thing actually makes their previous devices worthless because if they cannot run iOS7 then no new software can be written for them again. It is a such a waste. I am pissed at these guys.

    I am able to take a previous compiled binary and sign it with a new profile so that the users are still able to work, but now even the most minor change requires a rewrite. These guys seem to forget who made them rich. It was devs making awesome software which made people buy their products in huge numbers. iTunes integration will only sell so many phones.

  11. That cannot work without a core to contain the magnetic field effectively. Without a core you'd need to rely on directivity of RF energy to find efficiencies and those are not really available. This sounds like "magic" to an RF engineer with 30 years experience.

  12. Quoting a friend, "Magnetic fields have to follow Maxwell equations. Aperture is defined in wavelength, so higher frequency can be more directive. Presume power only applied to the pad when a car has been sensed. Radio effects and power levels to transfer limit frequency selection, so this is still going to be modest directivity. Drive-on charging pad can't couple efficiently if the car body is metal (conductive), so efficiency will be very low."

  13. Re:an odd conclusion on Longtime Linux Advocate Don Marti Tells Why Targeted Ads are Bad (Video 1 of 2) · · Score: 1

    I really enjoyed the article and sent it to several friends including some economists I know. I think you have a very compelling thesis and while I had an intuition about advertising and that which I liked and that which I did not I could not elucidate why. Your arguments resonate with me and the more I think about them the more they resonate. Thank you for sharing, reading it was the best part of my day.

  14. Re:an odd conclusion on Longtime Linux Advocate Don Marti Tells Why Targeted Ads are Bad (Video 1 of 2) · · Score: 1

    His thesis is compelling, no doubt. What about the signaling of the market capitalization of Facebook and Google though. Doesn't that signal at least as strongly as an ad in Vogue Magazine that they are on to a good idea with their targeted advertising?

  15. an odd conclusion on Longtime Linux Advocate Don Marti Tells Why Targeted Ads are Bad (Video 1 of 2) · · Score: 1

    "Trying to increase relevance by turning up the creepy level is likely to increase ad blocking, not reduce it."

    The entire gloss magazine business is predicated on the observation that people like to look at well targeted advertising. I think the new media companies (Google, Facebook, etc) are just copying old media and are on the right track. I don't think people really care about privacy. They vote for Congressmen who support the PATRIOT Act. They send naked photos of themselves to casual lovers over SMS. They talk about midnight cravings on Facebook. People today are more than willing to give up their privacy for a little bit of attention. Nothing to see here, move along.

  16. lies, damn lies on How Big Pharma Hooked America On Legal Heroin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The son of a colleague of mine chewed up a few at a party and promptly over dosed. Happy 19th birthday kid, you dead.

  17. Re:Raspberry Pi for sure on Ask Slashdot: Best Computer For a 7-Year Old? · · Score: 1

    We wrote ALL THE SOFTWARE for the headless media center on the RPi. No keyboard issues. The thing has given us zero problems. It's an incredible learning tool.

  18. Re:Raspberry Pi for sure on Ask Slashdot: Best Computer For a 7-Year Old? · · Score: 1

    Before I gave it to a child, I'd dump the X server anyway (why retard their skill growth and their productivity at the same time?). My nephew has been working with me all summer and his primary PC is a Pi. He has been very productive with it. We've been working on a headless media center build for it. Granted all the development has been done on it but the goal in the end if for it to be headless. My nephew though love the thing. He does run game emulators on it though. I have no idea why you can't make that work. You have me there...

    http://blog.freesideatlanta.org/2012/08/raspberry-pi-headless-media-center.html
    Our RPi headless media player, mostly a creation of my nephew on his RPi. We are just about to release a version with a Pandora player as well.

  19. Re:Raspberry Pi for sure on Ask Slashdot: Best Computer For a 7-Year Old? · · Score: 1

    Or you can buy one, use it, and see that it works a treat.

  20. Raspberry Pi for sure on Ask Slashdot: Best Computer For a 7-Year Old? · · Score: 1

    Get him a Raspberry Pi and don't even show him how to turn it on. Just tell him that awesome secrets lie within and even you don't know how to pull them out. Let his imagination run and he will figure it all out, hopefully. I gave one to my nephew and he hasn't left it for a month.

  21. But... on New Flat Lens Focuses Without Distortion · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will is make my ass look big?

  22. his main worry is medical insurance... yikes! on Ask Slashdot: How Do I Stay Employable? · · Score: 1

    How sad is it that his main concern isn't a college fund, food, or shelter, but medical care? He must keep working until he is 65 because he risks ruin if someone in his family gets sick. Even stranger is that not being able to afford medical care is no excuse to not get it, so if he failed to provide it to his kids he would be imprisoned. The mind boggles... Maybe he should move a few miles north to Canada where he can retire whenever he is willing to be done with a fancy lifestyle.

  23. duh on LightSquared Files For Bankruptcy · · Score: 1

    It seemed obvious to me that this wasn't going to work out for them. I suppose this is an example of confirmation bias on my part as I'm sure I wouldn't be posting this if it had gone the other way, but seriously I gave this a 0% chance of success in my minds eye. One wonders why the investors thought that GPS users, the military among them, would roll over and have their devices cease functioning or even risk the interference...

  24. Re:Scathing, Absolutely Scathing on Pink Floyd Engineer Alan Parsons Rips Audiophiles, YouTube and Jonas Brothers · · Score: 1

    Well said sir.

  25. Re:mixed feelings on Engineered Stomach Microbe Converts Seaweed Into Ethanol · · Score: 1

    I very well may be wrong about this, but I don't think we can have everyone on Earth living my standard of living. I think the cost of basic commodities will always keep a few people in the "rich" category and the rest int he "poor" category.

    As I once heard, "If you want to be King there has to be serfs." I'd love to be proven wrong, but I'm not hopeful.