Re:You should rewrite as little code as possible
on
Exegesis 4 Out
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· Score: 2, Insightful
If you properly document all the fixes as you added them to the old code, you should have a nice little guide to exactly what you need when you rewrite it.
If you didn't properly document it, it'll be hell to deal with either way.
Now if there's no reason to rewrite the code other than "we didn't use such-and-such fancy language feature" than sure, that would be nuts. Code should be made to fit the problem, not all the shiny edges of the language.
Removing 'IE' from windows by the tools available do not remove the core libraries because these are also used by the shell and a lot of 3rd party tools. Removing also these core libraries is not a solution, especially because 3rd party tool users on windows NEED the libraries to use the 3rd party tools anyway.
Technically, all these tools need is the API. They need *something* that put out the right interface and performs a similar function. Of course, the way MS set things up, they probably ask for the interface by CLSID number, which are usually application and company specific.
Osama bin Laden and his cronies are the ones -- the ONLY ones -- responsible for this outrage. Please, let's try to remember that.
Ok, now I wasn't really paying a lot of attention, but did they ever get enough conclusive evidence to prove that he was in fact responsible? I know that's what everyone just assumed, but did they reach an official conclusion?
Similarly, the last blue screens I've seen were the "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" I always got when I installed SP2 (2?), last year sometime. (And yes, it's set to reboot, but it's blue while it does a core dump.)
You're both right. "Duke Nukem Forever" was originally the title for a 2d side-scroller, like the first 2, but it got cancelled and the name was reused for the current project. So technically it wasn't ever 2d, but then again it was.
"myownemail" did something similar. I signed up for a forwarding account when it was free. When they stopped offering free forwarding, my account would still forward. After about a year or so though, they stopped that too.
The really annoying part was how they notified me, by email, after they stopped forwarding it...
This is yet another thing which boils down to people holding to the outdated "theory x". There's many sites out there (like this one) that can explain this better than I.
Bosses: treat your employees nicely, make them enjoy work and they will enjoy working. If you treat them like slave labor, productivity will decrease.
Anyone who has never heard about these theories needs to take an intro level "business relations" class before they're put in charge of people.
You may not use the Product to permit any Device to use, access, display or run other executable software residing on the Workstation Computer,
So does this mean that if you run a web server on a win2k machine, you can't let people view your site (ie, use/access the web server executable) if they don't have a license for windows 2000? It looks to me like Microsoft's lawyers are *very* sloppy.
1- "Windows", whether or not it's trademarkable is seldom called "Microsoft Windows" in the common household. It is "Windows" plain and simple.
For that matter, Microsoft Word is also commonly called "Windows" around here, but that's what you get when you make computers accessible to Grandma and the like.
One is how the machine interacts with a human who is also producing music. This seems to me like it would be *very* difficult, but purely computer generated stuff doesn't have this to deal with.
The other is how precisely the machine generates music in the first place. This is very easy to change. Throw in some suitably tweaked randomness and you can probably have something sounding very "human" but it'd take a while to get just the right tweakedness.
Banding is clearly visible in gradients with 24-bit color. Your eye can't distinguish 16 million colors separately, but when you line them up you can tell.
I'd imagine 2 more bits per primary and a little dithering would make the banding disappear completely.
Re:Biologists and Psychologists Abuse this...
on
Digital Biology
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· Score: 2
Digital series indeed!! DNA is more like a recipe as S.J.Gould and others never tire of pointing out (evidently for a good reason).
I'm sorry, DNA can obviously be percieved as a digital sequence. There are four distinct states encoding the information. ("recipe", whatever) I hope it's clear that it's not analog at least.
And as for recipe vs. program, they're the same thing! A sequence of instructions describing how to perform some action. Computer code is usually laid out in a more deliberate and structured form because the "operator" is so much simpler and more precise, but that doesn't really change the core nature of the thing. In the case of DNA, things are different yet again.
Of course if you don't understand anything about a recipe, comparing recipies and computer code is useless as well. The analogy to computer code is valid, but not perfect. You can't really use it unless you know where it doesn't work. Just because you can over-extend it doesn't mean it's complete trash.
As soon as Internet Explorer expanded to become a superior product to Netscape, I used it. I could have just as easily downloaded and setup Netscape in ~1-3 minutes, but I preferred using Internet Explorer.
I think more accurately, people switched when IE became *comparable* to Netscape. It's easier to use what's already installed if it's just as good. (otherwise why waste those 1-3 minutes?)
Personally, I was too lazy to give IE a chance after its early sucky years. It was just easier to go and get Netscape than bother with trying IE. For new users, they'd have to go and download Netscape and *then* compare. I don't think so.
How is this different from an automobile factory? They design and prototype a car, then they perform the service of duplicating that car. Anyone with the necessary resources could duplicate that car, if not for the state-granted monopoly they have.
Do the resources required to copy make that much of a difference? Paper books are much harder to copy than their electronic kind, yet they're both just a bunch of IP.
Now, usually when you're talking about owning IP, you generally mean all copies of it, which isn't right, but the right to produce copies is the same.
The point about failure, I believe, is that the floppy could fail without you realizing it, and then you're screwed when you try to reboot/update something, whenever that may happen. (say if there's a power failure, for one) Seems to be a rather minimal problem to me, unless you're prone to "oh shit, it's not working" panic attacks.
I suppose a hard drive would be a more reliable alternative, but a bit of overkill. Booting from ROM or flash would be optimal.
Logs can be preserved with a printer, or email/ftp/a different machine.
Re:Dirty Pool! But also confusing.
on
Abusing the GPL?
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· Score: 2
The GPL explicitly gives permission to modify the source code and redistribute it. If a company claimed to be encrypting the code, they're still explicitly giving you permission to modify it. That includes removing any "copy-prevention" they want to add. (assuming you aquired the source under the GPL, which may not necessarily be the case even if it's available under the GPL)
Slashdot Mirror
If you properly document all the fixes as you added them to the old code, you should have a nice little guide to exactly what you need when you rewrite it.
If you didn't properly document it, it'll be hell to deal with either way.
Now if there's no reason to rewrite the code other than "we didn't use such-and-such fancy language feature" than sure, that would be nuts. Code should be made to fit the problem, not all the shiny edges of the language.
Right now it's the opposite. Try to find the real story hidden in the midst of false ones. :P
Removing 'IE' from windows by the tools available do not remove the core libraries because these are also used by the shell and a lot of 3rd party tools. Removing also these core libraries is not a solution, especially because 3rd party tool users on windows NEED the libraries to use the 3rd party tools anyway.
Technically, all these tools need is the API. They need *something* that put out the right interface and performs a similar function. Of course, the way MS set things up, they probably ask for the interface by CLSID number, which are usually application and company specific.
Osama bin Laden and his cronies are the ones -- the ONLY ones -- responsible for this outrage. Please, let's try to remember that.
Ok, now I wasn't really paying a lot of attention, but did they ever get enough conclusive evidence to prove that he was in fact responsible? I know that's what everyone just assumed, but did they reach an official conclusion?
Similarly, the last blue screens I've seen were the "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" I always got when I installed SP2 (2?), last year sometime. (And yes, it's set to reboot, but it's blue while it does a core dump.)
What's so great about the Sieve of Eratosthenes?
You're both right. "Duke Nukem Forever" was originally the title for a 2d side-scroller, like the first 2, but it got cancelled and the name was reused for the current project. So technically it wasn't ever 2d, but then again it was.
The Apogee FAQ: Section [2.8.13]: Duke Nukem 3D
Oh sure, bring reality into a good discussion of statistics...
It might even be something that happens just as often on with the combination patch as with the low-latency patch, except the combo got lucky.
MPEG4 + 1GB CompactFlash card. (or microdrive) About the size of a large postage stamp.
I can already store >3 hrs of video at 320x240 on a 650MB CD. The quality's pretty sucky, but it's watchable.
eh? What about religions with no centralized structure to distribute money or to wield any power?
Well known religions (Catholics, Mormons, etc.) tend to have this power because if they didn't they wouldn't be well known!
You are overlooking many organized and especially non-organized religions in your generalization.
"myownemail" did something similar. I signed up for a forwarding account when it was free. When they stopped offering free forwarding, my account would still forward. After about a year or so though, they stopped that too.
The really annoying part was how they notified me, by email, after they stopped forwarding it...
You could not be more wrong.
Nonsense! (s)He could have said it was a chicken!
This is yet another thing which boils down to people holding to the outdated "theory x". There's many sites out there (like this one) that can explain this better than I.
Bosses: treat your employees nicely, make them enjoy work and they will enjoy working. If you treat them like slave labor, productivity will decrease.
Anyone who has never heard about these theories needs to take an intro level "business relations" class before they're put in charge of people.
You may not use the Product to permit any Device to use, access, display or run other executable software residing on the Workstation Computer,
So does this mean that if you run a web server on a win2k machine, you can't let people view your site (ie, use/access the web server executable) if they don't have a license for windows 2000? It looks to me like Microsoft's lawyers are *very* sloppy.
1- "Windows", whether or not it's trademarkable is seldom called "Microsoft Windows" in the common household. It is "Windows" plain and simple.
For that matter, Microsoft Word is also commonly called "Windows" around here, but that's what you get when you make computers accessible to Grandma and the like.
There are two distinct things you speak of.
One is how the machine interacts with a human who is also producing music. This seems to me like it would be *very* difficult, but purely computer generated stuff doesn't have this to deal with.
The other is how precisely the machine generates music in the first place. This is very easy to change. Throw in some suitably tweaked randomness and you can probably have something sounding very "human" but it'd take a while to get just the right tweakedness.
Banding is clearly visible in gradients with 24-bit color. Your eye can't distinguish 16 million colors separately, but when you line them up you can tell.
I'd imagine 2 more bits per primary and a little dithering would make the banding disappear completely.
Digital series indeed!! DNA is more like a recipe as S.J.Gould and others never tire of pointing out (evidently for a good reason).
I'm sorry, DNA can obviously be percieved as a digital sequence. There are four distinct states encoding the information. ("recipe", whatever) I hope it's clear that it's not analog at least.
And as for recipe vs. program, they're the same thing! A sequence of instructions describing how to perform some action. Computer code is usually laid out in a more deliberate and structured form because the "operator" is so much simpler and more precise, but that doesn't really change the core nature of the thing. In the case of DNA, things are different yet again.
Of course if you don't understand anything about a recipe, comparing recipies and computer code is useless as well. The analogy to computer code is valid, but not perfect. You can't really use it unless you know where it doesn't work. Just because you can over-extend it doesn't mean it's complete trash.
As soon as Internet Explorer expanded to become a superior product to Netscape, I used it. I could have just as easily downloaded and setup Netscape in ~1-3 minutes, but I preferred using Internet Explorer.
I think more accurately, people switched when IE became *comparable* to Netscape. It's easier to use what's already installed if it's just as good. (otherwise why waste those 1-3 minutes?)
Personally, I was too lazy to give IE a chance after its early sucky years. It was just easier to go and get Netscape than bother with trying IE. For new users, they'd have to go and download Netscape and *then* compare. I don't think so.
Ok, I'm sorry, I was confused about what you were saying.
How is this different from an automobile factory? They design and prototype a car, then they perform the service of duplicating that car. Anyone with the necessary resources could duplicate that car, if not for the state-granted monopoly they have.
Do the resources required to copy make that much of a difference? Paper books are much harder to copy than their electronic kind, yet they're both just a bunch of IP.
Now, usually when you're talking about owning IP, you generally mean all copies of it, which isn't right, but the right to produce copies is the same.
The point about failure, I believe, is that the floppy could fail without you realizing it, and then you're screwed when you try to reboot/update something, whenever that may happen. (say if there's a power failure, for one) Seems to be a rather minimal problem to me, unless you're prone to "oh shit, it's not working" panic attacks.
I suppose a hard drive would be a more reliable alternative, but a bit of overkill. Booting from ROM or flash would be optimal.
Logs can be preserved with a printer, or email/ftp/a different machine.
The GPL explicitly gives permission to modify the source code and redistribute it. If a company claimed to be encrypting the code, they're still explicitly giving you permission to modify it. That includes removing any "copy-prevention" they want to add. (assuming you aquired the source under the GPL, which may not necessarily be the case even if it's available under the GPL)
(ianal, just a smart ass)
If the interface to mshtml.dll was documented well enough, it could be removed and replaced...