I remember back in school writing a (very rudimentary) MIPS emulator for a class assignment. Since most of the students had never used C before school (and were, in any case, more used to C++ references than pointers), apparently I was the only person in ~10 years that implemented the emulator using an array of function pointers (indexed on op codes). I thought it was a pretty cool innovation, then I read about jump tables.
I guess my very first programming experience would be Logo sometime in elementary school, but about the same time I was learning GWBasic. My dad got me a book from the library that had programs you could type in and run. I've never forgotten typing in 500 lines (supposed to be some kind of space shooter) and then program didn't work. I never figured it out!
Soon after I started using Qbasic (the version that could compile EXE files).
My next programming language was Pascal through Delphi and then C++ through Borland's C++ Builder. I picked up a copy,of the K&R C book around the same time that today is very well worn!
I was very interested in different languages around high school and so I picked up a smattering of Visual Basic, a senior high school independent study in Visual Studio C / windows API (why?!), x86 assembly, OS/2 REXX scripting, etc. I wrote an ecommerce site for a local business in 1999 using PHP and a perl cgi-bin cart system.
Picked up Java in college, one course with Prolog, etc.
Today I'm not a professional programmer, but I end up using PHP, Python and Perl for text processing, SQL, etc with some regularity.
My town has a city-owned golf course (not uncommon). This course was a private course that was struggling and the city purchased it a couple of decades ago.
I'm pretty sure that's a Chuck Tingle novel actually... (The Hugo-nominated authors of titles such as Slammed In The Butthole By My Concept Of Linear Time and The Handsome Pretendo Swap Joysticks And Portable Screen Slam My Butt While Also Allowing Me To Control My Game)
I work at a small company (~30 employees) total that's been around for around 35 years. We don't have anyone dedicated to HR, it's just part of the jobs duties for one of the founders. About two years ago I heard bout Zenefits and went through a sales call with them.
The sales guy sounded like he was about 21 years old, didn't know anything, and was a total Bro.
Everything in the call was like "Ohh man, you're still doing it that way, bummer! That sucks man, check this out..."
"Yeah, what we're doing is rethinking HR from the ground up, and we're like Amazon disrupting all those legacy companies out there! We're so innovative you won't believe!!" (no, actually you're just fancy insurance brokers....)
"Yeah man, I hear you, , right man??"
It was an incredible turnoff.
I do think that HR, benefits management, payroll, etc., is totally ready for disruption and a good product, but Zenefits definitely is not it.
I'll consider that POS a "watch" when it can go months between battery charges, costs less than $50, can be used when I'm in whitewater, and has tactile buttons I can find in the dark. (In other words, when it can replace a simple Timex Ironman.)
It goes 2 full days on a charge, works in water, and has tactile buttons. So I guess it just needs a bigger battery:-)
I have an Apple Watch. I like it a lot. Is it worth the money--fuck no. I use it for exactly 3 things:
(1) Telling the time (and checking weather, etc.); (2) "Hey Siri" integration for controlling HomeKit (outlets, thermostat, locks, lights, etc.); and (3) Texting / receiving phone notifications.
It's awesome for those 3 things. Can't remember the last time I used an app. The exercise mode is useless as a general activity tacker or heart rate monitor (heart rate monitor is AWFUL). All the gimmick shit is...gimmick shit. As a small extension to my smartphone--awesome.
Or another favorite of mine who was also at Sierra--Lori Cole (the writer half of husband/wife team Corey and Lori), designer of the Quest for Glory games. She's also currently working on a Kickstarter game Hero U.
The reality is the FBI investigated GamerGate and exonerated us. The harassment was either kids being stupid, obvious 4chan memes, or strangely enough True Blood fans getting pissed.
Wait, what? True Blood fans? There has to be an interesting story here, what's going on??
I'm always curious about this blame game. The "great recession" was a worldwide phenomenon. Are you suggesting that if Bush hadn't been president of the US (say, Kerry was elected instead), that the entire world would NOT have gone into recession? Or that the world would have, but the US wouldn't have? I'm just curious.
The US is a cog. An oversized and important cog no doubt, but it's just one part of the whole.
One has to wonder whether the thinking in Apple corporate hq is something like "Mac Pro and Mac Mini sales are cratering--let's kill the product line to save costs."
Well no crap, you don't update the MacPro for 4 years and your most recent (last?) update for the MacMini was a downgrade when compared to the 2012 model and you wonder why people aren't buying.
I've been an Apple user and occasional booster / apologist for a long time, but this is just ludicrous.
No it does not [apple.com]. You can use an adapter if you need to but it is not required.
I'm not sure that having to buy a $25 cable to connect a BRAND new iPhone 7 (or 6, 5, 4, etc.) to your laptop is really convincing anyone that Apple's new port decisions isn't pretty darn onerous.
We can all contrive made up situations where having the wrong ports is a theoretical problem. Has this actually happened to you in real life? If not then I'm not sure what you are complaining about.
I frequently go to academic conferences. The kind of places where people hook up laptops and put on powerpoint displays to audiences of academics. It's humorous watch PC users just plug in, while Mac users have to fiddle through a bag of dongles and figure out what one fits (HDMI? DP? MiniDP? now USB-C? etc.). Same issue will now pop up for using thumb drives. FWIW, I've never seen a USB-C device. No doubt it's the future, but ugh.
I say this as someone using a MacPro1,1 now, with an old MacBook Pro (with DVI, ethernet, usb, firewire, mic, infrared, and speaker out, thank you!), iPad, iPhone, etc. I even have an Apple Watch (which I really like). If it weren't for the excellent connectivity between devices, I would switch my desktop in a second. I'm wedded to iMessage and iCloud, unfortunately.
The new Mac desktops and laptops are crap for people who want something other than an expensive toy. Full stop.
I grew up in the south (and moved back), but when I was at UChicago for grad school, I definitely went through an adjustment period. I was surprised by just simple things like people not saying thank you, people not replying if I said thank you, people not holding the door for other people, people not standing up on the bus for elderly/preggo/etc. It wasn't by any means that ALL people were like that, but enough that it threw me off.
Most people who move south really do seem to like the general vibe.
(And one branch of my family is austere, traditional Yankees, and they certainly do fit the stereotype!)
When I think of the social niceties, I always think of the Heinlein quote:
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as "empty," "meaningless," or "dishonest," and scorn to use them. No matter how "pure" their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
I have a wifi thermostat and about a dozen Philips Hue bulbs. They've been really handy. I've been thinking about getting a Homekit enabled lock for a basement...maybe a ceiling fan...etc. Seemed like watch controls would be nice for those things!
I'll be sticking with my existing AppleWatch for a while I think, the GPS is a nice addition but I prefer to run with my phone anyway so I don't really need that. Apple really understands who the watch is most useful for though, between the waterproofing and the GPS they have really improved things for fitness uses (which is also my primary use).
Do you use the Watch for any home automation functionality?
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I remember back in school writing a (very rudimentary) MIPS emulator for a class assignment. Since most of the students had never used C before school (and were, in any case, more used to C++ references than pointers), apparently I was the only person in ~10 years that implemented the emulator using an array of function pointers (indexed on op codes). I thought it was a pretty cool innovation, then I read about jump tables.
Still cool :-)
I guess my very first programming experience would be Logo sometime in elementary school, but about the same time I was learning GWBasic. My dad got me a book from the library that had programs you could type in and run. I've never forgotten typing in 500 lines (supposed to be some kind of space shooter) and then program didn't work. I never figured it out!
Soon after I started using Qbasic (the version that could compile EXE files).
My next programming language was Pascal through Delphi and then C++ through Borland's C++ Builder. I picked up a copy,of the K&R C book around the same time that today is very well worn!
I was very interested in different languages around high school and so I picked up a smattering of Visual Basic, a senior high school independent study in Visual Studio C / windows API (why?!), x86 assembly, OS/2 REXX scripting, etc. I wrote an ecommerce site for a local business in 1999 using PHP and a perl cgi-bin cart system.
Picked up Java in college, one course with Prolog, etc.
Today I'm not a professional programmer, but I end up using PHP, Python and Perl for text processing, SQL, etc with some regularity.
My town has a city-owned golf course (not uncommon). This course was a private course that was struggling and the city purchased it a couple of decades ago.
Greens fees are about $20.
I'm pretty sure that's a Chuck Tingle novel actually... (The Hugo-nominated authors of titles such as Slammed In The Butthole By My Concept Of Linear Time and The Handsome Pretendo Swap Joysticks And Portable Screen Slam My Butt While Also Allowing Me To Control My Game)
I literally only read the comments to see if someone made this joke. Not disappointed :-)
I work at a small company (~30 employees) total that's been around for around 35 years. We don't have anyone dedicated to HR, it's just part of the jobs duties for one of the founders. About two years ago I heard bout Zenefits and went through a sales call with them.
The sales guy sounded like he was about 21 years old, didn't know anything, and was a total Bro.
Everything in the call was like "Ohh man, you're still doing it that way, bummer! That sucks man, check this out..."
"Yeah, what we're doing is rethinking HR from the ground up, and we're like Amazon disrupting all those legacy companies out there! We're so innovative you won't believe!!" (no, actually you're just fancy insurance brokers....)
"Yeah man, I hear you, , right man??"
It was an incredible turnoff.
I do think that HR, benefits management, payroll, etc., is totally ready for disruption and a good product, but Zenefits definitely is not it.
I'll consider that POS a "watch" when it can go months between battery charges, costs less than $50, can be used when I'm in whitewater, and has tactile buttons I can find in the dark. (In other words, when it can replace a simple Timex Ironman.)
It goes 2 full days on a charge, works in water, and has tactile buttons. So I guess it just needs a bigger battery :-)
I have an Apple Watch. I like it a lot. Is it worth the money--fuck no. I use it for exactly 3 things:
(1) Telling the time (and checking weather, etc.);
(2) "Hey Siri" integration for controlling HomeKit (outlets, thermostat, locks, lights, etc.); and
(3) Texting / receiving phone notifications.
It's awesome for those 3 things. Can't remember the last time I used an app. The exercise mode is useless as a general activity tacker or heart rate monitor (heart rate monitor is AWFUL). All the gimmick shit is...gimmick shit. As a small extension to my smartphone--awesome.
Haha, that's hilarious! Couldn't happen to a nicer person.
Or another favorite of mine who was also at Sierra--Lori Cole (the writer half of husband/wife team Corey and Lori), designer of the Quest for Glory games. She's also currently working on a Kickstarter game Hero U.
The reality is the FBI investigated GamerGate and exonerated us. The harassment was either kids being stupid, obvious 4chan memes, or strangely enough True Blood fans getting pissed.
Wait, what? True Blood fans? There has to be an interesting story here, what's going on??
I did, yes--totally different from...
I don't mind paying for apps I like, but $10 for an endless runner-type game is too much.
It's not an endless runner.
Not my cup of tea, but it's totally from, e.g., Temple Runner.
I'm always curious about this blame game. The "great recession" was a worldwide phenomenon. Are you suggesting that if Bush hadn't been president of the US (say, Kerry was elected instead), that the entire world would NOT have gone into recession? Or that the world would have, but the US wouldn't have? I'm just curious.
The US is a cog. An oversized and important cog no doubt, but it's just one part of the whole.
You mean I didn't invite that? Damn...
I switched my iPhone to show the numeric strength indicator instead. Much better than their crappy recalibrated bars.
Hey, I was in before courage, cut me some slack.
One has to wonder whether the thinking in Apple corporate hq is something like "Mac Pro and Mac Mini sales are cratering--let's kill the product line to save costs."
Well no crap, you don't update the MacPro for 4 years and your most recent (last?) update for the MacMini was a downgrade when compared to the 2012 model and you wonder why people aren't buying.
I've been an Apple user and occasional booster / apologist for a long time, but this is just ludicrous.
In before 'courage'!
In all seriousness, just another stupid and anti-customer decision by Apple.
1) People complain about battery life on new Macbook Pro, so remove battery time indicator.
2) ???
3) Profit!
No it does not [apple.com]. You can use an adapter if you need to but it is not required.
I'm not sure that having to buy a $25 cable to connect a BRAND new iPhone 7 (or 6, 5, 4, etc.) to your laptop is really convincing anyone that Apple's new port decisions isn't pretty darn onerous.
We can all contrive made up situations where having the wrong ports is a theoretical problem. Has this actually happened to you in real life? If not then I'm not sure what you are complaining about.
I frequently go to academic conferences. The kind of places where people hook up laptops and put on powerpoint displays to audiences of academics. It's humorous watch PC users just plug in, while Mac users have to fiddle through a bag of dongles and figure out what one fits (HDMI? DP? MiniDP? now USB-C? etc.). Same issue will now pop up for using thumb drives. FWIW, I've never seen a USB-C device. No doubt it's the future, but ugh.
I say this as someone using a MacPro1,1 now, with an old MacBook Pro (with DVI, ethernet, usb, firewire, mic, infrared, and speaker out, thank you!), iPad, iPhone, etc. I even have an Apple Watch (which I really like). If it weren't for the excellent connectivity between devices, I would switch my desktop in a second. I'm wedded to iMessage and iCloud, unfortunately.
The new Mac desktops and laptops are crap for people who want something other than an expensive toy. Full stop.
I grew up in the south (and moved back), but when I was at UChicago for grad school, I definitely went through an adjustment period. I was surprised by just simple things like people not saying thank you, people not replying if I said thank you, people not holding the door for other people, people not standing up on the bus for elderly/preggo/etc. It wasn't by any means that ALL people were like that, but enough that it threw me off.
Most people who move south really do seem to like the general vibe.
(And one branch of my family is austere, traditional Yankees, and they certainly do fit the stereotype!)
When I think of the social niceties, I always think of the Heinlein quote:
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as "empty," "meaningless," or "dishonest," and scorn to use them. No matter how "pure" their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
That's exactly what Siri does... that's actually pretty much what I use siri for. My use cases are texting, setting reminder/alerts, and googling.
Agree re: general utility of Siri, but how about "Hey Siri google x y z" or "hey Siri YouTube x y z"?
I have a wifi thermostat and about a dozen Philips Hue bulbs. They've been really handy. I've been thinking about getting a Homekit enabled lock for a basement...maybe a ceiling fan...etc. Seemed like watch controls would be nice for those things!
A watch without a headphone jack is a non-starter for me!
I'll be sticking with my existing AppleWatch for a while I think, the GPS is a nice addition but I prefer to run with my phone anyway so I don't really need that. Apple really understands who the watch is most useful for though, between the waterproofing and the GPS they have really improved things for fitness uses (which is also my primary use).
Do you use the Watch for any home automation functionality?