Re:Semi-OT: Don't whine. Do something about it.
on
Buying a New TV?
·
· Score: 1
Ok, this is ridiculous.
A 'typical wasteful American'. He's got a ten year old telvision that's having some problems. He's not talking about going out and buying a top of the line set -- he's not even talking about spending money on a moderately sized rear screen projection television. He's talking about a reasonably priced medium level television.
Maybe he doesn't like to travel. Maybe he doesn't have time to travel. Maybe he has a wife and four kids and the low fare suddenly gets rather expensive. (Not to mention that airfare is usually one of the cheapest parts of the trip. Priced hotels, rental cars, and restaurant food lately?)
This guy asked a simple question, and he gets slammed because he wants to replace a ten year old television. Why can't people just answer or not answer the guy instead of making unwarrented assumptions about what he's like.
Politics are at least very different in small companies.
Having been on both sides myself, I think the biggest problem with a small company is that if you get a bad manager, or one you can't work with, it's likely there's no one you can go to for help.
Depending on your temperament, it can be anything from difficult to impossible.
Make sure things are spelled out -- especially anything to do with compensation. If you are salaried, yet might receive OT, make sure something is written down about how OT pay is calculated. I mention this because it bit me to the tune of several thousand dollars once.
At least in part I disagree. I've been doing professional programming and application development for over fifteen years now.
There is a *big* jump from procedural programming to OO programming, and there are those who I've seen have major problems making that jump. But that's not true in all cases. Once you understand the basic techniques in procedural and OO development, it's not that big a jump to move from language to language. It's mostly a matter of learning the libraries.
Can a C programmer learn C++ in two weeks? Maybe. It depends on many things, not the least of which is how good a developer the person is already. Will the best developer know all the ins and outs of C++ after two weeks? No, but that's unimportant. The best developer will *know* s/he doesn't know everything, and will be able to pick up those things as s/he progresses. Will he or she be competent? Yes. Will he or she be productive? Yes.
It really depends upon the person. Once when I left a position, the guy who was filling my spot didn't know why he should care about the difference between disk and RAM. He'll never be a decent developer. Yet there are people out there who can pick up Java when all they know is COBOL. (Real example.)
My point is that once you are truly a *good* developer, then most of the rest of it *is* syntax and libraries. OO is just another type of syntax, and someone who really understands programming will pick it up as well.
I can talk about this from my point of view as a singer/songwriter...
I don't want my music plagerized. That means you don't say you wrote it. It means you don't change a few words or notes and say you wrote it.
Now, as for mp3s, trade 'em all you want. Put them on a bootleg. If I ever release a CD, share it. It's all okat with me. I look at mp3s as commercials for the CD. You want just the songs in mp3 format, that's fine. Take them. With the CD you'll get (if I have my way) words to all the songs, perhaps a bit of commentary on the songs, a list of artists playing and singing, and the writers and contributing artists. Along with a bit of artwork. You want all that stuff along with the music, then you pay the price for the CD.
A friend of mine gave my a CD by an artist I'd never heard. I ripped it to mp3s and started listening to it. Within a few months I owned five or six of her CDs -- all because I was able to listen -- several times over a couple of weeks -- to her music and was able to decide I wanted to hear more. I suspect there are a bunch of other who do about the same thing.
If you like it, thats fine, I suppose, but Windows still hasn't come up with a reasonable configurable user interface as far as I'm concerned. It isn't configurable. Oh, sure, you can tweak it here are there, change the colors, maybe change whether the menus are animated, but most of what you can change, while nice, isn't really configuration, it's just changing the look.
I can't configure the menu that comes up when you right click on the background. There are no virtual windows. (Why? I've had virtual screen under Unix for around ten years!) Once something has stuck itself on the system tray, it's almost impossible to get it out. Configuring which _user_level_ applications are run is not easy for an end user, and is difficult at best.
Windows' UI is pretty. It works. But it's written to a lowest level common denomonator. An experienced user should be able to configure the UI without an enormous amount of difficulty.
It's great for my mom and my non-technical friends. For me, it's often irritating. I play games and do multi-media on it -- serious work is done with Linux at home.
Sean.
Re:more sociological questions
on
Altered Carbon
·
· Score: 1
Actually, John Varley also deals with this in his books. While he isn't proposing that one can store conciousness, he does propose a future in which medical procedures such as sex change are trivial -- and accepted. In one book of his, the main character starts off as male, and shortly into the book switches to female.
It actually does pose interesting questions, and one major effect of the simplicity of sex change is the absence of long term marital relationships.
Heck, I'd like free service too. Can I have free electric, water, and natural gas as well? How about free gasoline for my car -- let's not stop there, how about a free car -- of my choice, of course.
The problem is that somewhere, somebody's got to pay for the equipment and the upkeep. Right now, that's covered by the fees we pay to our internet, cell, and land-line providers. When we quit paying, they no longer have any incentive to continue our service.
As a longtime PalmOS user and a PalmOS developer, I think this is probably a good thing. Palm was just beginning to start producing devices that were for the same market as the new Handspring devices.
Handspring was no longer for me -- they are focusing on devices with wireless connectivity and thumbboards. But it's a style some people like. This gives Palm a wide variety of handhelds, probably a wider variety than anyone else.
This will also pretty much make the competition for PalmOS devices Palm and Sony. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it might not be too bad. Sony is concentrating on PalmOS with multimedia extensions, Palm is concentrating on PalmOS in small, extremely functional devices. There's a lot to be said for both.
My last buy was a Sony NX70. After seeing and using the big screen, it was hard to go to anything else. Still, I can certainly see the alure of the very small TungstenT...
Oh, I can and do map keys. But it sure confuses other people who use my keyboard -- especially those young enough to have learned on what is now a standard keyboard.
I did glance around the site and didn't notice the keyboard you mention -- it's hard, though, to justify spending much more than about $20 on a keyboard, since, as you say, keyboards can be mapped.
I normally don't reply to heathens who believe the escape key goes next to the 'a' key, but I couldn't let *anyone* even consider I might be an emacs person. vi, is, of course, the one true editor.:-)
I don't claim to be the smartest person in the world. I know I'm not. However, in many areas of life the things in which I'm interested are considered by many to be "intellectual". I *can* converse on many topics. But a person with whom I'm likely to become close friends, one to whom I'm likely to be attracted, is someone who is also at least somewhat interested in many of the same things in which I'm interested.
And it doesn't matter whether it's a male or female -- I'm not going to enjoy being around a person who can't converse at a higher level than 2+2=4. I'm not saying that all conversation will be conversations about the deeper meanings of life. I'd be just as bored with that person. But the ability to converse at that level *must* be there. Especially if I'm planning to spend my life with that person.
Now, not everyone with whom I'm friendly necessarily is like that. I work with people, go to lunch with people, even socialize with people with whom I've never had a serious conversation. That's okay too. But my close friends are the people with whom I have those serious conversations about life.
ReplayTV, and, I'm sure, Tivo, can control your cable box. In fact, mines controls not just my cable box, but also a satellite receiver and I could hook in an external antenna as well.
I don't pay a cent, but then I've had mine for quite a while. If my ReplayTV stops getting schedule information, I'll either be building a new computer to take over the ReplayTV duties or buying a Tivo.
> No company makes a consumer rear-projection TV that has a resolution of more than 540 lines.
Huh? I didn't think this sounded right, so I took a look at the specs for a Mitsubishi 55411. They claim a horizontal resolution of 1200, and vertical scan rates of 480i, 480p, and 1080i.
So, at least Mitsubishi makes a rear projection television with a horizontal resolution of more than 540. And that's not the top of the line. I'd guess that other manufacturers are similar.
I thought a lot about this before making my purchase. I was originally going to buy a 36" tube, but ended up with a 55" RPTV.
I didn't get a built in HD receiver, and, when I purchased, had no idea when I'd be able to get one or when I'd actually see true HDTV on my set.
Didn't matter to me. My purchase was based upon having a widescreen television that did a good job on DVDs. I got it. With a progressive scan DVD player (an extra $6 with the TV), my DVDs look fantastic. That alone was worth it to me.
Now it turns out that my local cable company has added HD to their line up. For an extra $3 per month, I get the HD receiver, all my locals, and a couple of movie channels in HD. I'm switching to cable just for that.
I bought rear projection, but you can get direct view for less. I'm not sure what you were looking at, but I found a 32" HD ready Sony on the Sony site for $1500. I won't argue that HD ready will be more, but you don't have to pay $5000 for it.
Some cable companies already rent HD receivers. Two in Columbus, Ohio for example (Insight and Time Warner.) Cost is insignificant -- for Insight, which I'll have in a few days, cost for the HD receiver is $3 per month, and all my locals transmit in HD, so they will be available to me.
I'm just switching from satellite to cable. Why? Because for the same price (a bit less, actually) I can get everything I had *and* they'll give me the HD receiver, all my locals in HD, and a couple of movie channels in HD. The HD recever is an additional $3 per month.
Sorry, but I think it beats paying $600 for an HD compatible receiver for Dish.
(And I may have to switch to Tivo so I can record HD -- but I hope that Replay gets their act together...)
Well, maybe not. There's nothing that says that cable channels must convert to digital or HD. If you're one of the majority of people who have cable then your standard def signal may last for a very long time. The only thing covered by the mandates are the FCC licensed stations. Not cable, not satellite.
Until you can purchase a digital TV and tuner for under $300, digital TV won't take off.
> Academy/4:3 is infinitely superior to widescreen anyway...
Sigh. You keep saying this. At best, it's an opinion. Maybe you prefer academy, but I don't.
Here's why. Let's start with what the eye sees. A person with normal or relatively normal eyesight has a much greater range of peripheral vision side to side than up and down. An unscientific test just now seems to show that I have about twice the left/right peripheral range as I do up and down.
The best theater screens are those that draw me into the film. The best way to do that is to make sure that as much of my vision as possible is encompassed by the screen.
With Academy ratio, you're going to have to have an extremely large screen to cover my left/right peripheral vision. With 1.85, it takes the same width screen, but one a lot smaller top to bottom.
At home, I sit at the near edge of where I "should" sit based upon screen size and screen type. I have a 55" 16:9 screen. I can't really get close enough to fill my peripheral vision, but I come close.
I believe that a wide screen more closely mimics how most people see, and I believe that it provides for a more engrossing experience. For me, that means widescreen -- 16x9 or wider, is better.
> When they do the editing they lop off the top and bottom to get 16:9. Then when they modify it for tv they lop off the sides.
Well, yes and no. It's really immaterial at what aspect ratio they film, the important thing is what aspect ratio they compose for. Some directors, Cameron, for one, say they compose for 4x3 and whatever ratio will be shown in theaters. Most don't claim that. I don't think Cameron can do it -- having seen both, I certainly prefer the widescreen versions.
> With the exception of the camera, I believe the NX70 has the same specs as the NZ90.
Not quite. The NZ90 adds built in Bluetooth and four hardware buttons (app buttons) on the top edge of the screen.
Those buttons are a big deal to me -- I use the buttons on my Palm a lot to move between apps quickly. Having them available when the thing is in "tablet" mode might make a difference of which unit I buy.
You make it sounds as if using printf isn't as good as using a debugger.
On occasion, I've learned debuggers. I've never found that I liked them. I typically *do* use printfas (or their equivilent) to debug my applications. I find that method is usually faster than trying to use a debugger. In my more recent programming experience -- the last four or so years, there was exactly one time when using printfs was not sufficient to figure out how to solve the problem I was seeing.
If you know the code well enough, then I doubt that using a debugger will speed finding the problem much, if any. Perhaps if you're looking at code you don't know well, then it might help figure out the internal flow.
I agree with creating a DVD player/PVR, but I don't think people are understanding what it would really mean to the consumer.
A DVD/PVR in a single unit is now a complete replacement for the way most people use a VCR. They can rent and watch DVDs, and they can timeshift television. When I listen to what most people do with VCRs, most are *just* renting, with a few people out there time-shifting, and far fewer actually saving the tapes they create.
For the great majority of people, a DVD/PVR would be a better solution than a DVD/VCR.
I bought a Palm Pilot Personal the day they arrived at CompUSA here in town. For a while I found it difficult to use for the same reason I found day planners difficult to use -- it was awkward to carry. Then I bought a belt pack for it. Since then it's been with me daily.
I upgraded to to a Pro, then a IIIx, then a Visor Prism, which I still carry. All appointments are on the Prism, all my addresses on on it, birthdays, a database with machine info for about 150 machines here at work, I keep track on my bank checking and savings accounts, a database of NPR stations around the country -- and really, that's just a start. Oh, and the time-waster games I keep for those moments when I've got a few minutes of time before meetings. (And during boring meetings.:-)
It's a rare day that it doesn't get pulled out and used several times. I don't have a desktop organizer to which I sync -- it's all on the Prism. And the Prism gets carried anytime I leave the house.
I have a hard time saying that it's indespensible to me -- but without it I'd have a lot harder time keeping track of the information I use -- worse, that information would have been difficult to move when I changed positions, as I've done over these last years. Some of it I wouldn't have at all -- like the NPR stations.
It's also provided me with several thousand dollars of income over the past three years since I released some software for the device.
Me, I don't really think of it as a status symbol. Carrying both a Prism and phone on my belt doesn't seem to be a status symbol. It's too blase for geeks and too geek for everyone else...
Slashdot Mirror
Ok, this is ridiculous.
A 'typical wasteful American'. He's got a ten year old telvision that's having some problems. He's not talking about going out and buying a top of the line set -- he's not even talking about spending money on a moderately sized rear screen projection television. He's talking about a reasonably priced medium level television.
Maybe he doesn't like to travel. Maybe he doesn't have time to travel. Maybe he has a wife and four kids and the low fare suddenly gets rather expensive. (Not to mention that airfare is usually one of the cheapest parts of the trip. Priced hotels, rental cars, and restaurant food lately?)
This guy asked a simple question, and he gets slammed because he wants to replace a ten year old television. Why can't people just answer or not answer the guy instead of making unwarrented assumptions about what he's like.
In other words, play nice kids.
Sean.
Politics are at least very different in small companies.
Having been on both sides myself, I think the biggest problem with a small company is that if you get a bad manager, or one you can't work with, it's likely there's no one you can go to for help.
Depending on your temperament, it can be anything from difficult to impossible.
Make sure things are spelled out -- especially anything to do with compensation. If you are salaried, yet might receive OT, make sure something is written down about how OT pay is calculated. I mention this because it bit me to the tune of several thousand dollars once.
Sean.
At least in part I disagree. I've been doing professional programming and application development for over fifteen years now.
There is a *big* jump from procedural programming to OO programming, and there are those who I've seen have major problems making that jump. But that's not true in all cases. Once you understand the basic techniques in procedural and OO development, it's not that big a jump to move from language to language. It's mostly a matter of learning the libraries.
Can a C programmer learn C++ in two weeks? Maybe. It depends on many things, not the least of which is how good a developer the person is already. Will the best developer know all the ins and outs of C++ after two weeks? No, but that's unimportant. The best developer will *know* s/he doesn't know everything, and will be able to pick up those things as s/he progresses. Will he or she be competent? Yes. Will he or she be productive? Yes.
It really depends upon the person. Once when I left a position, the guy who was filling my spot didn't know why he should care about the difference between disk and RAM. He'll never be a decent developer. Yet there are people out there who can pick up Java when all they know is COBOL. (Real example.)
My point is that once you are truly a *good* developer, then most of the rest of it *is* syntax and libraries. OO is just another type of syntax, and someone who really understands programming will pick it up as well.
Sean.
I can talk about this from my point of view as a singer/songwriter...
I don't want my music plagerized. That means you don't say you wrote it. It means you don't change a few words or notes and say you wrote it.
Now, as for mp3s, trade 'em all you want. Put them on a bootleg. If I ever release a CD, share it. It's all okat with me. I look at mp3s as commercials for the CD. You want just the songs in mp3 format, that's fine. Take them. With the CD you'll get (if I have my way) words to all the songs, perhaps a bit of commentary on the songs, a list of artists playing and singing, and the writers and contributing artists. Along with a bit of artwork. You want all that stuff along with the music, then you pay the price for the CD.
A friend of mine gave my a CD by an artist I'd never heard. I ripped it to mp3s and started listening to it. Within a few months I owned five or six of her CDs -- all because I was able to listen -- several times over a couple of weeks -- to her music and was able to decide I wanted to hear more. I suspect there are a bunch of other who do about the same thing.
Sean.
A decent windowing system? Win98/2000/XP has one?
If you like it, thats fine, I suppose, but Windows still hasn't come up with a reasonable configurable user interface as far as I'm concerned. It isn't configurable. Oh, sure, you can tweak it here are there, change the colors, maybe change whether the menus are animated, but most of what you can change, while nice, isn't really configuration, it's just changing the look.
I can't configure the menu that comes up when you right click on the background. There are no virtual windows. (Why? I've had virtual screen under Unix for around ten years!) Once something has stuck itself on the system tray, it's almost impossible to get it out. Configuring which _user_level_ applications are run is not easy for an end user, and is difficult at best.
Windows' UI is pretty. It works. But it's written to a lowest level common denomonator. An experienced user should be able to configure the UI without an enormous amount of difficulty.
It's great for my mom and my non-technical friends. For me, it's often irritating. I play games and do multi-media on it -- serious work is done with Linux at home.
Sean.
Actually, John Varley also deals with this in his books. While he isn't proposing that one can store conciousness, he does propose a future in which medical procedures such as sex change are trivial -- and accepted. In one book of his, the main character starts off as male, and shortly into the book switches to female.
It actually does pose interesting questions, and one major effect of the simplicity of sex change is the absence of long term marital relationships.
Sean.
Or less, if you don't mind EBay -- I paid under $60 (shipping included) for a 4 port KVM.
Sean.
Heck, I'd like free service too. Can I have free electric, water, and natural gas as well? How about free gasoline for my car -- let's not stop there, how about a free car -- of my choice, of course.
The problem is that somewhere, somebody's got to pay for the equipment and the upkeep. Right now, that's covered by the fees we pay to our internet, cell, and land-line providers. When we quit paying, they no longer have any incentive to continue our service.
Sean.
As a longtime PalmOS user and a PalmOS developer, I think this is probably a good thing. Palm was just beginning to start producing devices that were for the same market as the new Handspring devices.
Handspring was no longer for me -- they are focusing on devices with wireless connectivity and thumbboards. But it's a style some people like. This gives Palm a wide variety of handhelds, probably a wider variety than anyone else.
This will also pretty much make the competition for PalmOS devices Palm and Sony. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it might not be too bad. Sony is concentrating on PalmOS with multimedia extensions, Palm is concentrating on PalmOS in small, extremely functional devices. There's a lot to be said for both.
My last buy was a Sony NX70. After seeing and using the big screen, it was hard to go to anything else. Still, I can certainly see the alure of the very small TungstenT...
Sean.
Oh, I can and do map keys. But it sure confuses other people who use my keyboard -- especially those young enough to have learned on what is now a standard keyboard.
I did glance around the site and didn't notice the keyboard you mention -- it's hard, though, to justify spending much more than about $20 on a keyboard, since, as you say, keyboards can be mapped.
Sean.
I normally don't reply to heathens who believe the escape key goes next to the 'a' key, but I couldn't let *anyone* even consider I might be an emacs person. vi, is, of course, the one true editor. :-)
Sean.
Any keyboard that doesn't have the control key in the correct place -- just left of the 'a' key -- couldn't be considered the "one true keyboard".
Sean.
Sigh.
I don't claim to be the smartest person in the world. I know I'm not. However, in many areas of life the things in which I'm interested are considered by many to be "intellectual". I *can* converse on many topics. But a person with whom I'm likely to become close friends, one to whom I'm likely to be attracted, is someone who is also at least somewhat interested in many of the same things in which I'm interested.
And it doesn't matter whether it's a male or female -- I'm not going to enjoy being around a person who can't converse at a higher level than 2+2=4. I'm not saying that all conversation will be conversations about the deeper meanings of life. I'd be just as bored with that person. But the ability to converse at that level *must* be there. Especially if I'm planning to spend my life with that person.
Now, not everyone with whom I'm friendly necessarily is like that. I work with people, go to lunch with people, even socialize with people with whom I've never had a serious conversation. That's okay too. But my close friends are the people with whom I have those serious conversations about life.
Sean.
ReplayTV, and, I'm sure, Tivo, can control your cable box. In fact, mines controls not just my cable box, but also a satellite receiver and I could hook in an external antenna as well.
I don't pay a cent, but then I've had mine for quite a while. If my ReplayTV stops getting schedule information, I'll either be building a new computer to take over the ReplayTV duties or buying a Tivo.
Sean.
> No company makes a consumer rear-projection TV that has a resolution of more than 540 lines.
Huh? I didn't think this sounded right, so I took a look at the specs for a Mitsubishi 55411. They claim a horizontal resolution of 1200, and vertical scan rates of 480i, 480p, and 1080i.
So, at least Mitsubishi makes a rear projection television with a horizontal resolution of more than 540. And that's not the top of the line. I'd guess that other manufacturers are similar.
I thought a lot about this before making my purchase. I was originally going to buy a 36" tube, but ended up with a 55" RPTV.
I didn't get a built in HD receiver, and, when I purchased, had no idea when I'd be able to get one or when I'd actually see true HDTV on my set.
Didn't matter to me. My purchase was based upon having a widescreen television that did a good job on DVDs. I got it. With a progressive scan DVD player (an extra $6 with the TV), my DVDs look fantastic. That alone was worth it to me.
Now it turns out that my local cable company has added HD to their line up. For an extra $3 per month, I get the HD receiver, all my locals, and a couple of movie channels in HD. I'm switching to cable just for that.
I bought rear projection, but you can get direct view for less. I'm not sure what you were looking at, but I found a 32" HD ready Sony on the Sony site for $1500. I won't argue that HD ready will be more, but you don't have to pay $5000 for it.
Sean.
Some cable companies already rent HD receivers. Two in Columbus, Ohio for example (Insight and Time Warner.) Cost is insignificant -- for Insight, which I'll have in a few days, cost for the HD receiver is $3 per month, and all my locals transmit in HD, so they will be available to me.
Sean.
Just one comment on satellite vs. cable.
I'm just switching from satellite to cable. Why? Because for the same price (a bit less, actually) I can get everything I had *and* they'll give me the HD receiver, all my locals in HD, and a couple of movie channels in HD. The HD recever is an additional $3 per month.
Sorry, but I think it beats paying $600 for an HD compatible receiver for Dish.
(And I may have to switch to Tivo so I can record HD -- but I hope that Replay gets their act together...)
Sean.
> Pretty soon we will HAVE to buy HDTVs
Well, maybe not. There's nothing that says that cable channels must convert to digital or HD. If you're one of the majority of people who have cable then your standard def signal may last for a very long time. The only thing covered by the mandates are the FCC licensed stations. Not cable, not satellite.
Until you can purchase a digital TV and tuner for under $300, digital TV won't take off.
Sean.
> Academy/4:3 is infinitely superior to widescreen anyway...
Sigh. You keep saying this. At best, it's an opinion. Maybe you prefer academy, but I don't.
Here's why. Let's start with what the eye sees. A person with normal or relatively normal eyesight has a much greater range of peripheral vision side to side than up and down. An unscientific test just now seems to show that I have about twice the left/right peripheral range as I do up and down.
The best theater screens are those that draw me into the film. The best way to do that is to make sure that as much of my vision as possible is encompassed by the screen.
With Academy ratio, you're going to have to have an extremely large screen to cover my left/right peripheral vision. With 1.85, it takes the same width screen, but one a lot smaller top to bottom.
At home, I sit at the near edge of where I "should" sit based upon screen size and screen type. I have a 55" 16:9 screen. I can't really get close enough to fill my peripheral vision, but I come close.
I believe that a wide screen more closely mimics how most people see, and I believe that it provides for a more engrossing experience. For me, that means widescreen -- 16x9 or wider, is better.
Sean.
> When they do the editing they lop off the top and bottom to get 16:9. Then when they modify it for tv they lop off the sides.
Well, yes and no. It's really immaterial at what aspect ratio they film, the important thing is what aspect ratio they compose for. Some directors, Cameron, for one, say they compose for 4x3 and whatever ratio will be shown in theaters. Most don't claim that. I don't think Cameron can do it -- having seen both, I certainly prefer the widescreen versions.
Sean.
> With the exception of the camera, I believe the NX70 has the same specs as the NZ90.
Not quite. The NZ90 adds built in Bluetooth and four hardware buttons (app buttons) on the top edge of the screen.
Those buttons are a big deal to me -- I use the buttons on my Palm a lot to move between apps quickly. Having them available when the thing is in "tablet" mode might make a difference of which unit I buy.
Sean.
You make it sounds as if using printf isn't as good as using a debugger.
On occasion, I've learned debuggers. I've never found that I liked them. I typically *do* use printfas (or their equivilent) to debug my applications. I find that method is usually faster than trying to use a debugger. In my more recent programming experience -- the last four or so years, there was exactly one time when using printfs was not sufficient to figure out how to solve the problem I was seeing.
If you know the code well enough, then I doubt that using a debugger will speed finding the problem much, if any. Perhaps if you're looking at code you don't know well, then it might help figure out the internal flow.
Sean.
I agree with creating a DVD player/PVR, but I don't think people are understanding what it would really mean to the consumer.
A DVD/PVR in a single unit is now a complete replacement for the way most people use a VCR. They can rent and watch DVDs, and they can timeshift television. When I listen to what most people do with VCRs, most are *just* renting, with a few people out there time-shifting, and far fewer actually saving the tapes they create.
For the great majority of people, a DVD/PVR would be a better solution than a DVD/VCR.
Sean.
I bought a Palm Pilot Personal the day they arrived at CompUSA here in town. For a while I found it difficult to use for the same reason I found day planners difficult to use -- it was awkward to carry. Then I bought a belt pack for it. Since then it's been with me daily.
:-)
I upgraded to to a Pro, then a IIIx, then a Visor Prism, which I still carry. All appointments are on the Prism, all my addresses on on it, birthdays, a database with machine info for about 150 machines here at work, I keep track on my bank checking and savings accounts, a database of NPR stations around the country -- and really, that's just a start. Oh, and the time-waster games I keep for those moments when I've got a few minutes of time before meetings. (And during boring meetings.
It's a rare day that it doesn't get pulled out and used several times. I don't have a desktop organizer to which I sync -- it's all on the Prism. And the Prism gets carried anytime I leave the house.
I have a hard time saying that it's indespensible to me -- but without it I'd have a lot harder time keeping track of the information I use -- worse, that information would have been difficult to move when I changed positions, as I've done over these last years. Some of it I wouldn't have at all -- like the NPR stations.
It's also provided me with several thousand dollars of income over the past three years since I released some software for the device.
Me, I don't really think of it as a status symbol. Carrying both a Prism and phone on my belt doesn't seem to be a status symbol. It's too blase for geeks and too geek for everyone else...
Sean.