"most teaching of C++ at the moment is terrible, which is the single
biggest problem the language has"
I agree with this. My city, Portland, Oregon, U.S., has an extremely large
technical bookstore, Powell's (http://www.powells.com/technicalbooks), and I have spent several
afternoons looking through all the books on C++. There is a strong tendency in
most of these books to explain without truly explaining, or to mystify without
explaining at all.
It is great to know that C++ will eventually be extended. But the 2 to 4 human
years that you mention is equivalent to 14 or 28 technology years.
You mention "better support for interfacing with other programming
languages".
This is not a controversial addition to the C++ language. It seems to me that
it should have been finished 2 years ago, not 2 years from now.
I think your point is interesting about C++ having too many features. But why not just have compiler switches that prevent use of some features? That way, if a project didn't need the complex features, they could be prevented from being used, assuring uniformity and, in some cases, ease of debugging.
The features of C++ don't bother me. I just use what I want. Similarly, English is a very complex language. But, as a professional writer, I choose to avoid obscure words and poor constructions. For example, I usually avoid verb phrases ending in prepositions. I don't say "used to", for example.
And the complex features of C++ are of higher quality than the complex features of a human language that was never designed. The complex features of C++ are very useful in special cases.
What I really don't want is to have to change languages just because I need a particular feature.
In the second half of his post above, Dalroth has made a very sensible case in my opinion, for learning other languages.
(Dalroth seems like the kind of programmer employers want to hire. But he has provided no way to contact him. In fact, he is very negative about being contacted in his bio.)
I'm tired of new languages (read my post #128), but Dalroth has a point that other languages sometimes teach other ways of thinking.
The answer seems to be to put all the knowledge in one place, or as few places as possible. At some point even Dalroth will decide that one more language is too many.
I'm just guessing, but I think I have learned at least 15 programming languages. Maybe it is 30, if you count assembly languages. At some point, learning languages must come to an end. At some point, I would like to see all the good features put into one or two languages. I have no intention of using my life learning languages that then die very quickly, like Pascal.
It seems that, at some point, every skilled programmer becomes interested in writing either an editor or a computer language. I wrote one myself, for use with some H-P data acquisition equipment. Now both the equipment and language are obsolete.
With every new language, there are years of extending the language, finding and curing the bugs, and wrestling with incompatibility problems. At some point, this must stop.
Language writers should put their creativity into extending C++ rather than abandoning it.
Consider Java, for example. There have been literally years of hassle and discussion about Java, when it could have been implemented merely as a compiler switch to a C++ compiler. The compiler switch could have provided automatic garbage collection, given error messages for use of pointers, and provided the other features of Java.
Microsoft, following its usual abusive practices, put many ease-of-use features into Visual Basic, while keeping them out of Visual C++. The result was that there are maybe 1,500,000 programmers who know Visual Basic, but don't know a real language. And what language is Visual Basic itself programmed in? C++, of course.
When you write in Visual Basic, you are just a dog on a leash. Anytime Microsoft wants to yank your chain, it can. If Bill Gates happens to lose interest, Microsoft can kill this one-OS language, the way it killed xBase (dBase, FoxPro), for example, by making quirky additions that no other vendor could/would follow, and then abandoning development.
It is a shortcoming of the U.S. culture that so many men feel that they must play King on the Mountain, and try to knock everyone else down, rather than cooperate.
Like everyone, Bill Gates has inner conflict. But don't let his anger and obsessive desire to make money reduce the quality of your life!
So now it is Ruby, supposedly the next big thing. How long will it be until the books are all written? How long until we discover the shortcomings? Is there some feature in Ruby that can't possibly be added to another language?
I reviewed Ruby a little about a year ago, but came to the conclusion that the documentation was extremely poor. The overall value of a language is the value of the language itself, plus the quality of documentation of the language.
At some point, I want the merry-go-round to stop, so that I can get off.
Is there something in C# that simply could not be made a compiler switch to C++? Do we really need more syntax? I'm not saying I know all the answers to some of these issues. But I sense that something bad is happening.
For a few years, languages were interesting to me. But now, I just want to do the job, not discover other ways to do the job. Let's move on, rather than repeating what we have done before. Let's improve what we have, rather than starting again.
Tantalum is used in Tantalum capacitors, electronic devices that hold an electrical charge.
The article doesn't seem to mention that Aluminum capacitors can be used instead. Aluminum capacitors are larger and cheaper than Tantalum, and they may have significantly more inductance. But, in most cases thet can be substituted. Usually the only problem is finding the space on a circuit board.
Use clear English when you send messages to non-English-speaking countries. Otherwise there is little chance you will be understood.
Something like: "Your computer has the Code Red virus! It attacked my computer. See http//www...."
Include a link to a site which explains how to fix the problem.
Slashdot Humor
on
Code Red III
·
· Score: 3, Offtopic
-
I've been making a list of the best of Slashdot humor. Here it is. In the beginning I did not record the user name:
Lotteries are a tax on people who suck at math.
"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD." - Deuteronomy 23:1
The metric system is the tool of the devil!! i get forty rods to the hogshead, and that's the way i likes it!!
Someone had to put all that chaos there! by Greyfox (nride@uswest.net)
I love vegetarians - some of my favorite foods are vegetarians.
"Today's forecast calls for sprinkles of genius with a chance of doom!" - Stewie Griffin
The truth does not set you free, it just makes everyone irritable.
Which is worse: Ignorance or Apathy? Who knows? Who cares?
It's pretty funny, actually. It all started when I thought that inflammable was the opposite of flammable...
From a signature line at the end of every message: [Drink Coke] [Army - Be All You Can Be] [This ad space for sale! Contact the author for current rates]
"You can't have everything. Where would you keep it?" -- Steven Wright
A computer without a Microsoft operating system is like a dog without bricks tied to it's head. dieMSdie (steve@spam-is-bad.xtn.net)
"Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it" -- Richard Feynman
This is a UNIX email virus. It works on the honor system: If you're running a variant of unix , please forward this message to everyone you know and delete a bunch of your files at random. Thank you for your cooperation. by pjl@patsoffice.com
It's sad to live in a world where knowing how to program your VCR actually lowers your social status... (rhopkins-at-crosswinds-dot-net)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are not necessarily mine, as I've not yet had my medication today. (jmblant@clemson.dontsendmespam.edu)
When I have to develop under Windows, I spend long, frustrating days where mis-handling of a pointer causes BSOD, not a core dump. (Gen-GNU)
"Linux is a beautiful thing, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we're geeks.
Be nice to your friends. If it weren't for them, you'd be a complete stranger. (Yamao)
The white zone is for loading and unloading only by error 404 on Mon Jun 12th, 2000 at 10:30:10 AM EST, kuro5hin
5.72 MOhms across my tongue... should i be concerned? MrResistor (mrresistor@hotmail.com) on Tuesday June 13, @03:38PM EDT (SD)
"Why does everyone always overgeneralize?" by p3d0 on Monday June 05, @12:37PM EDT (SD)
If at first you don't succeed, try a shorter bungee. by leonbrooks on Thursday June 15, @08:10PM EDT
-- Any attempt to brew coffee with a teapot should result in the error code "418 I'm a teapot". The resulting entity body MAY be short and stout. [RFC 2324] by Eric Green (eric@badtux.org) on Thursday June 15, @03:48PM EDT
The Internet interprets advertising as damage and routes around it. by Paul Crowley (slashdot-paul@cluefactory.org.uk)
There are two kinds of people in this world -- Those who divide people into two groups and those who don't. by YogSothoth (jdumas9@z3eh.com (s/[0-9]//g)) on Friday June 16, @08:22PM EDT
The Christian Right is Neither -- by cbuskirk (cbuskirk@yahoo.com) on Friday June 16, @07:35PM EDT
Inertia's what makes the world go 'round. -- by rana on Friday June 16, @07:54PM EDT
If you are angry with someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes... then you'll be a mile away from them, and you'll have their shoes. -- by hobbit (hamish@nutshell.SPAM.freeserve.SPAM.co.uk)
Fruit flies like bananas... Time flies like the wind... by DanBari on Tuesday June 20, @02:19AM EDT
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard drive? mcelrath (mcelrath+slashdotcomment@draal.physics.wisc.edu)
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler by Wakko Warner (wakko@qwerty.bitey.net) on Wednesday June 21, @09:25PM EDT
"'Tis some script kidd3z," I muttered, "tapping at my server port-Only this, and nothing more." by Barbarianconanford_please-no@spam-yahoo.com) on Thursday June 29, @07:11PM EDT
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. warpathwarpath@the-cantina.com) on Thursday July 06, @06:13PM EDT
-o-"Warning: You are logged into reality as root..."-o- by Munky_v2email_me@www.dialug.org) on Friday July 07, @09:32AM EDT
There are three types of people in the world; those who can count, and those who can't. -- by Uruks2mdalle@titan.vcu.edu) on Monday July 10, @02:04PM EDT
All generalizations are false. -- by The_Messengerkmfms.com@drew) on Monday July 10, @04:07PM EDT
A theory: Women do not, snore, burp, sweat or fart. Therefore, they must bitch, or they will explode. -- byy m0nkeyb0y on Wednesday July 12, @01:34AM EDT
Why is it that it's a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your two cents in? Somebody's makin a penny. --Steven Wright
I've lost my faith in nihilism. -- by hey!mattleo@treehouse.acrcorp.com) on Monday July 17, @10:08AM EDT
Being a geek means never having to ask, "Paper or plastic?" -- by Loligoljm@delete_this.fc.net) on Friday July 21, @01:40PM EDT
"Ah yes, the Tomahawk Cruise missle... the rich country's car bomb." -- by Rand Race (helixp@nospam.bellsouth.net) on Friday July 21, @03:29PM EDT
I am hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, and dishwasher safe... -- by ecliptic_1 (ecliptic_1@spamsux.bigfoot.com) on Friday July 21, @09:49PM EDT
The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them. -- Einstein
There is nothing more odious to me than an expensive church. -- by brogdonandrew(at)imagersoft.com) on Tuesday August 01, @02:58PM EDT#106)
"Bill Gates is just a monocle and a Persian Cat away from being one of the bad guys in a James Bond movie." - Dennis Miller
Bad spellers of the world, untie! -- by Fjord_Reddfjord_redd@programmer_dot_net) on Wednesday August 02, @10:43AM EDT#19)
Every night, tired dyslexics around the world look forward to 8 hours of peels. -- by sirinekbillHATESSPAM@sirinek.com) on Wednesday August 09, @12:45PM EDT#124) (User #41507 Info)http://www.sirinek.com
"I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes." G. W. Bush 8/21/2000
by NecroPuppy on Tuesday August 22, @10:51PM EDT#14) (User #222648 Info) A friend of mine has a barcode on his arm. He rings up as a $.35 pack of JuicyFruit.
Preserve Wildlife -- Pickle a squirrel today! by HydroCarbon10synth903@hotmail.com) on Thursday September 07, @10:48AM NT#23)
You know lately I've been thinking recently about the sig system. I really think that 120 characters seems a bit restr -- by Valar nospamyalusers.kungfoo@linuxstart.com) on Thursday September 07, @11:07AM NT#74) (User #167606 Info)
"Don't anthropomorphize computers. They hate that." -- by poiu on Thursday September 07, @10:50AM NT#124) (User #106484 Info)
5 out of 4 People have problems with fractions. -- by fjordboy noneofyourbeeswax@noneofyourbeeswax.com) on Sunday September 10, @07:16PM EDT#116) (User #169716 Info)http://www.iceball.net
Never miss a good chance to shut up. -- by Aleatoricrsanders@webzone.net) on Monday September 11, @03:15AM EDT#46) (User #10021 Info)
Give me ambiguity or give me something else -- Re:That last ten percent... (Score:2, Informative) by seanmeistersubsynthesis@subdimension.com) on Wednesday September 20, @04:37PM EDT#53) (User #156224 Info)
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. - Hunter S Thompson
Apocalypse n. Writings from Jewish authors... designed to cheer the hearts of the Jewish people (Webster) -- My password... (Score:1) by MrScience on Friday September 29, @12:06PM EDT#221) (User #126570 Info)"
If at first you don't succeed, it is quite certain you will give up skydiving. -- Maybe it just crashed? (Score:2, Informative) by LilGuy on Wednesday October 04, @04:44PM EDT#54) (User #150110 Info)
I'm a dyslexic agnostic with insomnia... I lie awake at night wondering if there really is a dog! -- Re:Electoral College (Score:1) by Q-Hack!kc5aot_HATES_SPAM_@qsl.net) on Thursday October 19, @09:49AM PDT#23) (User #37846 Info)http://www.qsl.net/~kc5aot
Sponsored by: Chork Lite - Because having an active lifestyle doesn't mean you have to give up jellied meat. -- by Towertwrau.p.dueirml@eo) on Tuesday May 01, @01:03PM EST#60) (User #37395 Info)
I'm in search of myself. If you found me before I arrive, please have me wait. -- by jsse on Wednesday May 02, @09:50PM EST#63) (User #254124 Info)
"Time's fun when you're having flies." - Kermit the Frog -- by joshyboy on Wednesday May 02, @09:31PM EST#17) (User #237516 Info)
...A no smoking section in a resturant is like having a no peeing section in a swimming pool... -- From whats been happing..... (Score:1) by SGDarkKnight on Monday May 07, @11:51AM EST#30) (User #253157 Info)
I'm in search of myself. If you found me before I arrive, please have me wait. -- Very bad case for US (Score:2) by jsse on Thursday May 17, @03:40AM EST#11) (User #254124 Info)
Swearing is the crutch of inarticulate mother fuckers. -- whitehouse.gov. IN CNAME hongkonggov.cn (Score:1) by xodiakbrad AT geeknet DOT net) on Thursday July 19, @03:45PM PDT#15) (User #95699 Info)http://www.pander.org/
If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed.....oh wait, he does. -- by Nate Fox (slashdotatdafox.org) on Friday August 10, @11:00AM PDT (#54) (User #1271 Info)
Tribbles, something must have happened between the time you plugged in the speaker, and the time the processor went bad, because there is no direct connection between the audio line output and the processor.
Probably a surge destroyed the power supply, and that destroyed the processor.
"could be used to compress a 200 byte XML document to 2 bytes and few bits."
This is a hoax. Someone played a trick like this on Byte Magazine (before Byte quit publishing). It is amazing that the editors didn't immediately recognize the impossibility of extreme claims of compression.
I searched the comments for the word "hoax", but no one commenting here has used the word. Anyhow, it can't happen.
The voice reproduction of OV is unbelievably good. I heard the OV of Richard Stallman's speech. I have also done some experimenting on my own. OV is the best voice reproduction I have ever heard.
I need to make voice recordings for international tech support. However, I am having trouble finding an application that records, has a pause button, and can be set to low data rates.
I made an assumption about the reader...
on
Breaking Windows
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I made an assumption about the reader when I blamed the Code Red worms and the SirCam virus on Microsoft.
I assumed that the reader knew, or thought, that the security weaknesses in Microsoft products are more than just mistakes. They are the result of a widespread lack of caring about making a good product. The lack of caring is possible for a monopoly, but is, over the long term, self-destructive.
People who are programmers, and understand the issues of program development, often say that the vulnerabilities of Microsoft products go beyond the normal software bugs. If you look at the patterns of bugs, there seems to be a sloppiness that true professionals don't allow.
An instant way for a programmer to make a name for himself or herself would be to find a serious security bug in Open BSD. They have been bragging for four years that there haven't been any serious remote exploits. (http://www.openbsd.org/ "Four years without a remote hole in the default install!") There must be many, many people who would like to find such an exploit, because of the way it would look on a resume. But there hasn't been even one.
During that time, there have been more than 300 serious security bugs in Microsoft products. At some point, it seems reasonable to say that the bugs are more than just the inevitable programmer mistakes, but are indicative of a failure in management that is giving Microsoft billions of dollars of bad publicity. That's self-destruction.
I did not intend to say that Microsoft is as bad as Hitler. I only intended to say that the issue is the same: self-destruction. Obviously, Hitler and Germany at the time was a much worse case of self-destruction.
Please remember that my comment, like most comments on Slashdot, was written rapidly and was not reviewed by an editor. Please forgive unintended meanings and try to make the best of what is posted, not the worst.
It doesn't necessarily matter if Microsoft cares about its self-destruction. What matters is that healthy people eventually assert control.
Bad things really do happen.
on
Breaking Windows
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Bad things really do happen. Hitler and Stalin really did kill people.
Microsoft really is abusive. Microsoft's abusiveness costs billions of dollars
in lost time. For example, Microsoft releases software with poor security.
Right now the Code Red II worm and the SirCam virus are causing huge amounts of
damage. These both exploit Microsoft security weaknesses.
My opinion: Microsoft is far more abusive than any one Slashdot reader knows.
My support for that opinion: Often when people mention a Microsoft abuse that
is particularly troublesome to them, they are different ones than have been
mentioned before. This suggests that a complete list of abuses would be far
larger than any one person imagines.
Talking about Microsoft abuses is not Microsoft-bashing. Discussing the abuses
is pro-Microsoft, not anti-Microsoft. The reason? The world is not efficient
at responding to abuse by monopolies or dictatorships, but eventually the
abuse is eliminated. For example, look what happened to IBM's PC business.
When you discuss Microsoft's abuses, you make it more likely that Microsoft
will learn not to be so self-destructive.
You can think of Hitler in terms of the damage he did to the world. But the
real story is that another person became self-destructive.
Similarly, the real story of Microsoft is not the enormous aggravation and
damage Microsoft causes the world, but the fact that a large organization has
become very unhealthy, and is unable to stop destroying itself. The real
intellectual challenge is to understand why.
The failure of Slashdot is not that we criticize Microsoft too much. The
failure is that we are not systematic enough and comprehensive enough in our
criticism.
The U.S. Department of Justice, for example, needs a comprehensive document
that shows the enormity and totality of Microsoft abuses.
I think we Slashdot readers could contribute something to the world by writing
such a document. We could have a "List Microsoft Abuses" Slashdot story, and
everyone could contribute what they know. I could list several that I have
never read on Slashdot. Contributors could mention that they contributed their
intellectual property rights to the cause. In a week, we could write a book.
We could pay an editor to edit the book, and publish it. The proceeds could be
donated to Slashdot.
Understanding self-destruction is a subject that should be of interest to
every Slashdot reader. If you don't understand it, how do you know it won't
happen to you?
Microsoft is not the only self-destructive company. In just one month, Adobe
attacked both Dr. Kai-Uwe Sattler and PhD student Dmitry Sklyarov. Adobe went
from a company respected for the quality of its software to a company known
for the heavy-handedness of its management.
After spending at least 2 billion dollars developing the OS/2 operating
system, IBM killed it with poor marketing and poor technical management.
Abusiveness is a global issue that affects us all. When you stand up against
abuse, you help make a better world.
It is a little early to begin reviewing the Pentium IV. Intel released it early due to market pressure from AMD.
When the.13 micron Northwood chip is released, the clock speeds reach 2.4 GHz and higher, the new chipset is released, and there are other optimizations, then the Pentium IV will be what it was designed to be.
The DMCA effectively makes it illegal to question bad encryption.
The DMCA is an attempt to accomplish by putting people in prison what should be accomplished by improvements in software quality and in copyright law.
The DMCA artificially ends, or severely hinders, extremely important technical and legal discussions. It is a breach of the U.S. constitutional law of free speech.
Open source/free software projects need marketing communications, just as do commercial products.
I hope the Open Source movement will soon get over the habit of giving unattractive names to its products. I hope Open Source projects will eventually have home pages that actually explain the project in a way someone who has not followed the project from the beginning can understand.
Thank you for mentioning the utter stupidity of thinking that people who wanted to start a nuclear war would use missiles. They wouldn't. They would bring nuclear weapons in the way cocaine is brought in.
Missiles are a way for powerful interests to get government contracts that are so secret that the taxpayers cannot see how much money is being made, and wasted.
Next time, I hope we elect a president who is smart enough to run the country, and not just sell it to the highest bidder.
He's right. Thinking in C++ is helpful. And the electronic version is
free. This book is not complete, however.
It is important to know that none of the books are complete. The biggest
hurdle to becoming a programmer is learning to accept, and make sense of,
poorly written documentation.
All the books that I've seen make object orientation seem much more difficult
than it really is. Am I in a position to know? Yes. Powell's bookstore
here in Portland, Oregon is the biggest bookstore in the world. I've spent
hours looking at all the books there about C++.
The technical publishing world has become very corrupt. Publishers know that
people find it difficult to evaluate a book while they are in the bookstore.
So, a publisher who provides a poor quality book with big promises on the
cover will sell books.
Remember to stay in control. If a book doesn't make sense to you, consider the
possibility that it is the fault of the book, not you.
My guess is that, in number of person-hours spent reading, Slashdot is far, far more popular than Atlantic Monthly.
I agree A.M. is a respectable, likeable publication, but Slashdot gets READ.
I agree that Mr. Katz is in need of an editor. Every writer, no matter how skilled, needs an editor. Particularly people like Mr. Katz, who write before their thinking is clear.
But also, Mr. Katz is just not wise enough to write for Slashdot. Many of the people who post here write very well and have informed, carefully considered opinions.
Slashdot Mirror
"most teaching of C++ at the moment is terrible, which is the single biggest problem the language has"
I agree with this. My city, Portland, Oregon, U.S., has an extremely large technical bookstore, Powell's (http://www.powells.com/technicalbooks), and I have spent several afternoons looking through all the books on C++. There is a strong tendency in most of these books to explain without truly explaining, or to mystify without explaining at all.
It is great to know that C++ will eventually be extended. But the 2 to 4 human years that you mention is equivalent to 14 or 28 technology years.
You mention "better support for interfacing with other programming languages".
This is not a controversial addition to the C++ language. It seems to me that it should have been finished 2 years ago, not 2 years from now.
I think your point is interesting about C++ having too many features. But why not just have compiler switches that prevent use of some features? That way, if a project didn't need the complex features, they could be prevented from being used, assuring uniformity and, in some cases, ease of debugging.
The features of C++ don't bother me. I just use what I want. Similarly, English is a very complex language. But, as a professional writer, I choose to avoid obscure words and poor constructions. For example, I usually avoid verb phrases ending in prepositions. I don't say "used to", for example.
And the complex features of C++ are of higher quality than the complex features of a human language that was never designed. The complex features of C++ are very useful in special cases.
What I really don't want is to have to change languages just because I need a particular feature.
In the second half of his post above, Dalroth has made a very sensible case in my opinion, for learning other languages.
(Dalroth seems like the kind of programmer employers want to hire. But he has provided no way to contact him. In fact, he is very negative about being contacted in his bio.)
I'm tired of new languages (read my post #128), but Dalroth has a point that other languages sometimes teach other ways of thinking.
The answer seems to be to put all the knowledge in one place, or as few places as possible. At some point even Dalroth will decide that one more language is too many.
I'm just guessing, but I think I have learned at least 15 programming languages. Maybe it is 30, if you count assembly languages. At some point, learning languages must come to an end. At some point, I would like to see all the good features put into one or two languages. I have no intention of using my life learning languages that then die very quickly, like Pascal.
It seems that, at some point, every skilled programmer becomes interested in writing either an editor or a computer language. I wrote one myself, for use with some H-P data acquisition equipment. Now both the equipment and language are obsolete.
With every new language, there are years of extending the language, finding and curing the bugs, and wrestling with incompatibility problems. At some point, this must stop.
Language writers should put their creativity into extending C++ rather than abandoning it.
Consider Java, for example. There have been literally years of hassle and discussion about Java, when it could have been implemented merely as a compiler switch to a C++ compiler. The compiler switch could have provided automatic garbage collection, given error messages for use of pointers, and provided the other features of Java.
Microsoft, following its usual abusive practices, put many ease-of-use features into Visual Basic, while keeping them out of Visual C++. The result was that there are maybe 1,500,000 programmers who know Visual Basic, but don't know a real language. And what language is Visual Basic itself programmed in? C++, of course.
When you write in Visual Basic, you are just a dog on a leash. Anytime Microsoft wants to yank your chain, it can. If Bill Gates happens to lose interest, Microsoft can kill this one-OS language, the way it killed xBase (dBase, FoxPro), for example, by making quirky additions that no other vendor could/would follow, and then abandoning development.
It is a shortcoming of the U.S. culture that so many men feel that they must play King on the Mountain, and try to knock everyone else down, rather than cooperate.
Like everyone, Bill Gates has inner conflict. But don't let his anger and obsessive desire to make money reduce the quality of your life!
So now it is Ruby, supposedly the next big thing. How long will it be until the books are all written? How long until we discover the shortcomings? Is there some feature in Ruby that can't possibly be added to another language?
I reviewed Ruby a little about a year ago, but came to the conclusion that the documentation was extremely poor. The overall value of a language is the value of the language itself, plus the quality of documentation of the language.
At some point, I want the merry-go-round to stop, so that I can get off.
Is there something in C# that simply could not be made a compiler switch to C++? Do we really need more syntax? I'm not saying I know all the answers to some of these issues. But I sense that something bad is happening.
For a few years, languages were interesting to me. But now, I just want to do the job, not discover other ways to do the job. Let's move on, rather than repeating what we have done before. Let's improve what we have, rather than starting again.
Tantalum is used in Tantalum capacitors, electronic devices that hold an electrical charge.
The article doesn't seem to mention that Aluminum capacitors can be used instead. Aluminum capacitors are larger and cheaper than Tantalum, and they may have significantly more inductance. But, in most cases thet can be substituted. Usually the only problem is finding the space on a circuit board.
Use clear English when you send messages to non-English-speaking countries. Otherwise there is little chance you will be understood.
Something like: "Your computer has the Code Red virus! It attacked my computer. See http//www...."
Include a link to a site which explains how to fix the problem.
-
..oh wait, he does. -- by Nate Fox (slashdotatdafox.org) on Friday August 10, @11:00AM PDT (#54) (User #1271 Info)
I've been making a list of the best of Slashdot humor. Here it is. In the beginning I did not record the user name:
Lotteries are a tax on people who suck at math.
"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD." - Deuteronomy 23:1
The metric system is the tool of the devil!! i get forty rods to the hogshead, and that's the way i likes it!!
Someone had to put all that chaos there! by Greyfox (nride@uswest.net)
I love vegetarians - some of my favorite foods are vegetarians.
"Today's forecast calls for sprinkles of genius with a chance of doom!" - Stewie Griffin
The truth does not set you free, it just makes everyone irritable.
Which is worse: Ignorance or Apathy? Who knows? Who cares?
It's pretty funny, actually. It all started when I thought that inflammable was the opposite of flammable...
From a signature line at the end of every message: [Drink Coke] [Army - Be All You Can Be] [This ad space for sale! Contact the author for current rates]
"You can't have everything. Where would you keep it?" -- Steven Wright
A computer without a Microsoft operating system is like a dog without bricks tied to it's head. dieMSdie (steve@spam-is-bad.xtn.net)
"Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it" -- Richard Feynman
This is a UNIX email virus. It works on the honor system: If you're running a variant of unix , please forward this message to everyone you know and delete a bunch of your files at random. Thank you for your cooperation. by pjl@patsoffice.com
Error: Cannot find file REALITY.SYS - Universe halted, please reboot! (NoSpam_Jonathan_Bayer@bigfoot.com)
It's sad to live in a world where knowing how to program your VCR actually lowers your social status... (rhopkins-at-crosswinds-dot-net)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are not necessarily mine, as I've not yet had my medication today. (jmblant@clemson.dontsendmespam.edu)
When I have to develop under Windows, I spend long, frustrating days where mis-handling of a pointer causes BSOD, not a core dump. (Gen-GNU)
"Linux is a beautiful thing, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we're geeks.
Be nice to your friends. If it weren't for them, you'd be a complete stranger. (Yamao)
The white zone is for loading and unloading only by error 404 on Mon Jun 12th, 2000 at 10:30:10 AM EST, kuro5hin
5.72 MOhms across my tongue... should i be concerned? MrResistor (mrresistor@hotmail.com) on Tuesday June 13, @03:38PM EDT (SD)
"Why does everyone always overgeneralize?" by p3d0 on Monday June 05, @12:37PM EDT (SD)
If at first you don't succeed, try a shorter bungee. by leonbrooks on Thursday June 15, @08:10PM EDT
-- Any attempt to brew coffee with a teapot should result in the error code "418 I'm a teapot". The resulting entity body MAY be short and stout. [RFC 2324] by Eric Green (eric@badtux.org) on Thursday June 15, @03:48PM EDT
The Internet interprets advertising as damage and routes around it. by Paul Crowley (slashdot-paul@cluefactory.org.uk)
There are two kinds of people in this world -- Those who divide people into two groups and those who don't. by YogSothoth (jdumas9@z3eh.com (s/[0-9]//g)) on Friday June 16, @08:22PM EDT
The Christian Right is Neither -- by cbuskirk (cbuskirk@yahoo.com) on Friday June 16, @07:35PM EDT
Inertia's what makes the world go 'round. -- by rana on Friday June 16, @07:54PM EDT
If you are angry with someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes... then you'll be a mile away from them, and you'll have their shoes. -- by hobbit (hamish@nutshell.SPAM.freeserve.SPAM.co.uk)
Fruit flies like bananas... Time flies like the wind... by DanBari on Tuesday June 20, @02:19AM EDT
Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my hard drive? mcelrath (mcelrath+slashdotcomment@draal.physics.wisc.edu)
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler by Wakko Warner (wakko@qwerty.bitey.net) on Wednesday June 21, @09:25PM EDT
"'Tis some script kidd3z," I muttered, "tapping at my server port-Only this, and nothing more." by Barbarianconanford_please-no@spam-yahoo.com) on Thursday June 29, @07:11PM EDT
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. warpathwarpath@the-cantina.com) on Thursday July 06, @06:13PM EDT
-o-"Warning: You are logged into reality as root..."-o- by Munky_v2email_me@www.dialug.org) on Friday July 07, @09:32AM EDT
There are three types of people in the world; those who can count, and those who can't. -- by Uruks2mdalle@titan.vcu.edu) on Monday July 10, @02:04PM EDT
All generalizations are false. -- by The_Messengerkmfms.com@drew) on Monday July 10, @04:07PM EDT
A theory: Women do not, snore, burp, sweat or fart. Therefore, they must bitch, or they will explode. -- byy m0nkeyb0y on Wednesday July 12, @01:34AM EDT
Why is it that it's a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your two cents in? Somebody's makin a penny. --Steven Wright
I've lost my faith in nihilism. -- by hey!mattleo@treehouse.acrcorp.com) on Monday July 17, @10:08AM EDT
Being a geek means never having to ask, "Paper or plastic?" -- by Loligoljm@delete_this.fc.net) on Friday July 21, @01:40PM EDT
"Ah yes, the Tomahawk Cruise missle... the rich country's car bomb." -- by Rand Race (helixp@nospam.bellsouth.net) on Friday July 21, @03:29PM EDT
I am hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, and dishwasher safe... -- by ecliptic_1 (ecliptic_1@spamsux.bigfoot.com) on Friday July 21, @09:49PM EDT
The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them. -- Einstein
There is nothing more odious to me than an expensive church. -- by brogdonandrew(at)imagersoft.com) on Tuesday August 01, @02:58PM EDT#106)
"Bill Gates is just a monocle and a Persian Cat away from being one of the bad guys in a James Bond movie." - Dennis Miller
Bad spellers of the world, untie! -- by Fjord_Reddfjord_redd@programmer_dot_net) on Wednesday August 02, @10:43AM EDT#19)
Every night, tired dyslexics around the world look forward to 8 hours of peels. -- by sirinekbillHATESSPAM@sirinek.com) on Wednesday August 09, @12:45PM EDT#124) (User #41507 Info)http://www.sirinek.com
"I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes." G. W. Bush 8/21/2000
by NecroPuppy on Tuesday August 22, @10:51PM EDT#14) (User #222648 Info) A friend of mine has a barcode on his arm. He rings up as a $.35 pack of JuicyFruit.
Preserve Wildlife -- Pickle a squirrel today! by HydroCarbon10synth903@hotmail.com) on Thursday September 07, @10:48AM NT#23)
You know lately I've been thinking recently about the sig system. I really think that 120 characters seems a bit restr -- by Valar nospamyalusers.kungfoo@linuxstart.com) on Thursday September 07, @11:07AM NT#74) (User #167606 Info)
"Don't anthropomorphize computers. They hate that." -- by poiu on Thursday September 07, @10:50AM NT#124) (User #106484 Info)
5 out of 4 People have problems with fractions. -- by fjordboy noneofyourbeeswax@noneofyourbeeswax.com) on Sunday September 10, @07:16PM EDT#116) (User #169716 Info)http://www.iceball.net
Never miss a good chance to shut up. -- by Aleatoricrsanders@webzone.net) on Monday September 11, @03:15AM EDT#46) (User #10021 Info)
Give me ambiguity or give me something else -- Re:That last ten percent... (Score:2, Informative) by seanmeistersubsynthesis@subdimension.com) on Wednesday September 20, @04:37PM EDT#53) (User #156224 Info)
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. - Hunter S Thompson
Apocalypse n. Writings from Jewish authors... designed to cheer the hearts of the Jewish people (Webster) -- My password... (Score:1) by MrScience on Friday September 29, @12:06PM EDT#221) (User #126570 Info)"
If at first you don't succeed, it is quite certain you will give up skydiving. -- Maybe it just crashed? (Score:2, Informative) by LilGuy on Wednesday October 04, @04:44PM EDT#54) (User #150110 Info)
I'm a dyslexic agnostic with insomnia... I lie awake at night wondering if there really is a dog! -- Re:Electoral College (Score:1) by Q-Hack!kc5aot_HATES_SPAM_@qsl.net) on Thursday October 19, @09:49AM PDT#23) (User #37846 Info)http://www.qsl.net/~kc5aot
Sponsored by: Chork Lite - Because having an active lifestyle doesn't mean you have to give up jellied meat. -- by Towertwrau.p.dueirml@eo) on Tuesday May 01, @01:03PM EST#60) (User #37395 Info)
I'm in search of myself. If you found me before I arrive, please have me wait. -- by jsse on Wednesday May 02, @09:50PM EST#63) (User #254124 Info)
"Time's fun when you're having flies." - Kermit the Frog -- by joshyboy on Wednesday May 02, @09:31PM EST#17) (User #237516 Info)
...A no smoking section in a resturant is like having a no peeing section in a swimming pool... -- From whats been happing..... (Score:1) by SGDarkKnight on Monday May 07, @11:51AM EST#30) (User #253157 Info)
I'm in search of myself. If you found me before I arrive, please have me wait. -- Very bad case for US (Score:2) by jsse on Thursday May 17, @03:40AM EST#11) (User #254124 Info)
Swearing is the crutch of inarticulate mother fuckers. -- whitehouse.gov. IN CNAME hongkonggov.cn (Score:1) by xodiakbrad AT geeknet DOT net) on Thursday July 19, @03:45PM PDT#15) (User #95699 Info)http://www.pander.org/
If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed...
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Tribbles, something must have happened between the time you plugged in the speaker, and the time the processor went bad, because there is no direct connection between the audio line output and the processor.
Probably a surge destroyed the power supply, and that destroyed the processor.
"could be used to compress a 200 byte XML document to 2 bytes and few bits."
This is a hoax. Someone played a trick like this on Byte Magazine (before Byte quit publishing). It is amazing that the editors didn't immediately recognize the impossibility of extreme claims of compression.
I searched the comments for the word "hoax", but no one commenting here has used the word. Anyhow, it can't happen.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the KDE team. KDE is amazing.
The voice reproduction of OV is unbelievably good. I heard the OV of Richard Stallman's speech. I have also done some experimenting on my own. OV is the best voice reproduction I have ever heard.
I need to make voice recordings for international tech support. However, I am having trouble finding an application that records, has a pause button, and can be set to low data rates.
I made an assumption about the reader when I blamed the Code Red worms and the SirCam virus on Microsoft.
I assumed that the reader knew, or thought, that the security weaknesses in Microsoft products are more than just mistakes. They are the result of a widespread lack of caring about making a good product. The lack of caring is possible for a monopoly, but is, over the long term, self-destructive.
People who are programmers, and understand the issues of program development, often say that the vulnerabilities of Microsoft products go beyond the normal software bugs. If you look at the patterns of bugs, there seems to be a sloppiness that true professionals don't allow.
An instant way for a programmer to make a name for himself or herself would be to find a serious security bug in Open BSD. They have been bragging for four years that there haven't been any serious remote exploits. (http://www.openbsd.org/ "Four years without a remote hole in the default install!") There must be many, many people who would like to find such an exploit, because of the way it would look on a resume. But there hasn't been even one.
During that time, there have been more than 300 serious security bugs in Microsoft products. At some point, it seems reasonable to say that the bugs are more than just the inevitable programmer mistakes, but are indicative of a failure in management that is giving Microsoft billions of dollars of bad publicity. That's self-destruction.
I did not intend to say that Microsoft is as bad as Hitler. I only intended to say that the issue is the same: self-destruction. Obviously, Hitler and Germany at the time was a much worse case of self-destruction.
Please remember that my comment, like most comments on Slashdot, was written rapidly and was not reviewed by an editor. Please forgive unintended meanings and try to make the best of what is posted, not the worst.
It doesn't necessarily matter if Microsoft cares about its self-destruction. What matters is that healthy people eventually assert control.
Bad things really do happen. Hitler and Stalin really did kill people.
Microsoft really is abusive. Microsoft's abusiveness costs billions of dollars in lost time. For example, Microsoft releases software with poor security. Right now the Code Red II worm and the SirCam virus are causing huge amounts of damage. These both exploit Microsoft security weaknesses.
My opinion: Microsoft is far more abusive than any one Slashdot reader knows. My support for that opinion: Often when people mention a Microsoft abuse that is particularly troublesome to them, they are different ones than have been mentioned before. This suggests that a complete list of abuses would be far larger than any one person imagines.
Talking about Microsoft abuses is not Microsoft-bashing. Discussing the abuses is pro-Microsoft, not anti-Microsoft. The reason? The world is not efficient at responding to abuse by monopolies or dictatorships, but eventually the abuse is eliminated. For example, look what happened to IBM's PC business.
When you discuss Microsoft's abuses, you make it more likely that Microsoft will learn not to be so self-destructive.
You can think of Hitler in terms of the damage he did to the world. But the real story is that another person became self-destructive.
Similarly, the real story of Microsoft is not the enormous aggravation and damage Microsoft causes the world, but the fact that a large organization has become very unhealthy, and is unable to stop destroying itself. The real intellectual challenge is to understand why.
The failure of Slashdot is not that we criticize Microsoft too much. The failure is that we are not systematic enough and comprehensive enough in our criticism.
The U.S. Department of Justice, for example, needs a comprehensive document that shows the enormity and totality of Microsoft abuses.
I think we Slashdot readers could contribute something to the world by writing such a document. We could have a "List Microsoft Abuses" Slashdot story, and everyone could contribute what they know. I could list several that I have never read on Slashdot. Contributors could mention that they contributed their intellectual property rights to the cause. In a week, we could write a book. We could pay an editor to edit the book, and publish it. The proceeds could be donated to Slashdot.
Understanding self-destruction is a subject that should be of interest to every Slashdot reader. If you don't understand it, how do you know it won't happen to you?
Microsoft is not the only self-destructive company. In just one month, Adobe attacked both Dr. Kai-Uwe Sattler and PhD student Dmitry Sklyarov. Adobe went from a company respected for the quality of its software to a company known for the heavy-handedness of its management.
After spending at least 2 billion dollars developing the OS/2 operating system, IBM killed it with poor marketing and poor technical management.
Abusiveness is a global issue that affects us all. When you stand up against abuse, you help make a better world.
We don't criticize Microsoft enough!
I can handle a limited number of requests.
I'm running 2.4.2 with no hangs. Cisco made me jump through hoops to get the upgrade.
Anyone from Cisco know why Cisco makes it so hard for customers?
It is a little early to begin reviewing the Pentium IV. Intel released it early due to market pressure from AMD.
When the
The DMCA effectively makes it illegal to question bad encryption.
The DMCA is an attempt to accomplish by putting people in prison what should be accomplished by improvements in software quality and in copyright law.
The DMCA artificially ends, or severely hinders, extremely important technical and legal discussions. It is a breach of the U.S. constitutional law of free speech.
Open source/free software projects need marketing communications, just as do commercial products.
I hope the Open Source movement will soon get over the habit of giving unattractive names to its products. I hope Open Source projects will eventually have home pages that actually explain the project in a way someone who has not followed the project from the beginning can understand.
Of all the countries in the world, the U.S. has the highest percentage of lawyers.
Now, when your teacher catches you passing a note to your girlfriend in a high school class in the U.S., you can have him arrested for decoding it.
"drive down from Canada with a suitcase nuke"
Thank you for mentioning the utter stupidity of thinking that people who wanted to start a nuclear war would use missiles. They wouldn't. They would bring nuclear weapons in the way cocaine is brought in.
Missiles are a way for powerful interests to get government contracts that are so secret that the taxpayers cannot see how much money is being made, and wasted.
Next time, I hope we elect a president who is smart enough to run the country, and not just sell it to the highest bidder.
He's right. Thinking in C++ is helpful. And the electronic version is free. This book is not complete, however.
It is important to know that none of the books are complete. The biggest hurdle to becoming a programmer is learning to accept, and make sense of, poorly written documentation.
All the books that I've seen make object orientation seem much more difficult than it really is. Am I in a position to know? Yes. Powell's bookstore here in Portland, Oregon is the biggest bookstore in the world. I've spent hours looking at all the books there about C++.
The technical publishing world has become very corrupt. Publishers know that people find it difficult to evaluate a book while they are in the bookstore. So, a publisher who provides a poor quality book with big promises on the cover will sell books.
Remember to stay in control. If a book doesn't make sense to you, consider the possibility that it is the fault of the book, not you.
My guess is that, in number of person-hours spent reading, Slashdot is far, far more popular than Atlantic Monthly.
I agree A.M. is a respectable, likeable publication, but Slashdot gets READ.
I agree that Mr. Katz is in need of an editor. Every writer, no matter how skilled, needs an editor. Particularly people like Mr. Katz, who write before their thinking is clear.
But also, Mr. Katz is just not wise enough to write for Slashdot. Many of the people who post here write very well and have informed, carefully considered opinions.
I'm very impressed with the entire KDE desktop.
And Konquerer is great.
This is one step closer to be being able to provide Linux to my customers.
Jon, you aren't clear enough in your thinking to be writing stories for a major publication like Slashdot.