If you're going to submit a/. story about an article you wrote, don't refer to yourself in the third person. It just sounds... well... tacky. Dishonest. Like you were hoping nobody would notice you were pimping your own stuff.
They actually have electricity in Liverpool these days? Outstanding! Last time I was there the natives fell to their knees wailing it was the end of the world if they saw a light bulb.
Well, yeah, it's hard to steal stuff if people can see you. Doesn't mean they don't have electricity.
It has to be mounted inside the building (which probably pisses off the fire department to no end)
Here in the UK it's usual to have your meter inside the building, and I've never heard the fire services complain about it. Gas meters are sometimes located outside in newer buildings, but I've never seen electricity anywhere other than inside.
I'm just saying there's got to be more to the story, as the app that fractional gig internet access is supposedly going to "piggyback" is probably (and appropriately) running about 1980's phone modem speed.
You're missing the point, which is dual:
1. The electricity company's are going to be digging up every road, replacing all their existing equipment, and generally overhauling their entire consumer distribution network anyway, so adding a new capability to it at the same time will be less expensive than doing so separately.
2. The UK parliament will be handling legislation to specify how the smart metering rollout will work, so it will be easy for the government (who have expressed an interest in the past in finding a way of increasing broadband availability other than paying off BT to provide it to everyone) to add a section to the bill that will require them to provide the infrastructure for broadband at the same time.
Nobody's saying that this is going to be a free consequence of the switch to smart meters, just that doing both at the same time is a better idea than doing either individually.
She denies that their service creates a two-tier internet, then goes on to describe their service which, is to create a two-tier internet. Nice.
No, no. You misunderstand what she said. The service doesn't create a two tier internet. No, the service allows their *customers* to create two-tier internet.
Those customers will presumably include BT Openworld, who are a separate company and not even slightly connected to BT Wholesale, honest guv.
Where is Duncan Jones' Moon on the best of list for science?
It's presumably not there (can't RTFA as slashdotted... if this is Nasa's list, why is the article linked somebody random's blog?). I would guess there were a few reasons:
1. Not that many people have seen it, it being an independent film, so the educational value of including it on the list is low. 2. Producing identical clones who believe they are the original source person (complete with memories and personality) is probably not viable. 3. With an AI as advanced as the one shown, it seems unlikely that an actual person would be needed.
Yes, there are many good details in the film (e.g. the details of life on the moon, the reason for being there), but it's very dependent on a scenario that's somewhat unrealistic. I'd score it somewhere mid-list in terms of plausible SF.
Article slashdotted so I can't RTFA but I find it hard to believe that NASA really think Tron, Avatar, and Mars Attacks! are all more feasible scenarios than disastrous environmental effects from global warming.
It's been a while since I watched it, but I thought the cause of the disaster in 2012 was neutrino emissions caused by a cosmic alignment. I.e., total bollocks.
If all you do to make the test suite is add one test each time a new bug is discovered, you'll probably find it doesn't take much longer than fixing the bug and retesting manually anyway, and over time you'll build up a reasonable suite. Yes, the benefits won't be instant, but you can do it without much outlay of time (or money) and therefore it's easier to justify to the product owner.
In case you haven't, you should read Robert C. Martin's book Working Effectively With Legacy Code, which is full of advice on just this kind of situation.
7 digit number? BS Telephone numbers should be type E.164, not integer You send a text message to +15105551234 it should go to Fred.
Yes, but that's not the issue. By all appearances, if you manually enter the number to send the message to, it always goes to the right destination. The issue is that in certain places, replying to a message through the UI pulls the wrong number into the destination field. The phone seems to behave as if you're replying to a different message to the one you had selected. That could easily be explained by a fuzzy comparison failure.
The obvious solution is simply to input all numbers with the country code and prefixed with a +. That works all over the world. +3120-1234567 and you're golden.
Yes. But:
1. How do you convince users that this is something they want to do? They're not going to do so reliably, so the phone has to do so itself. 2. Often the numbers come from sources other than user entry, e.g. replying to a previous message. The networks don't prefix caller id with the country code, so the phone would have to do it itself. 3. The rules for forming an international number from a local one vary from country to country. Making the phone do it itself is a nontrivial task that opens up more potential bugs. 4. There are other issues than international numbers. For a while a few years back, my phone could be accessed using two different UK numbers, 0973 xxxxxx and 07973 xxxxxx, because there was a change in the numbering scheme pending, but a grace period in which the old number continued to work. Android's fuzzy compare algorithm (if it was implemented correctly and not borked beyond belief) would have continued working through this, identifying the correct source of messages which number was sent and whichever was in the address book.
Long ago. In fact we haven't been at peak Freedom in nearly a decade minimum.
I'd contend that "peak freedom" must have occurred before most countries began requiring passports or visas to pass through their borders. This happened surprisingly recently in most cases; e.g. the 1930s for most of Europe, IIRC.
Just think: being able to travel internationally without being required to prove who you were. It's a freedom we lost so long ago it almost sounds idealistically crazy.
The rest? Well without digging thru their documentation, web sites, and "about screens" I can't be sure there isn't a written notice somewhere, and have to take the authors word that he did an exhaustive search. I have no doubt some are ignorant of this requirement.
The written notice has to be shipped in the same package as the device, and it has to be, well, *written*. As in, on paper. A notice in the back of the manual, or on the inevitable sticker inside the device's battery compartment (or whereever the manufacturer normally puts stuff like serial numbers, copyright notices, etc), would be the normal approach. Something buried in the manufacturer's web site is not enough. Either the source or the offer to provide the source must be shipped with the device.
Also, the offer must include the option of having the source shipped on physical media, a "download only" option is not sufficient (at least for GPLv2; I think this may have changed in v3, but the Linux kernel is licensed under v2 only).
And "way" number 2 is the only one necessary for a tablet.
Yes. And TFA is quite clear that they aren't doing this.
The GPL requires that vendors either provide the source code to the GPL components with the device, or alternatively to provide a written offer to provide the source code upon request. Many vendors fail to do this.
Err... that is the part that requires source code to be distributed. Read it. It specifies 4 ways that you can distribute source code:
- on a disk supplied with the device you're shipping - with a written offer supplied with the device you're shipping - forwarding a written offer provided by somebody else (only available for noncommercial distributors) - providing a download *from the same location the customer downloaded the binaries*.
I suspect the only people that would notice the performance differences in a side by side Revo versus Mini comparison would be the "geeks".
Really? I'd have thought the 50% faster CPU, 100% faster GPU, and 100% faster memory would make the difference obvious to anyone who did anything more demanding than play a standard definition video. And that isn't just geeks; I find using any flash-heavy web site is demanding enough to seriously show the age of my PC, and that isn't much lower spec than the Revo, at least for single threaded performance (it's a single core machine, but that core should actually be faster than each of the Revo's).
Typography is not copyrightable, and a U.S. trademark cannot be used as an ersatz copyright or patent. See Dastar v. Fox, and especially Sega v. Accolade.
Not to mention Lexmark v SCC, holding that even a computer program is not protected by copyright when there is no possible other way of making the system work:
On the copyright claim, the court noted that unlike patents, copyright protection cannot be applied to ideas, but only to particular, creative expressions of ideas.[16] Distinguishing between an unprotectable idea and a protectable creative expression is difficult in the context of computer programs; even though it may be possible to express the same idea in many different programs, "practical realities"—hardware and software constraints, design standards, industry practices, etc.—may make different expressions impractical.[17] "Lock-out" codes—codes that must be performed in a certain way in order to bypass a security system—are generally considered functional rather than creative, and thus unprotectable
A nice, stripped-down OO language - I'd sugest parts of java if it was a free language - would be a good start.
Err... most of Java *is* a free language. There's only a few bits and pieces (e.g. the API for mobile phone applications) that aren't free. OpenJDK includes all of the core language, AIUI.
I take it you haven't used any BASIC variant in the last 20 years or so. Line numbers, as in GWBASIC, aren't required for any modern BASIC.
The BASIC variant that TFA is about requires line numbers for all lines. The develoeprs suggest this is better, because it makes control flow explicit.
Usually Sony has not caught on to the fact that MMOs aren't "done, now ship them and cash in" games.
They've released a version for a console. This will make updates and expansions *much* harder than if there was only a PC version. So it looks like your answer is: no, they haven't caught on at all.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think most indie games developers have unpaid interns.
If you're going to submit a /. story about an article you wrote, don't refer to yourself in the third person. It just sounds... well... tacky. Dishonest. Like you were hoping nobody would notice you were pimping your own stuff.
They actually have electricity in Liverpool these days? Outstanding! Last time I was there the natives fell to their knees wailing it was the end of the world if they saw a light bulb.
Well, yeah, it's hard to steal stuff if people can see you. Doesn't mean they don't have electricity.
It has to be mounted inside the building (which probably pisses off the fire department to no end)
Here in the UK it's usual to have your meter inside the building, and I've never heard the fire services complain about it. Gas meters are sometimes located outside in newer buildings, but I've never seen electricity anywhere other than inside.
I'm just saying there's got to be more to the story, as the app that fractional gig internet access is supposedly going to "piggyback" is probably (and appropriately) running about 1980's phone modem speed.
You're missing the point, which is dual:
1. The electricity company's are going to be digging up every road, replacing all their existing equipment, and generally overhauling their entire consumer distribution network anyway, so adding a new capability to it at the same time will be less expensive than doing so separately.
2. The UK parliament will be handling legislation to specify how the smart metering rollout will work, so it will be easy for the government (who have expressed an interest in the past in finding a way of increasing broadband availability other than paying off BT to provide it to everyone) to add a section to the bill that will require them to provide the infrastructure for broadband at the same time.
Nobody's saying that this is going to be a free consequence of the switch to smart meters, just that doing both at the same time is a better idea than doing either individually.
eficdence n. inf. Evidence that is entirely fictitious.
(Maybe I just made this up. I only have eficdence that this is a word in actual use.)
She denies that their service creates a two-tier internet, then goes on to describe their service which, is to create a two-tier internet. Nice.
No, no. You misunderstand what she said. The service doesn't create a two tier internet. No, the service allows their *customers* to create two-tier internet.
Those customers will presumably include BT Openworld, who are a separate company and not even slightly connected to BT Wholesale, honest guv.
Where is Duncan Jones' Moon on the best of list for science?
It's presumably not there (can't RTFA as slashdotted... if this is Nasa's list, why is the article linked somebody random's blog?). I would guess there were a few reasons:
1. Not that many people have seen it, it being an independent film, so the educational value of including it on the list is low.
2. Producing identical clones who believe they are the original source person (complete with memories and personality) is probably not viable.
3. With an AI as advanced as the one shown, it seems unlikely that an actual person would be needed.
Yes, there are many good details in the film (e.g. the details of life on the moon, the reason for being there), but it's very dependent on a scenario that's somewhat unrealistic. I'd score it somewhere mid-list in terms of plausible SF.
Article slashdotted so I can't RTFA but I find it hard to believe that NASA really think Tron, Avatar, and Mars Attacks! are all more feasible scenarios than disastrous environmental effects from global warming.
It's been a while since I watched it, but I thought the cause of the disaster in 2012 was neutrino emissions caused by a cosmic alignment. I.e., total bollocks.
It was so bad everyone at NASA had blotted it out of their memory?
Automated testing rarely finds new defects, but is great at making sure old defects don't pop pack up.
Note that this is something the OP explicitly states is a problem here; in light of this I'd say automated testing is the best solution for him.
Hehe pita. Seriously though I falafel for this guy.
They clearly lack a sense of houmus.
If all you do to make the test suite is add one test each time a new bug is discovered, you'll probably find it doesn't take much longer than fixing the bug and retesting manually anyway, and over time you'll build up a reasonable suite. Yes, the benefits won't be instant, but you can do it without much outlay of time (or money) and therefore it's easier to justify to the product owner.
In case you haven't, you should read Robert C. Martin's book Working Effectively With Legacy Code, which is full of advice on just this kind of situation.
7 digit number? BS Telephone numbers should be type E.164, not integer You send a text message to +15105551234 it should go to Fred.
Yes, but that's not the issue. By all appearances, if you manually enter the number to send the message to, it always goes to the right destination. The issue is that in certain places, replying to a message through the UI pulls the wrong number into the destination field. The phone seems to behave as if you're replying to a different message to the one you had selected. That could easily be explained by a fuzzy comparison failure.
The obvious solution is simply to input all numbers with the country code and prefixed with a +. That works all over the world. +3120-1234567 and you're golden.
Yes. But:
1. How do you convince users that this is something they want to do? They're not going to do so reliably, so the phone has to do so itself.
2. Often the numbers come from sources other than user entry, e.g. replying to a previous message. The networks don't prefix caller id with the country code, so the phone would have to do it itself.
3. The rules for forming an international number from a local one vary from country to country. Making the phone do it itself is a nontrivial task that opens up more potential bugs.
4. There are other issues than international numbers. For a while a few years back, my phone could be accessed using two different UK numbers, 0973 xxxxxx and 07973 xxxxxx, because there was a change in the numbering scheme pending, but a grace period in which the old number continued to work. Android's fuzzy compare algorithm (if it was implemented correctly and not borked beyond belief) would have continued working through this, identifying the correct source of messages which number was sent and whichever was in the address book.
Long ago. In fact we haven't been at peak Freedom in nearly a decade minimum.
I'd contend that "peak freedom" must have occurred before most countries began requiring passports or visas to pass through their borders. This happened surprisingly recently in most cases; e.g. the 1930s for most of Europe, IIRC.
Just think: being able to travel internationally without being required to prove who you were. It's a freedom we lost so long ago it almost sounds idealistically crazy.
The distinction is irrelevant in this case anyway; the customer didn't download the binaries, so even under GPLv3 the option wouldn't be available.
The rest? Well without digging thru their documentation, web sites, and "about screens" I can't be sure there isn't a written notice somewhere, and have to take the authors word that he did an exhaustive search. I have no doubt some are ignorant of this requirement.
The written notice has to be shipped in the same package as the device, and it has to be, well, *written*. As in, on paper. A notice in the back of the manual, or on the inevitable sticker inside the device's battery compartment (or whereever the manufacturer normally puts stuff like serial numbers, copyright notices, etc), would be the normal approach. Something buried in the manufacturer's web site is not enough. Either the source or the offer to provide the source must be shipped with the device.
Also, the offer must include the option of having the source shipped on physical media, a "download only" option is not sufficient (at least for GPLv2; I think this may have changed in v3, but the Linux kernel is licensed under v2 only).
See: http://gpl-violations.org/faq/vendor-faq.html
And "way" number 2 is the only one necessary for a tablet.
Yes. And TFA is quite clear that they aren't doing this.
Err... that is the part that requires source code to be distributed. Read it. It specifies 4 ways that you can distribute source code:
- on a disk supplied with the device you're shipping
- with a written offer supplied with the device you're shipping
- forwarding a written offer provided by somebody else (only available for noncommercial distributors)
- providing a download *from the same location the customer downloaded the binaries*.
I suspect the only people that would notice the performance differences in a side by side Revo versus Mini comparison would be the "geeks".
Really? I'd have thought the 50% faster CPU, 100% faster GPU, and 100% faster memory would make the difference obvious to anyone who did anything more demanding than play a standard definition video. And that isn't just geeks; I find using any flash-heavy web site is demanding enough to seriously show the age of my PC, and that isn't much lower spec than the Revo, at least for single threaded performance (it's a single core machine, but that core should actually be faster than each of the Revo's).
Typography is not copyrightable, and a U.S. trademark cannot be used as an ersatz copyright or patent. See Dastar v. Fox, and especially Sega v. Accolade.
Not to mention Lexmark v SCC, holding that even a computer program is not protected by copyright when there is no possible other way of making the system work:
Omg can I play this on my iPad?
No, it's a Flash game, so being able to play it would decrease the quality of your iOS user experience.
A nice, stripped-down OO language - I'd sugest parts of java if it was a free language - would be a good start.
Err... most of Java *is* a free language. There's only a few bits and pieces (e.g. the API for mobile phone applications) that aren't free. OpenJDK includes all of the core language, AIUI.
I take it you haven't used any BASIC variant in the last 20 years or so. Line numbers, as in GWBASIC, aren't required for any modern BASIC.
The BASIC variant that TFA is about requires line numbers for all lines. The develoeprs suggest this is better, because it makes control flow explicit.
Usually Sony has not caught on to the fact that MMOs aren't "done, now ship them and cash in" games.
They've released a version for a console. This will make updates and expansions *much* harder than if there was only a PC version. So it looks like your answer is: no, they haven't caught on at all.