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User: gbjbaanb

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  1. Re:Yes, Please on The IPv4 Internet Hiccups · · Score: 1

    then maybe that's it - when the option comes to upgrade to a superfast fibre connection, you should be getting a IPv6 capable router at the same time. Generally the cheapass routers given away with home broadband can't even do fibre speeds, let alone have the fibre connections.

    I'd have thought its an opportunity for ISPs to sell more stuff "upgrade to the new internet, faster and more reliable etc", but no - they still drag their heels and don't offer IPv6 at all. Mine is *still* doing a trial, going on for 2 years now.

  2. Re:"Anything more than a runtime and a language" on Oracle Hasn't Killed Java -- But There's Still Time · · Score: 1

    serverside COBOL is still going strong. So what was your point?

  3. Re:"Anything more than a runtime and a language" on Oracle Hasn't Killed Java -- But There's Still Time · · Score: 1

    I thought it was clear - it has fuck all to do with the merits of the various bits and types of java - its lost the battle for popularity. Its seen as insecure and slow.

    Nobody wants the runtime on their systems, so any java app will not be as popular as any written in a different system.

  4. Re:Java EE is dead on Oracle Hasn't Killed Java -- But There's Still Time · · Score: 1

    for this week....

  5. Re:"Anything more than a runtime and a language" on Oracle Hasn't Killed Java -- But There's Still Time · · Score: 2

    Could be that was the start of the decline, but I think the real killer blow was when all the browsers decided to put it on the equivalent of a 'do not fly' list.

    Everyone and his dog now knows its not to be trusted, its a security nightmare, in addition to being dog slow and having really poor UIs.

    (whether that is true or not, doesn't matter).

    So now.. who wants to be a Java developer? Its akin to admitting to work for Walmart in the personal hygiene section.

  6. Re:Oracle Forms on Oracle Hasn't Killed Java -- But There's Still Time · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nothing stopping the open source community from implementing a 100% compatible .NET library. Other than not giving a shit about it.

    you want .NET on Linux, go ahead and port it yourself. If its so easy then you should have it done by teatime. Nobody in the FOSS community wants it to be ported, and they don;t want to use it either, so there is no expectation of such things happening.

  7. Re:"we have lots and lots of open source around he on Microsoft's Olivier Bloch Explains Microsoft Open Source (Video) · · Score: 1

    you forget... it'll never be released. Its job is to garner support, "hearts and minds" and then get all the best bits subsumed into the core of Microsoft closed-source products where you'll never see it again.

    then Roslyn will not be needed, can be left to die while they produce another open source project.

  8. Re:Beards and suspenders. on Ask Slashdot: "Real" Computer Scientists vs. Modern Curriculum? · · Score: 1

    Indeed. Apart from the maths, the software side of the course used different languages for different aspects.

    For example, I was taught threading using Concurrent Euclid. We use Prolog, Simula, assembler and other esoteric languages for 1 term at a time.

    The cynic in me thinks a lot of the move to Java as a single language to teach was partly driven by the idea that graduates should have learned things immediately useful to industry, who was touting Java at the time.

  9. Re:Beards and suspenders. on Ask Slashdot: "Real" Computer Scientists vs. Modern Curriculum? · · Score: 2

    heh. When I did my computer science degree we were taught more about statistics than software.

    At the time I figured what a waste of time, and for a few years it was right... until we got to the large scale systems where job throughput matters quite a bit. Then all that old crap turned out to be useful. Who'd have thought modern, super-fast computers still have the same limitations as the ancient mainframes! (well, with a lot more users, admittedly)

  10. Re:Beards and suspenders. on Ask Slashdot: "Real" Computer Scientists vs. Modern Curriculum? · · Score: 1

    My suggestion for that rounded education is to learn some assembler. C is a wrapper around a lot, and to be fair is the minimum you can get away with for writing programs in the real world. But to truly understand what that computer is doing, you need to be exposed to the accumulator and program counter, then you'll get the epiphany that computers are incredibly, totally stupid.

    You'll also get an insight into the mass of stuff the higher level languages do for you, and when enhanced with a framework (hey, or two!) and some libraries and so on, you'll realise what tortures you're inflicting on a CPU who's main job is to add the contents of 2 memory cells together.

  11. Re:Is the CEO really trying to argue.. on Ex-Autonomy CFO: HP Trying To Hide Truth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    depends. Did they get a bonus for getting the takeover through?

    Takeovers tend to be very popular for just that reason.

  12. Re:Two things I'm certain of... on Ex-Autonomy CFO: HP Trying To Hide Truth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you missed out the bit where HP wanted the Automony enterprise search stuff so badly, they just didn't bother working out how much the rest of the business was actually worth and made them a stupid (by Autonomy standards) but ordinary (by Silicon Valley takeover standards) offer.

    Mind, with WhatsApp being bought for $16bn, and only bringing a free> product to the table, you'd think the Autonomy deal was the paragon of financial prudence. that HP turned it into the equivalent of a free app is down to the competence of HP's management.

    Oh yeah, you already covered that. Was worth repeating though.

  13. Re:Online in England, maybe on UK Government Report Recommends Ending Online Anonymity · · Score: 1

    Except that in the UK we do have freedom of speech - just go to Speaker's Corner in London and hear all the nonsense spouted by idiots with all kinds of conspiracy theories.

    None of them are doing it anonymously.

    Many others in the UK have spoken out with dissent for the government's intentions. Sometimes it works and they change, most of the time they just ignore us and do what they were going to anyway.

    I think the difference is that, even though you're not truly anonymous online either, too many fuckwits think they are and it affects their behaviour. Look at the recent twitter arrests and imprisonments for doucebags who thought it was ok to spout death threats online.

    So all they're really saying is that you should be more open about who you are online, as the authorities can find you anyway if they dislike what you've said. Removing the appearance of anonymity may make those morons change their behaviour online, and will make finding you cheaper when (or if) you say things worthy of police action (I assume if you're worthy of special branch attention, they will already know who you are with a quick call to GCHQ)

  14. Re:Experience outside the valley on Jesse Jackson: Tech Diversity Is Next Civil Rights Step · · Score: 1

    Yeah, so I hope and expect Jesse Jackson to really kick off and promote the workforce equality such that it is truly representative of the local population's ethnic ratio.

    If that means more white workers have to be hired then I expect him to be promoting more white guys.... won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen though!

  15. Re:Code Academies on Popular Android Apps Full of Bugs: Researchers Blame Recycling of Code · · Score: 1

    you'd have a vast library of libraries. Something like CPAN or something you'd get in the C world. Libraries written to perform some task and nothing more. Then documented with care and the API published.

    Anyone wants to do something, they take the library that appeals to them and adds it to their program and build up a program from these bits.

    Now the problem today is that a) some only use libs that come with the OS or language framework, b) the libraries that are out there are shit, written quickly and for a bit of a mishmash of scenarios.

    For example, you can get an XML parser and it will work perfectly. It will only parse XML though, but then, that's what only what you want from a XML parser library! .... well, except it also comes with network routines and specialised SOAP parsing and a suite of http helper methods, including a web services subsystem :-(

    So the problem is not so much that we have libraries, but that the libraries we have are not good enough as library code.

  16. Re:Laziness on Popular Android Apps Full of Bugs: Researchers Blame Recycling of Code · · Score: 1

    I'll agree there - thought its not Java at fault necessarily - not unless you lump in a bunch of other languages like VB, C#, JS etc.

    The problem is of the library code you're using. Libraries should be small, well defined, easy to use, and documented.

    The problem today is (especially with code written in Java, .NET or JS) that it is knocked up to solve some problem but the problem is not only not properly understood, but the code that is provided doesn't solve it particularly well. Its not defined as a discrete task, more as part of some greater whole that someone thought "worked ok for me in my circumstances, so should be fine for others too".

    If libs were properly specified as libraries and their API documented fully, then we would see more code reuse and better, cheaper code. If only, but the cost of making such a library tends to be too slow and difficult for the 'I want it now' majority, and this is why we continue to have this kind of shitty code problem.

  17. Re:Satya on Microsoft's Nokia Plans Come Into Better Focus · · Score: 2

    but "For Fucks Sake" doesn't spell anything like I thought you spelt his name but I guess I'll start spelling it like that if you insist.

    For completeness, how do I pronounce it?

  18. only as a place to host your project.

    For finding related projects, or finding projects that want help you still miss the features of sourceforge. in fact, if it wasn't for the dice-ificaton of SF, SF would be the premier site to host your OSS projects. I wish Dice would get this.

    Besides, I stopped trusting github after the revelation how the founders were playing with it and their employees. If they can't run themselves professionally, I don't trust them to run the entire business or sites professionally either, I've been on too many sites that closed up for whatever reason to want to lose my source to the increased risk that github screws things up more.

  19. Re:Astronomy, and general poor night-time results. on Laser Eye Surgery, Revisited 10 Years Later · · Score: 1

    I'm beginning to get the same, its a bummer :)

    Apparently there is some technology that is new that replaces the lens with a little plastic one - like they do for cataract surgery. Ages ago I read about this procedure being performed for vision, but mainly to correct shortsightedness, particularly for people with really bad vision.

    http://www.revophth.com/conten...

    Now, it seems this might be the way for the likes of me... if I wasn't too worried about my eyesight. Might give it a few more years first :-)

  20. Re:Why ODF? on UK Cabinet Office Adopts ODF As Exclusive Standard For Sharable Documents · · Score: 3

    bullshit. I get a .xls from my accountant to enter my details, and its full of protected cells and functions. I use LibreOffice, and so far my accountant hasn't even noticed anything untoward with the returned .xls file I send him.

    Considering Word can't even open some Word documents created with older versions of Word, I think this is pretty damn good.

  21. Re:Why ODF? on UK Cabinet Office Adopts ODF As Exclusive Standard For Sharable Documents · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ODF is more like a zip file of XML files

    You can have a single-document xml file, but its quite rare.

    Not that it really matters so much, the only problem I had was finding a library to write a .ods file (basically wanted to write a csv, but in a format that Excel would actually fucking render correctly, the fucker). Writing out .xls files was just not available unless I had Office installed and called some COM wrapper to some craziness.

  22. Re:Maybe it's just me ... on The "Rickmote Controller" Can Hijack Any Google Chromecast · · Score: 1

    Did you even read the summary?!

    But it gets worse for the victims: If the hacker leaves the range of the device, there's no way to regain control of the Chromecast

  23. Re:Your Results Will Vary on Math, Programming, and Language Learning · · Score: 1

    that's a poor argument. After all, physics is just applied maths, and chemistry is just applied physics, and biology is just applied chemistry.... and just by sitting here typing I'm using maths!

    Maths as a discrete thing is different to computer science even though they do share the same branch of education.

    That said, nowadays, is cutting and pasting code from Google, and pressing . and letting intellisense tell me what to pick next, really maths. Is it really programming! :-)

  24. Re:Your Results Will Vary on Math, Programming, and Language Learning · · Score: 1

    I guess it depends, I have used math twice n my professional career - once to use trigonometry to show the distance between 2 points (Pythagoras) and once with a complex equation that was reduced to a simpler one.

    Now, if I was a cryptograpic engineer, I think I might use math more often :)

    But, as I tend to be more of a LoB engineer, math is not something used very often at all. If at all. I refer to the aforementioned pythagorean equation for the distance between 2 points using a triangle.... the business people I was working with considered me a genius for knowing that kind of thing even though it was something remembered from my O level days (yes, I'm old, maybe they don't teach it any more)

  25. Re:Too long on Microsoft's Missed Opportunities: Memo From 1997 · · Score: 1

    Imagine instead if they'd listened to him and worked towards this vision

    then he would have replaced Ballmer by the board ... so obviously first thing to do was ignore him, and then sack him. Got to look at the "big picture" - you know, the one of Ballmer's bonuses that matter much more than any thing stupid like innovating in the right way to keep the company at the forefront of their field.