Re:Planning and review save time and money
on
Software Aesthetics
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· Score: 1
Software engineering is the only engineering discipline in which the practitioners are permitted to indulge themselves in work without planning or review, and that's the #1 reason that software sucks.
For most of us with jobs, "being permitted to indulge" has nothing to do with it. I have to do what I'm told. That's usually slam out code as fast as I can, and ignore design altogether. It sucks, but so does life.
The reason that you see ISP's walking all over business contracts is because the industry is still brand-fucking-new. Really, companies are still opening and closing almost constantly, and there aren't too many businesses online (other than porn, and a few mega-sites) that make enough income online to make it worthwhile to sue. But eventually, I see service improving, one the industry matures a little bit.
The same kind of system should apply in these situations. If AT&T costs me a years wages by cutting off my connection (say I'm a consultant who works from home) then they should be liable for a year's worth of their revenue. Then they would have to think seriously before breaking their contracts.
But, the law IS set up like that. You CAN sue for loss of business. It happens every day. Not only can you sue for the fees that you paid, AND for the loss of business, but often, in an egregious case, a judge will award punitive damages. So yes, the civil action that you talk about IS available. I just think that calling it a 'right' is both misleading, and more importantly, dillutes the reason definition of a 'right'. We have the 'right' in the US to say and write what we want, but we don't have a 'right' to ISP service (unfortunately!).
I don't know how everyboyd else does it, but I find new music through streaming radio stations (especially good ones like Sonicnet). There's no way that I could afford to buy as mcuh music as they stream, and even if I did have infinite money, or I could find everything online, I wouldn't have any clue as to what I wanted to buy/download. And, the variety on some of these places (like Sonicnet) is unbelievable. Without having to download literally thousands of MP3's and categorize them, I can just choose a type of music, hit play, and it'll play for hours and hours (sometimes days) before I hear a single repeat. Sure, it's got ads like regular radio, but I can get radio stations that I could NEVER get over the air (like electronica stations), and the playlists are huge. Personally, I'm not going to give up listening to streaming radio online anytime soon.
You don't have any "right" not to be cut off by your ISP. They don't have any "right" to cut you off. Let's quit talking about rights here. What the two of you have is a BUSINESS CONTRACT. If they want to cut you off, and it says in your contract that they can't, then the only "right" you have is to sue them. There is no unalienable RIGHT to provide or have provided Net access. It's a business agreement, and it should be handled that way.
What do average desktop users need 64 bits of unbelievable number crunching power for?
Who said that this is for desktop users? Last I checked, there are more than a few admins and developers who read Slashdot who actually use hardware like this (and much bigger)....
Taking advantage of the developers
on
Extreme Telecommuting
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· Score: 4, Insightful
The only reason this company is doing it is because they can pay the Russians the equivalent of minimum wage. ($1000/month/160 hours = $6.25/hour if they only work 40 hours/week!). There's nothign admirable about this company.
have versions. That's so that people don't have to download and install a new version of the software every single night. That's totally unacceptable. But what is, is waiting until a good number of bugs have been squashed, then formally releasing the software as version 1.0.
Buy a $2 cable from Radio Shack
on
Ethernet MP3 Player
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· Score: 2, Informative
That's what I do. I've been listening to MP3's through my stereo for years. No need to buy anything fancy.
That's truly stupid. I wish I had some mod points for you. The whole point of stored procedures is to improve performance, and to encapsulate business logic. Why in the HELL would you want another layer in there? For flexibility? Why do you need to be able to write stored procs in 10 different scripting languages? That's asinine. You need performance, period. A PERL hack on top of a layer on top of MySQL is definately NOT going to give you that. If they actually wanted MySQL to be used by people who knew what they were doing, they would've integrated in PL/SQL.
This isn't anything close to competition. Roche has to 'compete', as you call it, with a company that has zero R&D costs. R&D is the primary cost of any drug company. That would be like me copying a bunch of OReilly books and selling them onthe streets for $5/apiece. That's competition, right?
Actually, I'm in favor of software copyrights, too. There are plenty of apps that just wouldn't ever be developed without some company being able to earn a profit from it. The ONLY reason that people develop OSS is because A.It's fun for some people and B.There is a critical mass of people with this skill. However, I sincerly doubt that we'll ever see the day when chemists and doctors spend millions on equipment, their time, etc. to just develop AIDS drugs for fun in their basement. There's a big difference between software and drugs, but yes, I also believe there's a place for software copyrights. Also consider this. A drug is a drug. A formula is set. There's no advantage to buying a name brand drug over a generic. The generic can be an EXACT copy of the original. There's no advantage to buying the more expensive one from the inventors of that drug. Software? There's a big difference between Windows and Linux, for example. Each have their plusses and minuses. They're not exact replacements for each other. So while Roche may not have any incentive to develop new AIDS drugs if companies are going to steal them, MS will still have incentive to create software because people will still buy it, even if there's a competitor, because that competitor isn't a perfect replacement.
Well, that's probably going to be it as far as new drugs in the fight against AIDS. Drugs cost millions (billions?) to develop and test and distribute. If other companies are going to allow these patents to be violated, there's virtually no incentive for drug companies to develop any new drugs to fight AIDS. So yeah, Brazil and other countries who adopt this tactic may get some short term gains, but long term, it's going to kill AIDS patients. Literally.
Does anybody happen to know WHY these cable Internet companies are going under? They have more business than they can keep up with, which is usually a good thing, unless you're not pricing your product high enough to make a profit. Is that the problem? I'm really stumped, here.
Except you're missing a major point. Most people have no need whatsoever to learn about how a computer really works. That's like requiring kids in school to learn how a car engine works, how their microwave works, how their television works, etc. 'How a computer works' is completely irrelevant to about 99% of the population. As long as they can USE one, that's all that matters. So, if you want them to realistically be computer literate, then Linux, sadly, is not the answer.
Well, geneally you need something like COM+'s transaction implementation to handle important database work. You generally need something that allows for modular, encapsulateable, reuseable code that is resused across many places in the enterprise (again, COM+ does that). And you often need something more powerful than a scripting language to build real components (Java, C++, even VB). These are a couple of important things that flat files and scripts just can't do properly. It's not to say that you CAN'T do it with CGI+Perl, but quite honestly, more often than not, it's going to end up a messy patchwork that isn't suitable for large enterprises.
Sorry, dude, but a "Dot com", meaning an Internet web site with a few thousand visitors a day that sells stull if not considered "enterprise class". If you're building a REAL web application for a large enterprise that say, managers their HR, purchasing, etc., then you DO need and you do use the current systems. CGI+Perl may be nice for Dot-Coms, but remember that Dot-Coms are considered small potatoes when compared to a real "enterprise-class" web app.
Great use of popular acronyms, but you're missing the point. A socket library and strings support? No, you obviously haven't worked on a truly ENTERPRISE CLASS web application. It's nto that simple. If you were to spend your time trying to develop an enterprise class system using a development platform that is as basic as you describe, it would cost several times as much, and take several times as long as the current ASP/COM,.Net framework.
The choice now is simple 1) SQL Server 2000 / IIS 5.0 +.Net or 2) Oracle 9I and J2EE.
Actually, a significant number of enterprises are using Oracle + COM/IIS. That happens to be my speciality, and I can tell you that there is no dearth of work.
because the original was so fucking bad. Bad script. Laughable acting. Boring, predictable story. The only reason I didn't walk out of this movie is because some friends had driven me to it. Look, juts because you're a geek, doesn't mean you also have to be a brain dead idiot. Think for yourself. Watch this movie. Don't just parrot what people tell you.
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Software engineering is the only engineering discipline in which the practitioners are permitted to indulge themselves in work without planning or review, and that's the #1 reason that software sucks.
For most of us with jobs, "being permitted to indulge" has nothing to do with it. I have to do what I'm told. That's usually slam out code as fast as I can, and ignore design altogether. It sucks, but so does life.
The reason that you see ISP's walking all over business contracts is because the industry is still brand-fucking-new. Really, companies are still opening and closing almost constantly, and there aren't too many businesses online (other than porn, and a few mega-sites) that make enough income online to make it worthwhile to sue. But eventually, I see service improving, one the industry matures a little bit.
The same kind of system should apply in these situations. If AT&T costs me a years wages by cutting off my connection (say I'm a consultant who works from home) then they should be liable for a year's worth of their revenue. Then they would have to think seriously before breaking their contracts.
But, the law IS set up like that. You CAN sue for loss of business. It happens every day. Not only can you sue for the fees that you paid, AND for the loss of business, but often, in an egregious case, a judge will award punitive damages. So yes, the civil action that you talk about IS available. I just think that calling it a 'right' is both misleading, and more importantly, dillutes the reason definition of a 'right'. We have the 'right' in the US to say and write what we want, but we don't have a 'right' to ISP service (unfortunately!).
I don't know how everyboyd else does it, but I find new music through streaming radio stations (especially good ones like Sonicnet). There's no way that I could afford to buy as mcuh music as they stream, and even if I did have infinite money, or I could find everything online, I wouldn't have any clue as to what I wanted to buy/download. And, the variety on some of these places (like Sonicnet) is unbelievable. Without having to download literally thousands of MP3's and categorize them, I can just choose a type of music, hit play, and it'll play for hours and hours (sometimes days) before I hear a single repeat. Sure, it's got ads like regular radio, but I can get radio stations that I could NEVER get over the air (like electronica stations), and the playlists are huge. Personally, I'm not going to give up listening to streaming radio online anytime soon.
You don't have any "right" not to be cut off by your ISP. They don't have any "right" to cut you off. Let's quit talking about rights here. What the two of you have is a BUSINESS CONTRACT. If they want to cut you off, and it says in your contract that they can't, then the only "right" you have is to sue them. There is no unalienable RIGHT to provide or have provided Net access. It's a business agreement, and it should be handled that way.
What do average desktop users need 64 bits of unbelievable number crunching power for?
Who said that this is for desktop users? Last I checked, there are more than a few admins and developers who read Slashdot who actually use hardware like this (and much bigger)....
The only reason this company is doing it is because they can pay the Russians the equivalent of minimum wage. ($1000/month /160 hours = $6.25/hour if they only work 40 hours/week!). There's nothign admirable about this company.
have versions. That's so that people don't have to download and install a new version of the software every single night. That's totally unacceptable. But what is, is waiting until a good number of bugs have been squashed, then formally releasing the software as version 1.0.
That's what I do. I've been listening to MP3's through my stereo for years. No need to buy anything fancy.
That's truly stupid. I wish I had some mod points for you. The whole point of stored procedures is to improve performance, and to encapsulate business logic. Why in the HELL would you want another layer in there? For flexibility? Why do you need to be able to write stored procs in 10 different scripting languages? That's asinine. You need performance, period. A PERL hack on top of a layer on top of MySQL is definately NOT going to give you that. If they actually wanted MySQL to be used by people who knew what they were doing, they would've integrated in PL/SQL.
This isn't anything close to competition. Roche has to 'compete', as you call it, with a company that has zero R&D costs. R&D is the primary cost of any drug company. That would be like me copying a bunch of OReilly books and selling them onthe streets for $5/apiece. That's competition, right?
Actually, I'm in favor of software copyrights, too. There are plenty of apps that just wouldn't ever be developed without some company being able to earn a profit from it. The ONLY reason that people develop OSS is because A.It's fun for some people and B.There is a critical mass of people with this skill. However, I sincerly doubt that we'll ever see the day when chemists and doctors spend millions on equipment, their time, etc. to just develop AIDS drugs for fun in their basement. There's a big difference between software and drugs, but yes, I also believe there's a place for software copyrights. Also consider this. A drug is a drug. A formula is set. There's no advantage to buying a name brand drug over a generic. The generic can be an EXACT copy of the original. There's no advantage to buying the more expensive one from the inventors of that drug. Software? There's a big difference between Windows and Linux, for example. Each have their plusses and minuses. They're not exact replacements for each other. So while Roche may not have any incentive to develop new AIDS drugs if companies are going to steal them, MS will still have incentive to create software because people will still buy it, even if there's a competitor, because that competitor isn't a perfect replacement.
Well, that's probably going to be it as far as new drugs in the fight against AIDS. Drugs cost millions (billions?) to develop and test and distribute. If other companies are going to allow these patents to be violated, there's virtually no incentive for drug companies to develop any new drugs to fight AIDS. So yeah, Brazil and other countries who adopt this tactic may get some short term gains, but long term, it's going to kill AIDS patients. Literally.
Does anybody happen to know WHY these cable Internet companies are going under? They have more business than they can keep up with, which is usually a good thing, unless you're not pricing your product high enough to make a profit. Is that the problem? I'm really stumped, here.
Except you're missing a major point. Most people have no need whatsoever to learn about how a computer really works. That's like requiring kids in school to learn how a car engine works, how their microwave works, how their television works, etc. 'How a computer works' is completely irrelevant to about 99% of the population. As long as they can USE one, that's all that matters. So, if you want them to realistically be computer literate, then Linux, sadly, is not the answer.
Fridge.
COM+ going away... right...sure... How about having a homepage that works before even trying to discuss 'enterprise-class' anything?
Well, geneally you need something like COM+'s transaction implementation to handle important database work. You generally need something that allows for modular, encapsulateable, reuseable code that is resused across many places in the enterprise (again, COM+ does that). And you often need something more powerful than a scripting language to build real components (Java, C++, even VB). These are a couple of important things that flat files and scripts just can't do properly. It's not to say that you CAN'T do it with CGI+Perl, but quite honestly, more often than not, it's going to end up a messy patchwork that isn't suitable for large enterprises.
Sorry, dude, but a "Dot com", meaning an Internet web site with a few thousand visitors a day that sells stull if not considered "enterprise class". If you're building a REAL web application for a large enterprise that say, managers their HR, purchasing, etc., then you DO need and you do use the current systems. CGI+Perl may be nice for Dot-Coms, but remember that Dot-Coms are considered small potatoes when compared to a real "enterprise-class" web app.
Great use of popular acronyms, but you're missing the point. A socket library and strings support? No, you obviously haven't worked on a truly ENTERPRISE CLASS web application. It's nto that simple. If you were to spend your time trying to develop an enterprise class system using a development platform that is as basic as you describe, it would cost several times as much, and take several times as long as the current ASP/COM, .Net framework.
The choice now is simple 1) SQL Server 2000 / IIS 5.0 + .Net or 2) Oracle 9I and J2EE.
Actually, a significant number of enterprises are using Oracle + COM/IIS. That happens to be my speciality, and I can tell you that there is no dearth of work.
I can state unequivocally that many Windows distros are much easier to install than Linux.
because the original was so fucking bad. Bad script. Laughable acting. Boring, predictable story. The only reason I didn't walk out of this movie is because some friends had driven me to it. Look, juts because you're a geek, doesn't mean you also have to be a brain dead idiot. Think for yourself. Watch this movie. Don't just parrot what people tell you.
No, but if you make enough, you won't have to work at all, sooner than if you didn't make as much.
So does that mean that my Empire Strikes Back poster signed by Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and George Lucas is worthless?