Re:Perl is not too loose and messy
on
Beyond Java
·
· Score: 1
Built in reg exp are extreme[ly] useful
That's right! That's why it's a good thing Java has built-in RegExp support.;D
Re:Comparison with perl??
on
Beyond Java
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I have a better idea. How about we create a PERL -> Java bytecode compiler (or a straight-up interpreter, whichever suites your fancy) instead of trying to mess with birds that won't fly. Then PERL can stop competing and join the Java collective^W^W^W^W gain the full virtual machine benefits that Parrot was trying to emulate.:-P
People keep repeating this, but it just isn't true. What Java has is an extensive set of libraries that provide all kinds of common functionality. If I were asked to trim it down, I'd have a hard time nixing anything that wouldn't get me in trouble with a LOT of people.
The main problem that Java still has is a large memory footprint. This is due to loading all those libraries into memory at startup. Why is this done? To reduce startup time. (i.e. It doesn't have to keep hitting the disk every time a new class is instantiated.) Thus Java appears "bloated". Yet if they remove the "bloat", people complain about the startup time. It's really difficult for Java to win this one.
The only real solution to this dichotomy is to make Java an operating system component. As a system-wide component, it could keep all the info in memory ONCE (including the pre-compiled versions of the classes) and make effective use of the system resources. This is very similar to what most OSes do with their libraries. Sun has taken steps toward this design with new code that preloads the classes into a shared memory area, but it's only partially complete. Given Microsoft's stance on Java, it's doubtful that they'll ever be able to completely solve the issue on Windows.
Thankfully, systems today have tons of memory and disk space. Since the unused classes will just be swapped out to disk anyway, there's no real concern. So quit whining, and enjoy what the Java platform has to offer.:-)
And here I was hoping that someone had come up with a laptop that never needed to be turned off.
FWIW, it is possible to create a laptop that will power itself for years on end. Unfortunately, it would require that a consumer-focused Radioisotope Thermal Generator be developed that is far lighter weight than the current models. Even then, it will still add a few pounds to your laptop, but what's a little extra weight when you never need to plug in?;-)
Sadly, the current anti-nuclear stance of the public makes such "nuclear batteries" an unlikely development. Just throw it atop the pile of cool technologies that have never seen the light of day.:-(
So if I detonate a nuke a mile away from the incoming target it's shielded against the explosion?
Say wha? How do you go from "shielded against EMP" to "shilded against explosions?"
If the incoming target is a mile outside the blast radius, the shielding it contains is intended to protect it from the EMP pulse that would otherwise fry its sensistive guidance computers.
But given that the 3 key version costs $100, what's a 103 key keyboard cost? Ouch. I doubt they can get the price down to cheap enough for a regular consumer to consider the purchase with the volume that they'll be selling before it's widely supported. Actually I doubt if it would be cheap even if they were selling millions of them.
Sure they will. The technology needs work, though. For example, the current design uses OLEDs on every key. Is that really necessary? What about a keyboard that has a single OLED, then uses mirrors and optics to project the image to each key? Persistence of vision would make it appear as if the entire keyboard was being lit, even though it was actually being scanned.
The three key is a nice prototype. I'm guessing they're using it to get others with more experience in hardware design to help produce the full version.
And yet the vast majority of Russia lives in poverty.
Considering that my wife is from Russia, I'm well aware of the situation.
Anyone find any numbers on what these "zig-zagging" missiles cost to develop? Anyone else sick of seeing countries burn money on defense while their people starve?
According to Putin, the missiles already have this capability. It's just a matter of reprogramming their trajectory.
That being said, it's up to the Russian government to decide how it spends its money. The missile shield is currently being developed as a general defense. I don't see any reason why Putin wants to go toe to toe with a current ally. Rather, he's just whipping out some nonsense to make himself feel better. Remember, this is the same guy who pocketed a Superbowl ring, and nearly caused an international incident by declaring that no libraries are needed since they can fit the entire contents on microfilm. Trust me, this guy has more gaffes than President Bush, and isn't even as smart to boot. (Which is saying something.)
Putting Russia back together is a hard job, but I don't believe for a minute that he's the one weilding the real power. He's just the face they put on it. (And not a very good one, at that.)
So you want to fight fire with fire? Please do include how your device creates an EMP without itself being a nuclear warhead.
Detonating a nuke to stop a nuke is not without merit. If the weapon can be intercepted at either a high enough altitude or over a non-populated area (e.g. the ocean), then the otherwise undesirable explosion could save millions of lives.
I'd be counting on the detonation itself doing the trick, though. If a nuclear warhead doesn't do it, I seriously doubt the EMP will.
As I understand it, the missile defense system is intended to attempt a hard kill, but will go for a soft kill if it can get it. (i.e. Using the shockwave to throw the inbound off course or disable it.) An EMP pulse would be of doubtful use as most military hardware is shielded against such pulses. ESPECIALLY warheads.
Were the US military to actually prove that the missile defense shield worked, the Russian rocket's "zig-zag" flightpath taken en route to it's target would render the shield useless.
Welcome to the game. If you build a better mousetrap, someone will come up with a better mouse. This will then force someone to come up with an even better mousetrap, and so repeats the cycle.
Personally, I'd much rather have the technology than not. As long as the technology exists, it can be improved upon. Perhaps to the level where the zig-zag isn't good enough. Perhaps we'll reach a parity whereby we'll be able to stop 50% or more of any anti-shield equipped missile. We won't know unless we try. And every bit of progress drops one more small threat out of the equation, leaving us free to concentrate of the big threats.
The alternative is to throw up your hands and give up.
Except of course there will never be sufficient market penetration for anyone to actually bother putting support for this in their programs.
Getting operating system support (probably through drivers or plugins) is a sufficiently "killer" feature to promote these. Just imagine what can be done without individual program support:
*) Changing language layouts remaps the glyphs on the keyboard *) Holding down a modifier key (shift, caps lock, alt, Windows, etc.) changes all the glyphs to show what you'll actually be typing, or the command you'll be giving to the GUI. *) Images for "quick launch" buttons change as they are remapped to other functions. (A good replacement for the Windows Quick Launch bar that disappeared in the new XP look?)
Those are some great features just to start out with. Get a popular game or two to add support, and these things will be flying off the shelves like hotcakes.
What's a Massive Multiplayer Online? Is that a game where Romero goes around with magical powers, turning all the players into a female dog? Sounds about as much fun as his last big game...
Also, I don't see how someone could kidnap my child if I was a good parent and actually parented the child at all times, as a parent should.
Now that's just a heartless thing to say. Many good parents still lose their children, often through no fault of their own.
For example, on our last family vacation we visited a children's museum. While we were building a dinosaur from bones together, my youngest son (only 3 years old!) sneakily departed. We noticed his disappearance pretty quickly, but couldn't find him anywhere in the multilevel facility. Since the facility had no real security, anyone could have picked him up and run off with our child while we were trying to locate him. A kidnapper could have easily attributed his crying to misbehaving rather than apprehension.
Eventually the employees found him in a dark "virtual" batting cage. He got a good lecture for taking off like that, but then managed to sneak out of an ambulence he was "driving" just a few minutes later. (He's a sneaky bugger. I was sitting right next to him, look down at the radio, look up and he's gone.) Thankfully, I found him much quicker this time and kept him on an even tighter leash after that. (Also threatening to take him to the car and keep him there for the rest of the trip unless he kept in my sight at all times.)
Now consider all the parents who have their babies stolen by adoption scams. Or kids kidnapped while they're on the school playground. (Especially by relatives who might seem to be sent by you, but often aren't right in the head.) There are just so many ways that kids can be lost or kidnapped that it just isn't funny. A good parent has a far lower chance of their kid being abducted, but they can't guarantee against it.
So do be a little careful about such sweeping statements, will you?
'A user may speak the words "Koko-wa-dokodesuka?" (Where is this?) in Japanese, for example, into the device's microphone, upon which a cartoon bird acting as an interpreter will pop up and start talking in the user's language.
Popular phrases used to test the device are "Polly wants a cracker?", "I thought I saw a putty-tat!", and "I did! I did see a putty-tat!" To date, most American users are put off by the device's inability to translate "putty-tat", a common term for the average house cat. Sony has promised to take a look at this issue.
I guess a good application would be a multi-lingual keyboard.
*ding* You are correct, sir!
I have my home computer setup to switch between english and russian cyrillic. It's a real pain to have all those stickers on the keys. Not only do they fade and occasionally stick to you instead of the keyboard, but playing video games (such as Quake III) is a guaranteed way to shear the suckers right off. The result is that you end up with spotty coverage of the keyboard.
Some people use a keyboard overlay (a piece of plastic that is molded to the shape of the keyboard), but those are much harder to come by, don't always fit your keyboard, and interfere with typing.
Now with the Optimus, a switch from english to russian would result in the key glyphs themselves changing. No more worrying about stickers, just *BAM*, there you go. And if my father-in-law is over and wants to type in German for some reason (he's quite good with the language), he can switch the keyboard layout without having to hunt and peck for the keyboard layout.
As a nice bonus, games can finally tell me what keys I'm supposed to press instead of going through the config screen and trying to memorize all the combinations. (Or worse, get out one of those stand-up cheatsheets. Like I have the desk real-esate for that!)
No, it is the company's responsibilty only to follow the laws that are set forth. If they don't have a takedown notice from the government, then they shouldn't be executing takedowns. Make the government take action first, then follow what you're told. Period, end of story.
Indeed. As I said in my blog entry, the Chinese government can use that single section as weasel out of anything. Of course, that's not how the rest of the world is going to see, nor will the Chinese people. It's important above all to stay out of the governments way so that they can directly abuse their power rather than do it via proxy. That will make clear to both the people of China as well as the world at large exactly who's to blame.
I'm not necessarily looking to start a revolution, but abuses can be countered through political pressure and internal dissent. No government is immune to its own people turning against it.
I'm happy to see Microsoft take this step. People need to be reminded that the Chinese citizens supposedly have their free speech protected by their constitution. If China wants to violate their own constitution, make sure that the blame falls sqaurely on their shoulders for all the world to see, rather than allowing companies to step in front and absorb the blame for them.
It's interesting the juxtaposition of roles here. Sony was the incumbent of the console wars, leaving M$ in the position of proving itself. I think it is pretty safe to say that M$ has given Sony a run for its money, and now M$ is the incumbent to a firmly entrenched online gaming network.
We've been here before. Back in 1995, Sega announced their early release of the Saturn to get the drop on Sony. They were quite proud of themselves and thought that their $399 price tag (equivalent to Sony's expected price) combined with the early release would put them in the lead. Then the spokesperson got up to the microphone at the E3 and said three words that killed the Saturn on arrival.
"two ninety-nine"
The Playstation undercut the Saturn by a full hundred dollars, maintaining its expected lead in the market. It was released several months later to much fanfare, while no one purchased a Saturn.
Will Sony pull a rabbit out of it's hat again? Maybe. All I know is that there's a lot of noise about the 360, yet not all that many people seem to have one.
The Intellivision was one of my most treasured pieces of historic gaming hardware. Sadly, it was sucked by Katrina's storm surge (along with the rest of the house that contained it) in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
They're not that hard to come by. I could probably set you up with one if you wanted to replace it. I might even be able to get you some games. (I've got a VERY cool retro store near me.;-))
Slashdot Mirror
Built in reg exp are extreme[ly] useful
;D
That's right! That's why it's a good thing Java has built-in RegExp support.
I have a better idea. How about we create a PERL -> Java bytecode compiler (or a straight-up interpreter, whichever suites your fancy) instead of trying to mess with birds that won't fly. Then PERL can stop competing and join the Java collective^W^W^W^W gain the full virtual machine benefits that Parrot was trying to emulate. :-P
Java, on the other hand, is much too bloated.
:-)
People keep repeating this, but it just isn't true. What Java has is an extensive set of libraries that provide all kinds of common functionality. If I were asked to trim it down, I'd have a hard time nixing anything that wouldn't get me in trouble with a LOT of people.
The main problem that Java still has is a large memory footprint. This is due to loading all those libraries into memory at startup. Why is this done? To reduce startup time. (i.e. It doesn't have to keep hitting the disk every time a new class is instantiated.) Thus Java appears "bloated". Yet if they remove the "bloat", people complain about the startup time. It's really difficult for Java to win this one.
The only real solution to this dichotomy is to make Java an operating system component. As a system-wide component, it could keep all the info in memory ONCE (including the pre-compiled versions of the classes) and make effective use of the system resources. This is very similar to what most OSes do with their libraries. Sun has taken steps toward this design with new code that preloads the classes into a shared memory area, but it's only partially complete. Given Microsoft's stance on Java, it's doubtful that they'll ever be able to completely solve the issue on Windows.
Thankfully, systems today have tons of memory and disk space. Since the unused classes will just be swapped out to disk anyway, there's no real concern. So quit whining, and enjoy what the Java platform has to offer.
In which case your best bet is to get close enough to the target to zap it with the blast and not rely solely on the EMP.
Which was what I said in the first place. I'm not really sure why you're even replying.
And here I was hoping that someone had come up with a laptop that never needed to be turned off.
;-)
:-(
FWIW, it is possible to create a laptop that will power itself for years on end. Unfortunately, it would require that a consumer-focused Radioisotope Thermal Generator be developed that is far lighter weight than the current models. Even then, it will still add a few pounds to your laptop, but what's a little extra weight when you never need to plug in?
Sadly, the current anti-nuclear stance of the public makes such "nuclear batteries" an unlikely development. Just throw it atop the pile of cool technologies that have never seen the light of day.
So if I detonate a nuke a mile away from the incoming target it's shielded against the explosion?
Say wha? How do you go from "shielded against EMP" to "shilded against explosions?"
If the incoming target is a mile outside the blast radius, the shielding it contains is intended to protect it from the EMP pulse that would otherwise fry its sensistive guidance computers.
But given that the 3 key version costs $100, what's a 103 key keyboard cost? Ouch. I doubt they can get the price down to cheap enough for a regular consumer to consider the purchase with the volume that they'll be selling before it's widely supported. Actually I doubt if it would be cheap even if they were selling millions of them.
Sure they will. The technology needs work, though. For example, the current design uses OLEDs on every key. Is that really necessary? What about a keyboard that has a single OLED, then uses mirrors and optics to project the image to each key? Persistence of vision would make it appear as if the entire keyboard was being lit, even though it was actually being scanned.
The three key is a nice prototype. I'm guessing they're using it to get others with more experience in hardware design to help produce the full version.
And yet the vast majority of Russia lives in poverty.
Considering that my wife is from Russia, I'm well aware of the situation.
Anyone find any numbers on what these "zig-zagging" missiles cost to develop? Anyone else sick of seeing countries burn money on defense while their people starve?
According to Putin, the missiles already have this capability. It's just a matter of reprogramming their trajectory.
That being said, it's up to the Russian government to decide how it spends its money. The missile shield is currently being developed as a general defense. I don't see any reason why Putin wants to go toe to toe with a current ally. Rather, he's just whipping out some nonsense to make himself feel better. Remember, this is the same guy who pocketed a Superbowl ring, and nearly caused an international incident by declaring that no libraries are needed since they can fit the entire contents on microfilm. Trust me, this guy has more gaffes than President Bush, and isn't even as smart to boot. (Which is saying something.)
Putting Russia back together is a hard job, but I don't believe for a minute that he's the one weilding the real power. He's just the face they put on it. (And not a very good one, at that.)
So you want to fight fire with fire? Please do include how your device creates an EMP without itself being a nuclear warhead.
Detonating a nuke to stop a nuke is not without merit. If the weapon can be intercepted at either a high enough altitude or over a non-populated area (e.g. the ocean), then the otherwise undesirable explosion could save millions of lives.
I'd be counting on the detonation itself doing the trick, though. If a nuclear warhead doesn't do it, I seriously doubt the EMP will.
As I understand it, the missile defense system is intended to attempt a hard kill, but will go for a soft kill if it can get it. (i.e. Using the shockwave to throw the inbound off course or disable it.) An EMP pulse would be of doubtful use as most military hardware is shielded against such pulses. ESPECIALLY warheads.
Were the US military to actually prove that the missile defense shield worked, the Russian rocket's "zig-zag" flightpath taken en route to it's target would render the shield useless.
Welcome to the game. If you build a better mousetrap, someone will come up with a better mouse. This will then force someone to come up with an even better mousetrap, and so repeats the cycle.
Personally, I'd much rather have the technology than not. As long as the technology exists, it can be improved upon. Perhaps to the level where the zig-zag isn't good enough. Perhaps we'll reach a parity whereby we'll be able to stop 50% or more of any anti-shield equipped missile. We won't know unless we try. And every bit of progress drops one more small threat out of the equation, leaving us free to concentrate of the big threats.
The alternative is to throw up your hands and give up.
Except of course there will never be sufficient market penetration for anyone to actually bother putting support for this in their programs.
Getting operating system support (probably through drivers or plugins) is a sufficiently "killer" feature to promote these. Just imagine what can be done without individual program support:
*) Changing language layouts remaps the glyphs on the keyboard
*) Holding down a modifier key (shift, caps lock, alt, Windows, etc.) changes all the glyphs to show what you'll actually be typing, or the command you'll be giving to the GUI.
*) Images for "quick launch" buttons change as they are remapped to other functions. (A good replacement for the Windows Quick Launch bar that disappeared in the new XP look?)
Those are some great features just to start out with. Get a popular game or two to add support, and these things will be flying off the shelves like hotcakes.
John Romero is to developing an MMO.
What's a Massive Multiplayer Online? Is that a game where Romero goes around with magical powers, turning all the players into a female dog? Sounds about as much fun as his last big game...
Also, I don't see how someone could kidnap my child if I was a good parent and actually parented the child at all times, as a parent should.
Now that's just a heartless thing to say. Many good parents still lose their children, often through no fault of their own.
For example, on our last family vacation we visited a children's museum. While we were building a dinosaur from bones together, my youngest son (only 3 years old!) sneakily departed. We noticed his disappearance pretty quickly, but couldn't find him anywhere in the multilevel facility. Since the facility had no real security, anyone could have picked him up and run off with our child while we were trying to locate him. A kidnapper could have easily attributed his crying to misbehaving rather than apprehension.
Eventually the employees found him in a dark "virtual" batting cage. He got a good lecture for taking off like that, but then managed to sneak out of an ambulence he was "driving" just a few minutes later. (He's a sneaky bugger. I was sitting right next to him, look down at the radio, look up and he's gone.) Thankfully, I found him much quicker this time and kept him on an even tighter leash after that. (Also threatening to take him to the car and keep him there for the rest of the trip unless he kept in my sight at all times.)
Now consider all the parents who have their babies stolen by adoption scams. Or kids kidnapped while they're on the school playground. (Especially by relatives who might seem to be sent by you, but often aren't right in the head.) There are just so many ways that kids can be lost or kidnapped that it just isn't funny. A good parent has a far lower chance of their kid being abducted, but they can't guarantee against it.
So do be a little careful about such sweeping statements, will you?
In a free society, "Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms" would be a convenience store chain.
In Adams-Friendship, Wisconsin, there's a store called "Al's Guns and TVs". Does that count?
[insert jokes about replacing the Nintendo Zapper here]
'A user may speak the words "Koko-wa-dokodesuka?" (Where is this?) in Japanese, for example, into the device's microphone, upon which a cartoon bird acting as an interpreter will pop up and start talking in the user's language.
Popular phrases used to test the device are "Polly wants a cracker?", "I thought I saw a putty-tat!", and "I did! I did see a putty-tat!" To date, most American users are put off by the device's inability to translate "putty-tat", a common term for the average house cat. Sony has promised to take a look at this issue.
I guess a good application would be a multi-lingual keyboard.
*ding* You are correct, sir!
I have my home computer setup to switch between english and russian cyrillic. It's a real pain to have all those stickers on the keys. Not only do they fade and occasionally stick to you instead of the keyboard, but playing video games (such as Quake III) is a guaranteed way to shear the suckers right off. The result is that you end up with spotty coverage of the keyboard.
Some people use a keyboard overlay (a piece of plastic that is molded to the shape of the keyboard), but those are much harder to come by, don't always fit your keyboard, and interfere with typing.
Now with the Optimus, a switch from english to russian would result in the key glyphs themselves changing. No more worrying about stickers, just *BAM*, there you go. And if my father-in-law is over and wants to type in German for some reason (he's quite good with the language), he can switch the keyboard layout without having to hunt and peck for the keyboard layout.
As a nice bonus, games can finally tell me what keys I'm supposed to press instead of going through the config screen and trying to memorize all the combinations. (Or worse, get out one of those stand-up cheatsheets. Like I have the desk real-esate for that!)
There are two reviews of them here and here.
Usabilty on JDS is actually quite high. I have no idea why you use that as a bad example when such great examples like OpenView exist.
No, it is the company's responsibilty only to follow the laws that are set forth. If they don't have a takedown notice from the government, then they shouldn't be executing takedowns. Make the government take action first, then follow what you're told. Period, end of story.
Indeed. As I said in my blog entry, the Chinese government can use that single section as weasel out of anything. Of course, that's not how the rest of the world is going to see, nor will the Chinese people. It's important above all to stay out of the governments way so that they can directly abuse their power rather than do it via proxy. That will make clear to both the people of China as well as the world at large exactly who's to blame.
I'm not necessarily looking to start a revolution, but abuses can be countered through political pressure and internal dissent. No government is immune to its own people turning against it.
Every once in awhile there are situations where you and your enemy find each other on the same side. This would be one of them.
I'm happy to see Microsoft take this step. People need to be reminded that the Chinese citizens supposedly have their free speech protected by their constitution. If China wants to violate their own constitution, make sure that the blame falls sqaurely on their shoulders for all the world to see, rather than allowing companies to step in front and absorb the blame for them.
In other news, DNF will be a PS3 launch title.
You need to check your sources. I happen to have it on good authority that Duke Nukem Forever will be a Infinium Labs: Phantom exclusive!
It's interesting the juxtaposition of roles here. Sony was the incumbent of the console wars, leaving M$ in the position of proving itself. I think it is pretty safe to say that M$ has given Sony a run for its money, and now M$ is the incumbent to a firmly entrenched online gaming network.
We've been here before. Back in 1995, Sega announced their early release of the Saturn to get the drop on Sony. They were quite proud of themselves and thought that their $399 price tag (equivalent to Sony's expected price) combined with the early release would put them in the lead. Then the spokesperson got up to the microphone at the E3 and said three words that killed the Saturn on arrival.
"two ninety-nine"
The Playstation undercut the Saturn by a full hundred dollars, maintaining its expected lead in the market. It was released several months later to much fanfare, while no one purchased a Saturn.
Will Sony pull a rabbit out of it's hat again? Maybe. All I know is that there's a lot of noise about the 360, yet not all that many people seem to have one.
The Intellivision was one of my most treasured pieces of historic gaming hardware. Sadly, it was sucked by Katrina's storm surge (along with the rest of the house that contained it) in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
;-))
They're not that hard to come by. I could probably set you up with one if you wanted to replace it. I might even be able to get you some games. (I've got a VERY cool retro store near me.