That said, I LOVE the "lables" features of Gmail. I REALLY hope other places and pieces of software pick that up. I do a form of that now using folders, but of course it's not perfect. I would especially love to see that with my MP3 collection. Again I've found a way to "fake it", but the real thing would work much better.
Oooo... now that sounds like a service worth signing up for. How does the whole evite process work, anyway? Are you allocated a certain number of evites, or can you send as many as you like? I'd also love to hear about some of the other features that are unique to GMail.
Given that people have stated that Blogs work as an excellent way of attracting an evite, perhaps someone will one day notice the hard work that went into my journal? Or, maybe not...;-)
Yes, the GCC compiler. However a JVM is an interpreter.
Not another one of these. *groan*
Java is a JITted language, not an interpretted language!
What is a JITted language you ask? It means that the JVM waits to run the compile until the application is run. Then it compiles the Java code to platform specific code. Many of the performance numbers are the JVM taking advantage of individual processor features. C++ can't do that, because you have to compile to the lowest common denominator (e.g. a 386 or Original Pentium).
They do. The Palm Zire 21 is sold at Wal-Mart in a blister pack for $80 It has all the functionality of a old Palm 5.
A few problems:
1. Palm made sure that the Zire sucks so that users will upgrade to a larger model.
2. $80 is still far beyond the impulse buy category. $50 is about the maximum people are willing to spend before they become concerned about the price. Price it low enough, and the "coolness" factor will begin to take over. (Anyone seen those keychain Palm ripoffs that Walmart sells?)
3. The Zire is over-engineered for a low-end device. One, maybe two megs plus a backlight is plenty for your beginning user. If they find it highly useful, they'll be willing to upgrade to a much more expensive model.
People want either highly specialized mini computers (ie audio players), or they want the full power of a computer.
I think this is how the PDA lost its edge. It *used* to be an inexpensive, specialized satellite device. Then feature creep came in and everyone wanted more memory, bigger screens, full color support, sound, graphics, wireless, etc., etc. If Palm started selling something akin to the original device, but at a much lower cost (say $25-$50), they would probably see sales pick up.
The problem is that such a device would invalidate the tremendous library of existing software. Thus they need less of a true Palm Pilot and more of a new "mini-Palm" platform for the "cost-conscious". I myself love my Sony CLIE and am sad to hear of their demise, but I also bought mine on sale for $130. There's no way I'm going to spend $300-$500 on something I might lose. Not to mention the fact that my occasional (albeit useful) usage doesn't justify a high price tag.
There is no such thing as "freewill". It is an illusion created by the lack of understanding of our own minds.
I hope you've got scientific proof to back that statement up, because Quantum Physics would tend to suggest otherwise. According to QP, there's merely a probability that you will or won't do something. (Actually, you do all the things, but the universe you materialize in depends on some other factor forcing the state.)
Keep in mind that we *still* haven't figured out how the human brain works. We know that computations and analysis occur by neurons firing. But what causes the neurons to fire? It has been theorized that neurons are linked to a probability chain. Thus you think all thoughts at once until one is materialized by action or decision.
You know, this isn't such a bad idea. What if (and that's a big "what if") a bunch of technologists and business people from various walks really did attempt to all take a vacation about the same time, then worked non-stop on a new business for a week? What would they be able to produce? Would they be able to create any business relationships? Perhaps even secure some form of long term funding inside that period?
The real problem I see is the number of people. If it did work, and everyone decided to stay with the business (i.e. give their two-week with their current employer), what would their burn rate be? At 50,000-75,00 per employee, you could be potentially burning the better part of a million dollars a month. And would the results of the company be maintainable? (The pace definitely wouldn't be.) Interesting thought exercise, anyway.
Man, so why they bundled that Photon graphic user environment?
For building user interfaces for devices? IIRC, the iOpener built its GUI around the full capabilities of the Photon GUI. Other uses might include Web Browser kiosks and touchscreen user interfaces.
My point is not that it CAN'T be used as a Desktop Workstation, but rather that one shouldn't expect an embedded system to work exactly like one. For example, the original poster complained that QNX wasn't bundled with BASH. And why should it be? It's not intended for desktop use! If he wants BASH, he can download the source or binaries himself. He's working on an embedded OS, not a Solaris or Linux desktop. He should set his expectations to match.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'd actually run across CiteSeer back when I was looking for Whitted's paper. Sadly, it isn't listed as anything but a citation. Rather annoying once one notes that Whitted currently works for Microsoft, and Microsoft is funding (and running?) CiteSeer.:-/
I'm typing on an iBook right now. And as I pointed out to another poster, most of the lower end Macs go out of their way to hide the computer case. Only the high-end G5's actually have a visible box.
Turner Whitted's 1980 paper on Ray Tracing. I'm afraid I don't remember the title. His paper apparently got the Math down pat, so the core of ray tracers haven't changed much since then. For the most part, we just been adding fancier lighting models, better texturing, and overall speed improvements to the concept.
Only one of those environments should have any actual development work done in it.
I'm hardly talking about development on production. I AM talking about analyzing production issues and keeping the system running smoothly. Every company eventually runs into some sort of strange problems that no one knows how to fix. The only way they can get fixed is if the developer has the info he needs. That means production log files, and potentially even production data. Generally, this privilege is reserved for the senior developers only, but it's still a requirement for keeping a system running smoothly.
You sound like just the sort of prick that would barge in and demand that this gets fixed right away!
Perhaps I'm coming across that way. I'm certainly not intending too. No, when sysadmins dislike me, it tends to be because I do as much as I can myself and only consult them if I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. The truth is, I like sysadmins where I don't have to worry about their existence. They keep the infrastructure running, I keep the code running. We share a laugh or two in the break room. Life is good.
Prevent me from doing my work, and I get annoyed. What do I do when I get annoyed? I get the annoyance out of my way. Generally without bugging anyone.:-) A bit hackerish, perhaps, but everyone's happy in the end. BTW, in case you're wondering, my current SysAdmins have "requested" that I leave the virus scanner on. So I just changed to settings (again, hacking the registry) so that it doesn't go scanning any code files. This made everyone happy.
That sort of shit gets old in a 200 seat company, it's unallowable in a 6000 seat company. Locking down systems saves us from the old "We have a critical thing that needs to get done, but the idiot developers fucking around instead of coding is preventing it."
I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you can't afford problems on a Windows machine, then get your developers something else. Solaris, Macs, even Linux are all damn near invulnerable to the standard issues that plague Windows machines. Granted, it only works if you're doing Java development or POSIX development, but it's a much better investment than fighting over the control of the machines. Besides, if any of your developers DO know what they're doing, you'll lose the battle.;-)
Then something is seriously wrong with your network setup, I guess you have some loser SysAdmins as well as loser developers in your company.
What does the network setup have to do with Disk Thrashing?
But you seem to have this view of other developers, and presumably your SysAdmins for not recognising you are not part of that group. Seriously - how can they tell. Here are a couple of examples from my experience:
I do have this view of many "developers" who shouldn't be developing. Maybe I'm just feeling cheeky today, but too many people think that "Java in 24 days" suddenly means that they should be making 6 figure salaries and getting power and respect. The fact that they can't type 10 lines of code is a frustrating situation. It's even more frustrating when the go for the degree, but don't pay any attention in class. (Somehow they still pass.)
I've gotten much better at filtering out useless "developers" during the hiring process, but that doesn't stop other companies from continuing to hire them. Especially if the "developer" is simply someone who's good at bullshitting.
Now, I suppose I should explain why I expect a certain amount of special treatment from the get-go. First, I do believe that developers should have control of their machine. Period, end of story. This may sometimes cause problems, but it generally saves us from the old "I have a critical thing that needs to get done, but the system lockdown is preventing it." As for myself, I tend to expect a bit more leeway because I am hired as a senior developer, usually the Lead Programmer or Chief Architect. While I still have to prove myself to my peers, my position does require a certain degree of respect and system access that would otherwise not be allowed.
Actually, no.. YOU'RE fired, unless you can speak Bengali, bitch!
Bengali? What about Sanskrit or Hindi? Oh wait! *smacks forehead* All the Indians speak English to each other! India has so many languages that they gave up on trying to standardize long ago. When Britain occupied India, they forced many to learn English. This resulted in English becoming the "bridge language" for Indians to speak to each other.
How do I know this? Well, I happen to work with quite a few Indians. The threat of outsourcing is hanging over my head right now. Am I scared? Nope. You can't simply take a bunch of code and send it overseas. Development HAS to be planned and organized if it's going to work. As a result, I see two possibilities:
1. I end up organizing and planning the overseas development. It will be like having hundreds of junior programmers at my disposal. (Not that I have any idea what I'd DO with that many juniors.)
2. The company will make the fatal decision to simply cut the entire IT department and let the Indians take over. I get to watch as their systems begin to fail and the company collapses. Oh well, on to better things.
Books are mostly useless except as introductions to a topic and leads to papers/authors found in the bibliography (if a book doesn't give references, find a different book).
I have to disagree here. While the original papers are always best, it's often hard to get ahold of them. Take raytracing as an example. The original paper on the subject is still considered the definitive source for information on the topic. But that paper is 20+ years old and is almost impossible to find. (I don't have easy access to a University Library.) However, I was able to read a short eBook (really course material) called "Practical Ray Tracing" by Geoff Wyvill, and create a ray tracer. References are listed at the end of the book if I wish to track down more info.
My point is that books are a good way of condensing information about a sub-field. Once you understand the basics and acquire 10-20 years of catch up work, then all the modern papers on the topic will begin to make sense. Of course, it never hurts to keep feelers out for a chance to obtain the original materials. Sometimes I get lucky.:-)
The point was that not everyone in the world is benevolent. I think it's a safe assumption to say that for every person who knows enough to circumvent those restrictions and is nice about it there's one who will mess things up for fun.
Fair enough. My only response is that developers need a lot of power to do their jobs. If you don't feel that you can trust them, then you shouldn't keep them on staff. Thankfully, this problem is reduced by one simple factor: the more experience and ability someone has, the less likely they are to abuse it. And if they do abuse it, then you'll probably going to need the FBI on speed dial, not your friendly sysadmin.
...in case someone has not heard of Xandros before, it's basically another Linux distro. What makes it so special is that Xandros purchased the rights to Corel Linux and repackaged it as XandrOS Linux. The desktop is designed to be easy for new users, and even has WINE integrated so that Windows programs run without much fuss.
Slashdot Mirror
That said, I LOVE the "lables" features of Gmail. I REALLY hope other places and pieces of software pick that up. I do a form of that now using folders, but of course it's not perfect. I would especially love to see that with my MP3 collection. Again I've found a way to "fake it", but the real thing would work much better.
;-)
Oooo... now that sounds like a service worth signing up for. How does the whole evite process work, anyway? Are you allocated a certain number of evites, or can you send as many as you like? I'd also love to hear about some of the other features that are unique to GMail.
Given that people have stated that Blogs work as an excellent way of attracting an evite, perhaps someone will one day notice the hard work that went into my journal? Or, maybe not...
Yes, the GCC compiler. However a JVM is an interpreter.
Not another one of these. *groan*
Java is a JITted language, not an interpretted language!
What is a JITted language you ask? It means that the JVM waits to run the compile until the application is run. Then it compiles the Java code to platform specific code. Many of the performance numbers are the JVM taking advantage of individual processor features. C++ can't do that, because you have to compile to the lowest common denominator (e.g. a 386 or Original Pentium).
They do. The Palm Zire 21 is sold at Wal-Mart in a blister pack for $80 It has all the functionality of a old Palm 5.
A few problems:
1. Palm made sure that the Zire sucks so that users will upgrade to a larger model.
2. $80 is still far beyond the impulse buy category. $50 is about the maximum people are willing to spend before they become concerned about the price. Price it low enough, and the "coolness" factor will begin to take over. (Anyone seen those keychain Palm ripoffs that Walmart sells?)
3. The Zire is over-engineered for a low-end device. One, maybe two megs plus a backlight is plenty for your beginning user. If they find it highly useful, they'll be willing to upgrade to a much more expensive model.
People want either highly specialized mini computers (ie audio players), or they want the full power of a computer.
I think this is how the PDA lost its edge. It *used* to be an inexpensive, specialized satellite device. Then feature creep came in and everyone wanted more memory, bigger screens, full color support, sound, graphics, wireless, etc., etc. If Palm started selling something akin to the original device, but at a much lower cost (say $25-$50), they would probably see sales pick up.
The problem is that such a device would invalidate the tremendous library of existing software. Thus they need less of a true Palm Pilot and more of a new "mini-Palm" platform for the "cost-conscious". I myself love my Sony CLIE and am sad to hear of their demise, but I also bought mine on sale for $130. There's no way I'm going to spend $300-$500 on something I might lose. Not to mention the fact that my occasional (albeit useful) usage doesn't justify a high price tag.
There is no such thing as "freewill". It is an illusion created by the lack of understanding of our own minds.
I hope you've got scientific proof to back that statement up, because Quantum Physics would tend to suggest otherwise. According to QP, there's merely a probability that you will or won't do something. (Actually, you do all the things, but the universe you materialize in depends on some other factor forcing the state.)
Keep in mind that we *still* haven't figured out how the human brain works. We know that computations and analysis occur by neurons firing. But what causes the neurons to fire? It has been theorized that neurons are linked to a probability chain. Thus you think all thoughts at once until one is materialized by action or decision.
You know, this isn't such a bad idea. What if (and that's a big "what if") a bunch of technologists and business people from various walks really did attempt to all take a vacation about the same time, then worked non-stop on a new business for a week? What would they be able to produce? Would they be able to create any business relationships? Perhaps even secure some form of long term funding inside that period?
The real problem I see is the number of people. If it did work, and everyone decided to stay with the business (i.e. give their two-week with their current employer), what would their burn rate be? At 50,000-75,00 per employee, you could be potentially burning the better part of a million dollars a month. And would the results of the company be maintainable? (The pace definitely wouldn't be.) Interesting thought exercise, anyway.
Good News! This is great for people looking to develop on handhelds and smartphones such as myself.
Is it? They haven't even finished the bleeding platform, and they're already spreading it thin. Focus, people, focus!
I never had a Turtle beach, but I can sell you a Fahrenheit 1280 at low, low collector's prices!
:-)
In case I was unclear, Turtle Beach was a high end sound card of the time. My question was if the poster was decked out with high end hardware.
Man, so why they bundled that Photon graphic user environment?
For building user interfaces for devices? IIRC, the iOpener built its GUI around the full capabilities of the Photon GUI. Other uses might include Web Browser kiosks and touchscreen user interfaces.
Oooo... an Orchid video card! I was stuck with a lousy Trident. (*grumble*, *grumble*) Did you have a Turtle Beach to go with it?
Here's another review if you're interested.
My point is not that it CAN'T be used as a Desktop Workstation, but rather that one shouldn't expect an embedded system to work exactly like one. For example, the original poster complained that QNX wasn't bundled with BASH. And why should it be? It's not intended for desktop use! If he wants BASH, he can download the source or binaries himself. He's working on an embedded OS, not a Solaris or Linux desktop. He should set his expectations to match.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'd actually run across CiteSeer back when I was looking for Whitted's paper. Sadly, it isn't listed as anything but a citation. Rather annoying once one notes that Whitted currently works for Microsoft, and Microsoft is funding (and running?) CiteSeer. :-/
You havent actually owned a mac, have you?
Then you would know why...
I'm typing on an iBook right now. And as I pointed out to another poster, most of the lower end Macs go out of their way to hide the computer case. Only the high-end G5's actually have a visible box.
I'm curious, what paper are you referring to?
Turner Whitted's 1980 paper on Ray Tracing. I'm afraid I don't remember the title. His paper apparently got the Math down pat, so the core of ray tracers haven't changed much since then. For the most part, we just been adding fancier lighting models, better texturing, and overall speed improvements to the concept.
Only one of those environments should have any actual development work done in it.
I'm hardly talking about development on production. I AM talking about analyzing production issues and keeping the system running smoothly. Every company eventually runs into some sort of strange problems that no one knows how to fix. The only way they can get fixed is if the developer has the info he needs. That means production log files, and potentially even production data. Generally, this privilege is reserved for the senior developers only, but it's still a requirement for keeping a system running smoothly.
You sound like just the sort of prick that would barge in and demand that this gets fixed right away!
:-) A bit hackerish, perhaps, but everyone's happy in the end. BTW, in case you're wondering, my current SysAdmins have "requested" that I leave the virus scanner on. So I just changed to settings (again, hacking the registry) so that it doesn't go scanning any code files. This made everyone happy.
;-)
Perhaps I'm coming across that way. I'm certainly not intending too. No, when sysadmins dislike me, it tends to be because I do as much as I can myself and only consult them if I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. The truth is, I like sysadmins where I don't have to worry about their existence. They keep the infrastructure running, I keep the code running. We share a laugh or two in the break room. Life is good.
Prevent me from doing my work, and I get annoyed. What do I do when I get annoyed? I get the annoyance out of my way. Generally without bugging anyone.
That sort of shit gets old in a 200 seat company, it's unallowable in a 6000 seat company. Locking down systems saves us from the old "We have a critical thing that needs to get done, but the idiot developers fucking around instead of coding is preventing it."
I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you can't afford problems on a Windows machine, then get your developers something else. Solaris, Macs, even Linux are all damn near invulnerable to the standard issues that plague Windows machines. Granted, it only works if you're doing Java development or POSIX development, but it's a much better investment than fighting over the control of the machines. Besides, if any of your developers DO know what they're doing, you'll lose the battle.
You do know how old and tired that joke is, don't you?
Then something is seriously wrong with your network setup, I guess you have some loser SysAdmins as well as loser developers in your company.
What does the network setup have to do with Disk Thrashing?
But you seem to have this view of other developers, and presumably your SysAdmins for not recognising you are not part of that group. Seriously - how can they tell. Here are a couple of examples from my experience:
I do have this view of many "developers" who shouldn't be developing. Maybe I'm just feeling cheeky today, but too many people think that "Java in 24 days" suddenly means that they should be making 6 figure salaries and getting power and respect. The fact that they can't type 10 lines of code is a frustrating situation. It's even more frustrating when the go for the degree, but don't pay any attention in class. (Somehow they still pass.)
I've gotten much better at filtering out useless "developers" during the hiring process, but that doesn't stop other companies from continuing to hire them. Especially if the "developer" is simply someone who's good at bullshitting.
Now, I suppose I should explain why I expect a certain amount of special treatment from the get-go. First, I do believe that developers should have control of their machine. Period, end of story. This may sometimes cause problems, but it generally saves us from the old "I have a critical thing that needs to get done, but the system lockdown is preventing it." As for myself, I tend to expect a bit more leeway because I am hired as a senior developer, usually the Lead Programmer or Chief Architect. While I still have to prove myself to my peers, my position does require a certain degree of respect and system access that would otherwise not be allowed.
Actually, no.. YOU'RE fired, unless you can speak Bengali, bitch!
Bengali? What about Sanskrit or Hindi? Oh wait! *smacks forehead* All the Indians speak English to each other! India has so many languages that they gave up on trying to standardize long ago. When Britain occupied India, they forced many to learn English. This resulted in English becoming the "bridge language" for Indians to speak to each other.
How do I know this? Well, I happen to work with quite a few Indians. The threat of outsourcing is hanging over my head right now. Am I scared? Nope. You can't simply take a bunch of code and send it overseas. Development HAS to be planned and organized if it's going to work. As a result, I see two possibilities:
1. I end up organizing and planning the overseas development. It will be like having hundreds of junior programmers at my disposal. (Not that I have any idea what I'd DO with that many juniors.)
2. The company will make the fatal decision to simply cut the entire IT department and let the Indians take over. I get to watch as their systems begin to fail and the company collapses. Oh well, on to better things.
This post should answer your question. In other words, I'll let everyone know as soon as I know. :-)
Books are mostly useless except as introductions to a topic and leads to
:-)
papers/authors found in the bibliography (if a book doesn't give references,
find a different book).
I have to disagree here. While the original papers are always best, it's often hard to get ahold of them. Take raytracing as an example. The original paper on the subject is still considered the definitive source for information on the topic. But that paper is 20+ years old and is almost impossible to find. (I don't have easy access to a University Library.) However, I was able to read a short eBook (really course material) called "Practical Ray Tracing" by Geoff Wyvill, and create a ray tracer. References are listed at the end of the book if I wish to track down more info.
My point is that books are a good way of condensing information about a sub-field. Once you understand the basics and acquire 10-20 years of catch up work, then all the modern papers on the topic will begin to make sense. Of course, it never hurts to keep feelers out for a chance to obtain the original materials. Sometimes I get lucky.
The point was that not everyone in the world is benevolent. I think it's a safe assumption to say that for every person who knows enough to circumvent those restrictions and is nice about it there's one who will mess things up for fun.
Fair enough. My only response is that developers need a lot of power to do their jobs. If you don't feel that you can trust them, then you shouldn't keep them on staff. Thankfully, this problem is reduced by one simple factor: the more experience and ability someone has, the less likely they are to abuse it. And if they do abuse it, then you'll probably going to need the FBI on speed dial, not your friendly sysadmin.
...in case someone has not heard of Xandros before, it's basically another Linux distro. What makes it so special is that Xandros purchased the rights to Corel Linux and repackaged it as XandrOS Linux. The desktop is designed to be easy for new users, and even has WINE integrated so that Windows programs run without much fuss.
As soon as I get my hands on a copy, I'll attempt to review it.
;-)
Actually, it looks like it's available via BitTorrent already. Start downloading people! I want more bandwidth.