You need to contain everything in a closed vessel. Then, the theory can be worked on. Otherwise you lose too much in terms of gases and airborne material.
Then you have another problem.. re-synthesizing complex sugars and proteins. Once heat destroys these, they are very difficult to re-assemble from component parts.. it's like tying to get a diamond changed back into a lump of coal.
Where in the heck can a guy get a good transformer today? You're right about the diode and also, the "flyback" transformers that are in modern TV's and monitors have like 10 or more pins that I can't find any docs for...
Which led me to looking for a source of FBTs, thinking that I could buy a new one and it might have a spec sheet with pinouts or that I could find some spec sheets on line. No dice. Which leads us back to my original question.
Not if I don't buy VS.NET and/or a digital certificate. The new M$ operating system will eventually not run native exectuable code, only.NET pcode that utilizes the M$ common language runtime.
We'll see what happens, but as I understand the going plan, if I want a program to execute in Longhorn, I'll need to buy VS.NET or something expensive from M$. I don't think I'll be able to use a free-as-in-beer compiler.
Actually, I think what was created BEFORE Fortran is superior. It's called machine language. That's right folks, straight binary. One bit at a time, baby! I remember programming a Dyna 8080A processor with a row of toggle switches.
Seriously, though.. there is a philosophy that says anyone should be able to write programs and that there should be tools available for ordinary folks to create computer programs. The other philosophy is that "ordinary folks" have no business writing software and that if you can't hack it in assembler or C, you should get a real programmer to write the code.
Which philosophy are you inclined toward?
Quite frankly, I like C. I like it because:
- People still learn it. Folks that have programmed for 20 years as well as the snot nosed whippersnappers know C. I don't hear people saying, "C is dead" like I do other languages (e.g. FoxPro, Progress, Fortran, Actor, COBOL, JCL, RPG, PASCAL, LOGO, Rexx, Ada, Lisp, SmallTalk)
- It is typically compiled to native processor code instead of interpretted, and therefore typically faster.
- I can usually find a free-as-in-beer compiler for whatever platform I need to write for
- I don't need to deliver a pile of runtime code or expect the user to have the x.x.x.x build nnnn version of the libraries or VM to run my software. I simply deliver a machine native executable, and it runs. (Of course.Net and the M$ clr will see to it that I can no longer do this.)
- C is C. C code that is 20 years old compiles and runs without modification.
- Lastly and most importantly, with C I can do absolutely anything. There are no obstacles whatsoever. There is nothing "unsupported" in C. If I can think it, I can use C to implement it.
Java is starting to look good, actually.. especially with the business world's love affair with everything Microsoft on the desktop and Microsoft doing everything in its power to make sure no one can write a program that runs in their OS without buying additional licenses.
Bottom line: if you like Fortran use it for yourself, but don't expect to find a cadre of readily available people with the skills to maintain it. Fortran is wonderful for the original poster's use. The problem is when his little Fortran ditty becomes a mission critical application that has grown into a many-thousand-line monstrosity and he quits, retires, or dies.
I know of a 66 yr old RPG programmer that is making 6 figures maintaining AS/400 code. Why? Because there aren't any snot nosed whippersnappers that want to learn it.
Let me know when you find that $50 Photoshop.. or $35 AutoCad or Maya. What do you recommend for people (like me) who cannot afford to buy software like the stuff we use at work and want to just fiddle around and learn at home?
As I said in a previous post, this is where free-as-in-beer software finds a niche - at least for me. I can't afford a $600 Photoshop, but Gimp definitely within my reach. Too bad we don't use Gimp at work.
I recommend software for my company who purchases for about 10,000 users, but I cannot afford to buy this stuff for my own home use. Since I'm not affiliated with a university, I cannot get the educational discount.
Question: For just fiddling around (read: playing with my toys) should I be required to pay software prices that assume I am using the licensed software to make a profit?
To be honest, this seems to be where free-as-in-beer software is most useful - to the "prosumer" computer geek who is using software, not to make a profit, but just to have fun and learn.
I don't like it any more than you do. However, one must extend one's thinking.
While it's true that large corporations tend to own the majority of eachother's stock and the "old boy's club" keeps the board of directors seats filled with folks that trade favors, the rest of the stock is owned by you and me for things like college funds for our children and our retirement.
There is a real conflict of interest between wanting to have freedom and personal liberty and not get gouged as a consumer and wanting to triple the value of your stock investment in 5 years.
The trick, as always, is to accept a healthy balance - to check one's greed, but also to expect to pay prices for things that allow healthy profits. Few people sit only on one side of the equation.
I am not disagreeing with you. The DMCA is horrible legislation and it stifles democracy. Any system in which the people can so easily be bought out is not a healthy democracy. I'm just trying to remind everyone that the interests of large corporations are not necessarily at odds with your own interests by default. It does seem the the pendulum has swung to the side of the large corporations operating as profiteering tyrants. Hopefully common sense will prevail and the pendulum will swing back toward center.
Investigator: Mr. Kruger, do you have current legitimate licenses for every single software title on each and every computer you own or use?
Bob Kruger: Uhh.. well, we uh..."
Investigator: Mr. Kruger, have you or anyone else currently in the employ of BSA ever used software for which you did not possess a valid legal license?
Bob Kruger: Bblblb-b-b-plplpppht blub..blubb...
Investigator:...then shut the f*ck up, go away, and take the BSA with you!
Let's see... security is a shambles, the world is coming to an end. Every access point is a blazing security hole. Who will protect us? Who will make us safe? How will we get that warm fuzzy feeling back? Why, of course! By using Microsoft products!! (right.)
You say the power grid is vulnerable? My, my. Let me show you something:
"This is your power plant... This is your power plant on Windows."
The FCC is long overdue for some serious reform, and I doubt that it will get it. The FCC, in my opinion, is a microcosm of many of the things that are wrong about our present government: namely, that it can be bought and sold to the highest bidder.
The FCC is supposed to administer the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (which is no more someone's property than gravity) for the common good of our nation. Instead, it sells wholesale the use of this precious resource to the people with the most money, leaving less and less available for the common person, much less the HAM radio operator or casual experimenter.
It is therefore no surprise that they are taking money from anyone that has an agenda. In this latest case, phone companies and others that want to invade your privacy for the purpose of saturating your every nook and cranny with commercial advertizing.
My proposed solution is that the FCC executive board be made up of at least 50% volunteer personnel (read $0 pay) and that they are not allowed to receive money from ANY source other than the national budget as approved by Congress and the White House. Will that solve the problem? No, but it might put a damper on it.
Now, leave me alone. I have to go patent my coin-operated gravity dispenser.
Great! Glad you're here. Do you watch TV? Forget about ABC for a second.. how do you feel about this as a regular human being (guy/gal) at home sitting down to watch a little TV (e.g. your favorite show) and having pop-up ads?
Do you, as a human Joe, ignore commercials?
How do you think the rest of the folks watching feel about that? Why would you do something (put in pop-ups on TV) to us that you yourself presumably would detest? Doesn't the Golden Rule have any relevance whatsoever anymore?
To be honest.. and maybe I'm just a weirdo.. I actually try to patronize the sponsors of my favorite shows. Precious lot of good that did for the X-Files and Star Trek: Voyager.. but hey, I tried.
yes. and I agree with you. 20 years if for "knowingly... bodily harm or serious bodily injury" and life is for "knowingly... cause death". Not to mention that it would require a jury trial.
It does give the maniacs too much power to create criminals out of people they don't like.
Wish I could have mod'ed you up. I always seem to get moderator points when I don't need them and never have them when I do. heh
Don't the people making these commercials and pushing this crap go home and sit down to watch TV and hate the commercials just as much as you and I? Can someone explain why humans do stuff like this to other humans, much less themselves?
Aren't these folks retaining some semblence of human-ness? It's like, if you piss in the pool it's messed up for YOU too.. not just the other people in the pool.
I find this to be interesting, but infinitely unimportant. Who cares about my stupid files? Even I myself don't give a rip. If one of my machines crashes or gets 0wN3d by some malware, I reformat and re-install.
200 years from now, anything I did that was worthy of recognition will be ingrained in the fabric of what is then. Anyone that seriously cares about the other stuff I did (like that.PNG file of Britney Spears where I added big bushy hair growing on her face and abover her lip) needs to have their futuristic head examined.
Bottom line: who cares about the crap we do now 200 years into the future? The good stuff will persist on its own merits and the trash was meant to be forgotten.
On this one point I find I disagree with you. I don't believe you can separate art from artist. The best art is a glimpse of the artist's soul, which she or he makes available to the beholder.
Vortan out
Re:What needs to happen...
on
ICANN Updates
·
· Score: 1, Offtopic
Pardon me for flaming, but...
Have you heard of computers? Of course you have. How about web software? Yep.
So are you one of those folks who: A. would never trust a website with your credit card information, much less some third party to tally your vote on whether or not to grant a block of 4096 IP address to the fine folks at ilovemonkeysex.com?
B. advocates the perpetuation of the electoral college - which was created in the days when people sent messages on horseback?
I appreciate quality management too. That's why I prefer to be managed by someone who has been in the trenches with the rank and file. The worst managers I have had have been ones who did not understand the work of the people they were managing.
However, you bring a valid point to the discussion. It's a two-way street. If you cannot explain to a manager (who has the ABILITY to understand) in English what they need to know to make decisions, you can't expect to be managed well. You need to be able to "manage the manager". On the other hand, if your manager is technically inept, no amount of explanation (or pain killers) is going to help.
Technical people who even WANT to be managers are few and far between. Even rarer, the person who is an adept programmer AND an adept business administrator.
Programmers tend to be arrogant. That's the nature of the beast. To the extent that Cliff can learn to stifle his arrogance and learn to appreciate the talents and abilities of non-technical people, he'll be a real asset to our industry.
Vortran (technical guy who does NOT want to be a manager!) out
Someone already did that. They built imaging software and used readily available hardware. Then they published the results showing readbale resolution of the text painted on the space shuttle.
Shortly thereafter, a government representative made this individual an offer he couldn't refuse (e.g. work for the government and turn over all your plans.. or else ).
Subsequently, the imaging software and related information "disappeared" from the public domain. Try to find any info on Ron Dantowitz's space shuttle pictures.
The only thing about this message that is a troll is the subject. What I mean is that I have written bushels of software for myself and none of it sucks - because I wrote it for me. I didn't contract myself to write it and I didn't pay myself or sell it to myself when I finished it. I've even written some computer games for myself which I still play.
The point is that, IMO "software sucking" has everything to do with good engineering and capitalism going together like water and oil. Even with freeware, you still have an economy.
So what's the answer? Part of the answer is that we (as developers) are in too deep with the commercial world - whether it's out of a need to feed ourselves and our families or because somwhere between the Altair and the Apple ][+ we got greedy and climbed into bed with big business (or big business seduced us). Geeks need money for better hardware.. lots of it.
The other part of the answer is to write it yourself. That takes money too, but I am here to say that we have far fewer problems with software that we have written for our company from scratch than we do with ANY other systems - off the shelf, customized/modified, coded by contractors, or otherwise.
So, if you want good software, learn to home brew... and get a brewmeister who knows their stuff. Do I always build brick sh*thouses? No, but sometimes only a brick sh*thouse will do.. and Microsoft isn't going to build one for you.
Slashdot Mirror
As soon as someone can grow a cabbage that tastes like a prime rib steak or a turnip that tastes like a bratwurst, I'm vegetarian all the way!!
Yes you're right.. one does not need to eat the flesh of animals. It's kinda yucky and none too healthy.. but they're so TASTY!!
Vortan out
You need to contain everything in a closed vessel. Then, the theory can be worked on. Otherwise you lose too much in terms of gases and airborne material.
Then you have another problem.. re-synthesizing complex sugars and proteins. Once heat destroys these, they are very difficult to re-assemble from component parts.. it's like tying to get a diamond changed back into a lump of coal.
Vortran out
Where in the heck can a guy get a good transformer today? You're right about the diode and also, the "flyback" transformers that are in modern TV's and monitors have like 10 or more pins that I can't find any docs for...
Which led me to looking for a source of FBTs, thinking that I could buy a new one and it might have a spec sheet with pinouts or that I could find some spec sheets on line. No dice. Which leads us back to my original question.
Please don't say, "Wind your own!"
Vortran out
Not if I don't buy VS.NET and/or a digital certificate. The new M$ operating system will eventually not run native exectuable code, only .NET pcode that utilizes the M$ common language runtime.
We'll see what happens, but as I understand the going plan, if I want a program to execute in Longhorn, I'll need to buy VS.NET or something expensive from M$. I don't think I'll be able to use a free-as-in-beer compiler.
Am I mistaken about this?
Vortran out
Actually, I think what was created BEFORE Fortran is superior. It's called machine language. That's right folks, straight binary. One bit at a time, baby! I remember programming a Dyna 8080A processor with a row of toggle switches.
.Net and the M$ clr will see to it that I can no longer do this.)
Seriously, though.. there is a philosophy that says anyone should be able to write programs and that there should be tools available for ordinary folks to create computer programs. The other philosophy is that "ordinary folks" have no business writing software and that if you can't hack it in assembler or C, you should get a real programmer to write the code.
Which philosophy are you inclined toward?
Quite frankly, I like C. I like it because:
- People still learn it. Folks that have programmed for 20 years as well as the snot nosed whippersnappers know C. I don't hear people saying, "C is dead" like I do other languages (e.g. FoxPro, Progress, Fortran, Actor, COBOL, JCL, RPG, PASCAL, LOGO, Rexx, Ada, Lisp, SmallTalk)
- It is typically compiled to native processor code instead of interpretted, and therefore typically faster.
- I can usually find a free-as-in-beer compiler for whatever platform I need to write for
- I don't need to deliver a pile of runtime code or expect the user to have the x.x.x.x build nnnn version of the libraries or VM to run my software. I simply deliver a machine native executable, and it runs. (Of course
- C is C. C code that is 20 years old compiles and runs without modification.
- Lastly and most importantly, with C I can do absolutely anything. There are no obstacles whatsoever. There is nothing "unsupported" in C. If I can think it, I can use C to implement it.
Java is starting to look good, actually.. especially with the business world's love affair with everything Microsoft on the desktop and Microsoft doing everything in its power to make sure no one can write a program that runs in their OS without buying additional licenses.
Bottom line: if you like Fortran use it for yourself, but don't expect to find a cadre of readily available people with the skills to maintain it. Fortran is wonderful for the original poster's use. The problem is when his little Fortran ditty becomes a mission critical application that has grown into a many-thousand-line monstrosity and he quits, retires, or dies.
I know of a 66 yr old RPG programmer that is making 6 figures maintaining AS/400 code. Why? Because there aren't any snot nosed whippersnappers that want to learn it.
Vortran out
Just imagine how fast the Internet would be if it wasn't busy passing all this SPAM e-mail?
Vortran out
Let me know when you find that $50 Photoshop.. or $35 AutoCad or Maya. What do you recommend for people (like me) who cannot afford to buy software like the stuff we use at work and want to just fiddle around and learn at home?
As I said in a previous post, this is where free-as-in-beer software finds a niche - at least for me. I can't afford a $600 Photoshop, but Gimp definitely within my reach. Too bad we don't use Gimp at work.
Vortran out
I recommend software for my company who purchases for about 10,000 users, but I cannot afford to buy this stuff for my own home use. Since I'm not affiliated with a university, I cannot get the educational discount.
Question: For just fiddling around (read: playing with my toys) should I be required to pay software prices that assume I am using the licensed software to make a profit?
To be honest, this seems to be where free-as-in-beer software is most useful - to the "prosumer" computer geek who is using software, not to make a profit, but just to have fun and learn.
Vortran out
Preach it, brother!
re: subject
'nuff said.
Vortran out
I don't like it any more than you do. However, one must extend one's thinking.
While it's true that large corporations tend to own the majority of eachother's stock and the "old boy's club" keeps the board of directors seats filled with folks that trade favors, the rest of the stock is owned by you and me for things like college funds for our children and our retirement.
There is a real conflict of interest between wanting to have freedom and personal liberty and not get gouged as a consumer and wanting to triple the value of your stock investment in 5 years.
The trick, as always, is to accept a healthy balance - to check one's greed, but also to expect to pay prices for things that allow healthy profits. Few people sit only on one side of the equation.
I am not disagreeing with you. The DMCA is horrible legislation and it stifles democracy. Any system in which the people can so easily be bought out is not a healthy democracy. I'm just trying to remind everyone that the interests of large corporations are not necessarily at odds with your own interests by default. It does seem the the pendulum has swung to the side of the large corporations operating as profiteering tyrants. Hopefully common sense will prevail and the pendulum will swing back toward center.
I have seen the enemy, and the enemy is me.
Vortran out
Investigator: Mr. Kruger, do you have current legitimate licenses for every single software title on each and every computer you own or use?
...then shut the f*ck up, go away, and take the BSA with you!
Bob Kruger: Uhh.. well, we uh..."
Investigator: Mr. Kruger, have you or anyone else currently in the employ of BSA ever used software for which you did not possess a valid legal license?
Bob Kruger: Bblblb-b-b-plplpppht blub..blubb...
Investigator:
Vortran out
Let's see... security is a shambles, the world is coming to an end. Every access point is a blazing security hole. Who will protect us? Who will make us safe? How will we get that warm fuzzy feeling back? Why, of course! By using Microsoft products!! (right.)
You say the power grid is vulnerable? My, my.
Let me show you something:
"This is your power plant...
This is your power plant on Windows."
Vortran out
The FCC is long overdue for some serious reform, and I doubt that it will get it. The FCC, in my opinion, is a microcosm of many of the things that are wrong about our present government: namely, that it can be bought and sold to the highest bidder.
The FCC is supposed to administer the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (which is no more someone's property than gravity) for the common good of our nation. Instead, it sells wholesale the use of this precious resource to the people with the most money, leaving less and less available for the common person, much less the HAM radio operator or casual experimenter.
It is therefore no surprise that they are taking money from anyone that has an agenda. In this latest case, phone companies and others that want to invade your privacy for the purpose of saturating your every nook and cranny with commercial advertizing.
My proposed solution is that the FCC executive board be made up of at least 50% volunteer personnel (read $0 pay) and that they are not allowed to receive money from ANY source other than the national budget as approved by Congress and the White House. Will that solve the problem? No, but it might put a damper on it.
Now, leave me alone. I have to go patent my coin-operated gravity dispenser.
Vortran out
Great! Glad you're here. Do you watch TV? Forget about ABC for a second.. how do you feel about this as a regular human being (guy/gal) at home sitting down to watch a little TV (e.g. your favorite show) and having pop-up ads?
Do you, as a human Joe, ignore commercials?
How do you think the rest of the folks watching feel about that? Why would you do something (put in pop-ups on TV) to us that you yourself presumably would detest? Doesn't the Golden Rule have any relevance whatsoever anymore?
To be honest.. and maybe I'm just a weirdo.. I actually try to patronize the sponsors of my favorite shows. Precious lot of good that did for the X-Files and Star Trek: Voyager.. but hey, I tried.
Vortran out
yes. and I agree with you. 20 years if for "knowingly... bodily harm or serious bodily injury" and life is for "knowingly... cause death". Not to mention that it would require a jury trial.
It does give the maniacs too much power to create criminals out of people they don't like.
Wish I could have mod'ed you up. I always seem to get moderator points when I don't need them and never have them when I do. heh
Vortran out
Don't the people making these commercials and pushing this crap go home and sit down to watch TV and hate the commercials just as much as you and I? Can someone explain why humans do stuff like this to other humans, much less themselves?
Aren't these folks retaining some semblence of human-ness? It's like, if you piss in the pool it's messed up for YOU too.. not just the other people in the pool.
I guess I just don't get it.
Vortran out
Where ARE they? I would be eternally grateful to anyone who could point me to a copy of the "Milton Animated Shorts" by Mike Judge.
I have only been able to find a few shreds of info on this. They were apparently broadcast on Saturday Night Live in October of 1990 (or 1991?).
Please help me find the birthplace of Office Space!
Thank you, Vortran
I find this to be interesting, but infinitely unimportant. Who cares about my stupid files? Even I myself don't give a rip. If one of my machines crashes or gets 0wN3d by some malware, I reformat and re-install.
.PNG file of Britney Spears where I added big bushy hair growing on her face and abover her lip) needs to have their futuristic head examined.
200 years from now, anything I did that was worthy of recognition will be ingrained in the fabric of what is then. Anyone that seriously cares about the other stuff I did (like that
Bottom line: who cares about the crap we do now 200 years into the future? The good stuff will persist on its own merits and the trash was meant to be forgotten.
Vortran out
Try to get the average suit to "crash on your floor" with you and 8 other people you just met.
Vortran out
On this one point I find I disagree with you. I don't believe you can separate art from artist. The best art is a glimpse of the artist's soul, which she or he makes available to the beholder.
Vortan out
Pardon me for flaming, but...
Have you heard of computers? Of course you have. How about web software? Yep.
So are you one of those folks who:
A. would never trust a website with your credit card information, much less some third party to tally your vote on whether or not to grant a block of 4096 IP address to the fine folks at ilovemonkeysex.com?
B. advocates the perpetuation of the electoral college - which was created in the days when people sent messages on horseback?
C. both of the above?
Vortran out
I appreciate quality management too. That's why I prefer to be managed by someone who has been in the trenches with the rank and file. The worst managers I have had have been ones who did not understand the work of the people they were managing.
However, you bring a valid point to the discussion. It's a two-way street. If you cannot explain to a manager (who has the ABILITY to understand) in English what they need to know to make decisions, you can't expect to be managed well. You need to be able to "manage the manager". On the other hand, if your manager is technically inept, no amount of explanation (or pain killers) is going to help.
Technical people who even WANT to be managers are few and far between. Even rarer, the person who is an adept programmer AND an adept business administrator.
Programmers tend to be arrogant. That's the nature of the beast. To the extent that Cliff can learn to stifle his arrogance and learn to appreciate the talents and abilities of non-technical people, he'll be a real asset to our industry.
Vortran (technical guy who does NOT want to be a manager!) out
Someone already did that. They built imaging software and used readily available hardware. Then they published the results showing readbale resolution of the text painted on the space shuttle.
Shortly thereafter, a government representative made this individual an offer he couldn't refuse (e.g. work for the government and turn over all your plans.. or else ).
Subsequently, the imaging software and related information "disappeared" from the public domain. Try to find any info on Ron Dantowitz's space shuttle pictures.
Vortran out
The only thing about this message that is a troll is the subject. What I mean is that I have written bushels of software for myself and none of it sucks - because I wrote it for me. I didn't contract myself to write it and I didn't pay myself or sell it to myself when I finished it. I've even written some computer games for myself which I still play.
The point is that, IMO "software sucking" has everything to do with good engineering and capitalism going together like water and oil. Even with freeware, you still have an economy.
So what's the answer? Part of the answer is that we (as developers) are in too deep with the commercial world - whether it's out of a need to feed ourselves and our families or because somwhere between the Altair and the Apple ][+ we got greedy and climbed into bed with big business (or big business seduced us). Geeks need money for better hardware.. lots of it.
The other part of the answer is to write it yourself. That takes money too, but I am here to say that we have far fewer problems with software that we have written for our company from scratch than we do with ANY other systems - off the shelf, customized/modified, coded by contractors, or otherwise.
So, if you want good software, learn to home brew... and get a brewmeister who knows their stuff. Do I always build brick sh*thouses? No, but sometimes only a brick sh*thouse will do.. and Microsoft isn't going to build one for you.
Vortran out