Comments often get in the way of code readability. I often get annoyed looking at comments like these:
// initialize index to zero index = 0;
// if string is null return an error if (string == null)
return error;
// get the next index index = getNextIndex();
Comments should be reserved for describing functions and non-intuitive variables or code blocks.
I find that having naming conventions for variables, classes and functions is very important. Using proper names makes reading the code so much easier and eliminates the need for useless comments like the ones above.
I remember back in my first or second programming course they said, "you should be able to remove the code, read the comments and fully understand what the code is doing". I never agreed with this statement.
I would be more inclined to believe that cheaters and shoplifters are more likely to download copyrighted material.
However, I'm not sure where the article even talks about P2P users being more likely to cheat or shoplift. It talks about Canadians 18-29 being more likely than the general population to do these acts.
A simple solution for Apple then: Stop calling the iPOD a mp3 or media player. Add a calender and clock to the interface and call it a portable computer. Heck call it a next gen Newton.
Take a user that has not used a computer before and I suspect that OSX would be the easiest to learn. Take a windows user, give him a Mac and he'll really be confused. "How do I right click?", "What does this flower button do?", "Where's the ca-tar-el button?"
Car makers release defective products, remember Ford/Firestone? But they send out recalls which most people actually follow up on. I've had to do 2 recalls on my cars and it's an annoying process.
But for some reason, many(most?) software users don't follow up on the latest updates, even when it's as simple as following a few clicks on screen. When was the last time a virus made the rounds because of a software problem that did not have a security or update alert days/weeks prior to the attack.
And with regards to hospitals running Windows, any IT/CTO hospital employee that installs windows for a live/death service should be fired. Maybe the hospitals I've been to are in the stone age, but I only see Windows on administration desks and all important information is still charted on paper.
CFL games in Toronto pull out 31K people a game or so... and that's more stadium limitations than anything else.
Toronto only cares about sports teams (other than the Leafs) when they're winning, so 31K is a bit inflated because of the Argos Grey cup win last year. What stadium limitations are you talking about? Rogers centre web site indicates that there is seating for 53,506 for football games.
Actually, you're wrong. Microsoft has no liability when it comes to writing shitty code. See the EULA:
17. exclusion of incidental, consequential and certain other damages. to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall microsoft or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, punitive, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits or confidential or other information, for business interruption, for personal injury, for loss of privacy, for failure to meet any duty including of good faith or of reasonable care, for negligence, and for any other pecuniary or other loss whatsoever) arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use the software, the provision of or failure to provide support or other services, informaton, software, and related content through the software or otherwise arising out of the use of the software, or otherwise under or in connection with any provision of this eula, even in the event of the fault, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation, strict liability, breach of contract or breach of warranty of microsoft or any supplier, and even if microsoft or any supplier has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
This is seriously sad that RIM must do this. NTP had NO product nor do they ever intend to create any kind of product!
Really, this opens up a whole new line of work for lawyers/engineers. Design teams will soon require patent experts to deal with HOW to implement a product.
Engineer: Well the *obvious* way to read your email from a handset is to communicate via wireless.
Patent expert: Well, you can't do that because you'll infinge on patent 934,123,123. But if you connect your device to a morse code machine and add a morse code translator to your server, you're set!
Engineer: But doesn't it make more sense to... Oh, forget it!
This is definitely not how the economy works. Where do carpenter, plumbers, electricians get most of their business? From accounting, HR, legal, biotech etc... When these jobs get outsourced plumbers, electricians, etc will have to lower their wages as there will be less demand for their services.
I read the patent, and yes those comments are absurd. However, it seems just as absurd that companies like NEC, RIM, Virgin Mobile, LG Electronics, Palm One, etc. are getting sued.
Think back to 1995 when this patent was first written up. They're trying to invent a CD jukebox that can transmit over a network. Sounds like they were trying to play the actual CDs in CD changer magazines, but good for them for using the language they did.
"Digital disks or compact disks", in fact meant CDs at the time, but the fact that they used "Digital disk" is vague an can be misinterpreted as a hard disk.
In any case, why sue RIM, LG, etc? Do they do anything like this on the server side?
Of course people still write new C++ code. Java has it's place in software developement for cool and flashy things, but it will never be as fast as a well designed and coded C++ application.
Try selling any kind of large scale real-time management system to a telecomms provider. They'll laugh at you and escort you off their site.
The problem is not Christensen, it Lucas' poor dialog and direction. In all 6 movies, the acting and speech are messed up. Ebert talks about this in TFA.
Portman, Jackson, Lee, and Harrison Ford are all exceptional actors but are lame in these movies.
The problem with ID is that it simply refutes specific cases that evolution may not adequately explain.
If ID theoriest spent more time experimenting and testing their theory instead of attacking evolution, perhaps ID theory might one day be *real* science.
Is the RIAA/MPAA going to pay them money to do this?
No. In fact, I would bet my left nut that they want to collect royalties from ISPs. They'd like to think that a large part of the ISPs business depends on downloading music/movies and therefore they should get a cut of the revenue.
This is the bad stereotypical attitude of the American. If we're not the best at something, it's because we didn't really care. ACM is the "Superbowl" of programming. You'd never see an NFL team say: "Well, we won the NFC championship, but let's not play in the Superbowl" (Ok, maybe McNabb didn't really play...).
And for those thinking that China won because they were the hosts, check out the history of the contest. China also won in 2002... on American soil! (Honolulu).
Being a UW grad, I don't think it's coincidence that the University of Waterloo IS the best CS school in Canada and always seems to do well in this competition. You'd be hard pressed to find a participant that isn't at top notch programmer.
I own a car and use it to travel. Some people can use a car in illegal activity such as drunk driving, bank robbery getaway, and sometimes even speeding.
Will the courts shutdown or fine automakers? No. But just as in the cnn article about gunmakers being sued, automakers/dealers will likely get sued and lose if they had a marketing campaign such as "buy a car, get a free case of whiskey!".
The fact is P2P is a useful tool that is often used for piracy. Will some companies get sued and lose? Definitely, but only because their "business model" / whole reason for existence is based on piracy. Let's just hope those companies do not set a legal precedence that kill torrent sites as well.
The problem comes from my friends. One morning, I sit down in front of my PC, boot it. Something comes up full-screen, immediately. I've been spywared. By no fault of my own. My less-than-savvy friends have just...
I like to think I'm quite computer savvy (at least my Masters in computer science tells me I am), but I've also been spywared in the past.
As Windows is such a target, there is no way to fully protect yourself aside from disconnecting from the Internet.
Slashdot Mirror
Comments often get in the way of code readability. I often get annoyed looking at comments like these:
// initialize index to zero
// if string is null return an error
// get the next index
index = 0;
if (string == null)
return error;
index = getNextIndex();
Comments should be reserved for describing functions and non-intuitive variables or code blocks.
I find that having naming conventions for variables, classes and functions is very important. Using proper names makes reading the code so much easier and eliminates the need for useless comments like the ones above.
I remember back in my first or second programming course they said, "you should be able to remove the code, read the comments and fully understand what the code is doing". I never agreed with this statement.
I would be more inclined to believe that cheaters and shoplifters are more likely to download copyrighted material.
However, I'm not sure where the article even talks about P2P users being more likely to cheat or shoplift. It talks about Canadians 18-29 being more likely than the general population to do these acts.
In what world does it make sense to have the "/" key as a shortcut for search? Please keep your 'VI'isms out of UI design.
A simple solution for Apple then: Stop calling the iPOD a mp3 or media player. Add a calender and clock to the interface and call it a portable computer. Heck call it a next gen Newton.
Take a user that has not used a computer before and I suspect that OSX would be the easiest to learn. Take a windows user, give him a Mac and he'll really be confused. "How do I right click?", "What does this flower button do?", "Where's the ca-tar-el button?"
Car makers release defective products, remember Ford/Firestone? But they send out recalls which most people actually follow up on. I've had to do 2 recalls on my cars and it's an annoying process.
But for some reason, many(most?) software users don't follow up on the latest updates, even when it's as simple as following a few clicks on screen. When was the last time a virus made the rounds because of a software problem that did not have a security or update alert days/weeks prior to the attack.
And with regards to hospitals running Windows, any IT/CTO hospital employee that installs windows for a live/death service should be fired. Maybe the hospitals I've been to are in the stone age, but I only see Windows on administration desks and all important information is still charted on paper.
Toronto only cares about sports teams (other than the Leafs) when they're winning, so 31K is a bit inflated because of the Argos Grey cup win last year. What stadium limitations are you talking about? Rogers centre web site indicates that there is seating for 53,506 for football games.
Yes, 1960s law. It took them 40 years to come up with this? Nice to see the courts are so fast and efficient.
Actually, you're wrong. Microsoft has no liability when it comes to writing shitty code. See the EULA:
17. exclusion of incidental, consequential and certain other damages. to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall microsoft or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, punitive, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits or confidential or other information, for business interruption, for personal injury, for loss of privacy, for failure to meet any duty including of good faith or of reasonable care, for negligence, and for any other pecuniary or other loss whatsoever) arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use the software, the provision of or failure to provide support or other services, informaton, software, and related content through the software or otherwise arising out of the use of the software, or otherwise under or in connection with any provision of this eula, even in the event of the fault, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation, strict liability, breach of contract or breach of warranty of microsoft or any supplier, and even if microsoft or any supplier has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
This is seriously sad that RIM must do this. NTP had NO product nor do they ever intend to create any kind of product!
Really, this opens up a whole new line of work for lawyers/engineers. Design teams will soon require patent experts to deal with HOW to implement a product.
Engineer: Well the *obvious* way to read your email from a handset is to communicate via wireless.
Patent expert: Well, you can't do that because you'll infinge on patent 934,123,123. But if you connect your device to a morse code machine and add a morse code translator to your server, you're set!
Engineer: But doesn't it make more sense to... Oh, forget it!
This is definitely not how the economy works. Where do carpenter, plumbers, electricians get most of their business? From accounting, HR, legal, biotech etc... When these jobs get outsourced plumbers, electricians, etc will have to lower their wages as there will be less demand for their services.
Wow! They showed us photos of a motherboard, a video card and a monitor displaying windows XP.... I've never seen that before!
Spoken by one who has only enjoyed Pee-wee Herman style theatre sex
I read the patent, and yes those comments are absurd. However, it seems just as absurd that companies like NEC, RIM, Virgin Mobile, LG Electronics, Palm One, etc. are getting sued.
Think back to 1995 when this patent was first written up. They're trying to invent a CD jukebox that can transmit over a network. Sounds like they were trying to play the actual CDs in CD changer magazines, but good for them for using the language they did.
"Digital disks or compact disks", in fact meant CDs at the time, but the fact that they used "Digital disk" is vague an can be misinterpreted as a hard disk.
In any case, why sue RIM, LG, etc? Do they do anything like this on the server side?
Of course people still write new C++ code. Java has it's place in software developement for cool and flashy things, but it will never be as fast as a well designed and coded C++ application.
Try selling any kind of large scale real-time management system to a telecomms provider. They'll laugh at you and escort you off their site.
The problem is not Christensen, it Lucas' poor dialog and direction. In all 6 movies, the acting and speech are messed up. Ebert talks about this in TFA.
Portman, Jackson, Lee, and Harrison Ford are all exceptional actors but are lame in these movies.
In fact at one point, Lucas even said there would be no VHS. Now we have several iterations of VHS and we'll likely have similar iterations of DVDs.
VHS, VHS Gold, VHS THX, VHS THX Gold Edition, VHS Digitally Remastered THX and now DVD. In the near future we'll also have DVD Remastered Gold VHS.
But as a collector, I'm still looking for the rare Beta THX Wookie Edition (with subtitles in Wookinese)
Surprisingly, each iteration of release coincides with a new extension to the Skywalker ranch...
The problem with ID is that it simply refutes specific cases that evolution may not adequately explain.
If ID theoriest spent more time experimenting and testing their theory instead of attacking evolution, perhaps ID theory might one day be *real* science.
Is the RIAA/MPAA going to pay them money to do this? No. In fact, I would bet my left nut that they want to collect royalties from ISPs. They'd like to think that a large part of the ISPs business depends on downloading music/movies and therefore they should get a cut of the revenue.
This is the bad stereotypical attitude of the American. If we're not the best at something, it's because we didn't really care. ACM is the "Superbowl" of programming. You'd never see an NFL team say: "Well, we won the NFC championship, but let's not play in the Superbowl" (Ok, maybe McNabb didn't really play...).
And for those thinking that China won because they were the hosts, check out the history of the contest. China also won in 2002... on American soil! (Honolulu).
Being a UW grad, I don't think it's coincidence that the University of Waterloo IS the best CS school in Canada and always seems to do well in this competition. You'd be hard pressed to find a participant that isn't at top notch programmer.
My grandma had a similar experience. She was looking for muffin recipes...
Another analogy...
I own a car and use it to travel. Some people can use a car in illegal activity such as drunk driving, bank robbery getaway, and sometimes even speeding.
Will the courts shutdown or fine automakers? No. But just as in the cnn article about gunmakers being sued, automakers/dealers will likely get sued and lose if they had a marketing campaign such as "buy a car, get a free case of whiskey!".
The fact is P2P is a useful tool that is often used for piracy. Will some companies get sued and lose? Definitely, but only because their "business model" / whole reason for existence is based on piracy. Let's just hope those companies do not set a legal precedence that kill torrent sites as well.
The problem comes from my friends. One morning, I sit down in front of my PC, boot it. Something comes up full-screen, immediately. I've been spywared. By no fault of my own. My less-than-savvy friends have just...
I like to think I'm quite computer savvy (at least my Masters in computer science tells me I am), but I've also been spywared in the past.
As Windows is such a target, there is no way to fully protect yourself aside from disconnecting from the Internet.