Re:The real 90s versus outdated 00s software
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Java Is So 90s
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· Score: 1
How is java.lang.Class not an Object? And java.reflect.Method would be an Object as well. Since Java doesn't differentiate betw. functions and methods, that takes care of functions as well. I'm not sure how/when a package would need to be an Object, so I can't answer that.
If you need methods on integers, doubles, floats, etc. - then you would use the appropriate classes (Integer, Double, Float, Long) to represent them, right? The method belongs to the Class, after all, not the data type. There's a difference. Auto-boxing just takes away the need to know what you're getting (parameters to a method) or what you're sending (does the receiver expect an int or an Integer? doesn't matter). This is really the only place it is needed, I think. And elegantly enough, backwards compatibility isn't broken.
Re:The real 90s versus outdated 00s software
on
Java Is So 90s
·
· Score: 1
Java 1.5 provides auto-boxing, which essentially makes everything an Object, because the JVM abstracts the details away from your app. Treat an Integer as an int, treat an int as an Integer, doesn't matter.
If your circumstances permit, I'd suggest looking into homeschooling. Of all the different things my wife and I have looked at, this seems to be one of the best that assures that our children will get personal attention, with someone who will listen to and accommodate their needs.
Certainly not a solution that fits every situation, but when it does fit, I think it has a lot of potential, and a lot of demonstrated success. I especially like that non-religious, 'secular', homeschooling is just as popular now as the previously more common religious homeschooling. I've seen resources that indicate they teach "Intelligent Design"... and am very happy that those resources aren't my only choice!!
Really?!? I've looked all over the TiVo forums and never found a mention of USB2 TiVos being out there. I have a 40hr TiVo (series2) from last year (got it about a year ago, exactly) - any chance I have USB2? Any way to check?!?
I think when some people think of "Media", they think of NYT, USA Today, ABC News, CNN, and their locally circulated newspaper, news stations, etc.
There's a lot more to media than just this. There are a great number of publications that are extremely biased, small indie newsletters, mini magazines and who knows what other formats. There are publications geared toward the military, toward eco-friendly folks, and everything up down and in-between.
And what's more amazing, is that most libraries carry these for their surrounding communities. Check it out sometime... you'll find much more than just the WSJ and your local rag.
I'm not sure when indicating one thing is larger than another began to mean that the latter is zero or nonexistant. I certainly didn't learn it in this way, and I feel I have a pretty decent grasp of the English language.
I do enjoy your efforts to fly in the face of a substantial body of research that shows the substantially larger capacity of children to learn, compared to adults. Particularly with regards to learning quickly.
Personally, I learn new technologies on almost a daily basis. I also learn new things about medicine, politics, and a variety of other topics, as the need arises. However, none of this detracts from the point I've made: OS X is going to be easier to learn for technophobes than Linux, in the current state of Desktop Linux (now the Java Desktop System, which is a modified GNOME interface, may be different, I dunno). Will children be able to pickup Linux as quickly as OS X, probably. Will adults? Probably not.
But ya know, I'm sure that the teeny tiny share of desktop systems that Linux enjoys is a sure indication of how easy it is to use, how intuitive the interface is, and how well it complies with HCI guidelines. As I'm certain that all the contributors for GNOME and KDE are well versed in HCI (doubtful if the APIs are any indication).
And you would guess wrong. I have two children, thanks.
And kids won't be the only folks using these systems. There will be teachers. There will be administrators. There will be parents who will want to help. And last I checked, this wasn't only targeted towards school children, but I may have misunderstood somewhere along the line.
And as for messing.. there's ALWAYS messing needed. A new version of the Flash plug-in comes out for Firefox. How's that work w/ Konq? What about Nautilus? Will Opera be pre-loaded? I can install a full distro, all apps, absolutely everything... and there's still messing needed. Maybe they'll put a new interface on that limits the things folks can point and click to, instead of unleasing a full GNOME/KDE interface on 'em. That might be a good idea.
Right, and OS X was to be provided for free. Just as RedHat is. I'm not thinking that access to the source of the GNOME or KDE subsystem is gonna matter much to the folks receiving this. But hey, I've been wrong before, I'm sure this wouldn't be the last time. They could be targetting X11 developers in third world countries.
Of course, one cannot argue that access to the kernel source differentiates Linux, because last I checked, OS X runs on the Darwin kernel, which is also open sourced. And hey - Safari runs on the Web Core subsystem, which is open sourced (KHTML, with patches or updated source provided). And hey, I can run practically any GNU-ish package out there from Linux land, thanks to the nice folks from Fink.
So, the difference I see is that OS X provides a nice, slick, HCI compliant interface, where RedHat still has issues with its interface. I don't mind RedHat for myself, my family, or any other Linux distro for that matter... but it could be a tad tricky for folks that have never used computers before.
A child's capacity to learn is quite a bit larger than an adult's. Especially an adult that's never been exposed to many electronic tools, much less a system as sophisticated as a computer.
I fully expect my children (now 11 months & 2.5yrs) to be amazingly adept at using computers. I also expect them to learn more languages than I know (linguistic). Does that mean I can learn Japanese or Spanish or Russian as easily as they'll be able to? No. I expect that they'll learn to play a few instruments as well. I can play the piano, but will I be able to learn the violin as easily as they will? Probably not.
So, I'm glad I gave you a platform to rant, but your statements are truly irrelevant. I'm not saying that Linux is bad, just that OS X may be easier to learn for the folks that these systems will target. Most folks agree that Linux on the Desktop still falls shy of OS X and WinXP in its completeness, intuitiveness, polishedness (yes, I'm making up some words).
Re-learning to do things already known from another platform is one thing, and can be more difficult than learning from scratch (on any platform).
And 5-10% market share for Mac systems doesn't mean that Windows is easier to use. Same reasoning why Windows having 90-95% market share doesn't mean its the most secure operating system, or the most stable, or, or, or.
I disagree. Principles is one thing, succeeding is another. We forget that using a computer is a difficult and even scary experience for the vast majority of folks, particularly those with very little education. Packing laptops with what is still widely considered the most user-friendly operating system on the market today would certainly have been a wise move, IMHO.
I've been a Linux user for roughly 7-8 yrs, not an old-timer by any means, but I've hit most of the distros, many when they were still in their infancy (RedHat, Mandr[ake/iva], etc.). I've installed Ubuntu for my sister-in-law and many developers at my company use it. But personally (when I'm not posting from my XP SP2 ThinkPad), I'm on a Mac. I just don't have to spend as much time "messing" with things. And that's the fact of the matter.
No offense, but for Google's market, that doesn't matter. Check out other analytics systems such as WebSideStory's HBX (formerly Hitbox). It also depends on Javascript. And according to analytics that are routinely published, the number of folks not having Javascript enabled is dwindling to the point of obscurity.
What folks really care about is the proliferation of anti-spyware software that deletes persistent cookies that allow analytics packages to track individual visitors as they return to the site (an important measurement for determining the stickiness of a site). Unfortunately, running Windows means, practically, that you need to be running this kind of software.
And in that case, they have to go to an iPod since they already purchased songs from iTunes.
Not exactly. Sure, if they bought tunes from the iTMS, the easiest path would be to get an iPod. But, the ROKR still plays MP3 files that you ripped (with iTunes) from CDs you own. So, in that case, you could go buy any other portable MP3 player to "upgrade" from your ROKR.
Now, it would be a slightly different story if the ROKR could only play AAC files, or even worse, only protected AAC files from the iTMS.
It is not known exactly which complexity classes contain the integer factorization problem. The decision-problem form of it ("does N have a factor less than M?") is known to be in both NP and co-NP. This is because both YES and NO answers can be checked if given the prime factors along with their primality proofs. It is known to be in BQP because of Shor's algorithm. It is suspected to be outside of all three of the complexity classes P, NP-Complete, and co-NP-Complete. If it could be proved that it is in either NP-Complete or co-NP-Complete, that would imply NP = co-NP. That would be a very surprising result, therefore integer factorization is widely suspected to be outside both of those classes. Many people have tried to find classical polynomial-time algorithms for it and failed, therefore it is widely suspected to be outside P.
So, I presume you've sent your MP3 file to Apple to have them figure out exactly why it behaves this way on an iPod?
No? Might wanna give that a chance. Or, just rip that MP3 back to WAV and have iTunes re-encode it. While I haven't written the iTunes software myself, I'd be awfully surprised if it could encode something that the iPod couldn't play.
And thank YOU for a very level-headed reply. I'm not entirely sure that I have my head around the issue of the fed. gov't. providing money for this (or many other types of) research. On the one hand, we have the NSF, which is presumably sponsored in part or entirely by the fed. gov't. That organization then determines what research does or does not get funded.
I can certainly see the use of such an organization, but at the same time, having tax dollars funding medical research doesn't seem like a slam-dunk piece of logic. This is any type of research, really - not just stem cell & such. Within a capitalist society, without a universal healthcare system, where is the driving force for developing this research? The research takes place largely at academic institutions, I gather, and it makes sense that there exists a lack of funding at that level... yet, tax dollars doesn't seem to be the right place to pull that funding.
Dunno, still trying to wrap my head around the issue. The one thing I have determined, however, is that this and certain other issues that tend to be bathed under the scrutiny of morality, are much clearer at the individual level. Ancillary issues, however, continue to perplex me.
The problem I see with the whole debate on stem cell research, abortion, etc. is that the discussion is based on generalities and painting broad strokes with huge brushes.
Quite frankly, if I as an individual do not want any embryos that I have sired to be used for stem cell research, there isn't a SINGLE researcher out there that would even, for a moment, consider trying to force ME (just ME) to acquiesce.
At every step of the process in obtaining viable stem cell lines for research (or commercial applications, when the research bears fruit), every possible step is taken to ensure that the ultimate "owners" of the genetic information agree to the use of that information for these purposes. At least, this is my understanding.
So, for all those folks who have a problem with it, just say no, personally, individually. Let everyone else do the same. Regardless of how a "person" is defined, let's not try to apply this broadly, generically.
In a case-by-case, individual scenario, you could easily imagine a couple at a fertility clinic talking with a doctor who has tested certain ova or even embryos and found that they are, individually, unable to sustain life. At that point, the doctor presents a form and asks quite simply: "These cells cannot provide you a child, would you agree to their use to further research derived from these cells?" Some folks may still have a moral or otherwise personal problem with that and say No. Others may not and say Yes.
Either way, this is a personal, individual decision that needs to be carried out on a case-by-case basis. Generalizing it and lifting it to a higher level really obfuscates the issue and complicates matters unnecessarily, as it introduces parties into the equation that really have no reason to be involved.
Well, if they can sense two fingers on the touchpad to activate scrolling, then they may be able sense if your right or left finger is tapping the touchpad, hence right or left click.
I've found that playback of HD streams on my 2x2GHz G5 also differs based on the monitor I'm on. One's attached to a PCI-based video card, the other to the AGP video card. Naturally, the play on the monitor w/ AGP is smooth, very smooth... and the play on the PCI based card is unbearable.
For what its worth, a lot of live (HD) broadcast events these days are pulled off with G5-based systems, I have to think that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to pull that sort of thing into a tele-conference solution. Though, I'm not thinking its gonna be cheap, either.
I do recall, while working on an Aerial Robotics project, we ordered a SWEET (and expensive) progressive-scan video camera. Wasn't very big, seemed like it was mostly meant for closed-circuit type of stuff, so it was about that size (say maybe 8" by 2.5" square?). I'm not sure if at that time (1998/1999) it was 720p capable, I just remember it was progressive scan, so we could take analyzable still shots (w/o interlacing). So, at least 480p, I guess.
So, maybe I haven't been following the news, but have there been many instances of corporate video conferences being tapped/monitored/etc.?!
I understand the need to develop these technologies, but at least admit that there isn't any immediate demand besides possibly military applications. I much rather have someone working on securing ChoicePoint, Lexus Nexus, and a few other large data warehousing systems... maybe that's just me?
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How is java.lang.Class not an Object? And java.reflect.Method would be an Object as well. Since Java doesn't differentiate betw. functions and methods, that takes care of functions as well. I'm not sure how/when a package would need to be an Object, so I can't answer that.
If you need methods on integers, doubles, floats, etc. - then you would use the appropriate classes (Integer, Double, Float, Long) to represent them, right? The method belongs to the Class, after all, not the data type. There's a difference. Auto-boxing just takes away the need to know what you're getting (parameters to a method) or what you're sending (does the receiver expect an int or an Integer? doesn't matter). This is really the only place it is needed, I think. And elegantly enough, backwards compatibility isn't broken.
Java 1.5 provides auto-boxing, which essentially makes everything an Object, because the JVM abstracts the details away from your app. Treat an Integer as an int, treat an int as an Integer, doesn't matter.
Hmmm, I'll have to see if there's some way to test this w/o an investment!!
If your circumstances permit, I'd suggest looking into homeschooling. Of all the different things my wife and I have looked at, this seems to be one of the best that assures that our children will get personal attention, with someone who will listen to and accommodate their needs.
Certainly not a solution that fits every situation, but when it does fit, I think it has a lot of potential, and a lot of demonstrated success. I especially like that non-religious, 'secular', homeschooling is just as popular now as the previously more common religious homeschooling. I've seen resources that indicate they teach "Intelligent Design" ... and am very happy that those resources aren't my only choice!!
Really?!? I've looked all over the TiVo forums and never found a mention of USB2 TiVos being out there. I have a 40hr TiVo (series2) from last year (got it about a year ago, exactly) - any chance I have USB2? Any way to check?!?
I don't recall using "objective" in my post, nor even that being the point of my post. Did you attach your comment to the wrong parent?
Exactly.
... you'll find much more than just the WSJ and your local rag.
I think when some people think of "Media", they think of NYT, USA Today, ABC News, CNN, and their locally circulated newspaper, news stations, etc.
There's a lot more to media than just this. There are a great number of publications that are extremely biased, small indie newsletters, mini magazines and who knows what other formats. There are publications geared toward the military, toward eco-friendly folks, and everything up down and in-between.
And what's more amazing, is that most libraries carry these for their surrounding communities. Check it out sometime
Brice
Wow, a bit touchy this morning.
I'm not sure when indicating one thing is larger than another began to mean that the latter is zero or nonexistant. I certainly didn't learn it in this way, and I feel I have a pretty decent grasp of the English language.
I do enjoy your efforts to fly in the face of a substantial body of research that shows the substantially larger capacity of children to learn, compared to adults. Particularly with regards to learning quickly.
Personally, I learn new technologies on almost a daily basis. I also learn new things about medicine, politics, and a variety of other topics, as the need arises. However, none of this detracts from the point I've made: OS X is going to be easier to learn for technophobes than Linux, in the current state of Desktop Linux (now the Java Desktop System, which is a modified GNOME interface, may be different, I dunno). Will children be able to pickup Linux as quickly as OS X, probably. Will adults? Probably not.
But ya know, I'm sure that the teeny tiny share of desktop systems that Linux enjoys is a sure indication of how easy it is to use, how intuitive the interface is, and how well it complies with HCI guidelines. As I'm certain that all the contributors for GNOME and KDE are well versed in HCI (doubtful if the APIs are any indication).
And you would guess wrong. I have two children, thanks.
.. there's ALWAYS messing needed. A new version of the Flash plug-in comes out for Firefox. How's that work w/ Konq? What about Nautilus? Will Opera be pre-loaded? I can install a full distro, all apps, absolutely everything ... and there's still messing needed. Maybe they'll put a new interface on that limits the things folks can point and click to, instead of unleasing a full GNOME/KDE interface on 'em. That might be a good idea.
And kids won't be the only folks using these systems. There will be teachers. There will be administrators. There will be parents who will want to help. And last I checked, this wasn't only targeted towards school children, but I may have misunderstood somewhere along the line.
And as for messing
Cheers.
Right, and OS X was to be provided for free. Just as RedHat is. I'm not thinking that access to the source of the GNOME or KDE subsystem is gonna matter much to the folks receiving this. But hey, I've been wrong before, I'm sure this wouldn't be the last time. They could be targetting X11 developers in third world countries.
... but it could be a tad tricky for folks that have never used computers before.
Of course, one cannot argue that access to the kernel source differentiates Linux, because last I checked, OS X runs on the Darwin kernel, which is also open sourced. And hey - Safari runs on the Web Core subsystem, which is open sourced (KHTML, with patches or updated source provided). And hey, I can run practically any GNU-ish package out there from Linux land, thanks to the nice folks from Fink.
So, the difference I see is that OS X provides a nice, slick, HCI compliant interface, where RedHat still has issues with its interface. I don't mind RedHat for myself, my family, or any other Linux distro for that matter
A child's capacity to learn is quite a bit larger than an adult's. Especially an adult that's never been exposed to many electronic tools, much less a system as sophisticated as a computer.
I fully expect my children (now 11 months & 2.5yrs) to be amazingly adept at using computers. I also expect them to learn more languages than I know (linguistic). Does that mean I can learn Japanese or Spanish or Russian as easily as they'll be able to? No. I expect that they'll learn to play a few instruments as well. I can play the piano, but will I be able to learn the violin as easily as they will? Probably not.
So, I'm glad I gave you a platform to rant, but your statements are truly irrelevant. I'm not saying that Linux is bad, just that OS X may be easier to learn for the folks that these systems will target. Most folks agree that Linux on the Desktop still falls shy of OS X and WinXP in its completeness, intuitiveness, polishedness (yes, I'm making up some words).
Nevermind being cohesive.
Cheers
Re-learning to do things already known from another platform is one thing, and can be more difficult than learning from scratch (on any platform).
And 5-10% market share for Mac systems doesn't mean that Windows is easier to use. Same reasoning why Windows having 90-95% market share doesn't mean its the most secure operating system, or the most stable, or, or, or.
I disagree. Principles is one thing, succeeding is another. We forget that using a computer is a difficult and even scary experience for the vast majority of folks, particularly those with very little education. Packing laptops with what is still widely considered the most user-friendly operating system on the market today would certainly have been a wise move, IMHO.
I've been a Linux user for roughly 7-8 yrs, not an old-timer by any means, but I've hit most of the distros, many when they were still in their infancy (RedHat, Mandr[ake/iva], etc.). I've installed Ubuntu for my sister-in-law and many developers at my company use it. But personally (when I'm not posting from my XP SP2 ThinkPad), I'm on a Mac. I just don't have to spend as much time "messing" with things. And that's the fact of the matter.
Flame away.
No offense, but for Google's market, that doesn't matter. Check out other analytics systems such as WebSideStory's HBX (formerly Hitbox). It also depends on Javascript. And according to analytics that are routinely published, the number of folks not having Javascript enabled is dwindling to the point of obscurity.
What folks really care about is the proliferation of anti-spyware software that deletes persistent cookies that allow analytics packages to track individual visitors as they return to the site (an important measurement for determining the stickiness of a site). Unfortunately, running Windows means, practically, that you need to be running this kind of software.
Cheers
Not exactly. Sure, if they bought tunes from the iTMS, the easiest path would be to get an iPod. But, the ROKR still plays MP3 files that you ripped (with iTunes) from CDs you own. So, in that case, you could go buy any other portable MP3 player to "upgrade" from your ROKR.
Now, it would be a slightly different story if the ROKR could only play AAC files, or even worse, only protected AAC files from the iTMS.
Cheers.
Ahem, not exactly.
Stolen liberally from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_factorization
Amen. Hear, hear for the Apache folks, especially the Jakarta group. Wow. Awesome stuff there.
So, I presume you've sent your MP3 file to Apple to have them figure out exactly why it behaves this way on an iPod?
No? Might wanna give that a chance. Or, just rip that MP3 back to WAV and have iTunes re-encode it. While I haven't written the iTunes software myself, I'd be awfully surprised if it could encode something that the iPod couldn't play.
And thank YOU for a very level-headed reply. I'm not entirely sure that I have my head around the issue of the fed. gov't. providing money for this (or many other types of) research. On the one hand, we have the NSF, which is presumably sponsored in part or entirely by the fed. gov't. That organization then determines what research does or does not get funded.
... yet, tax dollars doesn't seem to be the right place to pull that funding.
I can certainly see the use of such an organization, but at the same time, having tax dollars funding medical research doesn't seem like a slam-dunk piece of logic. This is any type of research, really - not just stem cell & such. Within a capitalist society, without a universal healthcare system, where is the driving force for developing this research? The research takes place largely at academic institutions, I gather, and it makes sense that there exists a lack of funding at that level
Dunno, still trying to wrap my head around the issue. The one thing I have determined, however, is that this and certain other issues that tend to be bathed under the scrutiny of morality, are much clearer at the individual level. Ancillary issues, however, continue to perplex me.
I can't help myself, I have to say something.
The problem I see with the whole debate on stem cell research, abortion, etc. is that the discussion is based on generalities and painting broad strokes with huge brushes.
Quite frankly, if I as an individual do not want any embryos that I have sired to be used for stem cell research, there isn't a SINGLE researcher out there that would even, for a moment, consider trying to force ME (just ME) to acquiesce.
At every step of the process in obtaining viable stem cell lines for research (or commercial applications, when the research bears fruit), every possible step is taken to ensure that the ultimate "owners" of the genetic information agree to the use of that information for these purposes. At least, this is my understanding.
So, for all those folks who have a problem with it, just say no, personally, individually. Let everyone else do the same. Regardless of how a "person" is defined, let's not try to apply this broadly, generically.
In a case-by-case, individual scenario, you could easily imagine a couple at a fertility clinic talking with a doctor who has tested certain ova or even embryos and found that they are, individually, unable to sustain life. At that point, the doctor presents a form and asks quite simply: "These cells cannot provide you a child, would you agree to their use to further research derived from these cells?" Some folks may still have a moral or otherwise personal problem with that and say No. Others may not and say Yes.
Either way, this is a personal, individual decision that needs to be carried out on a case-by-case basis. Generalizing it and lifting it to a higher level really obfuscates the issue and complicates matters unnecessarily, as it introduces parties into the equation that really have no reason to be involved.
Sorry, had to throw in my $0.02.
Well, if they can sense two fingers on the touchpad to activate scrolling, then they may be able sense if your right or left finger is tapping the touchpad, hence right or left click.
Sorry to reply to my own post, but here's one thing I found Googling in about 30s.
v q-1000
http://www.covitechnologies.com/products/analog/e
This is apparently a 1280x720p HD security camera, has multiple outputs and multiple views/zoom/tilt/etc. Looks interesting.
I've found that playback of HD streams on my 2x2GHz G5 also differs based on the monitor I'm on. One's attached to a PCI-based video card, the other to the AGP video card. Naturally, the play on the monitor w/ AGP is smooth, very smooth ... and the play on the PCI based card is unbearable.
For what its worth, a lot of live (HD) broadcast events these days are pulled off with G5-based systems, I have to think that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to pull that sort of thing into a tele-conference solution. Though, I'm not thinking its gonna be cheap, either.
I do recall, while working on an Aerial Robotics project, we ordered a SWEET (and expensive) progressive-scan video camera. Wasn't very big, seemed like it was mostly meant for closed-circuit type of stuff, so it was about that size (say maybe 8" by 2.5" square?). I'm not sure if at that time (1998/1999) it was 720p capable, I just remember it was progressive scan, so we could take analyzable still shots (w/o interlacing). So, at least 480p, I guess.
I couldn't agree more.
:)
Who needs a hidden API when we have reflection APIs?
So, maybe I haven't been following the news, but have there been many instances of corporate video conferences being tapped/monitored/etc.?!
... maybe that's just me?
I understand the need to develop these technologies, but at least admit that there isn't any immediate demand besides possibly military applications. I much rather have someone working on securing ChoicePoint, Lexus Nexus, and a few other large data warehousing systems