Call me silly, but I think there is something to this "everything through the browser" malarkey. That's not to say everything should be on the cloud, but I don't see why we can't push non-critical functionality on rendering engines. A lot of mobile apps are just native interfaces to webservices anyway.
Wait, you want everything to run on a common software platform? How revolutionary. We could call it "Doorways", because the browser would provide a path to see into the possibilities. We could have a common add-on called "Glimmer" that provides additional functionality.
I can't picture any problems with such an approach.
Hopefully you have a QA team...if your project is large enough and you do not have a QA team, consider proposing the concept to management. Proper controls and planning on unit test, functional test, system test, solutions test, things like that are all really required to help keep large, multi-developer projects in check, especially in this day and age of migrant coders, on-and-off contractors, and out-sourced-then-imported coding jobs.
My wife works in QA, and simply having a QA team is not adequate. Yes, it is one more check (or balance), but it's also redundancy that can quickly overwhelm the primary focus of your coding team.
You need strong leaders in your coding group. If you have strong coders, and they're not strong leaders, think about structuring the work in a way that forces the code into spec. Find ways to develop those leadership attributes, and train the other coders to conform. The nice thing about working with coders is that a structured training program (training, as in behaviouralism) will work - routines, structure and cause/effect (or compulsion loops) are much easier to implement with an emotionally detached, logical group of individuals. You can actually discuss the "training" routine (but don't label it as such) and expect a level of rational resistance to change. Rationality can can be worked with, and in my experience, you don't get people who are much more rational than coders.
It doesn't have to be a permanent arrangement, and it doesn't have to involve raises. It does have to give your team an opportunity to make the transition to a new way of coding without feeling threatened. Think of it as a clean break from a bad relationship. You can't stay friends, you need a complete change of scenery.
Considering the reputation that megaupload had, I don't think he'll have any problems getting users. I think, like so many other websites, he will have trouble monitizing the service without becoming obnoxious.
I'm sure adblock will deal with the obnoxious ads...
I don't see any of these things happening at Microsoft, with this project, at this time. Sure, it may have happened in the past, but it's hardly a microsoft thing to do - all the big kids do it.
It is more a matter of history. Considering what they have done in the past, I am NOT ready to trust them. They are a pernicious monopoly that is now beginning to realize that they are threatened. They are starting to act like a cornered animal, trying to pull out many of their old monopolistic tricks out of their war chest.
Pfft. Who you gonna trust instead? Sony? Apple?
Pick your poison. They've all been abusive in their own special way, at once point or another.
Yes, potential employers will be impressed with your tale of losing a contest, and your app that doesn't work. These arguments are the same that some try to use to defend spec work (and that's what this is, honestly).
Yeah, well you'll be laughing out the other side of your face when the market for people with "Campbell's Recipe API" experience explodes, and I have it there on my resume, right beside the "Customise Ronald McDonald's Face Remote Protocol v1.3".
If you're going to list it on your resume like that, then experience isn't the only problem you have:)
What? Microsoft is preserving an alternative format, even though there is competition, on a hypothetical, un-used format? This is not a bad thing.
It becomes a bad thing when one of these three things are true: 1: You are forced to use the lower quality format through hardware/vendor lock in 2: You are forced to use the lower quality format because of widespread adoption or 3: When a company acquires the "rights" to the better format, and refuses to allow commercial use.
I don't see any of these things happening at Microsoft, with this project, at this time. Sure, it may have happened in the past, but it's hardly a microsoft thing to do - all the big kids do it.
That's the question to ask. Experience? Fun? Bragging rights? Whatever... if you can't think of anything like that, all you'd be doing is bolster the company's bottom line.
... While you might be bolstering their bottom line, you're gaining experience that makes you a more competitive candidate in the future. It may not pay off immediately, and it may not apply to the majority of established developers, but for a younger programmer? This is an excellent way to gain industry-specific experience - even if you're not selected, and even if your program doesn't work as well as the winner (or work well, period), you have an additional talking point for your interviews, and an additional hook on your resume.
Besides, big business makes money of all their employees. The employees aren't all worth the same (in terms of both function and productivity). What is so fundamentally wrong with a merit-based reward that is open to anyone willing to enter? If you enter for experience, then you get experience - no matter the outcome. Maybe you'll impress someone into offering you a short contract anyways.
If you enter because you need the money... why not just stick to your full-time job?
Virtual reality on a Mac? As far as I understand, VR is really only going to be used for 2 things. Games, and, uh, Adult Games.
I suppose that's a good fit - OSX is a small but rapidly expanding gaming ecosystem. Just like the "adult gaming experience".
(Nevermind that this is really a window compositor - and until we get excellent haptic feedback working on a "gaming" platform, I'm disinclined to be interested).
Well, not really. It would shift production back to north america, and that would require technicians to install and maintain the robots.
Installation can be done by a consultant, and is a one-time cost.
For maintenance, at $22,000, it would be cheaper to replace three of them per year than keeping a technician employed. All you need is someone who after his other tasks can spend ten minutes on loading in the program as per the instructions left by the consultant.
Until the robots are self-servicing, self-selling and self-assembling, there will be work. Once they've mastered two of those three, I think we will have larger issues.
In anticipation of that time, it should clearly be stated that I, for one, will welcome our cold, unfeeling, american-made robot masters. Unless these get copied by the chinese as well, and then?... well, I don't speak binary or mandarin.
This might go a long way to explaining why certain families are very invested in sports (especially supporting national sports teams), where other families don't really care about it. I think we all know that one family where everyone loves football, even though they all have different teams... or, if you're part of that family, then it might go a long way to explaining why no one outside your family is nearly passionate enough about football.
" a $22,000 humanoid robot named "Baxter" that could give cheap offshore labor a run for its money and return manufacturing jobs to U.S. soil.
Uh... seems like someone is unclear on the definition of "job."
Well, not really. It would shift production back to north america, and that would require technicians to install and maintain the robots.
It's not in the summary or article, but wikipedia says her body is aging, with different parts aging at different rates. And that "her telomeres seem to be shortening at the normal rate."
Wikipedia. To misquote the Simpsons, the source of - and solution to - all the internet debates.
Looks to me like a Republican, in the face of potential gun bans, is pointing at video games and saying "LOOK OVER HERE! HERE! LOOK OVER HERE INSTEAD."
Well, I guess it would be okay if Colleen Lachowicz was my representative. Otherwise, I'd refuse. I mean, are there even any republicans out there that have actually played a videogame?
Or you could do what my 3rd grade teacher did and let a bunch of kids play with Legos.
... or you could let them play minecraft, as justification for the huge capital investment in computers. I mean, there HAS to be a reason we spent all that money on computer labs.
If want to see a terrible example of electronic document conversion, google e-health ontario. Between government incompetence and contractor dishonesty, we ended up (as a province) spending millions in order to get... nothing.
Speculators demand more transparency so they can jack the price of futures every time a breaker trips at a refinery.
One of the reasons that gas prices fluctuate overnight is due to speculation - this is just another way of attempting to democratize the "open" market.
As I understand it, the price of crude changes quicker due to speculation than to any other factors - can you think of another item where demand and/or supply will affect the prices on the same level (not due to speculation)?
Why can't we get copies of our ebooks when we buy the dead-tree version?
Well, you [technically] can.... the question should be why can't we legally get a copy of the e-book, when we pay full price for a dead tree book.
Also, why are e-books still so expensive? The amount saved by avoiding regular distribution channels should knock more than 10% off the actual book cost...
Slashdot Mirror
Call me silly, but I think there is something to this "everything through the browser" malarkey. That's not to say everything should be on the cloud, but I don't see why we can't push non-critical functionality on rendering engines. A lot of mobile apps are just native interfaces to webservices anyway.
Wait, you want everything to run on a common software platform? How revolutionary. We could call it "Doorways", because the browser would provide a path to see into the possibilities. We could have a common add-on called "Glimmer" that provides additional functionality.
I can't picture any problems with such an approach.
Wow. This is so innovative. I can't believe someone didn't invent it and bring it to the internet before 2008 ...
Chris Wysopal, the CTO of Veracode, is still using terms like "pre-internet era".
With terminology like that, it sounds like someone is living in the pre-2000 internet era.
Hopefully you have a QA team...if your project is large enough and you do not have a QA team, consider proposing the concept to management. Proper controls and planning on unit test, functional test, system test, solutions test, things like that are all really required to help keep large, multi-developer projects in check, especially in this day and age of migrant coders, on-and-off contractors, and out-sourced-then-imported coding jobs.
My wife works in QA, and simply having a QA team is not adequate. Yes, it is one more check (or balance), but it's also redundancy that can quickly overwhelm the primary focus of your coding team.
You need strong leaders in your coding group. If you have strong coders, and they're not strong leaders, think about structuring the work in a way that forces the code into spec. Find ways to develop those leadership attributes, and train the other coders to conform. The nice thing about working with coders is that a structured training program (training, as in behaviouralism) will work - routines, structure and cause/effect (or compulsion loops) are much easier to implement with an emotionally detached, logical group of individuals. You can actually discuss the "training" routine (but don't label it as such) and expect a level of rational resistance to change. Rationality can can be worked with, and in my experience, you don't get people who are much more rational than coders.
It doesn't have to be a permanent arrangement, and it doesn't have to involve raises. It does have to give your team an opportunity to make the transition to a new way of coding without feeling threatened. Think of it as a clean break from a bad relationship. You can't stay friends, you need a complete change of scenery.
Mega's availability remains spotty as of this articles' writing
...but it's sure better than the current state of megavideo.
Considering the reputation that megaupload had, I don't think he'll have any problems getting users. I think, like so many other websites, he will have trouble monitizing the service without becoming obnoxious.
...
I'm sure adblock will deal with the obnoxious ads
I don't see any of these things happening at Microsoft, with this project, at this time. Sure, it may have happened in the past, but it's hardly a microsoft thing to do - all the big kids do it.
It is more a matter of history. Considering what they have done in the past, I am NOT ready to trust them. They are a pernicious monopoly that is now beginning to realize that they are threatened. They are starting to act like a cornered animal, trying to pull out many of their old monopolistic tricks out of their war chest.
Pfft. Who you gonna trust instead? Sony? Apple?
Pick your poison. They've all been abusive in their own special way, at once point or another.
Yes, potential employers will be impressed with your tale of losing a contest, and your app that doesn't work. These arguments are the same that some try to use to defend spec work (and that's what this is, honestly).
Yeah, well you'll be laughing out the other side of your face when the market for people with "Campbell's Recipe API" experience explodes, and I have it there on my resume, right beside the "Customise Ronald McDonald's Face Remote Protocol v1.3".
If you're going to list it on your resume like that, then experience isn't the only problem you have :)
And something with learning new tricks
What? Microsoft is preserving an alternative format, even though there is competition, on a hypothetical, un-used format? This is not a bad thing.
It becomes a bad thing when one of these three things are true:
1: You are forced to use the lower quality format through hardware/vendor lock in
2: You are forced to use the lower quality format because of widespread adoption
or 3: When a company acquires the "rights" to the better format, and refuses to allow commercial use.
I don't see any of these things happening at Microsoft, with this project, at this time. Sure, it may have happened in the past, but it's hardly a microsoft thing to do - all the big kids do it.
That's the question to ask. Experience? Fun? Bragging rights? Whatever... if you can't think of anything like that, all you'd be doing is bolster the company's bottom line.
... While you might be bolstering their bottom line, you're gaining experience that makes you a more competitive candidate in the future. It may not pay off immediately, and it may not apply to the majority of established developers, but for a younger programmer? This is an excellent way to gain industry-specific experience - even if you're not selected, and even if your program doesn't work as well as the winner (or work well, period), you have an additional talking point for your interviews, and an additional hook on your resume.
... why not just stick to your full-time job?
Besides, big business makes money of all their employees. The employees aren't all worth the same (in terms of both function and productivity). What is so fundamentally wrong with a merit-based reward that is open to anyone willing to enter? If you enter for experience, then you get experience - no matter the outcome. Maybe you'll impress someone into offering you a short contract anyways.
If you enter because you need the money
Virtual reality on a Mac? As far as I understand, VR is really only going to be used for 2 things. Games, and, uh, Adult Games.
I suppose that's a good fit - OSX is a small but rapidly expanding gaming ecosystem. Just like the "adult gaming experience".
(Nevermind that this is really a window compositor - and until we get excellent haptic feedback working on a "gaming" platform, I'm disinclined to be interested).
Well, not really. It would shift production back to north america, and that would require technicians to install and maintain the robots.
Installation can be done by a consultant, and is a one-time cost. For maintenance, at $22,000, it would be cheaper to replace three of them per year than keeping a technician employed. All you need is someone who after his other tasks can spend ten minutes on loading in the program as per the instructions left by the consultant.
Until the robots are self-servicing, self-selling and self-assembling, there will be work. Once they've mastered two of those three, I think we will have larger issues.
... well, I don't speak binary or mandarin.
In anticipation of that time, it should clearly be stated that I, for one, will welcome our cold, unfeeling, american-made robot masters. Unless these get copied by the chinese as well, and then?
Inherited, you say?
... or, if you're part of that family, then it might go a long way to explaining why no one outside your family is nearly passionate enough about football.
This might go a long way to explaining why certain families are very invested in sports (especially supporting national sports teams), where other families don't really care about it. I think we all know that one family where everyone loves football, even though they all have different teams
Overseas ofcourse. Doesen't anyone think about these things? What is the cost of electricity in China/India compared to the US?
That depends on how many nuclear reactors we can build. Sure, we're sacrificing the future, but it's already so bleak ...
" a $22,000 humanoid robot named "Baxter" that could give cheap offshore labor a run for its money and return manufacturing jobs to U.S. soil. Uh... seems like someone is unclear on the definition of "job."
Well, not really. It would shift production back to north america, and that would require technicians to install and maintain the robots.
At least, until we replace THEM with robots too.
It's not in the summary or article, but wikipedia says her body is aging, with different parts aging at different rates. And that "her telomeres seem to be shortening at the normal rate."
Wikipedia. To misquote the Simpsons, the source of - and solution to - all the internet debates.
Looks to me like a Republican, in the face of potential gun bans, is pointing at video games and saying "LOOK OVER HERE! HERE! LOOK OVER HERE INSTEAD."
Well, I guess it would be okay if Colleen Lachowicz was my representative. Otherwise, I'd refuse. I mean, are there even any republicans out there that have actually played a videogame?
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
... And Godzilla.
Or you could do what my 3rd grade teacher did and let a bunch of kids play with Legos.
... or you could let them play minecraft, as justification for the huge capital investment in computers. I mean, there HAS to be a reason we spent all that money on computer labs.
Also, ewww. Do you know what kids do with legos?
If want to see a terrible example of electronic document conversion, google e-health ontario. Between government incompetence and contractor dishonesty, we ended up (as a province) spending millions in order to get ... nothing.
And that's with ONLY 13 million people.
It's great that the default security settings have been increased - and the zero-day flaws needed fixing (as always).
Proper web browsing hygiene protected users from this zero-day vulnerability - but my mom needed this update.
Speculators demand more transparency so they can jack the price of futures every time a breaker trips at a refinery.
One of the reasons that gas prices fluctuate overnight is due to speculation - this is just another way of attempting to democratize the "open" market.
As I understand it, the price of crude changes quicker due to speculation than to any other factors - can you think of another item where demand and/or supply will affect the prices on the same level (not due to speculation)?
So, the man of steel has become stolen by "the man"...
Really a shame that service got buried by the dinosaur music industry....
Now I'm going to start worrying about the raptors of the music industry ... thanks a lot.
Why can't we get copies of our ebooks when we buy the dead-tree version?
Well, you [technically] can.... the question should be why can't we legally get a copy of the e-book, when we pay full price for a dead tree book.
...
Also, why are e-books still so expensive? The amount saved by avoiding regular distribution channels should knock more than 10% off the actual book cost