How dare you question the evil of spreadsheets! Spreadsheets are a threat to my very existence. Why, if users could handle basic computing tasks with a simple general-purpose tool I'll be out of work -- or worse -- people will stop thinking I'm special.
"Facts" and "reality" have no place here except when they support the submitter's premise. This was supposed to be a love-on-entry-level-developers and hate-on-spreadsheets thread.
Just a quick fix for the submitter and those like minded:
this does seem very much like an amateur accounting/design problem, i.e. someone cobbling something together with no understanding of what they are doing. This happens all the time. Programming languages are immensely powerful, but rely completely on the competence of the user - both at programming and at whatever it is they are trying to do.
Just for fun:
A lot of folks think Python can somehow substitute for the latter, they don't really need to understand what they are doing because hey, Python has a function for that!
Spreadsheets are not the problem. They're a great tool appropriate for a broad class of problems. Users aren't the problem either -- it's all a matter of training.
Why all the Spreadsheet love? It saves time and money. As every developer knows, programmers are both lazy and expensive. Why waste their energy and the companies money working out some piddly tool that does what Excel can easily do better?
It's why I recommend training in Excel for all office staff every year. It saves everyone time and, without question, saves money.
Yeah, I've written more than on TSR back in the old days.
Why you're still an idiot: They don't run in the background -- They terminate, but stay resident. You'd hook an interrupt and use that to transfer control to your program.
Even if they did, which they do not, it would need to be coded for a specific camera (no OS provided imaging API) assuming that the user had a camera (VERY unlikely. I can't even think of a camera from that era.) It's not just impossible -- it's impractical as well.
The true answer is dead easy. "No security feature on BB would stop this kind of spyware. Unlike iOS."
Prove your claim. You couldn't be more wrong.
Oh, and it's nto a security feature that prevents this type of malware from running on iOS -- as I pointed out, it's their multitasking is just too damn weak to support it!
It's the same reason that such spyware wouldn't work on DOS or Windows 3.1
The answer is far more complicated than "My phone is too shitty to handle the app".
It would take a lot of effort to explain how security on the BB works to you (covering the two different major OSs) all so that you can completely ignore anything I had to say (as explained in my earlier post) I decided it wasn't worth my time. I was right.
You can do a google search and find out for yourself why BB is known for being the most secure mobile platform on the planet and why you won't find this kind of rouge software in the wild.
Honestly, why are you willfully remaining ignorant? What are you afraid you'll discover?
you're making this ridiculous claim that the problem is I don't know how to use Google.
By your own reasoning, the fact that you haven't conduced a simple google search as I asked is proof-positive that you don't know how to use a search engine.
I've explained why I'm unwilling to discuss the details of RIMs security with you -- I guess you struggle with reading as well, yes?
This isn't a debate. It never was. I went out of my way to explain to you why I'm not going to engage you.
Well, stupid mistake on my part. You're behaving exactly as I predicted -- the only difference is that you have nothing to say.
Go do some reading. That I refuse to waste my time explaining the subject to you (because it doesn't matter what I say, you'll ignore it just to argue) has absolutely nothing to do with the subject.
There's nothing to Google,
It's not my fault you can't use a search engine.
you haven't even been able to mention the name of a feature or technology that would prevent RIM devices being hit by spyware of this type.
Again, I'm not going to waste my time with a detailed post, because you'll ignore whatever I write and continue to argue irrationally -- like you've been doing.
You have literally nothing.
I have lots of things. You could have lots of things to if you took a few minutes to do some reading. Oh, that's right, you don't know how to use google. Sorry about that.
It depends on where you live. Verizon has more than a few completely dead spots where I live, and virtually no signal at my workplace, so they're completely out of the running.
The wife is on Sprint, which is worse than useless here as well -- she'll be switching to a different provider in January.
I'm on AT&T now. I haven't found a spot that it doesn't work locally, and I haven't noticed any issues while traveling.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Though a double-digit share price by the end of the year seems unrealistic, with their new products not expected until January.
They are debt free and have increased their cash reserves. (Interesting note, cash reserves increased by nearly the amount of their reported losses.) They have a fantastic set of new products and a clear launch strategy.
I know the meme is that they have no customers (even though they've consistently gained many more customers than they've lost quarter after quarter) and they're dying (even though they've only posted two losses post iPhone, the second being much smaller than the first) and that they're selling the same phone virtually unchanged since 2005 (which is laughably false). Reality, however, doesn't fit the narrative. They have, without question, the most advanced and capable mobile OS on the planet. While subjective, their UI is brilliant and represents a dramatic departure from both their own history and from the current market leaders in very positive ways (they're inventing the future of mobile computing). Just the gesture suite alone is leagues ahead of iOS.
In short, they're hardly dying, their new products are impressive, and they have a clear plan moving forward.
No, they won't be in the double digits this year, but 2013 looks to be a very good year for RIM.
What do you think peer reviewers do? They sure as hell aren't replicating your work! The feedback you get also varies greatly in quality and importance.
From what I've seen, the average reviewer doesn't spend more than an hour or two of their time on you. Even if they set aside a whole week for you, they can't guard against a completely fabricated experiment. Short of some gross or obvious error, I can see how such a thing could easily slip past.
They're doing fine. They outperformed expectations last quarter, and their user-base continues to grow. (I know that a bullshit article on slashdot a week or so ago made a different claim, but it was pitifully wrong.) Not bad for a company that hasn't released a new flagship phone for nearly a year.
From what we've seen, BB10 is nothing short of amazing. Even their current OS7 phones (though about a year old) are very slick and compelling -- the 9900 is a real workhorse. For those that need to do actual work on our phones, it's hard to beat. Even the RIM hating reviewers gave it high-praise.
It's not a bad move. Unless you use your smartphone to do nothing but play games, a BlackBerry is a fantastic choice. With BB10, it's going to be really difficult to find a reason to stick with iOS or Android -- even Windows 8 is an attractive alternative. I don't see Android and iOS maintaining the lead over the next few years.
Don't confuse them with facts and reason. The meme is that Samsung made their phones as identical as they could manage. Any differences between their phones and the iPhone was their inability to match Apples pure awesome.
Besides, no one had anything like rounded corners or icons aligned to a grid or buttons that align neatly before Apple. If they did then they didn't "put them all together" in to the "perfect package". Yes, even their supposedly awful chicklet keyboards and hockey-puck mice were superior to all other alternatives -- the perfect design that give the user the perfect experience.
All those designs that came before the iPhone that look, well, like an iPhone are all lies created by time-traveling fandroids. Apple invented all that is good. Bow your head and thank Steve Jobs for blessing you with the opportunity to buy a holy iPhone, in all it's glory. Praise be!
Wait, so the only people who will buy Windows 8 tablets will either be those that are after a bargain tablet or those that don't know anything about tablets?
What a stupid thing to say. I'm more likely to buy a Windows 8 tablet over the two current leaders as iOS is garbage (really, I don't know how anyone puts up with it), and I don't care for Android (I don't like the clunky UI and hate the pitiful dev tools). I seriously doubt that I'm unique.
Really, a Windows 8 tablet on x86 is rather compelling for technical users as well as home and business users.
What's wrong with Windows 8 that you think customers will run screaming from the platform? If iOS, Android, and Windows 8 were the only three options, there's no real reason to go with the current market leaders other than being heavily invested in those other ecosystems.
Well, you have to realize that the reason multitasking is like it on iOS (despite being a full UNIX core) is because of battery life.
Let's say that's true. Other platforms give you the option to suspend background apps are keep them running. (BB10, BB PBOS)
But it's also to do with security - iOS has very limited ways of accessing user data
RIM's platforms have better security, yet don't have these same restrictions! It looks like a way to avoid implementing proper security to me.
RIM can manage it, yet Apple can't... that doesn't sound too good for Apple!
On security, Are there any RIM products that don't have the highest FIPS certification plus a bunch of others? How is it that Apple has been trying for something like three years just for the basics and STILL hasn't managed it?
Piss-poor features are not a substitute for proper security. Not by a long shot.
Damn, you're thick! I explained why I wasn't going to bother writing a long post about this. As you're both argumentative and completely irrational, it looks like I made the right decision!
Again, there is plenty online that any idiot can find with a simple google search that makes my point for me.
Why are you afraid to read? Is it because you can argue irrationally against whatever I post to support my claim and thus ignore the facts but you can't do the same with other sources? You may be forced to confront the truth with no hope of escape?
Go do some reading. You can't go through life irrational and willfully-ignorant!
Wait, so I'm wrong because you can't be bothered to do some reading? I guess I shouldn't expect reason to be a big part of your life, given that you're a diehard Apple fan.
Again, I've outlined exactly what will happen if I bothered going in to more detail. I know, because it's happened with you in the past.
So, yes, go do some reading. You shouldn't take so much pride in ignorance.
It's cool to hate javascript. Hence, all the sheep repeating the meme -- hence the lack of specifics. In reality, js is fairly painless to use and, once you know what to avoid, you can use it to write some nice clean and maintainable code.
Here's the weird part. While it's cool to hate javascript it's also cool to love jQuery. Weird, as all it does is make your code less efficient, less readable, and more difficult to maintain. (Abuse of jQuery abounds -- I've seen it included to do astonishingly simple things that could have been handled with CSS. The worst abuse I've see was the inclusion of jQuery to do nothing more than redirect the user to another page when they clicked a button. Seriously. )
If you stick to a simple subset of the language, know how to write modular code, and avoid ridiculous libraries like jQuery, javascript can be a very nice language.
Here's what would have happened had I given in to your absurd demand for evidence you can find on your own with a simple google search:
1) Spend 20-30 minutes putting together a write-up that covers a tiny part of the topic. 2) Watch as you:
2a) Point out some aspect I didn't cover, covered insufficiently, or that you think you can argue convincingly against
2b) Argue, legitimately or illegitimately against each sentence in turn, in a long mutli-quoted post 3) Spend 20-30 minutes writing a reply to address some misunderstanding or to clarify some point 4) Watch as you write multiple replies to said reply, leading to a large disconnected thread 5) Complain that I haven't addressed some minor irrelevant points from posts earlier in the discussion.
Sorry, I have better things to do with my time. Do a google search.
Slashdot Mirror
How dare you question the evil of spreadsheets! Spreadsheets are a threat to my very existence. Why, if users could handle basic computing tasks with a simple general-purpose tool I'll be out of work -- or worse -- people will stop thinking I'm special.
"Facts" and "reality" have no place here except when they support the submitter's premise. This was supposed to be a love-on-entry-level-developers and hate-on-spreadsheets thread.
I couldn't agree more.
Just a quick fix for the submitter and those like minded:
this does seem very much like an amateur accounting/design problem, i.e. someone cobbling something together with no understanding of what they are doing. This happens all the time. Programming languages are immensely powerful, but rely completely on the competence of the user - both at programming and at whatever it is they are trying to do.
Just for fun:
A lot of folks think Python can somehow substitute for the latter, they don't really need to understand what they are doing because hey, Python has a function for that!
Spreadsheets are not the problem. They're a great tool appropriate for a broad class of problems. Users aren't the problem either -- it's all a matter of training.
Why all the Spreadsheet love? It saves time and money. As every developer knows, programmers are both lazy and expensive. Why waste their energy and the companies money working out some piddly tool that does what Excel can easily do better?
It's why I recommend training in Excel for all office staff every year. It saves everyone time and, without question, saves money.
code hanging off an IRQ *is* running in the background.
No, it's not. Do you even know how interrupts work? Apparently you don't!
Yeah, I've written more than on TSR back in the old days.
Why you're still an idiot: They don't run in the background -- They terminate, but stay resident. You'd hook an interrupt and use that to transfer control to your program.
Even if they did, which they do not, it would need to be coded for a specific camera (no OS provided imaging API) assuming that the user had a camera (VERY unlikely. I can't even think of a camera from that era.) It's not just impossible -- it's impractical as well.
Anyhow, I've wasted enough time on you.
The true answer is dead easy. "No security feature on BB would stop this kind of spyware. Unlike iOS."
Prove your claim. You couldn't be more wrong.
Oh, and it's nto a security feature that prevents this type of malware from running on iOS -- as I pointed out, it's their multitasking is just too damn weak to support it!
It's the same reason that such spyware wouldn't work on DOS or Windows 3.1
The answer is far more complicated than "My phone is too shitty to handle the app".
It would take a lot of effort to explain how security on the BB works to you (covering the two different major OSs) all so that you can completely ignore anything I had to say (as explained in my earlier post) I decided it wasn't worth my time. I was right.
You can do a google search and find out for yourself why BB is known for being the most secure mobile platform on the planet and why you won't find this kind of rouge software in the wild.
Honestly, why are you willfully remaining ignorant? What are you afraid you'll discover?
you're making this ridiculous claim that the problem is I don't know how to use Google.
By your own reasoning, the fact that you haven't conduced a simple google search as I asked is proof-positive that you don't know how to use a search engine.
I've explained why I'm unwilling to discuss the details of RIMs security with you -- I guess you struggle with reading as well, yes?
This isn't a debate. It never was. I went out of my way to explain to you why I'm not going to engage you.
Well, stupid mistake on my part. You're behaving exactly as I predicted -- the only difference is that you have nothing to say.
Go do some reading. That I refuse to waste my time explaining the subject to you (because it doesn't matter what I say, you'll ignore it just to argue) has absolutely nothing to do with the subject.
There's nothing to Google,
It's not my fault you can't use a search engine.
you haven't even been able to mention the name of a feature or technology that would prevent RIM devices being hit by spyware of this type.
Again, I'm not going to waste my time with a detailed post, because you'll ignore whatever I write and continue to argue irrationally -- like you've been doing.
You have literally nothing.
I have lots of things. You could have lots of things to if you took a few minutes to do some reading. Oh, that's right, you don't know how to use google. Sorry about that.
It depends on where you live. Verizon has more than a few completely dead spots where I live, and virtually no signal at my workplace, so they're completely out of the running.
The wife is on Sprint, which is worse than useless here as well -- she'll be switching to a different provider in January.
I'm on AT&T now. I haven't found a spot that it doesn't work locally, and I haven't noticed any issues while traveling.
Of course, YMMV.
Not on the tablet, for the tablet.
I'm glad that you decided to post even though know absolutely nothing about the subject being discussed.
Thanks. Uninformed opinions are awesome!
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Though a double-digit share price by the end of the year seems unrealistic, with their new products not expected until January.
They are debt free and have increased their cash reserves. (Interesting note, cash reserves increased by nearly the amount of their reported losses.) They have a fantastic set of new products and a clear launch strategy.
I know the meme is that they have no customers (even though they've consistently gained many more customers than they've lost quarter after quarter) and they're dying (even though they've only posted two losses post iPhone, the second being much smaller than the first) and that they're selling the same phone virtually unchanged since 2005 (which is laughably false). Reality, however, doesn't fit the narrative. They have, without question, the most advanced and capable mobile OS on the planet. While subjective, their UI is brilliant and represents a dramatic departure from both their own history and from the current market leaders in very positive ways (they're inventing the future of mobile computing). Just the gesture suite alone is leagues ahead of iOS.
In short, they're hardly dying, their new products are impressive, and they have a clear plan moving forward.
No, they won't be in the double digits this year, but 2013 looks to be a very good year for RIM.
What do you think peer reviewers do? They sure as hell aren't replicating your work! The feedback you get also varies greatly in quality and importance.
From what I've seen, the average reviewer doesn't spend more than an hour or two of their time on you. Even if they set aside a whole week for you, they can't guard against a completely fabricated experiment. Short of some gross or obvious error, I can see how such a thing could easily slip past.
Conference papers are worse -- I doesn't surprise me in the least that a randomly generated paper could slip in and get accepted.
They're doing fine. They outperformed expectations last quarter, and their user-base continues to grow. (I know that a bullshit article on slashdot a week or so ago made a different claim, but it was pitifully wrong.) Not bad for a company that hasn't released a new flagship phone for nearly a year.
From what we've seen, BB10 is nothing short of amazing. Even their current OS7 phones (though about a year old) are very slick and compelling -- the 9900 is a real workhorse. For those that need to do actual work on our phones, it's hard to beat. Even the RIM hating reviewers gave it high-praise.
It's not a bad move. Unless you use your smartphone to do nothing but play games, a BlackBerry is a fantastic choice. With BB10, it's going to be really difficult to find a reason to stick with iOS or Android -- even Windows 8 is an attractive alternative. I don't see Android and iOS maintaining the lead over the next few years.
Don't confuse them with facts and reason. The meme is that Samsung made their phones as identical as they could manage. Any differences between their phones and the iPhone was their inability to match Apples pure awesome.
Besides, no one had anything like rounded corners or icons aligned to a grid or buttons that align neatly before Apple. If they did then they didn't "put them all together" in to the "perfect package". Yes, even their supposedly awful chicklet keyboards and hockey-puck mice were superior to all other alternatives -- the perfect design that give the user the perfect experience.
All those designs that came before the iPhone that look, well, like an iPhone are all lies created by time-traveling fandroids. Apple invented all that is good. Bow your head and thank Steve Jobs for blessing you with the opportunity to buy a holy iPhone, in all it's glory. Praise be!
Wait, so the only people who will buy Windows 8 tablets will either be those that are after a bargain tablet or those that don't know anything about tablets?
What a stupid thing to say. I'm more likely to buy a Windows 8 tablet over the two current leaders as iOS is garbage (really, I don't know how anyone puts up with it), and I don't care for Android (I don't like the clunky UI and hate the pitiful dev tools). I seriously doubt that I'm unique.
Really, a Windows 8 tablet on x86 is rather compelling for technical users as well as home and business users.
What's wrong with Windows 8 that you think customers will run screaming from the platform? If iOS, Android, and Windows 8 were the only three options, there's no real reason to go with the current market leaders other than being heavily invested in those other ecosystems.
Well, you have to realize that the reason multitasking is like it on iOS (despite being a full UNIX core) is because of battery life.
Let's say that's true. Other platforms give you the option to suspend background apps are keep them running. (BB10, BB PBOS)
But it's also to do with security - iOS has very limited ways of accessing user data
RIM's platforms have better security, yet don't have these same restrictions! It looks like a way to avoid implementing proper security to me.
RIM can manage it, yet Apple can't ... that doesn't sound too good for Apple!
On security, Are there any RIM products that don't have the highest FIPS certification plus a bunch of others? How is it that Apple has been trying for something like three years just for the basics and STILL hasn't managed it?
Piss-poor features are not a substitute for proper security. Not by a long shot.
Damn, you're thick! I explained why I wasn't going to bother writing a long post about this. As you're both argumentative and completely irrational, it looks like I made the right decision!
Again, there is plenty online that any idiot can find with a simple google search that makes my point for me.
Why are you afraid to read? Is it because you can argue irrationally against whatever I post to support my claim and thus ignore the facts but you can't do the same with other sources? You may be forced to confront the truth with no hope of escape?
Go do some reading. You can't go through life irrational and willfully-ignorant!
Wait, so I'm wrong because you can't be bothered to do some reading? I guess I shouldn't expect reason to be a big part of your life, given that you're a diehard Apple fan.
Again, I've outlined exactly what will happen if I bothered going in to more detail. I know, because it's happened with you in the past.
So, yes, go do some reading. You shouldn't take so much pride in ignorance.
Something like Python? I thought you wanted something better?
Just keep calling it "ECMA Script" until it sticks.
Good luck.
It's cool to hate javascript. Hence, all the sheep repeating the meme -- hence the lack of specifics. In reality, js is fairly painless to use and, once you know what to avoid, you can use it to write some nice clean and maintainable code.
Here's the weird part. While it's cool to hate javascript it's also cool to love jQuery. Weird, as all it does is make your code less efficient, less readable, and more difficult to maintain. (Abuse of jQuery abounds -- I've seen it included to do astonishingly simple things that could have been handled with CSS. The worst abuse I've see was the inclusion of jQuery to do nothing more than redirect the user to another page when they clicked a button. Seriously. )
If you stick to a simple subset of the language, know how to write modular code, and avoid ridiculous libraries like jQuery, javascript can be a very nice language.
Here's what would have happened had I given in to your absurd demand for evidence you can find on your own with a simple google search:
1) Spend 20-30 minutes putting together a write-up that covers a tiny part of the topic.
2) Watch as you:
2a) Point out some aspect I didn't cover, covered insufficiently, or that you think you can argue convincingly against
2b) Argue, legitimately or illegitimately against each sentence in turn, in a long mutli-quoted post
3) Spend 20-30 minutes writing a reply to address some misunderstanding or to clarify some point
4) Watch as you write multiple replies to said reply, leading to a large disconnected thread
5) Complain that I haven't addressed some minor irrelevant points from posts earlier in the discussion.
Sorry, I have better things to do with my time. Do a google search.
If you deny that apple products cost 1.5-2x more than other comparably spec'd computers long enough and loud enough it magically becomes true.
All part of the magic that you get when you, a special and interesting person, buy Apple products!
Why? Facts are meaningless to you otherwise you'd have taken a few seconds to do a google search.