One day I went to pull up the my-yahoo home page co-branded by my dsl carrier using Opera for Sharp Zaurus. To my surprise I got a page telling me that I needed to upgrade my browser to netscape 6 or ie to view this page. This was new! Figuring there was some sort of misunderstanding I dug out the support number for my beloved dsl carrier and asked them what the problem was. The best explanation I could get out of the over-seas support people was that their website could cause damage to my computer if I didn't use the correct web browser to view their content!
Here is an article which includes the reasoning why they are abandoning the Hubble. Safety! I read something earlier that they will only take the shuttle into an orbit where they could use the ISS lifeboat if something happens which would keep the shuttle from surviving reentry. Or course I can't find that article again. May have been in a small local paper.
I've been through two Viewsonic monitors. Finally had to give them to my Dad to get rid of them. The things won't die. I came to the Viewsonic decisions walking around the place I was working at. The company had been around forever so there was a lot of old equipment around. I checked out which monitors I liked and realized the Viewsonics still consistently had bright, crisp displays despite their age.
My next monitor purchase was a Nokia. Which coincidentally turned out to have been acquired by Viewsonic. Go figure! Made that decision reading reviews then bought a refurb from some auction site. Has been a standup monitor so far.
I also have to comment on how important refresh rates and graphics cards are. High refresh rates at the resolution you want to run at is important. I like to get 1280x1024 with at least a 70hz refresh. Cards that will do that well are more common now. But don't skimp on the graphics card if you want to get your moneys worth out of your monitor.
Hi have a Harmony remote and it is all that. I've had the cheapie universal remotes. I've had good, cheap universal remotes. The Harmony will make flipping the inputs around on your various components and turning them on/off for what you need to do a snap. They have an intuitive web interface that does just about anything you would want. You can always hand mangle the XML if the web interface can't do what you want. It has better range than a palm with omniremote(I've tried it). I find a complex home theater setup is difficult to use with traditional universal remotes. A universal remote with enough buttons is just too big. People don't need to remeber which component is plugged into which input. The remote knows! This remote will save you from getting phone calls asking how to switch to the DVD player or watch a videotape. I think these people are on to something!
Okay. One last time. Holywood and California are totally different places. The rest of california is not on microbiotic diets or wearing crystals! Well, okay, maybe people in Santa Cruz and San Francisco have something in common with Holywood. But the rest of the state doesn't claim those cities either!
Okay...back to the subject at hand. Nemesis sucked! I am a huge ST, ST:NG and Enterrise fan. The writing in Nemesis was terrible!
Picard made some of the stupidest decisions I've ever seen a Starfleet captain make! For exmaple: why were they cruising around a pre-warp culture in full uniform, shuttle pod and dune buggy???? And captain Picard would never prioritize his own ego higher than the safety of Earth! The entire movie sucked that way! ST fans expect the crew to think and act like the crew. I can't believe the ST:NG cast went along with that!
And who did they screen that thing to? I can't remember the last time I checked my watch so many times during a movie.
No laundry list of programming language features will prevent bad code. A good design which leverages the strengths of your language of choice is a much better bet. I always evaluate what my application will be and where it will run before I pick a programming language. The decision should be based on the merits of the language for your application rather than just the merits of one language versus another.
There is no language with all the virtues you are seeking because every language is formulated using tradoffs and are tailored to the preferences of the designer. Garbage collection typically slows things down and sometimes contributes to bloat. Operator overloading and C++ style multiple inheritance often result in confusing code. Features which involve overloading are often syntactic sugar. Use features as far as they are useful. Language features should not be used to impress your friends.;)
The real question is how useful a language would be in solving your particular problem. Is C++ sytle multiple inheritnce going to let you implement your solution faster? Will your users notice the performance hit caused by the garbage collection features in Java or Lisp?
Personally I prefer C++ for performance intensive applications. Java is really a step forward in terms of clean language design. Proper use of java can result in a more reliable, albiet marginally slower, application. These and other languages all have their place.
I think prior suggestions to combine languages are very valid. Many languages will integrate with others that will front a C or C++ interface. Choosing one language for the UI then another for solving the actual problem can be quite effective and seamless to the user. I've solved a lot of problems by selecting a client-server interface between the logic and user interface.
I hope this doesn't confuse more than it helps.
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One day I went to pull up the my-yahoo home page co-branded by my dsl carrier using Opera for Sharp Zaurus. To my surprise I got a page telling me that I needed to upgrade my browser to netscape 6 or ie to view this page. This was new! Figuring there was some sort of misunderstanding I dug out the support number for my beloved dsl carrier and asked them what the problem was. The best explanation I could get out of the over-seas support people was that their website could cause damage to my computer if I didn't use the correct web browser to view their content!
Now I found the article where they talk about the safety reasons keeping the Space Shuttle from servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
Here is an article which includes the reasoning why they are abandoning the Hubble. Safety! I read something earlier that they will only take the shuttle into an orbit where they could use the ISS lifeboat if something happens which would keep the shuttle from surviving reentry. Or course I can't find that article again. May have been in a small local paper.
I've been through two Viewsonic monitors. Finally had to give them to my Dad to get rid of them. The things won't die. I came to the Viewsonic decisions walking around the place I was working at. The company had been around forever so there was a lot of old equipment around. I checked out which monitors I liked and realized the Viewsonics still consistently had bright, crisp displays despite their age.
My next monitor purchase was a Nokia. Which coincidentally turned out to have been acquired by Viewsonic. Go figure! Made that decision reading reviews then bought a refurb from some auction site. Has been a standup monitor so far.
I also have to comment on how important refresh rates and graphics cards are. High refresh rates at the resolution you want to run at is important. I like to get 1280x1024 with at least a 70hz refresh. Cards that will do that well are more common now. But don't skimp on the graphics card if you want to get your moneys worth out of your monitor.
Hi have a Harmony remote and it is all that. I've had the cheapie universal remotes. I've had good, cheap universal remotes. The Harmony will make flipping the inputs around on your various components and turning them on/off for what you need to do a snap. They have an intuitive web interface that does just about anything you would want. You can always hand mangle the XML if the web interface can't do what you want. It has better range than a palm with omniremote(I've tried it). I find a complex home theater setup is difficult to use with traditional universal remotes. A universal remote with enough buttons is just too big. People don't need to remeber which component is plugged into which input. The remote knows! This remote will save you from getting phone calls asking how to switch to the DVD player or watch a videotape. I think these people are on to something!
Okay. One last time. Holywood and California are totally different places. The rest of california is not on microbiotic diets or wearing crystals! Well, okay, maybe people in Santa Cruz and San Francisco have something in common with Holywood. But the rest of the state doesn't claim those cities either!
Okay...back to the subject at hand. Nemesis sucked! I am a huge ST, ST:NG and Enterrise fan. The writing in Nemesis was terrible!
Picard made some of the stupidest decisions I've ever seen a Starfleet captain make! For exmaple: why were they cruising around a pre-warp culture in full uniform, shuttle pod and dune buggy???? And captain Picard would never prioritize his own ego higher than the safety of Earth! The entire movie sucked that way! ST fans expect the crew to think and act like the crew. I can't believe the ST:NG cast went along with that!
And who did they screen that thing to? I can't remember the last time I checked my watch so many times during a movie.
No laundry list of programming language features will prevent bad code. A good design which leverages the strengths of your language of choice is a much better bet. I always evaluate what my application will be and where it will run before I pick a programming language. The decision should be based on the merits of the language for your application rather than just the merits of one language versus another. There is no language with all the virtues you are seeking because every language is formulated using tradoffs and are tailored to the preferences of the designer. Garbage collection typically slows things down and sometimes contributes to bloat. Operator overloading and C++ style multiple inheritance often result in confusing code. Features which involve overloading are often syntactic sugar. Use features as far as they are useful. Language features should not be used to impress your friends. ;)
The real question is how useful a language would be in solving your particular problem. Is C++ sytle multiple inheritnce going to let you implement your solution faster? Will your users notice the performance hit caused by the garbage collection features in Java or Lisp?
Personally I prefer C++ for performance intensive applications. Java is really a step forward in terms of clean language design. Proper use of java can result in a more reliable, albiet marginally slower, application. These and other languages all have their place.
I think prior suggestions to combine languages are very valid. Many languages will integrate with others that will front a C or C++ interface. Choosing one language for the UI then another for solving the actual problem can be quite effective and seamless to the user. I've solved a lot of problems by selecting a client-server interface between the logic and user interface.
I hope this doesn't confuse more than it helps.