The thousands of people in Florida who cannot stick a stupid pin in a piece of perferated cardboard is the most likely the same group of people who cannot use a computer.
I lost some weight just by moderating my intake. You do not believe me? Try this:
If you drink coffee or tea with sugar in it, stop using sugar.
Use Sweet n' Low or better yet Splenda.
The sugar adds too much carbs to you diet. Soft drinks are ten times worse. Drink water , as least 5 glasses a day. If you must drink something else, drink diet soda or bring your own juices.
Stop going the death-trap, fast-food places and wolfing down two or three McGriddles.
If you going to eat, go out to a good, sit-down place, eat slower and take your time. You can moderate your diet better that way.
Eat more fresh green veggies. You can as much veggies as you desire without much adverse effects. A good salad with a small portion of steak works well.
Finally, get off you a$$ once in a while. Just a little exercise, like walking in the park, helps.
IANAD (I am not a dietician), but it seems to work well. It's not an overnight success, but I feel much better than I did a year ago.
Sun should have done this first: Use the ActiveX control technology built into Internet Explorer to automatically install the JVM, with permission, when a user hits a page with an applet. Macromedia Flash does every time I hit a page that requires Flash 6. Plus, if I remember correctly, that the latest Java Plug-In for Internet Explorer is already implemented as an ActiveX control.
Here is an example of why some scripters do not know what the hell they are doing sometimes:
One day, I a co-worker of mine asked me to help him figure out why was his component code for updating a sorted directory was not working as fast as he hoped. The code was in Visual Basic. He told me that initially it was working well, but after getting into production, the code "decided" to become slow. He was a decent VBScript scripter from what I observed before, but this was his first real Visual Basic code. I changed my opinion of him when I saw the code. This code was real production code, in Visual Basic at one time...
Private Sub sort_array(ByRef ga as Variant(), ByVal gsize as Long) Dim i, j Dim temp
For i = 1 To gsize For j = 1 To i If ga(i) < ga(j) Then temp = ga(j) ga(j) = ga(i) ga(i) = temp End If Next Next
End Sub
Now, who the hell still uses a friggin' bubble sort to sort a large array? This person certainly did.
I asked him "Where did he get this code?". He stated that he found it on the net. After explaining the reasons why this code could be better with a Quicksort, I got the impression that the code was over his head. I ended up writing the code in C++.
The moral of this story is that some of the scripters, especially those who have never had a lick of computer science, have the mentality that they can do the job in less coding time than the compiled languages. For the most part, it is true. The scripting languages have their place. However, once they get into the realm where performance actually matters, then scripters are like a herd of lost lambs trying to find their mommies. They do not know jack. If I can teach them a thing or two (and they remember it), then their value increases in my book.
When they ask me to do a credit check, I flat out refuse. The top reasons I give:
"I'm sorry, Mr. Employer, credit check inquires affect my credit score. I do not want to be refused credit or only qualify for lower tier simply because I have 10 or so employer inquire about my credit history."
"Additionally, I keep my credit information private and make a very proactive attempt to keep it secure. How can you, Mr. Employer, guarantee that my information is secure and confidential if there are one or more of your employees passing my credit history around your corporation. Would you sign a statement stating that your company is at fault if credit and identity theft is determined to be caused by any negligence from your company? I really do not want to put your company in that position, so please respect my wishes on this matter."
"Mr. Employer, I could understand how credit checks can be used to evaluate individuals. However, if you want to know who I am, or about my work habits, please feel free to contact any of my previous employers and references on my resume. I am positive that you can get more than enough information on me through them."
If they persist, I basically end the interview process there. If a company cannot respect your security and privacy, then they probably would not respect you in other matters also.
I am assuming Iron Chef USA didn't do too well since it isn't still being produced/aired. What do you think was its downfall?
I watch Iron Chef a lot. I mean a lot!
If you ever seen the show or the DVD, then it should have been painfully obvious why the "USA" version of Iron Chef did not make it.
It sucked. Simple as that.
Although I am a fan of William Shatner, he is definitely no Takeshi Kaga.
The commentator, Michael Burger, had no idea what the hell he was talking about. It was like Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football: He just didn't belong there.
It reminded me of the WWF if not anything else...
However, the culinary commentator and the Iron Chefs were really not bad at all. It seem to be the only real bright spot in a sinking ship.
Although it's been about three years since my computer has seen Windows, I still need to use Windows at work. It is clear that the job market where I am located (in Cleveland, OH) is mostly filled with large companies that have a demand for Microsoft engineers.
As a software engineer that works in both Microsoft and the Unices, I think on top of the standard "user interface argument" and the standard "has no app X" argument, there a more indirect reason that may be the root of why people stay with Windows. I think it boils down to the vast support of the Microsoft's Component Object Model.
Yes Microsoft COM.
Think about this. Since it's introduction in circa 1994, COM has evolved into Microsoft's key development strategy. COM (along with ActiveX, Automation, etc) usually present in every viable Microsoft application:
Active Documents - VB Automation, Drag and Drop, Object embedding and linking.... Every feature in Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer that user's desire is implemented using COM.
Active Scripting - ASP, VBScript, J(ava)Script, PerlScript, PythonScript... All of them are COM and Automation based.
DirectX - The foundation for gaming graphics in Windows is a set of COM interfaces.
With all this foundation that Microsoft has provided, the amount of support applications and components grew. Therefore, it indirectly translates into the easy user interface or the support for different applications reasons given here on/. about this topic.
Even though COM and Automation might be a cause of all the Outlook script viruses out there, I think that people are willing to stick with Windows despite that Windows may be insecure in those matters. The benefits of COM seem to outweigh it's disadvantages.
In Opera's Web browser, for example, a person who wants to return to a previous page can simply hold down a button and slide the mouse to the left, rather than moving the cursor to the top of the screen and hitting the "back" button.
I don't use Opera. So if I need to hold a mouse button and move my mouse,then how in the heck would I select text for cut-n-paste?
I don't know about anyone else, but good search engines should be smart enough to grep keywords right out of the content itself. If a stupid search engine is just gonna spider a document just for the META tags anyway, might as well get better keywords by reading the whole document, IMHO.
Face it, guys, this article spelled it out far more clearly than I ever could. The GPL should not-- must not, even-- be equated with freedom. It is restrictive, just like any other license. Six bleedin' pages of restrictions, for that matter. The BSD license is a truly free license: do whatever you want with this code. Period.
OK. If that were the truth, how would you feel where Microsoft or Apple or such makes billions of dollars on your new killer app that you just released under a BSD license. You may never know that trhe app was derived from your code, either, because both companies normally like to withhold the source code from the general public, without an NDA or citing that it might threated security. How would you feel?
Although the general concept of the BSD license is nice and all. If you release source code under a BSD license, you might as well write 'WILLING TO BEND OVER FOR FREE' on your forehead and stand with the folks who think the BSD license is a truly free.
I don't think that is correct. I seem to recall some project or other moving away from GPL at a version change. If the author retains copyright to the work as a whole, which the FSF suggests to do, the author can change from GPL2 to GPL3 or to BSD, etc.
Well, OK. It is possible, but somewhat difficult. You basically need all of the copyright holders, from the original down to the current author of your source code derivative that you are using (if any) to agree to renounce the GPL and release their portion under a new license where the GPL cannot take presidence OR complete remove such source code.
It get easier when a single company controls the authors (under work for hire) of the original source code (or what I call the vanilla code.) It makes it much easier to put code under a dual license scheme. Of course, the company cannot really accept patches from anonymous open-source hackers, because it ruins the vanilla code. As long as the code remains vanilla, the code could be released under any license the company so desires, because they maintain their status as the original authors.
Now this is where the GPL is cool. The company can release their source code under GPL, where they can get open-source people to use and extend it as they please. If someone wants to use the code for a proprietary app, then that someone could easily contact the original authors to negotiate a separate license for the vanilla code. A great example of this is ID Software's Quake engine, which is released as GPL for the community, yet can be used in other commercial games through license negotiation. ID Software allow the community to see great source code and benefits all.
This would be the freedom kind of free. With the GPL, I am -not- free to sell it without releasing the source.
When you create an application:
You can include GPL code in your application, either by statically or dynamically linking to the code, and releasing it as closed source or a non-GPL license. You are effectively violating someone else's freedom by unauthorized use of copyrighted source code. So, are you willing to violate someone else's freedom to make a buck?
If your application does not use or contain GPL code, then you have the freedom of placing your code under your own license (GPL, BSD, MIT, or some EULA). The GPL does not restrict you here because you are the orginal author. It's your code. Do what you want with it. You are free to place your original source code under the GPL. However, be advised that once you release your code as GPL, any derivitives of the code must be GPL (even if you wrote it, AFAIK and IANAL).
So, under my logic, there are really no freedom violations at all with the GPL.
-- Now that I think about it, Mr. Stallman is not that crazy after all.
Well, I'm sure what make some software cost high is because some people do not know how to budget software development cost accurately.
I'm sure you seen this before:
You want to add a cool feature to your application, but fear the high cost of developing it in-house. As a result, someone comes up with idea of outsourcing thorugh the use of third party SDK's or ActiveX controls.
Depending on the vendors, not only that there is developer licenses per seat involved, but there are runtime licenses and usage costs. On top of that you might need training on how to use the SDK effectively. Oh, and don't forget the technical support contract. Plus, the third party solution might have bugs in it and the vendor have to release periodic upgrades to their SDK... and charge you for that also.
By the time you are all done with the development and maintainance, you realize that you might need to charge more to cover the overhead. Now, just imagine if you had multiple third party SDK's... Oy Vay!
Just my $0.02...
Well, lemme see.....added features, requiring more programmers, who need to work longer hours, which racks up overtime.....
I don't know about you, but last time I checked, salaried programmers like myself do not get paid for overtime. If you know of any, please make sure to pass the opportunity my way ;-)
"With open-source, you're not going to get a platform that's as reliable or scalable or as secure as what you're going to get with a leading vendor," Tullis said.
Well, security, in this, case only goes as far as the hundreds of attempts daily to connect to port 1433 on my Linux box at home. Other than that, I'd say SQL Server is a solid product!
unlimited dial-up internet.
At the time I got this, it was $25.99 per month. However, about 6 months ago, that price rose to $39.99 per month. But, I still pay $25.99 per month because the service said they would honor that deal as long as I do not cancel (according to them, I was a "good customer"). Even at $39.99, it is still a bargin!
Even if I did not have this deal, I prefer an unlimited internet package so I do not need to worry about running up the internet bill. Screw the per hour toll!
AFAIK -> You don't have to suck to suck.
AFAIK -> Ummm... WTF!
AFAIK -> Wow insightful, not true _And_ poor attempt at troll. Maybe you'll do better next time, oh yeah, it helps if you don't go AC to do trolls like that.
whatever, IHATEGNU!
Someone might have tapped into this earlier, but identity theft flurishes here in the U.S. because our SSN is arbitrarily assigned and is used for everything. How can something so insecure control so much? We allowed it. The SSN was originally meant to be just a number to be used exclusively by the social security administration. In fact, it was illegal to use it for anything else. As time passed, the restriction was lifted. The military started using it for ID, and financial sector started using the SSN for more that social security reasons. Yet, the fundemental flaw still exists.
If the U.S. is to have a national ID, it must be tied to the person better than simple assignment. Biometrics seem to be the way to go. Even a simple encoding of a person's physical properties is much better than no security at all. However, for ultimate security, stuff like fingerprints and retinal information, is necessary. Even though I do have the privacy concerns, the SSN is not much better in protecting my privacy.
All in all, if the U.S. is going to do it, I'd rather have them do it right the first time.
"While I agree that Open Sourcing is a better way to go with Operating systems and Applications it shouldn't apply to games that are going to be played over the internet."
Well, it depends on how the game is designed. A well-thought game engine will consider this possibility already.
In an internet game, the client only needs to render it's version of the game state. The master game state is stored on the server. As events happen, the client is responsible for changing it's version of the game state, as well as notifying the server of a state change. Each client in turn would need to recieve state information from the server. As part of the protocol, the server should be able to query portions of the client's version of the game state and compare with the master game state. If the network communication protocol is designed properly, then it the server that really controls the game. So it really does not matter if the game is open-source, because the client must at least be able to communicate with the game server on the server's terms in order just to play the game online.
There already exists alternative root servers organized by the ORSC. For the most part, they seem to be providing hundreds their own set of TLD's (.god for example) as well as ICANN's official set (.com/.org/.net).
The only real problem is the ".biz" namespace collision. When ICANN requested suggestions for new gTLDs, the OSRC sumbitted their application, stating that they had been running a functioning.biz TLD for years. However, ICANN selected someone else to run the.biz gTLD.
Slashdot Mirror
Think about this:
The thousands of people in Florida who cannot stick a stupid pin in a piece of perferated cardboard is the most likely the same group of people who cannot use a computer.
We are so screwed.
Finally, get off you a$$ once in a while. Just a little exercise, like walking in the park, helps.
IANAD (I am not a dietician), but it seems to work well. It's not an overnight success, but I feel much better than I did a year ago.
Sun should have done this first: Use the ActiveX control technology built into Internet Explorer to automatically install the JVM, with permission, when a user hits a page with an applet. Macromedia Flash does every time I hit a page that requires Flash 6. Plus, if I remember correctly, that the latest Java Plug-In for Internet Explorer is already implemented as an ActiveX control.
So what's the problem, Sun?
Disclaimer: I do not like to promote academic dishonesty, I just like to point out the obvious!
One day, I a co-worker of mine asked me to help him figure out why was his component code for updating a sorted directory was not working as fast as he hoped. The code was in Visual Basic. He told me that initially it was working well, but after getting into production, the code "decided" to become slow. He was a decent VBScript scripter from what I observed before, but this was his first real Visual Basic code. I changed my opinion of him when I saw the code. This code was real production code, in Visual Basic at one time...
Now, who the hell still uses a friggin' bubble sort to sort a large array? This person certainly did. I asked him "Where did he get this code?". He stated that he found it on the net. After explaining the reasons why this code could be better with a Quicksort, I got the impression that the code was over his head. I ended up writing the code in C++.
The moral of this story is that some of the scripters, especially those who have never had a lick of computer science, have the mentality that they can do the job in less coding time than the compiled languages. For the most part, it is true. The scripting languages have their place. However, once they get into the realm where performance actually matters, then scripters are like a herd of lost lambs trying to find their mommies. They do not know jack. If I can teach them a thing or two (and they remember it), then their value increases in my book.
- "I'm sorry, Mr. Employer, credit check inquires affect my credit score. I do not want to be refused credit or only qualify for lower tier simply because I have 10 or so employer inquire about my credit history."
- "Additionally, I keep my credit information private and make a very proactive attempt to keep it secure. How can you, Mr. Employer, guarantee that my information is secure and confidential if there are one or more of your employees passing my credit history around your corporation. Would you sign a statement stating that your company is at fault if credit and identity theft is determined to be caused by any negligence from your company? I really do not want to put your company in that position, so please respect my wishes on this matter."
- "Mr. Employer, I could understand how credit checks can be used to evaluate individuals. However, if you want to know who I am, or about my work habits, please feel free to contact any of my previous employers and references on my resume. I am positive that you can get more than enough information on me through them."
If they persist, I basically end the interview process there. If a company cannot respect your security and privacy, then they probably would not respect you in other matters also.I watch Iron Chef a lot. I mean a lot! If you ever seen the show or the DVD, then it should have been painfully obvious why the "USA" version of Iron Chef did not make it.
It sucked. Simple as that.
Although I am a fan of William Shatner, he is definitely no Takeshi Kaga.
The commentator, Michael Burger, had no idea what the hell he was talking about. It was like Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football: He just didn't belong there.
It reminded me of the WWF if not anything else...
However, the culinary commentator and the Iron Chefs were really not bad at all. It seem to be the only real bright spot in a sinking ship.
As a software engineer that works in both Microsoft and the Unices, I think on top of the standard "user interface argument" and the standard "has no app X" argument, there a more indirect reason that may be the root of why people stay with Windows. I think it boils down to the vast support of the Microsoft's Component Object Model.
Yes Microsoft COM.
Think about this. Since it's introduction in circa 1994, COM has evolved into Microsoft's key development strategy. COM (along with ActiveX, Automation, etc) usually present in every viable Microsoft application:
Active Documents - VB Automation, Drag and Drop, Object embedding and linking.... Every feature in Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer that user's desire is implemented using COM.
Active Scripting - ASP, VBScript, J(ava)Script, PerlScript, PythonScript... All of them are COM and Automation based.
DirectX - The foundation for gaming graphics in Windows is a set of COM interfaces.
/. about this topic.
With all this foundation that Microsoft has provided, the amount of support applications and components grew. Therefore, it indirectly translates into the easy user interface or the support for different applications reasons given here on
Even though COM and Automation might be a cause of all the Outlook script viruses out there, I think that people are willing to stick with Windows despite that Windows may be insecure in those matters. The benefits of COM seem to outweigh it's disadvantages.
Last time my TV blast some uncomprehensible signal, my cat had nearly had a heart attack. For a while, I couldn't figure it out what was causing it!!
Finally, I just gave up watching this horrible show...
Now, my cat is on the road to recovery.
I don't use Opera. So if I need to hold a mouse button and move my mouse,then how in the heck would I select text for cut-n-paste?
I don't know about anyone else, but good search engines should be smart enough to grep keywords right out of the content itself. If a stupid search engine is just gonna spider a document just for the META tags anyway, might as well get better keywords by reading the whole document, IMHO.
---
This space is for office use only.
OK. If that were the truth, how would you feel where Microsoft or Apple or such makes billions of dollars on your new killer app that you just released under a BSD license. You may never know that trhe app was derived from your code, either, because both companies normally like to withhold the source code from the general public, without an NDA or citing that it might threated security. How would you feel?
Although the general concept of the BSD license is nice and all. If you release source code under a BSD license, you might as well write 'WILLING TO BEND OVER FOR FREE' on your forehead and stand with the folks who think the BSD license is a truly free.
Well, OK. It is possible, but somewhat difficult. You basically need all of the copyright holders, from the original down to the current author of your source code derivative that you are using (if any) to agree to renounce the GPL and release their portion under a new license where the GPL cannot take presidence OR complete remove such source code.
It get easier when a single company controls the authors (under work for hire) of the original source code (or what I call the vanilla code.) It makes it much easier to put code under a dual license scheme. Of course, the company cannot really accept patches from anonymous open-source hackers, because it ruins the vanilla code. As long as the code remains vanilla, the code could be released under any license the company so desires, because they maintain their status as the original authors.
Now this is where the GPL is cool. The company can release their source code under GPL, where they can get open-source people to use and extend it as they please. If someone wants to use the code for a proprietary app, then that someone could easily contact the original authors to negotiate a separate license for the vanilla code. A great example of this is ID Software's Quake engine, which is released as GPL for the community, yet can be used in other commercial games through license negotiation. ID Software allow the community to see great source code and benefits all.
When you create an application:
So, under my logic, there are really no freedom violations at all with the GPL.
--
Now that I think about it, Mr. Stallman is not that crazy after all.
Well, I'm sure what make some software cost high is because some people do not know how to budget software development cost accurately.
I'm sure you seen this before:
You want to add a cool feature to your application, but fear the high cost of developing it in-house. As a result, someone comes up with idea of outsourcing thorugh the use of third party SDK's or ActiveX controls.
Depending on the vendors, not only that there is developer licenses per seat involved, but there are runtime licenses and usage costs. On top of that you might need training on how to use the SDK effectively. Oh, and don't forget the technical support contract. Plus, the third party solution might have bugs in it and the vendor have to release periodic upgrades to their SDK... and charge you for that also.
By the time you are all done with the development and maintainance, you realize that you might need to charge more to cover the overhead. Now, just imagine if you had multiple third party SDK's... Oy Vay!
Just my $0.02...
I don't know about you, but last time I checked, salaried programmers like myself do not get paid for overtime. If you know of any, please make sure to pass the opportunity my way
Well, security, in this, case only goes as far as the hundreds of attempts daily to connect to port 1433 on my Linux box at home. Other than that, I'd say SQL Server is a solid product!
My local phone service provider wanted to get into the Cleveland, OH. market badly to offset Ameritech they made an offer I could not refuse:
unlimited local phone service.
10 cents local toll and long distance.
call waiting included.
caller ID included.
800 number (if I wanted it).
unlimited dial-up internet.
At the time I got this, it was $25.99 per month. However, about 6 months ago, that price rose to $39.99 per month. But, I still pay $25.99 per month because the service said they would honor that deal as long as I do not cancel (according to them, I was a "good customer"). Even at $39.99, it is still a bargin!
Even if I did not have this deal, I prefer an unlimited internet package so I do not need to worry about running up the internet bill. Screw the per hour toll!
How would you see the cool graphs? ASCII art?
Someone might have tapped into this earlier, but identity theft flurishes here in the U.S. because our SSN is arbitrarily assigned and is used for everything. How can something so insecure control so much? We allowed it. The SSN was originally meant to be just a number to be used exclusively by the social security administration. In fact, it was illegal to use it for anything else. As time passed, the restriction was lifted. The military started using it for ID, and financial sector started using the SSN for more that social security reasons. Yet, the fundemental flaw still exists.
If the U.S. is to have a national ID, it must be tied to the person better than simple assignment. Biometrics seem to be the way to go. Even a simple encoding of a person's physical properties is much better than no security at all. However, for ultimate security, stuff like fingerprints and retinal information, is necessary. Even though I do have the privacy concerns, the SSN is not much better in protecting my privacy.
All in all, if the U.S. is going to do it, I'd rather have them do it right the first time.
Well, it depends on how the game is designed. A well-thought game engine will consider this possibility already.
In an internet game, the client only needs to render it's version of the game state. The master game state is stored on the server. As events happen, the client is responsible for changing it's version of the game state, as well as notifying the server of a state change. Each client in turn would need to recieve state information from the server. As part of the protocol, the server should be able to query portions of the client's version of the game state and compare with the master game state. If the network communication protocol is designed properly, then it the server that really controls the game. So it really does not matter if the game is open-source, because the client must at least be able to communicate with the game server on the server's terms in order just to play the game online.
-- Elementary, my dear Watson.
Shut up, Bill. Get your own forum! ;-)
There already exists alternative root servers organized by the ORSC. For the most part, they seem to be providing hundreds their own set of TLD's (.god for example) as well as ICANN's official set (.com/.org/.net).
.biz TLD for years. However, ICANN selected someone else to run the .biz gTLD.
The only real problem is the ".biz" namespace collision. When ICANN requested suggestions for new gTLDs, the OSRC sumbitted their application, stating that they had been running a functioning
ICANN really ticks me off sometimes...
Could it be Saddam Hussein?
Naaah!