The downers are it's a bit of a different paradigm, and effective use of the API requires a dynamic OO language such as Objective-C or SmallTalk. Obj-C is very easy to learn though - a few hours and you'll be flying.
See, there's the rub... I don't *want* to use Obj-C or Smalltalk. (And yes, I've used Obj-C on a major shipping product back in the NextStep days, so I don't speak out of ignorance.)
Give me a way to use it with a language I'm comfortable with, or you've lost me. C++ would be nice. EcmaScript/JavaScript/ActionScript would be nice too. Maybe even Java.
But is it possible (or practical) to use it with anything *except* Objective-C?
I realize that many people seem to love it, but I really, really dislike it... the syntax is wonky (IMHO) and far from my favorite language.
If I could code in something like EcmaScript/JavaScript/ActionScript, that might make it much more interesting... but any kit that requires I use Objective-C as my primary language is a nonstarter as far as I'm concerned.
the point is that as long as resistors, capacitors, ICs, and soldering irons are sold, the analog hole will never be closed.
This is true, but equivalent to saying that "As long as plants can be grown, opium and marijuana can never be eliminated".
The point is not that they can eliminate such behavior, but make the legal penalties for them so onerous that few will attempt it.
Not that I attempt with either point of view, mind you; just trying to point out that I don't think that the MPAA/RIAA is crazy enough to think they can actually *eliminate* such behavior.
Of course, the sad side effect, as we know, is that it may eliminate the casual copier, but creates and reinforces a new regime of organized crime.
Really, I had thought this administration had dropped to the lowest depths of cluelessness that it could. But this totally boggles the mind. On so many levels.
Can we PLEASE just get rid of this embarassment of an administration?
Or, you could just crank up the warning level on your compiler to something suitably high, which will warn you when you do an assignment inside a conditional... and end up code that (IMHO) is much more readable. I've always considered the constant-on-the-left coding style to be an abomination of readability.
Perhaps, New Orleans should look to Venice for a solution.
Huh? Venice is half-underwater for, what, 1/3 of the year these days?
Last I heard, the proposed Giant MultiBillionDollar Venice Saving Levee Project Thingee was still mired in politics.
I guess Venice at least has the excuse of being hundreds of years older, and not built actually *below* sea level (more like *exactly at* sea level)...
The problem isn't lack of interest, but lack of manpower.
See this blog entry by one of the Flash Player engineers discussing the problems in porting to Linux and AMD64... and note that and the end he comments:
"If you bothered to read to this point it means that Macromedia wants you really bad. Really, really bad.:-) We've been looking for Linux gurus for a while (well, it has been for more than a year now without anyone being even close to what we need, I guess they all go to Google...) and for best results they would have to be in house. Collaboration with the team here on a daily basis as a long term full time employee will be key to get the best results. So apply right now for this job. Not only will you be able to do exciting work on Linux, you'll even be paid for it!"
Anyone who thinks, for even a second, that this EULA is intended to prevent notebook usage of Flash is being deliberately obtuse.
Let me let you in on a little secret: a lot (if not most) of the people on the Flash Player team at Macromedia use laptops to *develop* the player. (I was doing so earlier today, as a matter of fact...)
If you want to complain about the EULA being overly restrictive, yadda yadda, fine, fair game. But this kind of bogus argument doesn't really help your cause -- it just makes you look like a bonehead.
Simeon (Sim) Simeonov used to be chief architect at Allaire/Macromedia where he shipped more products than he can remember on a summer day. Now he is a technology investor at Polaris Venture Partners in Boston. He still codes on weekends. You can reach Sim at sim_at_polarisventures.com.
OCaml is my primary language and I wish more people would turn on to it
I'd love to, but Windows is my primary dev environment, and Windows support for OCaml is kinda marginal. (Oh, sure, you can do basic stuff with it, but most of the interesting libraries are very Linux-oriented... if a Windows version exists, it's got a painful build process associated with it.)
I know, I know, I can just learn Linux... it's easy and free, right?... but this is not the point: I want to use OCaml to write apps for Windows, so pointing to (say) cd-boot distros that include OCaml do me no good.
I know, I know (#2)... it's all open-source, so I can just bring the Windows version up to snuff myself, right? Yeah, in theory... if only I had the time.
I know, I know (#3)... I'm asking for a free lunch here. ("Damn you for offering an excellent, free language on my OS of choice! The nerve!") All I'm trying to say is that IMHO OCaml would be a much more interesting language if the Windows implementation had better parity with the Linux versions...
Slashdot Mirror
The downers are it's a bit of a different paradigm, and effective use of the API requires a dynamic OO language such as Objective-C or SmallTalk. Obj-C is very easy to learn though - a few hours and you'll be flying.
See, there's the rub... I don't *want* to use Obj-C or Smalltalk. (And yes, I've used Obj-C on a major shipping product back in the NextStep days, so I don't speak out of ignorance.)
Give me a way to use it with a language I'm comfortable with, or you've lost me. C++ would be nice. EcmaScript/JavaScript/ActionScript would be nice too. Maybe even Java.
Parent is AC, but makes excellent points.
But is it possible (or practical) to use it with anything *except* Objective-C?
I realize that many people seem to love it, but I really, really dislike it... the syntax is wonky (IMHO) and far from my favorite language.
If I could code in something like EcmaScript/JavaScript/ActionScript, that might make it much more interesting... but any kit that requires I use Objective-C as my primary language is a nonstarter as far as I'm concerned.
the point is that as long as resistors, capacitors, ICs, and soldering irons are sold, the analog hole will never be closed.
This is true, but equivalent to saying that "As long as plants can be grown, opium and marijuana can never be eliminated".
The point is not that they can eliminate such behavior, but make the legal penalties for them so onerous that few will attempt it.
Not that I attempt with either point of view, mind you; just trying to point out that I don't think that the MPAA/RIAA is crazy enough to think they can actually *eliminate* such behavior.
Of course, the sad side effect, as we know, is that it may eliminate the casual copier, but creates and reinforces a new regime of organized crime.
"pro-abortion" and "pro-gay"?
I don't think these are fair descriptions of *anyone*...
Really, I had thought this administration had dropped to the lowest depths of cluelessness that it could. But this totally boggles the mind. On so many levels.
Can we PLEASE just get rid of this embarassment of an administration?
Yeah, but does it run Doom?
Or, you could just crank up the warning level on your compiler to something suitably high, which will warn you when you do an assignment inside a conditional... and end up code that (IMHO) is much more readable. I've always considered the constant-on-the-left coding style to be an abomination of readability.
Perhaps, New Orleans should look to Venice for a solution.
Huh? Venice is half-underwater for, what, 1/3 of the year these days?
Last I heard, the proposed Giant MultiBillionDollar Venice Saving Levee Project Thingee was still mired in politics.
I guess Venice at least has the excuse of being hundreds of years older, and not built actually *below* sea level (more like *exactly at* sea level)...
C) Or anyplace subject to earthquakes.
D) Or anyplace subject to volcanic activity.
E) Or anyplace subject to tornadoes.
Hmm... where does that leave?
"Facts are stupid things."
-- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the USA
The problem isn't lack of interest, but lack of manpower.
:-) We've been looking for Linux gurus for a while (well, it has been for more than a year now without anyone being even close to what we need, I guess they all go to Google...) and for best results they would have to be in house. Collaboration with the team here on a daily basis as a long term full time employee will be key to get the best results. So apply right now for this job. Not only will you be able to do exciting work on Linux, you'll even be paid for it!"
See this blog entry by one of the Flash Player engineers discussing the problems in porting to Linux and AMD64... and note that and the end he comments:
"If you bothered to read to this point it means that Macromedia wants you really bad. Really, really bad.
Why'd you marry such shallow, pathetic women?
What -- you mean there's some other kind?
And here I thought it was some cool new programming language (presumably a billion times better than old fashioned Pascal...)
So will the new ad slogan be "An aggregated diamond nanorod is longer-than-forever...." ?
Instructions are already there. (Found by about 15 seconds of googling...)
n dex.cfm?id=tn_14157
http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/i
He is correct: the grandparent is plain lying (or deluded).
Flash does NOT allow access to webcam or microphone without explicit user approval.
Period.
I've seen the code.
Actually, wish I had mod points to mod you up.
Thanks for a post that actually has something useful to say on the subject.
C'mon.
Anyone who thinks, for even a second, that this EULA is intended to prevent notebook usage of Flash is being deliberately obtuse.
Let me let you in on a little secret: a lot (if not most) of the people on the Flash Player team at Macromedia use laptops to *develop* the player. (I was doing so earlier today, as a matter of fact...)
If you want to complain about the EULA being overly restrictive, yadda yadda, fine, fair game. But this kind of bogus argument doesn't really help your cause -- it just makes you look like a bonehead.
Aw, c'mon, SVG renders just as reliably as SWF.
Just check out the comparisons at http://www.linuxrising.org/svg_test/test.html and you'll see that...
umm....
nevermind.
Sure.
http://www.osflash.org/
It's close enough.
OK, but why not say "He used to work for Macromedia"?
Actual accuracy wouldn't have been any harder, and would have taken all of 30 seconds to google.
Hell, that's how long it took me.
The article reads like an ad for Flash, which is hardly surprising since the guy works for Macromedia.
No he doesn't:
Simeon (Sim) Simeonov used to be chief architect at Allaire/Macromedia where he shipped more products than he can remember on a summer day. Now he is a technology investor at Polaris Venture Partners in Boston. He still codes on weekends. You can reach Sim at sim_at_polarisventures.com.
Why not have the specification be primarily graphical
Ummm.... because programmers can't draw. I mean, duh. Have you ever looked at a whiteboard in a technical meeting room?
Hell, I can barely even draw rectangles, and that's when I use drawing apps that have draw-a-rectangle tools....
OCaml is my primary language and I wish more people would turn on to it
... but this is not the point: I want to use OCaml to write apps for Windows, so pointing to (say) cd-boot distros that include OCaml do me no good.
I'd love to, but Windows is my primary dev environment, and Windows support for OCaml is kinda marginal. (Oh, sure, you can do basic stuff with it, but most of the interesting libraries are very Linux-oriented... if a Windows version exists, it's got a painful build process associated with it.)
I know, I know, I can just learn Linux... it's easy and free, right?
I know, I know (#2)... it's all open-source, so I can just bring the Windows version up to snuff myself, right? Yeah, in theory... if only I had the time.
I know, I know (#3)... I'm asking for a free lunch here. ("Damn you for offering an excellent, free language on my OS of choice! The nerve!") All I'm trying to say is that IMHO OCaml would be a much more interesting language if the Windows implementation had better parity with the Linux versions...