For me, if I can't understand code written by someone else (which happens much more frequently than I care to admit), I'll do a spike and I'll try to rewrite the core functionality from scratch. Now don't get me wrong. This doesn't mean that my code will be half as good as the original implementation, in fact, it won't be for sure, since I won't spend much time on it. For me, that exercise is just a way for me to initially orient myself (and I do not keep the code I write during that phase).
If I'm lucky enough to have a good original version history of the code base, I'll go and pull up the original 0.1 version of the code (while I'm doing my own rewrite). Even if that version of the code is completely wrong. It still has a much higher chance of being something I'll understand. And then, I'll have a better understanding of what the developers were trying to do in the subsequent evolution of the project. Then, I'll isolate the parts of the latest code base I can safely break without breaking the entire thing, and I'll focus on those parts first.
Of course, during that next phase, I'd like to say I write unit-tests for the parts I modify before I modify them, but that's usually not how I work. I'll often have to fall down flat on my face a couple of times, cry in pain and frustration, and tear my hair out, before I'm willing give up and go back to doing things properly with unit tests. This does happen quite frequently, because I never seem to learn my lesson.
And of course, like someone else said already, I will also draw all kinds of mind maps and doodles throughout the entire process. And also, if I have access to one of the original developers who wrote the code, that's even better. If I can pair program with one of those persons, that's the ideal. If I can't, then talking to that person is the second best alternative. That person will be the best person to know all the weak points of his code base, give you a thumbnail overview of the architecture, and he will also be the best person to point out what parts you can work on first (so that you can gain confidence and a gradual understanding) that are the least likely to break the entire thing.
350 pound flight capacity minus 187 pound vehicle weight seems to indicate a 163 pound (74 kilo) passenger limit. Not great, but that's certainly not "anorexic child-size styrofoam dummy" either.
And yet, that's not the weight they actually used for their demo flight, not even close, otherwise they would have used a normal-sized dummy, or a dummy that you can fill up with weights to approximate the weight of a real person (even a small real person).
So when they say that their "takeoff weight" is "about 350 lbs", I'm assuming they mean it's the maximum weight that would be sufficient to lift their apparatus just 1 millimeter off the ground for just about half a second, and no more.
In my experience, I find it usually helps to assume the worst when people are seeking attention and funding for their project, and are making bold new claims about what their project can already do.
Seriously I think the greatest invention of the 21st C could be silent fans. That bike looks like great fun but the noise is a killer.
That bike looks like great fun if you happen to be an anorexic child-size styrofoam dummy.
If you happen to be a real human being slightly over 100 pounds (or slightly over 45 kg, which is really not a lot), that bike will probably just barely lift off the ground.
If it's not powered by pedaling, then what's the point of the bicycle part?
Aside from the click-bait value of having that word in the title, I suppose having the bicycle would be handy for moving the device from point A to point B when the battery is out of juice (which will probably be 99% of the time).
You just bolt a bicycle to the inside of the cockpit of a 747 and then say it's a flying bicycle.
That wouldn't work for my daily telecommute. Assuming I could even pedal the 747 out of the airport i'd fly into, I would have a heck of a time finding a parking spot for it near my workplace.
Side-loading won't do squat for a multi-player game with a server-side controlled by the new owner.
Just go to any of the app stores, there are plenty of Scrabble clones. Hasbro Inc. doesn't really own the concept of Scrabble, just the trademark. I assume this is probably because the concept most likely predates Hasbro's version of the game (otherwise, Hasbro would have fought to remove all the Scrabble-like games from all the app stores, or the ones that looked like theirs, and as it stands they didn't)
Apologies for being off-topic, but does anyone know of anything like this?
Technically, Samsung Note and some of the Windows 8 devices are using the same underlying Wacom digitizer technology, so they both should be just as good.
Wacom is freaking awesome! It can tell the difference between your fingers and the pen. It has pressure sensitivity and can even detect if the pen is just hovering over the glass.
Another idiot that doesn't realize the difference between a copy and themself.
In this case, it's not even a copy, it's a simulation. In any case, all of us are already biological copies of ourselves, since our cells are constantly being replaced.
Just to be safe thought, I think we should all GPL ourselves, so we don't become the exclusive personal property of this Russian media mogul. I would hate to have my sole remaining copy/derivative of myself spend the rest of its eternity in servitude on some Russian guy's iPod shuffle.
The application asked for permission to send sms (and potentially cost you money).
It's not malware if it tells you exactly what it's going to do, and then does it with your explicit permission (not that it even did that since it was only a proof-of-concept app). It's only a malware app if someone else has temporary possession of your phone, plus its pin number, and then installs the application just to cause you harm without you knowing.
And this is actually nothing new to Android users.
Despite several people telling Google that their maps are wrong they never get changed.
I can actually confirm a similar experience I had with them 5 five years ago.
I submitted a correction, I double-checked the same location six months later, and it still wasn't corrected (I'm not even sure it ever got corrected, and this was in Mountain View near to where Google HQ is located). At the very least, they should issue me a ticket number so I can check back on the status of each correction I enter. I actually don't mind if my change gets rejected (but I'd at least like to know that someone took the time to look at it).
In your case, you should also check with your County maps as well. It could also be that Google Maps doesn't want to override official maps when it becomes a question of property lines. It wouldn't be the first time that people tried to alter Google Maps to prevent people using a public road that they're trying to appropriate for their own private use.
Google best?
Try telling that to the HGV drivers from a well known trucking company (No Eddie S) who get lost where I live due to Google telling them that 1) my road is a through road (I was 30+ years ago) 2) it is suitable for 32+Tonne vehicles (It is not).
Does Google Navigation even provide information for 32+ tonne vehicles? It just sounds to me like those truck drivers are using a tool designed for consumer driving navigation (when they should be using something else instead).
Other than some well publicised issues at launch time I've found that for me Apple Maps works at least as well as Google Maps. Maybe its down to where you are in the world.
I can't speak for the parent since I'm not an iPhone user.
But could it be that Apple doesn't have turn-by-turn walking directions yet, or real-time transit directions, or even somekind of street-view equivalent.
For instance, I read a consumer study in the UK a few years back that said that Google Navigation would consistently beat out its standalone gps competitors in terms of speed at getting to a destination, because it automatically showed a street view picture of the address at the end of the journey. Apparently, this small feature allowed the test drivers to arrive earlier by at least a margin of five minutes each time, because they didn't waste any time trying to find the exact address of a building once on the scene.
I'm not too happy about this. Waze was the only alternative that could go toe-to-toe with Google Maps Navigation in terms of doing real-time crowdsourcing aggregation of driving data.
I know there are others like Nokia (which purchased Navteq, currently the leader in maps), Microsoft, and Tom Tom, but those others don't work nearly as well mostly because they haven't done anything new in the last ten years.
At least, there is Open Street Maps now, but that still doesn't have good turn-by-turn navigation (nor good real-time up-to-the-second information).
Until they watch a video of an overweight Ballmer sweating, shouting, cursing, and throwing chairs at his own people.
That's also why many businesses switched to Apple when Steve Jobs was around. Steve Jobs was well known for his saint-like patience and composure with his underlings.
The code you developed for your client was most likely never yours to begin with. Despite well-meaning suggestions made here, you really have no right to go back to the client and demand anything.
So who cares if he doesn't have the legal right to.
Assuming he didn't burn his bridges with his former client (or employer), there is still a thing called common courtesy (yes, yes, it still exists in most places, despite what we might read on Slashdot and Groklaw).
He could even contact the new developer directly (without going through his former client). If I were the new maintenance developer, I'd be put back his name on the files in no time, to avoid this getting back to upper management (assuming I'd still have access to the code).
I'm quite certain that we will see widespread violence towards users of Google Glasses.
I doubt it.
The only reason people are afraid of Google Glass is because they haven't tried it yet (the current generation at least). The default video recording duration is only 10 seconds, plus it lights up when it's recording. That 10 seconds can be extended, but its battery is severely limited and the entire frame heats up when you record something with it for too long (hence the super short default duration).
If anyone wants to do covert surveillance, they'll have better luck using just about any other cell phone/ and slip it backwards in their shirt pocket. Most cell phones don't notify others they're being recorded with a light. And most other cell phones can be turned on inconspicuously also (without fiddling with your glass frame, or telling your glass in a super loud voice "Ok Glass, take a picture" or "Ok Glass, video-record". Also with a cell phone, you can record something for 30 minutes to 60 minutes without completely draining your battery and without making your head catch on fire. For now, just think of Google Glass as a super expensive fashion accessory, that's turned off most of the time. I supp
For instance, let's assume for a moment that Bennett Haselton's wasn't into rape and wasn't into child pornography (despite the anti-censorship web sites he founded and despite his completely unsolicited and off-topic comment about masturbation). Would any of us believe it?
Never completely, for us to believe that Bennett wasn't into those things, he would have to recount to us under oath and under the penalty of perjury his entire sexual history -- down to minute details (so that it can be corroborated with his previous sexual partners). His computer would also have to be searched exhaustively.
And since proving a negative is almost impossible, we would almost never be sure he wasn't a rapist and that he didn't withhold some other important piece of information. So with his help, we would have to establish a timeline from birth until today detailing every activity he ever undertook. And if one day, we discovered that he lied or omitted anything in his life, then we could put in prison for perjury and question him more about his omission or lie to find out what he was hiding.
And that's the thing, the person with all the power gets to ask all the questions (and even lie), and the person without the power only gets to answer all the questions truthfully (or goes to jail). I believe that's the outcome Bennett Haselton is looking for by wanting to get rid of the 5th amendment.
Yes, San Francisco would love an industry-wide cell phone kill-switch.
The next time, there is Bart cop shooting a person in the back while that person he's laying face-down on the floor, witnesses won't be able to upload the video on youtube before their phone gets confiscated.
Also, think of the ramifications the next time there is a mass protest. It would be great if you could kill cell phones from thousands protesters, all from only one switch. That would be a Mayor's wet dream!
The Prius does indeed restrict the front seating passenger from using most of its center panel functions when the car is moving, which is really idiotic because it's smart enough to know there is a passenger in the seat (since it will complain loudly when that same passenger doesn't put his seat belt on).
Yes, it's a cop-out, but why is this even a story on Slashdot? And what is the point of duplicating clock functionality that's already on someone's computer anyway?
It took me 2 minutes to type this. Who wants to implement it by Friday?
Again, what is point of doing that on the bbc web site?
Ah the 1948 war, where the arabs told the other arabs living in said regions that if they flee, they'll be able to live on the land of the jews that they those arab armies were going to ethnically cleanse.
The new state of Israel spread the story that all these Palestinians had left under orders from Arab leaders, citing "Arab broadcasts" telling people to move away so that Arab armies could "operate without interference.” There has never been any evidence for this story. Both US and British intelligence services were monitoring all broadcasts during the period, and not a single "Arab broadcast" telling people to leave was recorded. In fact, several Arab broadcasts were recorded telling the population to stay put. Israeli forces, meanwhile, were using threats, violence, and murder to force many Palestinians out of their homes.
It is no longer the official line of the Israeli Foreign Office that Arab leaders ordered Palestinians to leave Palestine.
Besides, I never even understood the reasoning behind this justification to condemn all Palestinians for an alleged radio broadcast supposedly sent from a different Arab country. If you're a civilian and not part of the military, since when does fleeing a region about to become a battlefield even considered a crime? Are you suggesting that non-military people should just stay there, Arab or not, while two armies are supposedly converging on each other?
That's not because of the US, that's because of feminists, who got Sweden to pass rape laws with ridiculous definitions.
Frankly, it doesn't even have to be just the US and its allies against Julian Assange. Nor does it even need to be China, or some of the other countries exposed by Wikileaks.
By leaking war secrets and government secrets (and even banking secrets), Julian Assange didn't just piss off the governments the leaks were from. He pissed off many right-leaning individuals who believe wars are necessarily messy, and average people should be protected from being exposed to them. And he pissed off many people in power who believe government secrets should be kept secret, whether some of those people in power are corrupt politicians, or goodie-to-shoes who just believe that on average their own government usually knows better than its own people.
Slashdot Mirror
For me, if I can't understand code written by someone else (which happens much more frequently than I care to admit), I'll do a spike and I'll try to rewrite the core functionality from scratch. Now don't get me wrong. This doesn't mean that my code will be half as good as the original implementation, in fact, it won't be for sure, since I won't spend much time on it. For me, that exercise is just a way for me to initially orient myself (and I do not keep the code I write during that phase).
If I'm lucky enough to have a good original version history of the code base, I'll go and pull up the original 0.1 version of the code (while I'm doing my own rewrite). Even if that version of the code is completely wrong. It still has a much higher chance of being something I'll understand. And then, I'll have a better understanding of what the developers were trying to do in the subsequent evolution of the project. Then, I'll isolate the parts of the latest code base I can safely break without breaking the entire thing, and I'll focus on those parts first.
Of course, during that next phase, I'd like to say I write unit-tests for the parts I modify before I modify them, but that's usually not how I work. I'll often have to fall down flat on my face a couple of times, cry in pain and frustration, and tear my hair out, before I'm willing give up and go back to doing things properly with unit tests. This does happen quite frequently, because I never seem to learn my lesson.
And of course, like someone else said already, I will also draw all kinds of mind maps and doodles throughout the entire process. And also, if I have access to one of the original developers who wrote the code, that's even better. If I can pair program with one of those persons, that's the ideal. If I can't, then talking to that person is the second best alternative. That person will be the best person to know all the weak points of his code base, give you a thumbnail overview of the architecture, and he will also be the best person to point out what parts you can work on first (so that you can gain confidence and a gradual understanding) that are the least likely to break the entire thing.
350 pound flight capacity minus 187 pound vehicle weight seems to indicate a 163 pound (74 kilo) passenger limit. Not great, but that's certainly not "anorexic child-size styrofoam dummy" either.
And yet, that's not the weight they actually used for their demo flight, not even close, otherwise they would have used a normal-sized dummy, or a dummy that you can fill up with weights to approximate the weight of a real person (even a small real person).
So when they say that their "takeoff weight" is "about 350 lbs", I'm assuming they mean it's the maximum weight that would be sufficient to lift their apparatus just 1 millimeter off the ground for just about half a second, and no more.
In my experience, I find it usually helps to assume the worst when people are seeking attention and funding for their project, and are making bold new claims about what their project can already do.
Seriously I think the greatest invention of the 21st C could be silent fans. That bike looks like great fun but the noise is a killer.
That bike looks like great fun if you happen to be an anorexic child-size styrofoam dummy.
If you happen to be a real human being slightly over 100 pounds (or slightly over 45 kg, which is really not a lot), that bike will probably just barely lift off the ground.
If it's not powered by pedaling, then what's the point of the bicycle part?
Aside from the click-bait value of having that word in the title, I suppose having the bicycle would be handy for moving the device from point A to point B when the battery is out of juice (which will probably be 99% of the time).
You just bolt a bicycle to the inside of the cockpit of a 747 and then say it's a flying bicycle.
That wouldn't work for my daily telecommute. Assuming I could even pedal the 747 out of the airport i'd fly into, I would have a heck of a time finding a parking spot for it near my workplace.
Side-loading won't do squat for a multi-player game with a server-side controlled by the new owner.
Just go to any of the app stores, there are plenty of Scrabble clones. Hasbro Inc. doesn't really own the concept of Scrabble, just the trademark. I assume this is probably because the concept most likely predates Hasbro's version of the game (otherwise, Hasbro would have fought to remove all the Scrabble-like games from all the app stores, or the ones that looked like theirs, and as it stands they didn't)
Not sure if you're using the debian-multimedia repository? You can easily check it by running:
grep debian-multimedia.org /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*
If you can see debian-multimedia.org line in output, you should remove all the lines including it.
Apologies for being off-topic, but does anyone know of anything like this?
Technically, Samsung Note and some of the Windows 8 devices are using the same underlying Wacom digitizer technology, so they both should be just as good.
Wacom is freaking awesome! It can tell the difference between your fingers and the pen. It has pressure sensitivity and can even detect if the pen is just hovering over the glass.
Another idiot that doesn't realize the difference between a copy and themself.
In this case, it's not even a copy, it's a simulation. In any case, all of us are already biological copies of ourselves, since our cells are constantly being replaced.
Just to be safe thought, I think we should all GPL ourselves, so we don't become the exclusive personal property of this Russian media mogul. I would hate to have my sole remaining copy/derivative of myself spend the rest of its eternity in servitude on some Russian guy's iPod shuffle.
Did anyone really expect them to say different?
I didn't.
The application asked for permission to send sms (and potentially cost you money).
It's not malware if it tells you exactly what it's going to do, and then does it with your explicit permission (not that it even did that since it was only a proof-of-concept app). It's only a malware app if someone else has temporary possession of your phone, plus its pin number, and then installs the application just to cause you harm without you knowing.
And this is actually nothing new to Android users.
Despite several people telling Google that their maps are wrong they never get changed.
I can actually confirm a similar experience I had with them 5 five years ago.
I submitted a correction, I double-checked the same location six months later, and it still wasn't corrected (I'm not even sure it ever got corrected, and this was in Mountain View near to where Google HQ is located). At the very least, they should issue me a ticket number so I can check back on the status of each correction I enter. I actually don't mind if my change gets rejected (but I'd at least like to know that someone took the time to look at it).
In your case, you should also check with your County maps as well. It could also be that Google Maps doesn't want to override official maps when it becomes a question of property lines. It wouldn't be the first time that people tried to alter Google Maps to prevent people using a public road that they're trying to appropriate for their own private use.
Google best?
Try telling that to the HGV drivers from a well known trucking company (No Eddie S) who get lost where I live due to Google telling them that
1) my road is a through road (I was 30+ years ago)
2) it is suitable for 32+Tonne vehicles (It is not).
Does Google Navigation even provide information for 32+ tonne vehicles? It just sounds to me like those truck drivers are using a tool designed for consumer driving navigation (when they should be using something else instead).
runs at roughly twice the budget of what the CFO has deemed appropriate for the company's size and industry..
Or it could just be the CFO who is incompetent and who has fantasies about what an IT department should cost.
Other than some well publicised issues at launch time I've found that for me Apple Maps works at least as well as Google Maps. Maybe its down to where you are in the world.
I can't speak for the parent since I'm not an iPhone user.
But could it be that Apple doesn't have turn-by-turn walking directions yet, or real-time transit directions, or even somekind of street-view equivalent.
For instance, I read a consumer study in the UK a few years back that said that Google Navigation would consistently beat out its standalone gps competitors in terms of speed at getting to a destination, because it automatically showed a street view picture of the address at the end of the journey. Apparently, this small feature allowed the test drivers to arrive earlier by at least a margin of five minutes each time, because they didn't waste any time trying to find the exact address of a building once on the scene.
I'm not too happy about this. Waze was the only alternative that could go toe-to-toe with Google Maps Navigation in terms of doing real-time crowdsourcing aggregation of driving data.
I know there are others like Nokia (which purchased Navteq, currently the leader in maps), Microsoft, and Tom Tom, but those others don't work nearly as well mostly because they haven't done anything new in the last ten years.
At least, there is Open Street Maps now, but that still doesn't have good turn-by-turn navigation (nor good real-time up-to-the-second information).
As the AC already said, I was being sarcastic.
You obviously haven't heard the many stories of Steve Jobs losing his cool and throwing temper tantrums.
This is why businesses choose Microsoft.
Until they watch a video of an overweight Ballmer sweating, shouting, cursing, and throwing chairs at his own people.
That's also why many businesses switched to Apple when Steve Jobs was around. Steve Jobs was well known for his saint-like patience and composure with his underlings.
The code you developed for your client was most likely never yours to begin with. Despite well-meaning suggestions made here, you really have no right to go back to the client and demand anything.
So who cares if he doesn't have the legal right to.
Assuming he didn't burn his bridges with his former client (or employer), there is still a thing called common courtesy (yes, yes, it still exists in most places, despite what we might read on Slashdot and Groklaw).
He could even contact the new developer directly (without going through his former client). If I were the new maintenance developer, I'd be put back his name on the files in no time, to avoid this getting back to upper management (assuming I'd still have access to the code).
I'm quite certain that we will see widespread violence towards users of Google Glasses.
I doubt it.
The only reason people are afraid of Google Glass is because they haven't tried it yet (the current generation at least). The default video recording duration is only 10 seconds, plus it lights up when it's recording. That 10 seconds can be extended, but its battery is severely limited and the entire frame heats up when you record something with it for too long (hence the super short default duration).
If anyone wants to do covert surveillance, they'll have better luck using just about any other cell phone/ and slip it backwards in their shirt pocket. Most cell phones don't notify others they're being recorded with a light. And most other cell phones can be turned on inconspicuously also (without fiddling with your glass frame, or telling your glass in a super loud voice "Ok Glass, take a picture" or "Ok Glass, video-record". Also with a cell phone, you can record something for 30 minutes to 60 minutes without completely draining your battery and without making your head catch on fire. For now, just think of Google Glass as a super expensive fashion accessory, that's turned off most of the time. I supp
The 5th amendment is all about curtailing power.
For instance, let's assume for a moment that Bennett Haselton's wasn't into rape and wasn't into child pornography (despite the anti-censorship web sites he founded and despite his completely unsolicited and off-topic comment about masturbation). Would any of us believe it?
Never completely, for us to believe that Bennett wasn't into those things, he would have to recount to us under oath and under the penalty of perjury his entire sexual history -- down to minute details (so that it can be corroborated with his previous sexual partners). His computer would also have to be searched exhaustively.
And since proving a negative is almost impossible, we would almost never be sure he wasn't a rapist and that he didn't withhold some other important piece of information. So with his help, we would have to establish a timeline from birth until today detailing every activity he ever undertook. And if one day, we discovered that he lied or omitted anything in his life, then we could put in prison for perjury and question him more about his omission or lie to find out what he was hiding.
And that's the thing, the person with all the power gets to ask all the questions (and even lie), and the person without the power only gets to answer all the questions truthfully (or goes to jail). I believe that's the outcome Bennett Haselton is looking for by wanting to get rid of the 5th amendment.
Yes, San Francisco would love an industry-wide cell phone kill-switch.
The next time, there is Bart cop shooting a person in the back while that person he's laying face-down on the floor, witnesses won't be able to upload the video on youtube before their phone gets confiscated.
Also, think of the ramifications the next time there is a mass protest. It would be great if you could kill cell phones from thousands protesters, all from only one switch. That would be a Mayor's wet dream!
passenger - do you want to restrict them, too?
The Prius does indeed restrict the front seating passenger from using most of its center panel functions when the car is moving, which is really idiotic because it's smart enough to know there is a passenger in the seat (since it will complain loudly when that same passenger doesn't put his seat belt on).
It's a cop-out, nothing more.
Sheesh... It's a freaking clock!!
Yes, it's a cop-out, but why is this even a story on Slashdot? And what is the point of duplicating clock functionality that's already on someone's computer anyway?
It took me 2 minutes to type this. Who wants to implement it by Friday?
Again, what is point of doing that on the bbc web site?
Ah the 1948 war, where the arabs told the other arabs living in said regions that if they flee, they'll be able to live on the land of the jews that they those arab armies were going to ethnically cleanse.
Ah yes, you're referring to this
The new state of Israel spread the story that all these Palestinians had left under orders from Arab leaders, citing "Arab broadcasts" telling people to move away so that Arab armies could "operate without interference.” There has never been any evidence for this story. Both US and British intelligence services were monitoring all broadcasts during the period, and not a single "Arab broadcast" telling people to leave was recorded. In fact, several Arab broadcasts were recorded telling the population to stay put. Israeli forces, meanwhile, were using threats, violence, and murder to force many Palestinians out of their homes.
It is no longer the official line of the Israeli Foreign Office that Arab leaders ordered Palestinians to leave Palestine.
Besides, I never even understood the reasoning behind this justification to condemn all Palestinians for an alleged radio broadcast supposedly sent from a different Arab country. If you're a civilian and not part of the military, since when does fleeing a region about to become a battlefield even considered a crime? Are you suggesting that non-military people should just stay there, Arab or not, while two armies are supposedly converging on each other?
You can get a keyless universal unlocker from china for around $2000USD.
Someone must have ripped you off.
Right now, they sell in China for $25
Less with FedEx, their drivers are independent contractors.
That's not because of the US, that's because of feminists, who got Sweden to pass rape laws with ridiculous definitions.
Frankly, it doesn't even have to be just the US and its allies against Julian Assange. Nor does it even need to be China, or some of the other countries exposed by Wikileaks.
By leaking war secrets and government secrets (and even banking secrets), Julian Assange didn't just piss off the governments the leaks were from. He pissed off many right-leaning individuals who believe wars are necessarily messy, and average people should be protected from being exposed to them. And he pissed off many people in power who believe government secrets should be kept secret, whether some of those people in power are corrupt politicians, or goodie-to-shoes who just believe that on average their own government usually knows better than its own people.