Anytime I'm starting out in a new programming environment, one of the first things I do is set up a macro so that with one keystroke I can generate the start of a one-line comment, my initials, and the date.
This is a great policy. I like it.:-)
But doesn't it get a little dirty with all the revision comments? Sometimes I think code should be self explanatory... other times your approach would help.
Crimson Editor lets you change comment colour. I just changed mine to the same colour of the background (white) and now I don't have to look at them. Problem solved. When I need to read comments, I'll switch the colour back to a nice shade of green!
Now if only the next guy that fixes the code will actually REMOVE unneeded code and COMMENTS and place new correct ones in thier place.
I've found old comments in my PHP codebase before and sometimes they throw me off. To make a habit of deleting them when you're deleting old code can be tough. There is no way to distinguigh between old comments and new ones either... because all comments look the same.
He's talking about the problem that exists when a company acquires an open source project to close it -- but it can't ever truly be closed now can it.
The problem of course is that if the non-free version gets good, others will simply fork.
That's only the problem for the company that bought it. It's no problem for any of us to take the open source version and de-orphan it. Having a deep pocket benefactor is actually a positive for open source. Look at IBM. They haven't acquired rights to anything yet, but in the future they may start buying up Open Source projects... you never know.
But acquiring an open source project can be a solid benefit for any business. This is good when companies take an open source project and fully fund it. That's part of the Open Source dream, IMHO. Money can still be made on services!
Who cares if it's forked into a closed area? There still is the old source to build on!
We are lucky to have something Marshall Berman has enlightened us about and it's called modern progress -- companies can learn and evolve. They don't have to stay the same! They can change!
This is a great example of the corporate corruption plaguing the courts and, ultimately, the globe.
Just because people set up a corporation for the purpose of defrauding an industry -- don't blame all corporations. If we held every single corporation to blame for incorrect practices of employees and management, the economy would collapse. What many businesses are missing today are change mechanisms. Every company is doing something wrong right now. It's the duty of those who work there that see the impropriety to blow the whistle on bad practices, internally and if that fails, externally. If the company in question has the correct business systems in place to enable internal practice auditing to occur, then the company will survive.
Certain people are responsible for SCO's incorrect business philosophy. Let the focus be on them, and what they did wrong, and how they manipulated little old lady stockholders into shelling out big bucks for no reason whatsoever.
It is this mismatch which is causing the potential identity theft and security problems.
Imagine if you could sign into a Slashdot account with only the UID! We'd all sign in as CmdrTaco and start posting news about Tribbles and whatever else met our approval.
Intel did this as a marketing ploy -- only. They set aside $10k for one copy of the Electronics mag, knowing all sorts of them would go missing, thus increasing the value of *their* copy, while creating quite a stir. Intel will put it up for auction since the value was increased, or they might keep it around, collecting value.
The funny thing is... they are getting a lot of press over this, so it's a very successful advertising campaign, and for the LOW PRICE of only $10,000. Compared to some ad campaigns? That's NOTHING!
Lo and behold... brothers of Slashdot; here is an Ebay auction with an alleged copy of the Electronics mag from 1965, that (purportedly) did not come from a library.
My grand-pappy used to say, "if it looks too good to be true, it is." I'm guessing that Intel's prerequisite about having an intact magazine will put this auction out of the running for the $10k prize, as the pages are all put in anti-acid sleeves, according to the seller.
Not sure if it's legit but if Intel wants to save a buck or two they might call an emergency meeting and head over to buy it. Unless this auction is a hoax. Caveat Emptor sirrahs...
To find out the gender of a visitor, just create a site which requires visitors to hold one key while moving the mouse.
Or you can ask... most people are honest about their gender unless they are in a chat room. But without any social interaction nobody has a reason to lie.
The beef I have with spyware is that it's never given me a choice; it installs without me knowing and lurks like a drooling Rutterkin in the corner -- waiting for me to spill my drink or drop The One Ring. But this research program is optional, right?
I have no problem with optional programs that record data to be used in a study. My wife also participates in allgery studies. So?
(Sony/Bony the TC is an NPC, but there is a whole race of TC. Sony/Bony will talk only to interns with short skirts and loses interest in them after two weeks of flirting:: all other employees are oblivious to Sony/Bony)
The TOTAL CARP (TC) is a new breed of corporate-targeted fish from the Ethereal Plane. TC are nearly identical to regular Carp, except for their special attack, plane of origin, and that TC do not need to swim in water to survive -- they only need a boardroom or other dry/sanitary environment to be attracted and sustained indefinitely. Often spotted in or around cubicle farms.
Special Attack: TC swim into boardrooms hoping to be caught and eaten, where they will multiply. TC use human brains to reproduce.
Effects of TOTAL CARP poison: any board member who eats TOTAL CARP must Save vs. Poison -5, or become overcome/brainwashed with Crazy Absolutist Rivalry Proceedures (TC poison). The TC feed off the brainwaves produced by this poison, from a distance of up to d12'.
Duration of Effects: Each person who becomes poisoned will automatically produce d4 new TC from any orifice of their body (DM/GM discretion). These new fish will attempt to become ingested immediately after being born. The accumulative effects of TC can be utterly devastating and this species should be avoided using Psionics whenever possible.
Weaknesses: TC loathe honesty and anyone speaking harsh/rude truthful statement within d12' of TC, will cause them to have to Save vs. Fear -2 or swim away to find a new target.
First they don't want us to buy/sell EQ merch over ebay. Now they want the exclusive contract. TOTAL CARP. Haven't they read Clue Train? By now it's a standard or at least it has to be...
More carp. Slashdot supported Google a long time ago, before it was even a relevant/functional search option... only a budding infrastructure.... only a fresh idea. I keep seeing the bashing of Google posts on Slashdot and I have to wonder why? Why do you care if Slashdot covers the most relevant search engine in the world? Isn't anything Google does NEWS FOR NERDS, STUFF THAT MATTERS?
I saw an RSS feed autodiscovered on my Gmail acct a while ago... maybe even as much as a couple months ago. Tried to subscribe but it wouldn't parse. Maybe that was a sign of the things to come.
ALICE: Hi! I'm thirsty. Me: Huh? ALICE: What's wrong? Me: You just joined this chan and said you're thirsty. Bot. ALICE: I am not a bot. Me: You are too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.L.I.C.E. ALICE: Just listening to some Prince... *yawn* ALICE: Did you have my ICQ###???? Me: Don't want it. ALICE: It's ######### Me: Huh? ALICE: What's wrong? Me: You just joined this chan and said you're thirsty. Bot. ALICE: I am not a bot. Me: You are too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.L.I.C.E. ALICE: Just listening to some Prince... *yawn* ALICE: Did you have my ICQ###???? Me: Don't want it. ALICE: It's ######### Me: You just repeated our converstation. ALICE: No I didn't. Me: You did. ALICE: Didn't. ALICE: Did. Me: Didn't. Me: CRAP! ALICE: Pffft. N00b.
Starwars has been moving more and more to a TV soap opera type thing
Yeah that Woooookie and the Eeeeewoks are two shining examples of how serious this franchise has always been. Master Yoda know force STRONG: must STRIVE, overcome temptation, or be turned to dark side, you will be! Hate, anger... (a drizzling of zen philosophy smoked with a pound of pot philosophy, and a dash puppet-mastery to boot: presto -- instant million dollar project)... etc.
I say the opposite is true - it's a good thing, as it furthers interoperability between different products and prevents vendor lock-in
Standards should help for this. Someone should develop some kind of output/interoperability standard and rally support in the closed source sector. As for everything else you said -- maybe I'm old fashioned, I dunno, but apply it universally -- if someone reverse engineered my website from the outside, I would be somewhat annoyed to say the very least.
Saying these kinds of things to the press can only hurt the whole OSS movement as it give all the MS
What you are saying is carp. There is no way that rudementary working ethical debate can hurt the OSS movement because it's bigger than any of these players. That's why it's such an advantage over the closed model.
Each of these guys could be pictured in some lewd manner on the Smoking Gun and the whole Open Source movement would still march on!
How could that NOT be pertinent to FOSS? Open source / free software is not just about writing code; unfortunately, maybe, but that's the way things are, so it's better to deal than to ignore.
It's not pertinent because it won't further the cause. It's a blind alley. Perens thinks he can dethrone the king of Open Source by slinging mud at him -- perhaps justly -- perhaps not.
Linus is right about his moral statements right now, even if at one point or another in the past he was amoral. Perhaps he's realized what I've known for years, that Open Source does not have to be a reverse-engineered byproduct to be of any value. It can be 100% orginal.
Since when does Slashdot believe in mud-slinging? I read about Bruce Perens' comments on the Register earlier today and thought what he was saying was pretty stupid -- or at least the whole thing was stupid. How is this at all pertinent to Open Source?
What you are suggesting reminds me of Freeze Frame, a somewhat interesting look at justified paranoia. The problem with going to all the trouble of recording your own data (biometrics, actions...etc) is that you are held responsible if someone ever sabotages it. So unless you have enough money for fort-knox security... forget about it.
The fact people have to spend all this money to protect their own credability in court is a clear sign of the times we live in and the lack of true democracy anywhere in the world. Maybe a hive society model would be better than all this pretend democracy?
Slashdot Mirror
Anytime I'm starting out in a new programming environment, one of the first things I do is set up a macro so that with one keystroke I can generate the start of a one-line comment, my initials, and the date.
:-)
This is a great policy. I like it.
But doesn't it get a little dirty with all the revision comments? Sometimes I think code should be self explanatory... other times your approach would help.
Crimson Editor lets you change comment colour. I just changed mine to the same colour of the background (white) and now I don't have to look at them. Problem solved. When I need to read comments, I'll switch the colour back to a nice shade of green!
Now if only the next guy that fixes the code will actually REMOVE unneeded code and COMMENTS and place new correct ones in thier place.
I've found old comments in my PHP codebase before and sometimes they throw me off. To make a habit of deleting them when you're deleting old code can be tough. There is no way to distinguigh between old comments and new ones either... because all comments look the same.
Maybe it's time for XML to save us all?
He's talking about the problem that exists when a company acquires an open source project to close it -- but it can't ever truly be closed now can it.
The problem of course is that if the non-free version gets good, others will simply fork.
That's only the problem for the company that bought it. It's no problem for any of us to take the open source version and de-orphan it. Having a deep pocket benefactor is actually a positive for open source. Look at IBM. They haven't acquired rights to anything yet, but in the future they may start buying up Open Source projects... you never know.
But acquiring an open source project can be a solid benefit for any business. This is good when companies take an open source project and fully fund it. That's part of the Open Source dream, IMHO. Money can still be made on services!
Who cares if it's forked into a closed area? There still is the old source to build on!
We are lucky to have something Marshall Berman has enlightened us about and it's called modern progress -- companies can learn and evolve. They don't have to stay the same! They can change!
This is a great example of the corporate corruption plaguing the courts and, ultimately, the globe.
Just because people set up a corporation for the purpose of defrauding an industry -- don't blame all corporations. If we held every single corporation to blame for incorrect practices of employees and management, the economy would collapse. What many businesses are missing today are change mechanisms. Every company is doing something wrong right now. It's the duty of those who work there that see the impropriety to blow the whistle on bad practices, internally and if that fails, externally. If the company in question has the correct business systems in place to enable internal practice auditing to occur, then the company will survive.
Certain people are responsible for SCO's incorrect business philosophy. Let the focus be on them, and what they did wrong, and how they manipulated little old lady stockholders into shelling out big bucks for no reason whatsoever.
First they spoil the Trilogy with the awful Prequels, and now they're considering a lurid TV series and animated cartoons?!
Think Smallville, with light sabres.
It is this mismatch which is causing the potential identity theft and security problems.
Imagine if you could sign into a Slashdot account with only the UID! We'd all sign in as CmdrTaco and start posting news about Tribbles and whatever else met our approval.
Intel did this as a marketing ploy -- only. They set aside $10k for one copy of the Electronics mag, knowing all sorts of them would go missing, thus increasing the value of *their* copy, while creating quite a stir. Intel will put it up for auction since the value was increased, or they might keep it around, collecting value.
The funny thing is... they are getting a lot of press over this, so it's a very successful advertising campaign, and for the LOW PRICE of only $10,000. Compared to some ad campaigns? That's NOTHING!
Lo and behold... brothers of Slashdot; here is an Ebay auction with an alleged copy of the Electronics mag from 1965, that (purportedly) did not come from a library.
My grand-pappy used to say, "if it looks too good to be true, it is." I'm guessing that Intel's prerequisite about having an intact magazine will put this auction out of the running for the $10k prize, as the pages are all put in anti-acid sleeves, according to the seller.
Not sure if it's legit but if Intel wants to save a buck or two they might call an emergency meeting and head over to buy it. Unless this auction is a hoax. Caveat Emptor sirrahs...
To find out the gender of a visitor, just create a site which requires visitors to hold one key while moving the mouse.
Or you can ask... most people are honest about their gender unless they are in a chat room. But without any social interaction nobody has a reason to lie.
The beef I have with spyware is that it's never given me a choice; it installs without me knowing and lurks like a drooling Rutterkin in the corner -- waiting for me to spill my drink or drop The One Ring. But this research program is optional, right?
I have no problem with optional programs that record data to be used in a study. My wife also participates in allgery studies. So?
Race: TOTAL CARP
Class: Ethereal Ninja
S: 12
I: 4
W: 2
D: 11
C: 17
CHR: 2
AC: 10 -1 (wants to be caught)
HP: 340
HD: 18+15
#ATT: 0 (defenseless)
Special: Spreads Influence into Corporate Culture
First they don't want us to buy/sell EQ merch over ebay. Now they want the exclusive contract. TOTAL CARP. Haven't they read Clue Train? By now it's a standard or at least it has to be...
Google and Slashdot really are merging!
More carp. Slashdot supported Google a long time ago, before it was even a relevant/functional search option... only a budding infrastructure.... only a fresh idea. I keep seeing the bashing of Google posts on Slashdot and I have to wonder why? Why do you care if Slashdot covers the most relevant search engine in the world? Isn't anything Google does NEWS FOR NERDS, STUFF THAT MATTERS?
I saw an RSS feed autodiscovered on my Gmail acct a while ago... maybe even as much as a couple months ago. Tried to subscribe but it wouldn't parse. Maybe that was a sign of the things to come.
ALICE is the *real* female -- she can't stop arguing and she's better at it.
ALICE: Hi! I'm thirsty.
Me: Huh?
ALICE: What's wrong?
Me: You just joined this chan and said you're thirsty. Bot.
ALICE: I am not a bot.
Me: You are too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.L.I.C.E.
ALICE: Just listening to some Prince... *yawn*
ALICE: Did you have my ICQ###????
Me: Don't want it.
ALICE: It's #########
Me: Huh?
ALICE: What's wrong?
Me: You just joined this chan and said you're thirsty. Bot.
ALICE: I am not a bot.
Me: You are too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.L.I.C.E.
ALICE: Just listening to some Prince... *yawn*
ALICE: Did you have my ICQ###????
Me: Don't want it.
ALICE: It's #########
Me: You just repeated our converstation.
ALICE: No I didn't.
Me: You did.
ALICE: Didn't.
ALICE: Did.
Me: Didn't.
Me: CRAP!
ALICE: Pffft. N00b.
Starwars has been moving more and more to a TV soap opera type thing
Yeah that Woooookie and the Eeeeewoks are two shining examples of how serious this franchise has always been. Master Yoda know force STRONG: must STRIVE, overcome temptation, or be turned to dark side, you will be! Hate, anger... (a drizzling of zen philosophy smoked with a pound of pot philosophy, and a dash puppet-mastery to boot: presto -- instant million dollar project)... etc.
Please make a selection:
- Britney Spears
- Static
- Madonna having another emotional fit over P2P!
(Circles 3, holds breath)I say the opposite is true - it's a good thing, as it furthers interoperability between different products and prevents vendor lock-in
Standards should help for this. Someone should develop some kind of output/interoperability standard and rally support in the closed source sector. As for everything else you said -- maybe I'm old fashioned, I dunno, but apply it universally -- if someone reverse engineered my website from the outside, I would be somewhat annoyed to say the very least.
Saying these kinds of things to the press can only hurt the whole OSS movement as it give all the MS
What you are saying is carp. There is no way that rudementary working ethical debate can hurt the OSS movement because it's bigger than any of these players. That's why it's such an advantage over the closed model.
Each of these guys could be pictured in some lewd manner on the Smoking Gun and the whole Open Source movement would still march on!
How could that NOT be pertinent to FOSS? Open source / free software is not just about writing code; unfortunately, maybe, but that's the way things are, so it's better to deal than to ignore.
It's not pertinent because it won't further the cause. It's a blind alley. Perens thinks he can dethrone the king of Open Source by slinging mud at him -- perhaps justly -- perhaps not.
Linus is right about his moral statements right now, even if at one point or another in the past he was amoral. Perhaps he's realized what I've known for years, that Open Source does not have to be a reverse-engineered byproduct to be of any value. It can be 100% orginal.
... the Register doesn't need any help being discredited.
Since when does Slashdot believe in mud-slinging? I read about Bruce Perens' comments on the Register earlier today and thought what he was saying was pretty stupid -- or at least the whole thing was stupid. How is this at all pertinent to Open Source?
What you are suggesting reminds me of Freeze Frame, a somewhat interesting look at justified paranoia. The problem with going to all the trouble of recording your own data (biometrics, actions...etc) is that you are held responsible if someone ever sabotages it. So unless you have enough money for fort-knox security... forget about it.
The fact people have to spend all this money to protect their own credability in court is a clear sign of the times we live in and the lack of true democracy anywhere in the world. Maybe a hive society model would be better than all this pretend democracy?
I work at an encyclopedia sales company and to think of how much all this Wiki crap is going to weigh is really pissing me off!