Currently, I am a Firefox user - but maybe not for much longer if they carry on like this.
First, they introduce Australis, and refuse to listen to any of their users complaining that it suffers from bad usability.
For a long time, I was using the full theme support, in order to not have to use crappy Australis. I stopped doing so, not because I don't want to use theme support, but because the themes themselves don't work with newer versions - continual bloody cat and mouse game.
I've never used tab groups, but maybe there is a reason for that - if you want users to use a feature, DON'T HIDE IT. Seriously, the average user would have no idea that tab groups even exist, because there is no button for it by default, no menu for it. You either have to customise the UI, or know an obscure hotkey.
I had switched back to Firefox because Chrome isn't as efficient as it appears to be. But at this rate, I'm either going to be back on Chrome, or going to Vivaldi. The only thing preventing me from giving Edge a serious go is a lack of plugins.
Imho, the biggest "flaw" with agile development, is that it is - if not selling itself, seen as by many as - being everything to everyone. You can take a bit of this or leave a bit of that, but this is the right way of doing things. And it all gets wrapped up in terminology (agile, velocity, etc.), that suggest that the process will be faster and better.
But different processes have different strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes it's more important to put in design effort upfront. Sometimes it's most important to make the most efficient use of resources (e.g. not wasting time doing things based on a narrow requirement knowing that you'll need to change it later), sometimes it's important to be able to adapt to changes, and knowingly change requirements based on feedback. Agile methodologies only really address the last one.
The best results will come from understanding what the project needs, and choosing the methodology that best addresses that, not from always trying to fit one methodology to every project.
It may be the difference between a profit-based "bonus" and a contractual "performance related pay". E.g. sales commission would be an expense to the business, which would be subtracted from revenue to leave profit.
At the very least, future consoles should at least make the storage hot-swappable, encouraging that you can install a large library across multiple storage units.
It might be that you want to have some other fixed internal storage for game saves, to help support cloud backup facilities.
But to be honest, it's about time we went back to cartridges. Memory costs are low enough now, and game prices so high, that the cost of manufacture, even at Blu-Ray scale, isn't prohibitive.
Simply being able to unplug one game, plug another in, and start up instantly was a big part of the console experience.
Moving to CD was mildly problematic with loading screens, but well executed titles largely got around that problem.
But now, even if you buy a game on disc, you have to spend hours installing it (and then updating it). And it doesn't save you on space on the console, so you still have to juggle the games.
More likely though is that Steam offers an experience more like consoles - with SteamOS, big picture mode, new controller, steam machines.
And with the added benefit that the hardware is backwards compatible (OK, SteamOS won't run Windows titles, but going forward...), and the games are much cheaper.
As for "always-on", I *do* have a big issue with this. Yes, I have an "always connected" broadband. But that doesn't mean it is bullet proof. It doesn't mean their servers are bullet proof either.
I have deezer that requires an internet connection. I have Netflix and Amazon Prime that need an internet connection. I don't want *all* of my entertainment to require an internet connection, as what do you do when it does break? As I only ever play single player games, there is no good justification to needing it to be always on.
It's time to get rid of discs. Thumb drives are so cheap in blu-ray capacities, and the cost of games so high, shipping games on "cartridges" again is practical, and save the pressure on local storage.
I miss the old days where you could have a giant library of as many games as you want / could afford, plug them in and instantly play them without having to install them, or juggle what you have installed.
Console gaming now is more like PC gaming - except it's less flexible, the hardware is uinderpowered / gets outdated very quickly, backwards compatibility is a challenge, and the games are FAR more expensive.
The next generation needs to change significantly, otherwise it will be utterly irrelevant in the face of Steam / SteamOS.
IntelliJ is one of those free IDEs. There is an open source version. And the open source / community version is vastly superior to any of the other free java IDEs.
And the point that is being made to you is that isn't as relevant.
If you launch in a new city, you aren't going to be profitable immediately. Even more so when you are breaking into new countries. That more established regions are profitable, demonstrates that the business can become profitable in new territories, given time.
Yes, investors are looking for returns. But they aren't necessarily looking for immediate returns, and dividends are only part of the story. Investments are (generally) for the long haul, and whilst the market cap is growing, then investments can still be cashed out for a profit, even without any income.
That's the point - on one hand, they could be thinking about doing this, which would be worrying.
But, by registering a patent, they can make it a lot harder for anyone else to do it - and if they don't do it themselves, then it is a net win for consumers, in preventing such advertising.
If Microsoft are stupid enough to ship this "feature" - and have it turned on by default - what are the chances that they will be hit with a massive lawsuit?
No doubt there will at least be group policies - if not it disabled entirely - on professional editions of Windows, because corporate customers are going to run a mile from having external guests authenticating on to protected networks with confidential material, just because they happen to be a contact of the person they are visiting.
Both should be a criminal offence - If I install an application (e.g. Java), then it should do what it needs to do to make that application work, not mess around with *my* environment unnecessarily.
I don't have any reason to doubt them - however, it is more complicated than that. Being able to install and play the games takes more than just downloading them from Steam. It dependson how they've been coded, what they expect, etc.
And then there is the issue of timeframes - if it goes tits up, then any ability to download software won't be provided forever.
Bigger qualifier would be - what is measurable software quality? The only measures that really matter are how few bugs are there, how non-serious are the bugs, how easy are the bugs to fix in reality, how quickly and reliably can new features be added, or old ones removed, and how efficient is the code?
You can't genuinely measure software quality in the static. You can't measure it against the unknowns of the future.
Refactoring to meet some arbitrary definition of software quality is a red herring. But refactoring tools and techniques are an invaluable part of addressing the challenges of the future - of being able to address bugs / isolating code for testing, being able add/remove features, increasing code reuse instead of duplication for maintenance and predictability.
If the two-engine planes are such a risk, how the hell have they got air safety certificates?
Unless, due to scheduling issues they intentionally want to run the plane with broken engines, I don't see any good reason why it needs four engines.
Fair enough, buy American - especially when the A380 is more expensive. But given that it is a completely custom fit out, I don't see why the smaller size of a 787 should be a problem either.
The 787 would make it practical / possible to fly into smaller airfields too. And be much, much cheaper - to purchase and run.
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Currently, I am a Firefox user - but maybe not for much longer if they carry on like this.
First, they introduce Australis, and refuse to listen to any of their users complaining that it suffers from bad usability.
For a long time, I was using the full theme support, in order to not have to use crappy Australis. I stopped doing so, not because I don't want to use theme support, but because the themes themselves don't work with newer versions - continual bloody cat and mouse game.
I've never used tab groups, but maybe there is a reason for that - if you want users to use a feature, DON'T HIDE IT. Seriously, the average user would have no idea that tab groups even exist, because there is no button for it by default, no menu for it. You either have to customise the UI, or know an obscure hotkey.
I had switched back to Firefox because Chrome isn't as efficient as it appears to be. But at this rate, I'm either going to be back on Chrome, or going to Vivaldi. The only thing preventing me from giving Edge a serious go is a lack of plugins.
Imho, the biggest "flaw" with agile development, is that it is - if not selling itself, seen as by many as - being everything to everyone. You can take a bit of this or leave a bit of that, but this is the right way of doing things. And it all gets wrapped up in terminology (agile, velocity, etc.), that suggest that the process will be faster and better.
But different processes have different strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes it's more important to put in design effort upfront. Sometimes it's most important to make the most efficient use of resources (e.g. not wasting time doing things based on a narrow requirement knowing that you'll need to change it later), sometimes it's important to be able to adapt to changes, and knowingly change requirements based on feedback. Agile methodologies only really address the last one.
The best results will come from understanding what the project needs, and choosing the methodology that best addresses that, not from always trying to fit one methodology to every project.
How on earth did anyone cope in the 70s, before iPads were invented?
So, the most prevalent complaint is that the car is too good, such that you can notice minor defects that would be undetectable in a petrol car.
It may be the difference between a profit-based "bonus" and a contractual "performance related pay". E.g. sales commission would be an expense to the business, which would be subtracted from revenue to leave profit.
No - getting the placebo effect is not great for health, unless there is no known treatment with better results.
In many cases, there are known treatments with proven better results than a placebo. At which point, homeopathy is decidedly worse for health.
Replaceable - but not really swappable.
At the very least, future consoles should at least make the storage hot-swappable, encouraging that you can install a large library across multiple storage units.
It might be that you want to have some other fixed internal storage for game saves, to help support cloud backup facilities.
But to be honest, it's about time we went back to cartridges. Memory costs are low enough now, and game prices so high, that the cost of manufacture, even at Blu-Ray scale, isn't prohibitive.
Simply being able to unplug one game, plug another in, and start up instantly was a big part of the console experience.
Moving to CD was mildly problematic with loading screens, but well executed titles largely got around that problem.
But now, even if you buy a game on disc, you have to spend hours installing it (and then updating it). And it doesn't save you on space on the console, so you still have to juggle the games.
Owning a console just isn't any fun anymore.
I thought they stopped selling it last July, now would just be a case of stop advertising it.
More likely though is that Steam offers an experience more like consoles - with SteamOS, big picture mode, new controller, steam machines.
And with the added benefit that the hardware is backwards compatible (OK, SteamOS won't run Windows titles, but going forward...), and the games are much cheaper.
As for "always-on", I *do* have a big issue with this. Yes, I have an "always connected" broadband. But that doesn't mean it is bullet proof. It doesn't mean their servers are bullet proof either.
I have deezer that requires an internet connection. I have Netflix and Amazon Prime that need an internet connection. I don't want *all* of my entertainment to require an internet connection, as what do you do when it does break? As I only ever play single player games, there is no good justification to needing it to be always on.
It's time to get rid of discs. Thumb drives are so cheap in blu-ray capacities, and the cost of games so high, shipping games on "cartridges" again is practical, and save the pressure on local storage.
I miss the old days where you could have a giant library of as many games as you want / could afford, plug them in and instantly play them without having to install them, or juggle what you have installed.
Console gaming now is more like PC gaming - except it's less flexible, the hardware is uinderpowered / gets outdated very quickly, backwards compatibility is a challenge, and the games are FAR more expensive.
The next generation needs to change significantly, otherwise it will be utterly irrelevant in the face of Steam / SteamOS.
IntelliJ is one of those free IDEs. There is an open source version. And the open source / community version is vastly superior to any of the other free java IDEs.
I'm getting 20Mbits/sec on a connection that is supposed to be 152Mbits/sec.
It's been like it for months, and they've put back the fix date from June to OCTOBER.
Disgusting service from Virgin Media. Liberty Global have been an utter disaster.
If you "work" at a time of low demand, then you don't really work.
If you work at a time of high demand, then you'll get lots of business.
Ardbeg has already been to the ISS and back...
http://www.ardbeg.com/ardbeg/a...
And the point that is being made to you is that isn't as relevant.
If you launch in a new city, you aren't going to be profitable immediately. Even more so when you are breaking into new countries. That more established regions are profitable, demonstrates that the business can become profitable in new territories, given time.
Yes, investors are looking for returns. But they aren't necessarily looking for immediate returns, and dividends are only part of the story. Investments are (generally) for the long haul, and whilst the market cap is growing, then investments can still be cashed out for a profit, even without any income.
"When you consider the ongoing costs of electricity"
Street lamps are generally on very long poles. Fill the poles with batteries rather than cables, add solar panels and use LED lights.
You could easily make street lights a net contributor to electricity.
but it still makes it difficult for pedestrians, and put them at greater risk of injuring themselves.
That's the point - on one hand, they could be thinking about doing this, which would be worrying.
But, by registering a patent, they can make it a lot harder for anyone else to do it - and if they don't do it themselves, then it is a net win for consumers, in preventing such advertising.
If Microsoft are stupid enough to ship this "feature" - and have it turned on by default - what are the chances that they will be hit with a massive lawsuit?
No doubt there will at least be group policies - if not it disabled entirely - on professional editions of Windows, because corporate customers are going to run a mile from having external guests authenticating on to protected networks with confidential material, just because they happen to be a contact of the person they are visiting.
Both should be a criminal offence - If I install an application (e.g. Java), then it should do what it needs to do to make that application work, not mess around with *my* environment unnecessarily.
They need to make it work with network streaming devices (Sonos, Bluesound, etc.), not just computers and phones, and have an option for lossless.
Without them, it's dead to me.
Tories clearly worried about losing what they see as their rightful place - being the biggest wankers in the UK.
I don't have any reason to doubt them - however, it is more complicated than that. Being able to install and play the games takes more than just downloading them from Steam. It dependson how they've been coded, what they expect, etc.
And then there is the issue of timeframes - if it goes tits up, then any ability to download software won't be provided forever.
Bigger qualifier would be - what is measurable software quality? The only measures that really matter are how few bugs are there, how non-serious are the bugs, how easy are the bugs to fix in reality, how quickly and reliably can new features be added, or old ones removed, and how efficient is the code?
You can't genuinely measure software quality in the static. You can't measure it against the unknowns of the future.
Refactoring to meet some arbitrary definition of software quality is a red herring. But refactoring tools and techniques are an invaluable part of addressing the challenges of the future - of being able to address bugs / isolating code for testing, being able add/remove features, increasing code reuse instead of duplication for maintenance and predictability.
If the two-engine planes are such a risk, how the hell have they got air safety certificates?
Unless, due to scheduling issues they intentionally want to run the plane with broken engines, I don't see any good reason why it needs four engines.
Fair enough, buy American - especially when the A380 is more expensive. But given that it is a completely custom fit out, I don't see why the smaller size of a 787 should be a problem either.
The 787 would make it practical / possible to fly into smaller airfields too. And be much, much cheaper - to purchase and run.