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User: iamacat

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  1. Boycott any operating systems... on Symbian OS & Series 90 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    That don't come with a standard C/C++ compiler, on-device debugger and ANSI C+POSIX libraries. EPOC comes with a tool chain that doesn't even support global variables and it's own, incompatible versions of memcpy and friends. And to add insult to injury each (frequent) release of the OS comes with it's own UI library.

    They obviously expect people to write an application from scratch for every device and not reuse even trivial C code from other projects. We should fight this kind of thinking. Zaurus would be a perfect "standard" platform, but even Palm and WinCE are not as bad. CodeWarrior for example supports standard C++ with globals variables exceptions and anything else you want.

  2. News flash - C is hard to optimize on Panther Released into the Wild · · Score: 1

    Having pointers to local variables really does you in, because any dereference - and any function call that must be assumed to do the same - can potentially change any variable in the program. All the registers must be flushed and reloaded.

    On the other hand, Fortran doesn't have pointers and for loops can be often not only optimized but paralelized for different values of the loop variable. Say, using vector instructions.

    Weather it could be done using a subset of C, some C like syntax or even Java is an open questions. But it seems existing optimizing compilers for numeric calculation are usually for FORTRAN.

  3. Opera on Panther Released into the Wild · · Score: 1

    I am a happy Mac owner, but at work I use Opera 7 mail. It takes a little getting used to (basically there are dynamic views like "Unread messages" in addition to static mailboxes), but it's quite functional and, like the rest of Opera, fast and uses little memory.

    It will set you back 40 bucks unless you want to look at the ads. But hey, so will a nice dinner.

  4. Go one step further on AOL Hacks Subscribers' Computers · · Score: 1

    We need to have an ISP that does automatic monthly maintanance on user'c PC. Install everything from windowsupdate, remove viruses and adware, defragment the hard drive - all on some weekday night starting from 3am.

    AOL would need to support broadband first, but I think another provider doing it will be immensly popular. The only condition is iron clad respect for privacy - don't keep any logs of what was found and don't make any changes unrelated to security. The server might have to reside in a country with decent laws - any idea where that might be?

  5. Gator-removal ActiveX control on Gator Forces Site To Remove 'Spyware' Label · · Score: 1

    All right then. I will write an ActiveX control that uninstalls Gator, Comet cursor and the friends and put it on every page in my site. Also, all my programs will install the thing, after notifying the user - right at the bottom of the license page, after a copy of GPL. Then I will start suing them for any terms they use to describe my software that I feel are misleading. What are they going to say in court?

  6. No obscurity is involved on Microsoft's Take on iTunes for Windows · · Score: 1

    Because Apple tells you how to burn and how to rip. Your are just forced to be explicitely aware of what you are doing rather than mindlessly sharing ~/Music on Limewire as you could if iTMS gave you regular MP3s.

    Also, you may not be bothered by the loss of quality in double encoding, but you will know it's there. If you like the song, you will want to get the real thing rather than a "secondhand" copy from your friend.

  7. Re:Wrong! on Windows iTunes Sells A Million Songs In 3.5 Days · · Score: 1

    That has to be because of the CD burning support. I didn't actually check if Linux has a standartized interface for IDE, SCSI and USB CD burners and if Wine supports it, but I would bet a good sum on my guess.

  8. Hi got to be kidding on Sun Solaris Vs Linux: The x86 Smack-down · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Processor (2) Intel Pentium IIIs at 600 MHz, 256 KB cache
    Motherboard Intel L440GX+
    RAM 512 MB PC133 ECC
    DISK (1) 9 GB Maxtor SCSI

    I bet Solaris is designed to run on more serious hardware. I bet DOS apps will run even faster than Linux on this box, even without taking advantage of dual processor.

  9. No on More on Massachusetts' Push for Open Source · · Score: 1

    Government's decisions should be based on all the impact the action will cause, not just the direct cost. You could argue that spending on support of open source rather than Microsoft will benefit local companies (hmm.. FSF?) and improve state's economy.

    Or you could consider that government documents should be still readable after very long time (say, 300 years) and Microsoft may not be around to write a viewer for whatever people use to read at that time.

    You can argue with the particular points I brought up, but no cost shouldn't be the only factor.

  10. Re:So stop listening to their illegal tunes on RIAA Threatens More Music-Lovers · · Score: 1

    While the music may be decent, iRate music selection algorithm is too primitive to be really enjoyable. If you rate a song high, it keeps playing it way too often, until you are tired of it. Also, there is no way to specify a genre, so you get death metal right next to classical.

    I would fix it if I had time. But for now its a nice thought but not a very enjoyable experience.

  11. Which apple's choices don't they understand? on Microsoft Dismisses Apple's iTunes for Windows · · Score: 1

    iTunes music store supports all kind of devices - stereos, car players, mini-CD players - through unlimited CD burning. I can safely say there are more than 40 brands. Besides it does have MP3 ripping for your own CDs, unlike some media players we all know.

    I could also say that you can re-rip CD-RWs to MP3s, using iTunes itself :-). Or that you can use nice Quicktime APIs to decompress "protected" tracks to AIFF. But I guess only intended/supported features count.

  12. Which is why VMs are good on Alpha's Going Going Gone · · Score: 1

    If your vendor dies, you can just move applications to a new platform and the users will not notice a difference. With native code, good luck if the company is still alive. Even with open source, recompile will expose all kind of bugs.

  13. Confusion of terms on PHP Scales As Well As Java · · Score: 1

    The problem is not Java's or PHP's scalability in terms of performance. If there is a problem, people write a better compiler, a better database, buy a faster server or buy more servers. Pocket change for web sites with millions of transactions per day.

    The problem is that Java, being a general-purpose, modern programming language, can be used to write understandable and secure code for very complex problems. And PHP, well, is not. Maybe you don't have an application that can be most cleanly implemented as a 5-tier architecture. But if you think you might in future, you don't want to start writting it in PHP. Not the logic portion at least.

    A lot of technologies - OO, EJB, relational data design - can seem useless and overcomplicated until one encounters a problem that is complicated. Maybe one of these days I will understand what inspires people to use XML, with schema and style sheets to communicate between their own client and server. Rather than using a nice binary RPC implementation, for example. But then maybe this is one example of a bad technology.

    On the other hand, you can still open database connections directly from JSP and combine ease of use of PHP with security of PHP. At least you can still call functions from your class library for connection pooling and input validation.

  14. Ergonomics on Is Bluetooth Dead? · · Score: 1

    It's actually 0-button, in the sense that you just push anywhere on the top. In this way, you can use any finger, or the whole palm. My right hand is much less tired when I work at home.

    If you don't like it, you can always connect Microsoft mouse to a Mac and it will work as expected.

  15. Re:Great quote: on The FSF, Linux's Hit Men · · Score: 1

    Except that they bought 400000 chips from Broadcom, so selling each of the chips was in fact a first sale.

  16. Actually you got it backwards on Mono-culture And The .NETwork Effect · · Score: 1

    C# is not bad as a language. Nothing revolutionary, sure but after using properties, easy native function calls (whoever came up with the JNI monstrocity?) and primitive type unboxing, I would rather write my project in C# than Java other things being equal. Also ASP.Net is very clean compared to J2EE.

    UI on the other hand is exacly what the package name says - Windows.Forms. If you want canned dialogs from the resource editor fine. If you want resizable windows or to build a complex object hierarchy from scratch - good luck! Swing is very flexible and powerful by comparison, although Sun got carried away with complexity. I just wish Cocoa was cross-platform.

  17. Dude.... on More on Virginia Tech G5 Cluster: 17.6 Tflops · · Score: 1

    Windows Media and Real Player about a G5 cluster? Don't you mean a nice Quicktime movie? (yes I have both players on Mac, sans spyware and other undesirable "system integration". But Apple will be sad)

  18. So you don't like e-books that can be printed? on Bubble Bursts for e-Books · · Score: 1

    Apple music can be easily converted into an open format that works with windows, stereos and many portable players. Just click on a playlist and hit the "Burn Disc" icon.

  19. Re:The two are not separate on Linux Users Try FreeBSD 5, Windows · · Score: 1

    OpenOffice - heard of it, installed it and it ate all the leading indentation in the HTML file I was trying to edit. Where is a "Support" link on openoffice.org? I got some great customer support before, including a patch for MS-DOS back when they weren't so big and arrogant.

    Opera - I am a registered user. However, a lot of pages do not work properly, including my "anti-Microsoft" company's internal apps. Such would not be the case if Microsoft didn't kill Netscape and alternative browsers had a noticable market share.

    Compilers - used any 3rd-party libraries lately? Say, Palm's conduit development tools? Yep, their DLLs (that expose some C++ interfaces) are linked with msvcrt40.dll and MFC. Want to give me some tips on writting a conduit with GCC, Borland C or LCC-Win32? Again, if these compilers had a market share, the libraries would be open source or compiled for multiple tool chains.

    Yes, there is open source, which is either unsupported or very expensive to support. And there are a few struggling commercial companies that don't have money to do everything they could and can't get others to interoperate with them.

    Had Microsoft not killed companies on purpose by burning cash, I would have several high-quality products with good customer support and interoperability to choose from in each area. Which portion do you consider fiction?

  20. The two are not separate on Linux Users Try FreeBSD 5, Windows · · Score: 1, Troll

    If MS wasn't an evil empire, I would be able to use Windows with a 3rd party office suite, 3rd party browser, 3rd party compilers and so forth. This will, in turn, make Microsoft work hard to make their own applications attractive.

    As it is the case, MS monopolistic practices ruined companies like Netscape and WordPerfect. True there is open source, but after a work day of programming I want pay some reasonable money for pre-debugged software rather than "contibuting".

    I am a happy Apple user and even with 1% market share we have multiple office suites and multiple unique browsers (Safari vs Opera vs OmniWeb vs iCab vs Camino). Miricles would happen with 20% market share.

  21. Hmm... Terrorist batteries on Nokia Investigating Reported Cell Phone Explosions · · Score: 1

    So can people actually make batteries explode on purpose? I sure hope this car doesn't park under my appartment building.

  22. Re:I don't care on MPAA Ruins Own Films As Anti-Piracy Measure · · Score: 1

    Good luck for your colledge, but don't tell me to buy something I don't like for unfair prices. This is no different from people selling magazine subscriptions door to door. Open a decent restaurant inside the theater (or just outside to avoid food license problems) and people will pay for convinience without any artificial restrictions.

  23. Re:Legal P2P Won't Succeed on Will Legal P2P Music Distribution Succeed? · · Score: 1

    I think you got it backwards with subscription vs per-song. Why should I keep paying $10 or whatever per month when I didn't find a single song I want to have? I know I wouldn't subscribe to this kind of service. On the other hand, if I like a particular song, it seams reasonable to pay a price of a cup of coffee.

    The difference for phone companies is that most people make lots of phone calls and generally have no control of their talk time. I bet someone who only makes a couple of calls per month will find using a public phone more reasonable than subscribing to any service.

  24. Mostly useless on Oops, Dave Barry Does It Again · · Score: 1

    Because nobody really wants to opt in for unrestricted promotions, only specific alerts like a given item on sale. Better just extend current junk fax laws to e-mail, paper mail and phone calls. In the other words, recognize that people's time has value, not just paper and toner.

  25. Re:Not at all on Senator Seeks Restrictions to Music Laws, Fines · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but this is too bizarre for me to comprehand. Just read my post and yours again. Are you advocating unreasonable punishments, or are you saying that any fine that doesn't bankrupt me (in the other words, any fine that I will actually pay) doesn't have any deterrent effect? And all those stupid people just keep charging a late fee for unpaid bills or writting parking tickets. Jeez...