I bet this software is great at finding syntax errors or maybe even some logical flaws in the code. But those types of bugs aren't what suck up all your time as a programmer. I wonder how good this software is at finding errors where the code is running correctly, but missing a required element from the specification. Or what about when your manager looks at it and says, "there's a bug in the program, it doesn't export to Excel" even though no one ever asked you for the Excel exporting capability? We'll see. I'm skeptical though, based primarily on this gem from the article:
You may not know it, but chances are you, too, are a programmer. If you've created a spreadsheet, made macros in Excel or Word or used a Web application to fetch news about your hobby or favorite celebrity, you've programmed.
Uh, no you haven't. You've used a program. Maybe you can make an exception for some macro development but successful entry of a URL into the address bar does not a programmer make.
You can justify the cost of expensive techology in so many different ways. But there is no justification for a $700 remote. How much better can it honestly be than a $20 remote? Unless this thing sprouts little legs and arms and washes the dishes while I'm watching TV, it's way too much money for its basic function.
I can see how people get annoyed by overuse of jargon or blaming a user for a problem before even taking a look at the underlying issue. I do it sometimes, I try not to but we all do it. But when people get annoyed because I make them make a concrete decision before starting development, it indicates a lack of understanding.
Most people don't have a strong grasp of how computers work. They see an input box or a display of information and they can work with an interface, but they don't have any idea how that information was calculated and presented to them. When they want to add a feature or enhance a capability, they can only explain it to me in terms of the end user interfaces. Since they don't understand the computer, they often make ambiguous requests. If I try to develop based on that kind of request, the end result is never what the user "envisions". So I keep pressing: "Do you want it done like this? Or maybe like this? You realize if I do it this way, this will happen? And then, this can't happen."
I am sure it's annoying and that the user would prefer if the computer could just do everything they want in any way they can imagine. But the computer has no imagination, everything that is developed has to be specifically built for a specific task. Sometimes you get a side effect that allows flexibility (often the illusion of flexibility, with more development required to get the "exact" effect hoped for) but usually you get what you built and nothing more. The need for IT professionals to put everything in terms of black and white may be annoying, but it is a inescapable consequence of the computer's need to put everything in terms of 1 or 0. Many people don't grasp that fact at an intuitive level and I think this is why it gets annoying.
Ha, this brings me back. My first post-graduation job was for a VAX/VMS to Solaris migration. This ancient VAX had spent years processing satellite telemetry data for the U.S. government. I learned a lot about how to migrate old data into a new data structure and just generally how to get an old system to talk to a newer one. The VAX did a great job at storing and processing data but they wanted to upgrade that part of the process so that it would be compatible with some of the newer UNIX software they had built. Of course, since this was government work, the project was scrapped after several years of paying very expensive salaries in favor of supporting the VAX/VMS based system. It would not surprise me in the least to learn that they are still using the old VAX for the exact same purpose today.
No doubt, without Kaboom! this is just a neat toy. To be honest, if they released a paddle set with just Kaboom! and Warlords I would love to try it out. It's too bad that they don't make paddle controllers or paddle games anymore, sure there are only so many things to do just going right and left but a lot of those games were the most fun to play. Well, 25 years ago anyway.
This seems like a pretty pointless rant, you might as well say, "why do anything"? I think the story of the reverse engineering of the Pokemon Mini is worth the 100kb of disk space on some web server it takes up. As far as how relevant it may be as "tech news", I can say that I constantly read up on some new, cool technology that I don't plan on owning anytime soon. Does that make it irrelevant? The parent post seems to suffer from a lamentable anti-Pokemon bias, which is too bad because the games are great. I myself am only familiar with Pokemon Mini from the emulator used in the Pokemon Channel GC game. The games are not great but I applaud the reverse engineering of this clever device.
I wonder how the bug fix will work. Considering the emphasis Nintendo is currently placing on GC/GBA connectivity through the link cable, I would not be surprised if they had planned this during the development of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. That way, if you want to keep planting berries, you have to buy Pokemon Colosseum! Pretty diabolical?
Every month or so I take my keyboard, turn it upside down, and shake it out. A month's worth of lunch crumbs come out and I start the process over again. What else can I do?
As perhaps a stronger counterpoint, Bill Gates didn't become the richest man in the world from software. He became the richest man in the world by being a brilliant business man.
It also helped that he was born to a millionaire father. They say the first million is always the hardest.
This is kind of a step down from what you are suggesting, but have you tried Pokemon Channel? It allows you to somewhat explore a Pokemon-filled world, and at the same time (????) watch TV with Pikachu. I agree 100% that a 3-D Pokemon adventure game such as you described would be absolutely fantastic, and a best-seller. But with Pokemon, Nintendo seems content to explore some extremely unique tangential ideas for a video game that have never been considered before. Pokemon Channel is probably the most passive game I've ever played, and yet I have to say it's very engaging. I like earning the new TV shows and interacting with the different Pokemon. And I am hoping that Pokemon Colleseum will contain more exploration and adventure than the Pokemon Stadium games did (great games for Pokemon fans but not much to offer for your standard adventure gamer).
Frank Grimes:Whats this? Extremely High Voltage? Well I don't need safety gloves because I'm Homer Simps--!!!
Believing what Bill Gates says about how computers works will always lead you to a Microsoft solution. Perfect code isn't required for security but imperfect code is inherently a potential security violation. If it doesn't do what it is suppossed to, what DOES it do? What IS it doing?
Daniel Lyons "Linux's Hit Men" is a skewed view of open source software. I am a software developer who uses GPL-based products in every aspect of development. This allows rapid, large-scale development of sophisticated software without expensive licensing fees or unnecessary overhead. However, if I were to distribute this software, I would be required to give the source code to whoever I distribute it to. This is clearly explained in the GNU Public License (GPL). Lyons disparages the GPL as placing an unreasonable burden on corporations. However, anyone who uses GPL licensed software to develop a commercial product is implicitly agreeing to distribute source code for that product in exchange for the right to use the GPL protected software. Microsoft uses similar implicit agreements in its End User License Agreements (EULA) found on every piece of their software. Open source software allows companies to develop advanced applications with low cost. As software needs become more precise, this quality of open source software will become more valuable. For internal software that is never distributed, the GPL restrictions have almost no effect. It is only when an application is distributed that the GPL restriction kicks in. If a company is using GPL open source to create a distributed product, they should have no qualms about distributing the source along with it. If a company decides that distributing the source is an unreasonable burden, then they should not use GPL protected software as part of their development, thus avoiding any conflict. The Free Software Foundation has as much right to use legal means to protect GPL-protected software as any other organization seeking to protect its intellectual property.
Whatever the reason behind the price drop, the fact is it definitely boosted their sales. You can easily get a GameCube and a dozen great games for it, today. Even if they did ditch the system tomorrow (unlikely, especially now that the sales are surging), you could still get a bunch of great games (Pikmin, Star Wars Rogue Leader, Eternal Darkness, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, etc etc et-CETERA!!!) and get a lot of enjoyment from a system which, at $99.00, is a fantastic deal. I expect to see Nintendo clearing out their inventory on the shelves then starting up manufacturing on the GameCube again. It's a great system and the games are fantastic. The biggest selling point? It's the only place to go to get games developed by Nintendo (well, except for GBA of course). You can't play Nintendo games on the PS2 or XBOX and this gives Nintendo more of an edge that people appreciate.
I saw this in a CS class maybe 8 years ago? It was a Technology and Society class, we all learned about how NOT to copy THAT floppy. That song is stuck in my head forever, this article isn't helping! Thanks Slashdot.
I liked hearing from the folks in Madison. It does sound like a pretty fun place! It really does seem like Thedeacon needs to turn off the computer for a little while and get to know the world right in front of him. Don't get me wrong, I love video games myself and have "wasted" plenty of days playing in front of the TV set. But there are limits to everything and based on what I've been hearing from the Madison crew, Thedeacon's problems with society seem to stem from his inability to relate to it in a meaningful way, and shouldn't be blamed on the community he lives in.
Having just watched the DVD's very recently, I will say I am looking forward to this. The lizard baby was great although pathetically fake looking in retrospect. There is one scene where a visitor "morphs" her mouth open to the point where her jaw is open about 4 or 5 inches and she eats a cat or something. It's great, it looks SO FAKE yet I guess it gets its point across: ALIENS IS MEAN!!!
I started programming the Apple ][ (][+'s and ][e's I believe?) when I was very very young going to a computer camp. I'll never forget it! We started with a LOGO turtle and I guess I haven't looked back since. Part of my initial fascination came from the simple yet at the time amazing experience of pressing a button on a keyboard and watching the letter matching that button pop up in a fuzzy green hue on the monitor. Amazing!
My first programs were such groundbreaking achievements as Turtle Draws A Square, or Turtle Draws a Circle (What's the syntax? REPEAT 360 [FORWARD 1 RT 1] something like that???). It really doesn't seem that long ago, and now it all seems so primitive.
At the time I was too young to realize the implications of what I was doing, to me it was just a way to partly recreate the awesome experience I had playing video games in the arcade. I loved for the Oregon Trail. Once my little pioneer got arrested somehow and I had to appear at a trial. I think I answered "NO" to "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" and it was GAME OVER> Do any of you remember this, or is it just a bizarre artifact of my imagination? Finally, I remember a hot rumor around this time that someone had written a unicorn-drawing program in LOGO and it took an hour to run but drew a fantastic piture of a unicorn. Does ANYONE know what I am talking about? Is this a true story? Anyway, it's great to look back and think about what was, at least it makes us appreciate what we have now more -- even if what we have now crashes 10 times as often as the "primitive" stuff we had back then! Thank you Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and may your accomplishments be fondly remembered always.
I have to say that the original SF2 is one of the best video games ever. I put so many quarters into that game! To this day if I find an original SF2 machine I have to put in a quarter and try my luck once more. I had played Karate Champ and even SF1 but for some reason this game's player vs. player option really "worked" for me. The controls were intuitive (pull back for block, as oppossed to the "block" button that ruined Mortal Kombat for me) and the special moves were easy to use, but not SO easy that a bunch of button slaps could make you a great player. The first time I beat M. Bison I yelled and screamed at the machine, I had DEFEATED this insidious enemy! When the SNES version came out I sent my brother to the store with 80 hard earned dollars (do you remember they charged $80 when it first came out???) and we played for, heh, well, years on end. I got my money's worth and then some. I love this game and I will be on the lookout for special SF2 events.
My old video game systems! My Atari 7800, Intellivision, and Odyssey2 all work great even after going on 20 years. These dinosaurs seem to keep going forever; even after one of my old NES's starts with the blinking screen necessitating a connector-bending session, the Atari will always come through.
I saw the pictures, I thought it was great that someone took fou nearly identical pictures of him touching his fingers together. The article is very good though. I, like probably most of you all, have tons of ideas for a great MMORPG that will definitely make millions of dollars; Walton helps put it in perspective.
I have to agree. Floppies eventually fail, it's a matter of time. Now I have a question: I have a disc marked 120Mb SuperDisk. I can't do format a: from windows, what's up with this thing?
Well, I saw a commercial for the new Zelda prior to Harry Potter II in the theater this weekend. It's unbelievable. Just like playing a cartoon. On the other hand, when it comes to a Miyamoto game, it could be "Super Mario's Roadside Sobriety Test" and I'd still get it and probably love it. I also have PS2 and while there are certainly some incredible games on that platfor (GTA: VC and Kingdom Hearts JUST for starters), I will continue to buy Nintendo consoles because they have a monopoly on ALL new Shigeru Miyamoto games. That guy hasn't had a flop since Donkey Kong Jr. Math, I have never regretted purchasing a Miyamoto game.
Slashdot Mirror
I bet this software is great at finding syntax errors or maybe even some logical flaws in the code. But those types of bugs aren't what suck up all your time as a programmer. I wonder how good this software is at finding errors where the code is running correctly, but missing a required element from the specification. Or what about when your manager looks at it and says, "there's a bug in the program, it doesn't export to Excel" even though no one ever asked you for the Excel exporting capability? We'll see. I'm skeptical though, based primarily on this gem from the article:
You may not know it, but chances are you, too, are a programmer. If you've created a spreadsheet, made macros in Excel or Word or used a Web application to fetch news about your hobby or favorite celebrity, you've programmed.
Uh, no you haven't. You've used a program. Maybe you can make an exception for some macro development but successful entry of a URL into the address bar does not a programmer make.
You can justify the cost of expensive techology in so many different ways. But there is no justification for a $700 remote. How much better can it honestly be than a $20 remote? Unless this thing sprouts little legs and arms and washes the dishes while I'm watching TV, it's way too much money for its basic function.
I can see how people get annoyed by overuse of jargon or blaming a user for a problem before even taking a look at the underlying issue. I do it sometimes, I try not to but we all do it. But when people get annoyed because I make them make a concrete decision before starting development, it indicates a lack of understanding.
Most people don't have a strong grasp of how computers work. They see an input box or a display of information and they can work with an interface, but they don't have any idea how that information was calculated and presented to them. When they want to add a feature or enhance a capability, they can only explain it to me in terms of the end user interfaces. Since they don't understand the computer, they often make ambiguous requests. If I try to develop based on that kind of request, the end result is never what the user "envisions". So I keep pressing: "Do you want it done like this? Or maybe like this? You realize if I do it this way, this will happen? And then, this can't happen."
I am sure it's annoying and that the user would prefer if the computer could just do everything they want in any way they can imagine. But the computer has no imagination, everything that is developed has to be specifically built for a specific task. Sometimes you get a side effect that allows flexibility (often the illusion of flexibility, with more development required to get the "exact" effect hoped for) but usually you get what you built and nothing more. The need for IT professionals to put everything in terms of black and white may be annoying, but it is a inescapable consequence of the computer's need to put everything in terms of 1 or 0. Many people don't grasp that fact at an intuitive level and I think this is why it gets annoying.
Ha, this brings me back. My first post-graduation job was for a VAX/VMS to Solaris migration. This ancient VAX had spent years processing satellite telemetry data for the U.S. government. I learned a lot about how to migrate old data into a new data structure and just generally how to get an old system to talk to a newer one. The VAX did a great job at storing and processing data but they wanted to upgrade that part of the process so that it would be compatible with some of the newer UNIX software they had built. Of course, since this was government work, the project was scrapped after several years of paying very expensive salaries in favor of supporting the VAX/VMS based system. It would not surprise me in the least to learn that they are still using the old VAX for the exact same purpose today.
No doubt, without Kaboom! this is just a neat toy. To be honest, if they released a paddle set with just Kaboom! and Warlords I would love to try it out. It's too bad that they don't make paddle controllers or paddle games anymore, sure there are only so many things to do just going right and left but a lot of those games were the most fun to play. Well, 25 years ago anyway.
They can take care of it the old fashioned way.
This seems like a pretty pointless rant, you might as well say, "why do anything"? I think the story of the reverse engineering of the Pokemon Mini is worth the 100kb of disk space on some web server it takes up. As far as how relevant it may be as "tech news", I can say that I constantly read up on some new, cool technology that I don't plan on owning anytime soon. Does that make it irrelevant? The parent post seems to suffer from a lamentable anti-Pokemon bias, which is too bad because the games are great. I myself am only familiar with Pokemon Mini from the emulator used in the Pokemon Channel GC game. The games are not great but I applaud the reverse engineering of this clever device.
I wonder how the bug fix will work. Considering the emphasis Nintendo is currently placing on GC/GBA connectivity through the link cable, I would not be surprised if they had planned this during the development of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. That way, if you want to keep planting berries, you have to buy Pokemon Colosseum! Pretty diabolical?
Every month or so I take my keyboard, turn it upside down, and shake it out. A month's worth of lunch crumbs come out and I start the process over again. What else can I do?
As perhaps a stronger counterpoint, Bill Gates didn't become the richest man in the world from software. He became the richest man in the world by being a brilliant business man.
It also helped that he was born to a millionaire father. They say the first million is always the hardest.
This is kind of a step down from what you are suggesting, but have you tried Pokemon Channel? It allows you to somewhat explore a Pokemon-filled world, and at the same time (????) watch TV with Pikachu. I agree 100% that a 3-D Pokemon adventure game such as you described would be absolutely fantastic, and a best-seller. But with Pokemon, Nintendo seems content to explore some extremely unique tangential ideas for a video game that have never been considered before. Pokemon Channel is probably the most passive game I've ever played, and yet I have to say it's very engaging. I like earning the new TV shows and interacting with the different Pokemon. And I am hoping that Pokemon Colleseum will contain more exploration and adventure than the Pokemon Stadium games did (great games for Pokemon fans but not much to offer for your standard adventure gamer).
Isn't that its own present? I got mostly shirts.
Frank Grimes:Whats this? Extremely High Voltage? Well I don't need safety gloves because I'm Homer Simps--!!! Believing what Bill Gates says about how computers works will always lead you to a Microsoft solution. Perfect code isn't required for security but imperfect code is inherently a potential security violation. If it doesn't do what it is suppossed to, what DOES it do? What IS it doing?
Daniel Lyons "Linux's Hit Men" is a skewed view of open source software. I am a software developer who uses GPL-based products in every aspect of development. This allows rapid, large-scale development of sophisticated software without expensive licensing fees or unnecessary overhead. However, if I were to distribute this software, I would be required to give the source code to whoever I distribute it to. This is clearly explained in the GNU Public License (GPL). Lyons disparages the GPL as placing an unreasonable burden on corporations. However, anyone who uses GPL licensed software to develop a commercial product is implicitly agreeing to distribute source code for that product in exchange for the right to use the GPL protected software. Microsoft uses similar implicit agreements in its End User License Agreements (EULA) found on every piece of their software.
Open source software allows companies to develop advanced applications with low cost. As software needs become more precise, this quality of open source software will become more valuable. For internal software that is never distributed, the GPL restrictions have almost no effect. It is only when an application is distributed that the GPL restriction kicks in. If a company is using GPL open source to create a distributed product, they should have no qualms about distributing the source along with it. If a company decides that distributing the source is an unreasonable burden, then they should not use GPL protected software as part of their development, thus avoiding any conflict. The Free Software Foundation has as much right to use legal means to protect GPL-protected software as any other organization seeking to protect its intellectual property.
Sincerely,
Kevin Hebert
Whatever the reason behind the price drop, the fact is it definitely boosted their sales. You can easily get a GameCube and a dozen great games for it, today. Even if they did ditch the system tomorrow (unlikely, especially now that the sales are surging), you could still get a bunch of great games (Pikmin, Star Wars Rogue Leader, Eternal Darkness, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, etc etc et-CETERA!!!) and get a lot of enjoyment from a system which, at $99.00, is a fantastic deal. I expect to see Nintendo clearing out their inventory on the shelves then starting up manufacturing on the GameCube again. It's a great system and the games are fantastic. The biggest selling point? It's the only place to go to get games developed by Nintendo (well, except for GBA of course). You can't play Nintendo games on the PS2 or XBOX and this gives Nintendo more of an edge that people appreciate.
I saw this in a CS class maybe 8 years ago? It was a Technology and Society class, we all learned about how NOT to copy THAT floppy. That song is stuck in my head forever, this article isn't helping! Thanks Slashdot.
I liked hearing from the folks in Madison. It does sound like a pretty fun place! It really does seem like Thedeacon needs to turn off the computer for a little while and get to know the world right in front of him. Don't get me wrong, I love video games myself and have "wasted" plenty of days playing in front of the TV set. But there are limits to everything and based on what I've been hearing from the Madison crew, Thedeacon's problems with society seem to stem from his inability to relate to it in a meaningful way, and shouldn't be blamed on the community he lives in.
Having just watched the DVD's very recently, I will say I am looking forward to this. The lizard baby was great although pathetically fake looking in retrospect. There is one scene where a visitor "morphs" her mouth open to the point where her jaw is open about 4 or 5 inches and she eats a cat or something. It's great, it looks SO FAKE yet I guess it gets its point across: ALIENS IS MEAN!!!
I started programming the Apple ][ (][+'s and ][e's I believe?) when I was very very young going to a computer camp. I'll never forget it! We started with a LOGO turtle and I guess I haven't looked back since. Part of my initial fascination came from the simple yet at the time amazing experience of pressing a button on a keyboard and watching the letter matching that button pop up in a fuzzy green hue on the monitor. Amazing! My first programs were such groundbreaking achievements as Turtle Draws A Square, or Turtle Draws a Circle (What's the syntax? REPEAT 360 [FORWARD 1 RT 1] something like that???). It really doesn't seem that long ago, and now it all seems so primitive. At the time I was too young to realize the implications of what I was doing, to me it was just a way to partly recreate the awesome experience I had playing video games in the arcade. I loved for the Oregon Trail. Once my little pioneer got arrested somehow and I had to appear at a trial. I think I answered "NO" to "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" and it was GAME OVER> Do any of you remember this, or is it just a bizarre artifact of my imagination? Finally, I remember a hot rumor around this time that someone had written a unicorn-drawing program in LOGO and it took an hour to run but drew a fantastic piture of a unicorn. Does ANYONE know what I am talking about? Is this a true story? Anyway, it's great to look back and think about what was, at least it makes us appreciate what we have now more -- even if what we have now crashes 10 times as often as the "primitive" stuff we had back then! Thank you Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and may your accomplishments be fondly remembered always.
I have to say that the original SF2 is one of the best video games ever. I put so many quarters into that game! To this day if I find an original SF2 machine I have to put in a quarter and try my luck once more. I had played Karate Champ and even SF1 but for some reason this game's player vs. player option really "worked" for me. The controls were intuitive (pull back for block, as oppossed to the "block" button that ruined Mortal Kombat for me) and the special moves were easy to use, but not SO easy that a bunch of button slaps could make you a great player. The first time I beat M. Bison I yelled and screamed at the machine, I had DEFEATED this insidious enemy! When the SNES version came out I sent my brother to the store with 80 hard earned dollars (do you remember they charged $80 when it first came out???) and we played for, heh, well, years on end. I got my money's worth and then some. I love this game and I will be on the lookout for special SF2 events.
My old video game systems! My Atari 7800, Intellivision, and Odyssey2 all work great even after going on 20 years. These dinosaurs seem to keep going forever; even after one of my old NES's starts with the blinking screen necessitating a connector-bending session, the Atari will always come through.
I saw the pictures, I thought it was great that someone took fou nearly identical pictures of him touching his fingers together. The article is very good though. I, like probably most of you all, have tons of ideas for a great MMORPG that will definitely make millions of dollars; Walton helps put it in perspective.
I have to agree. Floppies eventually fail, it's a matter of time. Now I have a question: I have a disc marked 120Mb SuperDisk. I can't do format a: from windows, what's up with this thing?
Sure, this makes sense but how do these microenvironments start to self-replicate with a genetic code? I guess that's the leap to figure out.
Well, I saw a commercial for the new Zelda prior to Harry Potter II in the theater this weekend. It's unbelievable. Just like playing a cartoon. On the other hand, when it comes to a Miyamoto game, it could be "Super Mario's Roadside Sobriety Test" and I'd still get it and probably love it. I also have PS2 and while there are certainly some incredible games on that platfor (GTA: VC and Kingdom Hearts JUST for starters), I will continue to buy Nintendo consoles because they have a monopoly on ALL new Shigeru Miyamoto games. That guy hasn't had a flop since Donkey Kong Jr. Math, I have never regretted purchasing a Miyamoto game.