Actually, what you describe may be the next killer app. From what I know, there is no such application in the market, but it seems people would be wildly interested in it, judging from the amount of machinima videos floating around the web...
As a Windows user, I have no problem viewing videos with Flash. I often have multiple Flash streams downloading and only one playing, so I don't have to wait for the next part of multipart videos.
Would you say the same thing for C++ if C++ had the same crash proof as ADA? I don't think so. It's a matter of mentality...you see some C++ code and automatically assume that's easier than ADA code, simply because you are used to seeing C-style code. In fact, ADA is not difficult at all.
With all due respect to mr Ballmer, but not only he is looking like a used cars salesman, but he also seems not to have any imagination whatsoever regarding new products and technologies. He is the least inspiring person for the position he has. At least, with mr Gates, we always expected something new out of him, even if in the end he did not deliver that.
And most security flaws are due to the programming language used. Isn't it time to use another language? it even makes economic sense to CREATE an new language, since it will be used in so many projects afterward. Here are some of the vulnerabilities:
-Integer overflow, crash in libtheora video library -Memory safety fixes in liboggplay media library -Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.1.6/ 1.9.0.16) -Upgrade media libraries to fix memory safety bugs -Heap buffer overflow in string to number conversion -Heap buffer overflow in GIF color map parser -Crash in proxy auto-configuration regexp parsing -Crash with recursive web-worker calls -TreeColumns dangling pointer vulnerability -Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.1.3/1.9.0.14) -Data corruption with SOCKS5 reply containing DNS name longer than 15 characters -Heap overflow in certificate regexp parsing -Heap/integer overflows in font glyph rendering libraries
See what are the errors? buffer overflows, integer overflows and out of bounds array accesses. This is because the language used to program this monster of a project does not handle correct overflows and out of bounds indexes.
How many billions of dollars should be lost in security problems before we realize that a major problem in writing secure software is the programming language? (please no 'it's the programmer's fault stupid' comments. The point here is to help the programmer community write secure programs, not promote the few god programmers that know how to do it without introducing any security problem).
we very well might get to understand what makes us sentient
Sentience needs a) will, b) reflection. We might achieve reflection in a computer, but can will be achieved? an animal wants to survive, and everything it does is about survival. Computers can't have will.
First of all, there is a Space Battleship Yamato live action film coming out of Japan at the end of the year.
I'd like to see Star Blazers done in an adult tone. There is a great depth in Space Battleship Yamato that was almost lost in the translation to Star Blazers.
It's not that you are not right, but you forgot some things:
1) Other operating systems can easily run in a virtual machine inside Windows. The user can run those O/Ses for productivity tasks and run games for Windows.
2) The cost for Windows is minimal compared to games.
The PC is not a platform for casual gaming, is it? so this product, since it is for the PC, it's for PC gamers, which are a little bit more 'hardcore' than casual gamers. The question is: for what games? do they seriously expect the hardcore PC gamer to give up his mouse & keyboard comfort in order to recreate a natural motion? nobody would want to, for example, use a fake gun to aim, since the mouse is a superior mechanism for FPS games (either solo or multiplayer). Neither will do the hardcore RPG gamer, or the simulation player. A motion sensing controller is not the right type of controller for PC games.
I don't know the exact nature of the bug, but I know that in the current economic crisis, managers first and foremost look for minimizing costs. This has laid to reductions in personnel, and ultimately in testing problems: not enough people to test the software and the people that are assigned the testing job are not experienced enough to do it properly.
I experienced this personally: I worked all throughout 2009 on a project that should have been ended by the end of 2008, because the contractor has laid off several people and they were unable to fully come out with a good specification and testing of their system. Most of the errors became apparent through the testing done by us, the subcontractor. The contractor was French, by the way.
I was trained to detect 60 vs 30 FPS on the Amiga: the games that took advantage of the Amiga's hardware were silky smooth, meaning 60 FPS, and the games that were simple ST ports were jerky, meaning 30 FPS or lower.
I loved the Amiga game Drivin' Force (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrJDgYxgyNM) simply for this: absolutely stunningly smooth 60 FPS visuals. It looked a little bit like Sega's Powerdrift.
I disagree. Avatar is a true piece of digital art...not because of the plot, but because if its FX. It's a truly remarkable depiction of an alien world.
What you say is correct, but the Amiga was more about the graphics and sound and less about the O/S. Back then, almost no one cared about the O/S. It was the graphics and sound capabilities that made the Amiga stand out from the crowd.
The completely open platform also meant that the games could hit the hardware and exploit every possibility. At the time, this was important, because the hardware was much slower than what it is today.
Not really. Amiga owners moved to PCs because of the games; mainly because of Wing Commander and later Doom. Amiga was a good (average in reality, but that's another discussion) 2D game platform, but it really sucked in 3d.
I agree. But some times it is very hard to tell the 'how' from the code, so comments are required to tell the 'how'. I'd rather read English than code anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, democracy is not to have politicians at all. Democracy = demos (the people) is cratos (the state).
You can always click on the link then copy the URL from the address bar. Since you will always going to open the link anyway...
Actually, what you describe may be the next killer app. From what I know, there is no such application in the market, but it seems people would be wildly interested in it, judging from the amount of machinima videos floating around the web...
As a Windows user, I have no problem viewing videos with Flash. I often have multiple Flash streams downloading and only one playing, so I don't have to wait for the next part of multipart videos.
So, what's exactly the problem with Flash?
Would you say the same thing for C++ if C++ had the same crash proof as ADA? I don't think so. It's a matter of mentality...you see some C++ code and automatically assume that's easier than ADA code, simply because you are used to seeing C-style code. In fact, ADA is not difficult at all.
My comment was of technical nature, not of user-interface nature.
It's amazing that every time I say on /. that it's the programming language's fault, someone pops up and says that it's the programmer's fault.
Why don't people understand that C/C++ does not scale well for the kind of project that a web browser is, it's beyond my understanding.
A single IP6 address could be enough for all those things.
With all due respect to mr Ballmer, but not only he is looking like a used cars salesman, but he also seems not to have any imagination whatsoever regarding new products and technologies. He is the least inspiring person for the position he has. At least, with mr Gates, we always expected something new out of him, even if in the end he did not deliver that.
And most security flaws are due to the programming language used. Isn't it time to use another language? it even makes economic sense to CREATE an new language, since it will be used in so many projects afterward. Here are some of the vulnerabilities:
-Integer overflow, crash in libtheora video library
-Memory safety fixes in liboggplay media library
-Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.1.6/ 1.9.0.16)
-Upgrade media libraries to fix memory safety bugs
-Heap buffer overflow in string to number conversion
-Heap buffer overflow in GIF color map parser
-Crash in proxy auto-configuration regexp parsing
-Crash with recursive web-worker calls
-TreeColumns dangling pointer vulnerability
-Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.1.3/1.9.0.14)
-Data corruption with SOCKS5 reply containing DNS name longer than 15 characters
-Heap overflow in certificate regexp parsing
-Heap/integer overflows in font glyph rendering libraries
See what are the errors? buffer overflows, integer overflows and out of bounds array accesses. This is because the language used to program this monster of a project does not handle correct overflows and out of bounds indexes.
How many billions of dollars should be lost in security problems before we realize that a major problem in writing secure software is the programming language? (please no 'it's the programmer's fault stupid' comments. The point here is to help the programmer community write secure programs, not promote the few god programmers that know how to do it without introducing any security problem).
That's what you get when you read /. at 2 am and you are falling asleep on the keyboard...
we very well might get to understand what makes us sentient
Sentience needs a) will, b) reflection. We might achieve reflection in a computer, but can will be achieved? an animal wants to survive, and everything it does is about survival. Computers can't have will.
First of all, there is a Space Battleship Yamato live action film coming out of Japan at the end of the year.
I'd like to see Star Blazers done in an adult tone. There is a great depth in Space Battleship Yamato that was almost lost in the translation to Star Blazers.
Tajmar and DeMatos discovered that in a rotating superconductor, a counter-gravity force can be produced. How does that relate to this theory?
It's not that you are not right, but you forgot some things:
1) Other operating systems can easily run in a virtual machine inside Windows. The user can run those O/Ses for productivity tasks and run games for Windows.
2) The cost for Windows is minimal compared to games.
The PC is not a platform for casual gaming, is it? so this product, since it is for the PC, it's for PC gamers, which are a little bit more 'hardcore' than casual gamers. The question is: for what games? do they seriously expect the hardcore PC gamer to give up his mouse & keyboard comfort in order to recreate a natural motion? nobody would want to, for example, use a fake gun to aim, since the mouse is a superior mechanism for FPS games (either solo or multiplayer). Neither will do the hardcore RPG gamer, or the simulation player. A motion sensing controller is not the right type of controller for PC games.
I don't know the exact nature of the bug, but I know that in the current economic crisis, managers first and foremost look for minimizing costs. This has laid to reductions in personnel, and ultimately in testing problems: not enough people to test the software and the people that are assigned the testing job are not experienced enough to do it properly.
I experienced this personally: I worked all throughout 2009 on a project that should have been ended by the end of 2008, because the contractor has laid off several people and they were unable to fully come out with a good specification and testing of their system. Most of the errors became apparent through the testing done by us, the subcontractor. The contractor was French, by the way.
Doesn't Norton protect me from such stuff?
I was trained to detect 60 vs 30 FPS on the Amiga: the games that took advantage of the Amiga's hardware were silky smooth, meaning 60 FPS, and the games that were simple ST ports were jerky, meaning 30 FPS or lower.
I loved the Amiga game Drivin' Force (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrJDgYxgyNM) simply for this: absolutely stunningly smooth 60 FPS visuals. It looked a little bit like Sega's Powerdrift.
Did it ever occur to you that the contractor may did it on purpose? so as that there is more work to do in the future...
I disagree. Avatar is a true piece of digital art...not because of the plot, but because if its FX. It's a truly remarkable depiction of an alien world.
This is /., you insensitive clod!!!! you must be new here...
What you say is correct, but the Amiga was more about the graphics and sound and less about the O/S. Back then, almost no one cared about the O/S. It was the graphics and sound capabilities that made the Amiga stand out from the crowd.
The completely open platform also meant that the games could hit the hardware and exploit every possibility. At the time, this was important, because the hardware was much slower than what it is today.
Not really. Amiga owners moved to PCs because of the games; mainly because of Wing Commander and later Doom. Amiga was a good (average in reality, but that's another discussion) 2D game platform, but it really sucked in 3d.
I agree. But some times it is very hard to tell the 'how' from the code, so comments are required to tell the 'how'. I'd rather read English than code anyway.