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User: hobo2k

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Comments · 196

  1. Re:Closed source.... on Microsoft: Because Bugs are Cool · · Score: 1
    Bill's interpretation of why people complain about bugs is very unique

    Gates statement is kinda understandable. He wasn't talking about bugs in general, but specifically Microsoft bugs. Microsoft bugs are a bit hyped up, largely because Win3.1 and Win9x were such pieces of crap. It is a social thing.

    Still is was funny to hear him say that bugs & stability are not a reason to buy a new version. Hasn't "The most stable windows ever" been advertised selling point of EVERY release of Windows or NT since win95?

  2. Re:Most Accurate Portrayal of a Computer Award... on Realistic Portrayals of Software Programmers? · · Score: 1
    Am I the only guy who gets pissed when mission critical systems are portrayed in movies as over-the-top guis that take for ever to do something .. and that the complete lack of sane interface design is used to build tension?

    You don't use Windows NT much do you?
  3. Re:This would be my key... on Keyboard Layouts for the 21st Century? · · Score: 1

    Redundant comment. The pr0n key was already mentioned. ;-)

  4. Re:And what has come out of this? on Dave Stutz's Parting Advice To Microsoft · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well paladium is coming soon....

    <ducks>

  5. Just like the TiVo on Building a Better Back Button · · Score: 2, Funny

    "No honey I was just counter-programming the browser. The foward button thinks I'm gay"

  6. Re:Python 100X faster than C++? Please. on Even Sun Can't Use Java · · Score: 1

    Empty loops? Ha!! I'll match your empty loops and raise you one optimizing compiler!

  7. Re:Random VHS fact! on Why VHS Was Better · · Score: 1

    Well, when the DVD was created it did stand for 'Video', right? The 'Versatile' was a latter name change once support for it was added to computers.

  8. Just wondering... on The 1991 "X-Box" · · Score: 1

    Was this the first time that a slashdot story itself was a troll? Or has this happened before?

  9. Can do some of this already (and other reactions) on Interview with Jaron Lanier on "Phenotropic" Development · · Score: 1
    pieces of the universe connect together by recognizing each other's patterns
    Isn't that what Component based software engineering does? e.g. MS's COM, or the 'interface' keyword in Java. Pattern recognition is easy: just call QueryInterface.

    It's much more efficient to make it error-intolerant
    Completely agree! In other words: check your parameters and function ret vals for validity! Not doing this is just lazy and dangerous. Perhaps a compiler could issue warnings whenever a parameter is used without a validity check first.
    there's a danger that you lose the faith that used to exist in prior generations: that computing could get better at a fundamental level
    Funny, on the first day of Intro CS 1004 my professor said, "There is no silver bullet. Programming is hard and always will be."

    And Lanier's comments that nature is robust? no way. A divorce is an OS crash. The extiction of a species is the obsolesence of a program. A still born baby is Windows ME. The universe has bugs.

  10. Nobody mentioned the video! on How Much Does it Cost to Produce a Recording? · · Score: 1

    And you *know* there ain't no way you'll sell any records without having some hot momma jiggling her jello on MTV!!

  11. Re:and in case there is any doubt on Using Redundancies to Find Errors · · Score: 1
    Okay, I'm bored, so WTF. Here is the C code in question:
    struct waste
    {
    char* of;
    } *time;
    time = (struct waste*)rand();
    if (!time || !time->of)
    {
    return 0;
    }
    time = (struct waste*)rand();
    if (!(time && time->of))
    {
    return 0;
    }
    return 1;
    And here is the resulting assembly generated by VisualC++ with max optimizations (sorry not bored enough to reboot to linux and use gcc):
    00406EA0 call _rand (004090b4)
    00406EA5 test eax,eax
    00406EA7 je WinMain+24h (00406ec4)
    00406EA9 cmp dword ptr [eax],0
    00406EAC je WinMain+24h (00406ec4)
    00406EAE call _rand (004090b4)
    00406EB3 test eax,eax
    00406EB5 je WinMain+24h (00406ec4)
    00406EB7 cmp dword ptr [eax],0
    00406EBA je WinMain+24h (00406ec4)
    00406EBC mov eax,1
    00406EC1 ret 10h
    00406EC4 xor eax,eax
    00406EC6 ret 10h
    Note both if statements are interpreted exactly the same (calling rand was required to keep the compiler from deleting the entire block).

    As a bonus the OR form does look more like the assembly output as well as being more readable, imo.

  12. Re:Recycling on The Costs of Making a DRAM Chip · · Score: 1
    Hey now, I do much of my development on a 300Mhz PII. It runs IE AND a webserver just fine.

    Oh wait, you said a modern web browser? Yeah you probably would need a PII to run Mozilla at a decent speed.

  13. Led by machines? on FT on Europe's Open Source Option · · Score: 1
    and adopted more recently by giant computer companies led by International Business Machines

    So.... Windows is controlled by a man whose name equals 666 and now Linux has been taken over by robots?

  14. Re:what I'd like to see on Helix Server Source Released · · Score: 1
    Interesting. Helix Universal ($2K and up) and Helix Basic (free sample) do have MMS and interoperability with the WM encoder. But Helix DNA (open src) apparently does not.

    Kudos to them for not encouraging WM without getin' paid.

  15. Re: No Ogg, as I recall... on Helix Server Source Released · · Score: 1
    ... but the server does support streaming WMA, QT, etc.

    I've been working on a plugin for the server and can say the SDK is pretty good. A little loose on the docs sometimes, but releasing the source probably will help.

    My plugin didn't deal directly with streaming, but when scanning the docs it looked like they expose the interfaces you would need to integrate new codecs & file formats into the client & server.

    They did have some funky restrictions (as I recall):

    • You can't suggest to the user to change mime-type associations away from realplayer.
    • You can't have any auto-update software except real's update.
    Anyway, I'm just talking about the SDK, I don't know how differently the Helix Comunity stuff works.
  16. Re:Trackability of tires on Michelin to Include RFID Transmitter in Every Tire · · Score: 1
    Still, iirc, the article implied every tire would have a unique id. For recall tracking, it seems you only need the id to reference the particular factory/line and day or hour of production. Then, if there are 100's or 1000's of other tires with the same id, this definately couldn't be a privacy issue. eh?

    Not that I really care either way.

  17. Congress did, I guess on Michelin to Include RFID Transmitter in Every Tire · · Score: 5, Informative
    2nd paragraph of the article:
    The US Congress passed the TREAD (Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation) Act in the wake of the Firestone/Ford Explorer debacle. The act mandates that car makers closely track tires from the 2004 model year on, so they can be recalled if there's a problem. This technology could be available for the 2005 model year.
  18. Re:Use TPM for [things other than security]? on AMI Guy Talks About TCPA, Palladium, and Other BIOS Issues · · Score: 1
    It was mentioned that the chip would be designed specifically for those functions, not a general processor. So you couldn't use it to decode mpeg for instance.

    But it did include random number generation which is used in many areas of computing not just security (games, simulators, whatever).

  19. How ironic... on MS Must Ship Java With Windows Within 120 Days · · Score: 1
    It would be amusing if MS was forced to integrate extraneous features into its OS's after getting into so much trouble for integrating IE, etc.

    The bigger question, imho, is will the JVM be optional in the install? For example, when I install Win2k Server, I have to un-check the SMTP & FTP server (but at least have the option to not install them). This trivial install option should fix the problem for the MS J++ users.

    And am I the only one that finds it hilarious that they are fighting so hard to control the desktop of people too lazy to change the default config (i.e. download JVM themselves)?

  20. Simple... on Voters News Service: What Went Wrong · · Score: 1
    How can you do this in such a way that makes an audit and/or recount possible?
    TRUST the computer systems!
  21. The problem with americans on What Should I Do With My Life? · · Score: 1
    "Americans expect the best while the rest of the world expects the worst...and they are not disappointed."

    -The Sopranos