No one wants to require a license to program. What is under
discussion is the possibility of making software
development a profession.
There are many parallels that already exist. Medicine for
example: you can treat yourself with home remedies, pick
up an over the counter drug, or go to a doctor.
Building construction has the same sort of range, with the
added complication that even for a do it yourself project
there are certain safety standards you must meet and
liabilities that you must assume for construction on your
own property. The fact that civil engineering and medicine
are professions with licensed practioners does not prevent
non-professionals from building a garage or deciding to
take aspirin for a headache.
The point is that licensing (and holding responsible) of
some programmers and development companies could
prevent things like the Diebold e-voting snafu, critical
public infrastructure (atm network, electrical plants, etc.)
from being connected to the internet, or any of the
other idiocies carried out by companies
looking only to make a fast buck. I personally think
that consultants and network architects should have a
professional organization and responsibility as well.
Licensing is not a magic bullet, but done properly it could
do a lot to improve the stability and security of essential
software and networks.
Even though you may speak the language you will never be excepted. You are forever a Gaijin.
Japanese culture is still explicitly stratified,
you remain a crazy gaijin to prevent offense or shame.
More than likely there is a fundamental level at which you
do not get the Japanese culture because you insist on
viewing Japan through the lens of your birth culture.
I think they are hoping that creating intermediate targets
will make optimization and scaling easier. This is
similar to the approach taken by gcc. The core compiler
team
can focus on creating a correct and effecient intermediate
representation and the team porting to a new architecture
focuses on taking the intermediate representation
and creating correct and effecient assembly for that
target.
I really liked the "Bone Dolls Twin", it managed to be sad,
creepy, and of a grand scale. The sequel is nearly as good,
but the
focus has moved on to court intrigue and the main
character moving into a position of power.
Even if you hate "girl power" fantasy (like I do) you can
enjoy these books. Despite the female protagonist and
female author they do not fall into the "elves and unicorns
crap", the "revisionist goddess worship pandering",
or the "rainbow dragons flying out my ass"
fantasy sub-genres
that seem to make up
90% of the popular fantasy section of the bookstore
First, by asking Linux users what they can do to improve Windows, it is a de facto admission that Windows is an inferior product.
I hope your were being ironic and I just didn't get it.
Why would trying to impvove usability or woo
users/developers of another platform (by asking them what
they need to switch to your platform) be an admission of
inferiority? Sounds like marketing 101 to me.
WRT fully documented APIs and open protocols -
go to msdn, they have excellent documention on many
APIs and protocols. The problem with most of their APIs
and protocols is the licensing, not the access.
Other great examples but done better....And the
Rudger Haurer Blind Swordsman film copying the Zato
Ichi (Shintaro Katsu as Zato Ichi character)
If "Blind Fury" was the 'done better' version I am
really glad I never saw the source
material.
Re:Game mods are the best card for PC games
on
NYT on Game Mods
·
· Score: 1
MS especially often has to be kicked in the head
to realize what people actualy want (they are
past masters of marketing research that leads them
to build the wrong thing though). I'd hate to be
limited to just those mods that MS or Sierra
choose to publish through X-Box Live.
Re:Game mods are the best card for PC games
on
NYT on Game Mods
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Very true. I own every major console system at this point
and even though I often prefer the console version there is
no chance that
I'm going to get Morrowind or Half-Life 2 for the X-Box,
I'd be missing out on all the mods and add-ons that
keep the games interesting.
And using a subscription service to distribute some
additional content is not really an option.
Content management systems on consoles are still so
clumsy as to
barely qualify as usable - I'd rather just use my pc and
know I can do what I like with the game.
I guess this "38-year-old Home Depot clerk" wasn't aware of the data this laptop contained, and never understood seriousness of the crime until feds knocked on the door. had he known how serious it was, he shouldn't have made such a stupid mistake (and sold the laptop on ebay).
Who knows. Sounds like the guy was a small time con man
and forger. Had he known what he had he might have tried
to do something really stupid - like sell the info or
attempt to blackmail the corporation he stole it from.
Probably lucky for him he that he didn't know:)
I should state exactly why I felt the Herald
version is more credible.
The Yahoo statement:
Investigators traced the computer to Krastof when he logged onto his own America Online account at home through one of the stolen computers, White said.
and the Herald statement:
"He logged onto an (America Online) account that was registered on that computer and we traced it back to his phone number and address,'' White said.
I felt that the direct quote of Chief White was more credible,
and less likely to be subject to an error of interpretation
on the part of the reporter.
One continuing problem that IT has is locking down
computers. It is very common for employees to install
their own software and dial connections on laptops.
I agree with you that a laptop with the sort of sensitive data
that this one contained should never be connected
directly to a public
network - but such is the state of data security these
days.
Nope, the slashdot blurb about him using his own aol
account is wrong.
According to
another source "He logged onto an (America Online) account that was registered on that computer and we traced it back to his phone number and address''.
It's the 4th item down on the page, under "Suspected thief arrested".
Fucking hell, I'm so tired of hearing this "ignore
advertising" answer to spam complaints.
Spam is not advertising. Spam is
theft, assault, pandering, and fraud. To ignore that sort
of bad behaviour removes the only real cost associated with
basing a business on such activity.
So why is Linda Lamone so attached to the Diebold
implementation of e-voting?
I hope that if she is found to be on
the Diebold payroll in any way that she does
some jail time. My assumption is that her payoff will
come in the form of an overpaid consulting job for Diebold
because of her experience as an election official and early
adoption of an e-voting system - I really hope she is not
allowed to accept a payoff in that form.
The author writes as if everyone needs to have the ability
to understand exactly what goes on in the computer to
use it - which is clearly false.
What's true is that a non-programmer who picks up
a 'little language' like VBA or SQL (or whatever) is going
to have an advantage over those who do not.
To
expect a budget staffer or admin assistant to
write C++ or Java is ridiculous, but they make themselves
much more valuable if they can gather
data by themselves to carry out their actual job duties.
The problem is not that people don't understand the details
of what goes on with computers, but that the a lot of
should be labeled 'tools' instead is labeled 'code' and
therefore lies in the domain of the "computer people".
I've seen some of the turf battles that
arise over access to company databases. The usual
situation is that IT does not want to do the work
themselves, but certainly does not want someone in
accounting to do the work either. The result is that IT
grudgingly writes a half-assed attempt and no one is
happy.
[1] Can someone explain whats so great about this? Doesn't that encourage ad-hoc interfaces, a poor programming practice? I realize that much of Unix is generalized for text, but generalizing it for objects is a much smarter idea, one which MS has pulled the carpet out from under us on.
The 'object interface' that generalized streams replaced
in Unix still exist in the form of ioctls and the like. Device
numbers and magical interfaces that you had to have
headers or documentation to interact with correctly.
The new object interfaces just have better documentation
available, that is why the approach will work better now.
I am looking forward to multi-language support though,
IME is a pain to use for non-English input (but better than
the old way of doing it which required application support).
WRT 'ad-hoc approaches', the value of scripts is that you
can toss off a one shot to solve a particular problem.
Windows has had two modes: full blown app or batch files,
which is part of the reason that I've never viewed it as
useful for anything other than a desktop machine.
Nonetheless, the reasons he gives are still a form of political correctness. He's afraid of people being exposed to certain ideas, even when they're HIS ideas.
I think Neil realized that this is such a touchy subject that
anything he had to say wrt the soul and feelings of the
unborn would be used as propoganda and decided that
he did not want to be used that way. Perfectly reasonable
decision.
(BTW Jimbo I happen to agree with you completely that
abortion is monstrous. This is the wrong forum to discuss
it though.)
David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold Election Systems Inc.,... said "the fact of the matter is..."
I just wonder why the reporter felt that spin from a PR
drudge was worth placing in the article. The fact of the
matter is that the phrase "the fact of the matter is" should
set off the BS detector of anyone reading such a statement.
No arguments there from me, if the government of China
is ever to be freer it will have to be because of the will of
the Chineese people.
The funny thing is, I work with a fair number of Chineese
and many of them are brighter than average - not because
Chineese are smarter, but because smart capable people
want to live under a government that allows freedom.
I don't think it will be sedition or armed revolution that
will cause the PRoC to change, but the threat of brain
drain.
The design of the Windows security model is
ridiculous and cumbersome. There are implementation
problems because it is a bad model. No one deploys
it correctly (even when the implementation is
correct) because it clashes with every assumption
in the Windows world.
It is news worth repeating because we can't afford
to start thinking that China is "all right" just
because they are allowing a bit of economic
freedom.
It's not quite as bad as intimidation and fear mongering,
but I agree that it is not really education as meant by
most people. It's closer to the discipline involved in house
breaking a puppy.
We think it's an advantage a commercial company can bring--we provide a road map, indemnify customers. They know where to send e-mail.
Indemnity, right - nice word. From what, and for
who? The EULA on pretty much all software
disclaims any responsibility on the part of
the vendor for damages suffered as a result of
using the software. Plenty of MS customers have
suffered damage from MS software and so far as I
know Microsoft did nothing to indemnify any of
them.
Slashdot Mirror
There are many parallels that already exist. Medicine for example: you can treat yourself with home remedies, pick up an over the counter drug, or go to a doctor. Building construction has the same sort of range, with the added complication that even for a do it yourself project there are certain safety standards you must meet and liabilities that you must assume for construction on your own property. The fact that civil engineering and medicine are professions with licensed practioners does not prevent non-professionals from building a garage or deciding to take aspirin for a headache.
The point is that licensing (and holding responsible) of some programmers and development companies could prevent things like the Diebold e-voting snafu, critical public infrastructure (atm network, electrical plants, etc.) from being connected to the internet, or any of the other idiocies carried out by companies looking only to make a fast buck. I personally think that consultants and network architects should have a professional organization and responsibility as well.
Licensing is not a magic bullet, but done properly it could do a lot to improve the stability and security of essential software and networks.
Japanese culture is still explicitly stratified, you remain a crazy gaijin to prevent offense or shame. More than likely there is a fundamental level at which you do not get the Japanese culture because you insist on viewing Japan through the lens of your birth culture.
I think they are hoping that creating intermediate targets will make optimization and scaling easier. This is similar to the approach taken by gcc. The core compiler team can focus on creating a correct and effecient intermediate representation and the team porting to a new architecture focuses on taking the intermediate representation and creating correct and effecient assembly for that target.
I really liked the "Bone Dolls Twin", it managed to be sad, creepy, and of a grand scale. The sequel is nearly as good, but the focus has moved on to court intrigue and the main character moving into a position of power.
Even if you hate "girl power" fantasy (like I do) you can enjoy these books. Despite the female protagonist and female author they do not fall into the "elves and unicorns crap", the "revisionist goddess worship pandering", or the "rainbow dragons flying out my ass" fantasy sub-genres that seem to make up 90% of the popular fantasy section of the bookstore
I hope your were being ironic and I just didn't get it. Why would trying to impvove usability or woo users/developers of another platform (by asking them what they need to switch to your platform) be an admission of inferiority? Sounds like marketing 101 to me.
WRT fully documented APIs and open protocols - go to msdn, they have excellent documention on many APIs and protocols. The problem with most of their APIs and protocols is the licensing, not the access.
If "Blind Fury" was the 'done better' version I am really glad I never saw the source material.
MS especially often has to be kicked in the head to realize what people actualy want (they are past masters of marketing research that leads them to build the wrong thing though). I'd hate to be limited to just those mods that MS or Sierra choose to publish through X-Box Live.
And using a subscription service to distribute some additional content is not really an option. Content management systems on consoles are still so clumsy as to barely qualify as usable - I'd rather just use my pc and know I can do what I like with the game.
Who knows. Sounds like the guy was a small time con man and forger. Had he known what he had he might have tried to do something really stupid - like sell the info or attempt to blackmail the corporation he stole it from. Probably lucky for him he that he didn't know :)
The Yahoo statement:
and the Herald statement:
I felt that the direct quote of Chief White was more credible, and less likely to be subject to an error of interpretation on the part of the reporter.
I agree with you that a laptop with the sort of sensitive data that this one contained should never be connected directly to a public network - but such is the state of data security these days.
According to another source "He logged onto an (America Online) account that was registered on that computer and we traced it back to his phone number and address''.
It's the 4th item down on the page, under "Suspected thief arrested".
Spam is not advertising. Spam is theft, assault, pandering, and fraud. To ignore that sort of bad behaviour removes the only real cost associated with basing a business on such activity.
So why is Linda Lamone so attached to the Diebold implementation of e-voting? I hope that if she is found to be on the Diebold payroll in any way that she does some jail time. My assumption is that her payoff will come in the form of an overpaid consulting job for Diebold because of her experience as an election official and early adoption of an e-voting system - I really hope she is not allowed to accept a payoff in that form.
To expect a budget staffer or admin assistant to write C++ or Java is ridiculous, but they make themselves much more valuable if they can gather data by themselves to carry out their actual job duties. The problem is not that people don't understand the details of what goes on with computers, but that the a lot of should be labeled 'tools' instead is labeled 'code' and therefore lies in the domain of the "computer people".
I've seen some of the turf battles that arise over access to company databases. The usual situation is that IT does not want to do the work themselves, but certainly does not want someone in accounting to do the work either. The result is that IT grudgingly writes a half-assed attempt and no one is happy.
The 'object interface' that generalized streams replaced in Unix still exist in the form of ioctls and the like. Device numbers and magical interfaces that you had to have headers or documentation to interact with correctly.
The new object interfaces just have better documentation available, that is why the approach will work better now.
I am looking forward to multi-language support though, IME is a pain to use for non-English input (but better than the old way of doing it which required application support).
WRT 'ad-hoc approaches', the value of scripts is that you can toss off a one shot to solve a particular problem. Windows has had two modes: full blown app or batch files, which is part of the reason that I've never viewed it as useful for anything other than a desktop machine.
I think Neil realized that this is such a touchy subject that anything he had to say wrt the soul and feelings of the unborn would be used as propoganda and decided that he did not want to be used that way. Perfectly reasonable decision.
(BTW Jimbo I happen to agree with you completely that abortion is monstrous. This is the wrong forum to discuss it though.)
Enter -1 mod's now. I take those mods as accepting my viewpoint.
No mod points (I modded up a "forbidden post" some time ago) so I'll have give you a virtual "-1, Flamebait".
Temp workers. During the bust we had a million of em because we could fire them at very little cost.
I just wonder why the reporter felt that spin from a PR drudge was worth placing in the article. The fact of the matter is that the phrase "the fact of the matter is" should set off the BS detector of anyone reading such a statement.
The funny thing is, I work with a fair number of Chineese and many of them are brighter than average - not because Chineese are smarter, but because smart capable people want to live under a government that allows freedom. I don't think it will be sedition or armed revolution that will cause the PRoC to change, but the threat of brain drain.
The design of the Windows security model is ridiculous and cumbersome. There are implementation problems because it is a bad model. No one deploys it correctly (even when the implementation is correct) because it clashes with every assumption in the Windows world.
It is news worth repeating because we can't afford to start thinking that China is "all right" just because they are allowing a bit of economic freedom.
It's not quite as bad as intimidation and fear mongering, but I agree that it is not really education as meant by most people. It's closer to the discipline involved in house breaking a puppy.
Indemnity, right - nice word. From what, and for who? The EULA on pretty much all software disclaims any responsibility on the part of the vendor for damages suffered as a result of using the software. Plenty of MS customers have suffered damage from MS software and so far as I know Microsoft did nothing to indemnify any of them.