He has a point - whereas the Flash/SWF format internalises has native support for animation (via both ActionScript, Macromedia's semi-ECMA-compliant scripting language, and frame-based or 'tweened' animation), SVG requires the inclusion of a section - this does to me seem more similar to the use of clientside scripting on (X|HT)ML pages to create animated effects, than to a technology specifically designed for animation (such as Flash).
How exactly is the parent trolling??
Agreed - the comment that 'WXP is a great OS' by the author is clearly nonsense. I think it comes from a confusion between 'Desktop Environment' and 'Operating System' - a confusion to which Windows has contributed (an OS named after its GUI!).
This non-technical perspective is probably why the author has gone to Mandrake in the first place (not trying to be snobbish - I originally gravitated to Mandrake for exactly the same reason, before moving on to better - albeit less pretty - things). However, this author's perspective - or to be frank, ignorance - fails to see any possible comparisons to be made other than to Windows. OK, so RPMs can be a pain in the arse - why compare them to the steaming heap of human faeces that is Windows Update? Why not compare them to apt-get (Debian) or the FreeBSD ports collection.. either of which are wholly superior methods of installing software?
Instead the author foolishly chides 'Linux' (rather than the RPM system) for these highly specific failings... lame.
its a pretty good book. i read it about a year and a half ago and learned the basics of both technologies (PHP/MySQL). there were a lot of typos, sloppy writing and oversimplifcation, though.. and PHP has moved on since then - the deprecated register_globals config flag versus the new superglobal arrays, for instance.. so i hope theres been a revision and an update
it gives amateurs the notion that they're just as good as any professional programmer
i thoroughly agree. in fact its worse than that.. it blurs the distinction between the user and the developer. if the IDE and the language are perceived to run together (as in VB), the control is not there, you become a user of a product, rather than the technology simply giving you tools to get something done.
i actually find the VB IDE bewildering.. its much harder to follow whats going on when the code is stuck onto this or that visual element in the application. it encourages bad programming style.. unlike perl, it makes the easy things brainless, and the hard things completely impossible.
Yes: syntactically, quite shockingly similar, and it has a similar 'sandbox'-style security model, bytecode and a JIT-style interpreter. Except M$ have total control over it - kind of revisiting their J++ idea without even a token nod to platform independance... That having been said, wasn't someone porting the.NET platform (and C# as an integral part of it) to GNU/Linux? Can't seem to find the link now..
i do, actually, agree with much of the spirit of what youre saying - especially your last comment about partisan agendas.
however, id say that objectivity is a goal, not a reality. 'the data' is meaningless without a perspective - especially when the topic is as broad an subjective as 'which is better in this situation, OSS or commercial software'. better for whom? better in what way? which aspect is more important than another? once all the data are collated, it takes value judgements to make sense of them. the truth is not out there - it is a construct. we make our own meanings, for better or for worse.
Was it responsible, ethical, or right of the media to so thoroughly slander the safety of saccharine?
hmm.. who cares? saccharine is disgusting, and world would be a better place without it. if i want my coffee sweet, i dont want some I-Cant-Believe-Im-Diabetic powder - i want sugar, dammit!:).. on a more serious note, your questions along the lines of:
Why is it that you do not clamor for the details of the surgeon's history?
are disingenious, to say the least. surgeons are not a new invention - they have been opening peoples flesh up and poking around for centuries. a robot doing the same thing is new, and relatively untested.
you use saccharine as your example. i could use DDT. the 'regulatory bodies' have been wrong before and they can be wrong again. the knee-jerk reactions of the press may often be unjustified, but in an age in which we are asked to swallow increasing amounts of insufficiently tested technology (biotech food the prime example), i am increasingly skeptical about 'we-know-best' technocrat elitism.
someone has died, after all - of course people are going to have an emotive response, as they should. if their instincts tell them that its the new factor thats to blame, we shouldnt be too quick to put them down as irrational - or say 'right for the wrong reason' if their fears are proven to be well founded.
i quite agree with most of that. it is totally irresponsible to suggest that events like this should be hidden from the public; it shows a disturbing preference for 'progress' in abstract over the unfortunate individuals who stand in the way.
however, your closing comments -
the foundation of both capitalism and democracy is one of full disclosure, where voters and buyers are trusted to make their own decisions given all the facts
- seem almost as lopsided. applying consumer ethics to the life-and-death public service that is healthcare is, however fashionable a neoliberal dogma, is distasteful and banal.
besides, since when did capitalism have anything to do with full disclosure? surely the foundation of effective capitalism is to lie as you can get away with..:S
its precisely because i write code that i would be uncomfortable with a robot doing surgery on me. i can just imagine an evil God Of Clean Code having a bloody revenge on me for all the times ive thought 'redesign the object model? nah, a quick hack'll do it...'
GOD: quick hack, is it? how do YOU like it?
[blood spurts everywhere as a small bug, like the butterfly of chaos theory fame, causes a gory storm in my intestines]
Hear hear.:)
I would go further than you and say that American society does not really promote mixing.
'Miscegenation' between black and white Americans is frowned on in many parts of America - and that's between members of the same people.
and where do you think you're going to find these magical people?:P
objectivity itself is a nice idea, but, like platos ideal forms, is simply a figment - it doesnt actually exist anywhere. the only people who would truly be neutral are people outside the industry who dont work with computers. and they wouldnt be knowledgeable enough.
Slashdot Mirror
He has a point - whereas the Flash/SWF format internalises has native support for animation (via both ActionScript, Macromedia's semi-ECMA-compliant scripting language, and frame-based or 'tweened' animation), SVG requires the inclusion of a section - this does to me seem more similar to the use of clientside scripting on (X|HT)ML pages to create animated effects, than to a technology specifically designed for animation (such as Flash). How exactly is the parent trolling??
Agreed - the comment that 'WXP is a great OS' by the author is clearly nonsense. I think it comes from a confusion between 'Desktop Environment' and 'Operating System' - a confusion to which Windows has contributed (an OS named after its GUI!).
This non-technical perspective is probably why the author has gone to Mandrake in the first place (not trying to be snobbish - I originally gravitated to Mandrake for exactly the same reason, before moving on to better - albeit less pretty - things). However, this author's perspective - or to be frank, ignorance - fails to see any possible comparisons to be made other than to Windows. OK, so RPMs can be a pain in the arse - why compare them to the steaming heap of human faeces that is Windows Update? Why not compare them to apt-get (Debian) or the FreeBSD ports collection .. either of which are wholly superior methods of installing software?
Instead the author foolishly chides 'Linux' (rather than the RPM system) for these highly specific failings ... lame.
its a pretty good book. i read it about a year and a half ago and learned the basics of both technologies (PHP/MySQL). there were a lot of typos, sloppy writing and oversimplifcation, though .. and PHP has moved on since then - the deprecated register_globals config flag versus the new superglobal arrays, for instance .. so i hope theres been a revision and an update
surely you guys must have heard of DJ Qbert ... if not, check him out - he's pretty legendary.
it gives amateurs the notion that they're just as good as any professional programmer
.. it blurs the distinction between the user and the developer. if the IDE and the language are perceived to run together (as in VB), the control is not there, you become a user of a product, rather than the technology simply giving you tools to get something done.
.. its much harder to follow whats going on when the code is stuck onto this or that visual element in the application. it encourages bad programming style .. unlike perl, it makes the easy things brainless, and the hard things completely impossible.
i thoroughly agree. in fact its worse than that
i actually find the VB IDE bewildering
C# was more like java
.. That having been said, wasn't someone porting the .NET platform (and C# as an integral part of it) to GNU/Linux? Can't seem to find the link now ..
Yes: syntactically, quite shockingly similar, and it has a similar 'sandbox'-style security model, bytecode and a JIT-style interpreter. Except M$ have total control over it - kind of revisiting their J++ idea without even a token nod to platform independance.
hmm. im not an american, but strangely, i havent heard of cbc either. :P
i do, actually, agree with much of the spirit of what youre saying - especially your last comment about partisan agendas.
however, id say that objectivity is a goal, not a reality. 'the data' is meaningless without a perspective - especially when the topic is as broad an subjective as 'which is better in this situation, OSS or commercial software'. better for whom? better in what way? which aspect is more important than another? once all the data are collated, it takes value judgements to make sense of them. the truth is not out there - it is a construct. we make our own meanings, for better or for worse.
hear, hear.
...'
its precisely because i write code that i would be uncomfortable with a robot doing surgery on me. i can just imagine an evil God Of Clean Code having a bloody revenge on me for all the times ive thought 'redesign the object model? nah, a quick hack'll do it
GOD: quick hack, is it? how do YOU like it?
[blood spurts everywhere as a small bug, like the butterfly of chaos theory fame, causes a gory storm in my intestines]
ME: [urgh, gurgle, dying sounds, etc]
Hear hear. :)
I would go further than you and say that American society does not really promote mixing.
'Miscegenation' between black and white Americans is frowned on in many parts of America - and that's between members of the same people.
and where do you think you're going to find these magical people? :P
objectivity itself is a nice idea, but, like platos ideal forms, is simply a figment - it doesnt actually exist anywhere. the only people who would truly be neutral are people outside the industry who dont work with computers. and they wouldnt be knowledgeable enough.