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User: Decameron81

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  1. Re:I feel sorry for you on Nonmonetary Incentives and the Implications of Work as a Source of Meaning (aeaweb.org) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the only thing in life you can see any value in is money, I feel sorry for you, because you'll never be satisfied.

    That's a bit extreme though. This discussion is about what you value in work, not life. You could love travelling on your own, but still only care about money from work.

    As an example: I'd really rather travel with my family than do it with my colleagues.

    In my life work serves a very specific purpose: sustain myself and my family. For fun, learning, and other things... I prefer to do them on my own, with the people that I chose.

  2. Re:Legacy shouldn't hold us back on Is Google's Promotion of HTTPS Misguided? (this.how) · · Score: 1

    You can walk into libraries all over the world, pull a book off the shelf, and read it. Nobody maintains it; it just sits there. Some things work that way.

    That's fine, but not against what I was saying. Those books can exist without us holding back in our technology. And I'd argue they're still maintained, considering they're being kept in a building that's there for that very purpose. The building is surely not abandoned or kept clean on its own, to name a few things. The same goes for websites actually.

    But you're missing the point, I'm not saying those things are bad. I'm saying we shouldn't hold progress back due to them. Books haven't stopped us from creating the web, and they haven't stopped us from creating e-Books.

    I see no good reason to have old websites holding back on HTTPS. The argument is a crappy one.

  3. Legacy shouldn't hold us back on Is Google's Promotion of HTTPS Misguided? (this.how) · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Legacy shouldn't hold us back. That's a sure way to make sure you stop progressing. Old sites not working anymore because they're not really maintained is not a good reason to try and stop progress.

    We should instead just make sure we move forward in a way that makes sense from a technological and convenience point of view.

  4. Re:Simple Unit Test to catch Apple's bug. on Finding More Than One Worm In the Apple · · Score: 1

    PS: this is pretty obvious while unit-testing but I'll make it clear to avoid any confusion... the real implementation of SSLHashSHA1.update() and SSLHashSHA1.final() would not be called in this unit test, as that'd be outside of the scope of it.

  5. Simple Unit Test to catch Apple's bug. on Finding More Than One Worm In the Apple · · Score: 1

    At least Apple's bug could've been caught with basic unit-testing. This is the snippet of code from Apple's bug:

    static OSStatus
    SSLVerifySignedServerKeyExchange(SSLContext *ctx, bool isRsa, SSLBuffer signedParams,
                                                              uint8_t *signature, UInt16 signatureLen)
    {
            OSStatus err; ...

            if ((err = SSLHashSHA1.update(&hashCtx, &serverRandom)) != 0)
                    goto fail;
            if ((err = SSLHashSHA1.update(&hashCtx, &signedParams)) != 0)
                    goto fail;
                    goto fail;
            if ((err = SSLHashSHA1.final(&hashCtx, &hashOut)) != 0)
                    goto fail; ...

    fail:
            SSLFreeBuffer(&signedHashes);
            SSLFreeBuffer(&hashCtx);
            return err;
    }

    Just implement a unit test with the following logic:

    1. When SSLHashSHA1.update() is called, DO NOT return an error.
    2. Expect 2 calls to SSLHashSHA1.update() and check the input parameter on each call.
    3. Expect 1 call to SSLHashSHA1.final() and check the input parameters are what you'd expect.

    That simple unit test would've caught this issue without any need of duplicating code.

  6. Re:And we care because why? on Instagram Loses Almost Half Its Daily Users In a Month · · Score: 1

    What nitwit modded you insightful?

    Look, I pay money for a hotel room-- that fee goes to an expected level of security. I pay nothing for Instagram's services-- no expectation of security, or of any service at all. Is instagram an online storage business? No. Therefore, the pictures you upload are not there for you to store-- they're for Instagram to use however they want... your pictures are free, as in beer.

    Point of fact, since no one is paying you for your pictures, they are literally worth nothing.

    Link to an XKCD in case you're still confused as to what storage, business, and free is.

    It's all about leverage. And it looks to me like Instagram doesn't have much of it. :-)

  7. Re:How can ... on What Are the Unwritten Rules of Deleting Code? · · Score: 1

    Not (necessarily) with branches.

    You're right on this. When I wrote that part of the comment I was thinking about publishing (committing, merging, puslishing, etc) changes to a public / shared / main branch in the repository. The idea being: don't break a branch that was not specifically created for your change.

  8. Re:How can ... on What Are the Unwritten Rules of Deleting Code? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If rewrites are too complex you should split them up in phases. This is something few developers do, and something that can help you to test that the replacement code that you write does indeed what it's supposed to do. Between phases, testing is necessary - the more you can afford to test the new code, the less bugs you'll find later.

    As a general rule, leaving commented code into commits that you make to the main repository is a bad practice. The general idea is that if you do things right, by the time you commit the code you should be pretty confident it does what it's supposed to do - and I might add that this is the main reason why I think rewrites are NOT for any developer. Attention to detail and thorough testing are a must.

    When you commit commented code, you confuse other developers and add nothing of value to them. In most cases where I've seen devs do this, it's mainly because they are afraid they might need to roll back due to a lack of testing on their side.

    And as a last note: version control is there to offer roll-back support, comments are not. It's about using the right tool for each job.

  9. Re:After 42 yrs programming I say... on Ask Slashdot: Do Coding Standards Make a Difference? · · Score: 1

    But I'm Decameron! ;-)

    And yes I understand what you're saying. Given how you mentioned that writing clear and readable code is important no matter what coding standards you have, I also suspect we may not even think that differently (even if my initial statement sounded a bit more black vs white that I wanted).

    One of the coding standards that I require from my teams (whenever the decision falls on me, of course) is to write self-documenting code, and avoid abbreviations as much as possible (among other requirements, but not that many). Usually just enough rules to guide an inexperienced dev towards writing more readable code - better code's another story of course.

    Regards.

  10. Re:After 42 yrs programming I say... on Ask Slashdot: Do Coding Standards Make a Difference? · · Score: 1

    Well my argument to man of mister e and first reply to Decameron are two different arguments.

    My argument to man of mister e, was simply to imply that using features in your diff program can help you ignore meaningless differences in styles.

    My argument to Decameron was in reply to his blanket statement that "the reason why coding styles exist is that they increase the readability of your code." This is an absolute statement about the nature of coding styles, which is factually incorrect, as I have demonstrated by personal experience as well as well known failures from the daily wtf.

    I can definitely meet you half way there - I agree that bad coding standards suck (too precise, too complex, unreadable syntax), and make the code a mess. I'm speaking out of experience as well, working in all kinds of projects. Some of them had some pretty awful coding standards that didn't improve readability at all. But I was talking about the _purpose_ of standards. I still stand by my statement that the purpose why they exist is to make the code more readable - even if some implementations suck.

    Think of it as something along the lines of: "the reason why testing is important is that it helps you find bugs". Bad testers don't invalidate that statement.

  11. Re:After 42 yrs programming I say... on Ask Slashdot: Do Coding Standards Make a Difference? · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not sure if you are being serious with your point or not due to your case changes, but I will bite.

    Just because a style is standardized doesn't mean your code is more readable using that style. In fact a lot of the styles expected of me made my code less clear, and when I chose to ignore them, my code was never touched in code reviews, because everything was clear and intuitive without conforming directly to the style.

    If you personally like clear / readable code, then no standard will ever be a replacement for you.

    You're missing the point. I am not claiming a particular coding style is superior, I am claiming a standard coding style across the whole code base is good - personal preferences aside.

    PS: I'm talking about basic stuff here, such as having standards on how to name variables, constants, camel case?, self documenting code?, etc.

  12. Re:Attack? on Denial-of-Service Attack Found In Btrfs File-System · · Score: 1

    So ... a vulnerability was found.
    VULNERABILITY. ATTACK. Different words. Different meanings.

    Exactly! That's what I meant with my question, although I think it went unnoticed for some. You just dont find an attack!

  13. Re:After 42 yrs programming I say... on Ask Slashdot: Do Coding Standards Make a Difference? · · Score: 5, Interesting

    THE reaSON WHy coDiNg standards_exist is thatTheyIncrease THE_REaDABILITY oF YOur cODe.

  14. Attack? on Denial-of-Service Attack Found In Btrfs File-System · · Score: 2

    An attack was found in the filesystem? What's that supposed to mean?

  15. Re:People just doesn't get it on The Scourge of Error Handling · · Score: 1

    Trying to select a language that makes up for poorly written code is a fool's game. A well written program doesn't NEED an error handler. This is nothing but poor programmers whining because they can't write good code. It's kind of like unemployed people whining because the jobless benefits aren't long enough.

    Sorry but that can only come from a lack of experience. No offense intended, but your point of view is extremely naive.

    For instance: you should use assertions to detect coding errors within your module / your scope of trust (app makes a call to another method in the same app), and other traditional mechanisms outside that scope, when distrust is needed (app shouldn't trust server & vice-versa, app shouldn't trust user input, library shouldn't trust app, config files should never be trusted to be properly formatted or have valid data, etc). If you blindly trusted all components from ever failing, you would be letting an eventual error in one component propagate to all other components. This basically translates to unhappy clients calling you at night because your app is crashing, and you finding out hours later that someone unplugged the server or put a bad configuration value somewhere.

  16. Re:What does it all mean? on Entire Cities In World of Warcraft Dead, Hack Suspected · · Score: 1

    Now, now. Your assumption of validity is subjective, sorry. It's objectively better, because it's optimal: energy efficient, time efficient, transparent and pragmatic. And makes one look clever rather than dependent. Self-reliance FTW.

    Once again, you're assuming others share your viewpoint that less human interaction is better. Google searches don't make you a better person. Being kind with replies does make you a better person.

    Nope. Irony, sarcasm, even vitriol is an implicit part of the message. It is intended (rational) rather than inadvertent (emotional).

    Still, it doesn't add anything good to the message, unless of course you're trying to transmit aggressiveness.

  17. Re:What does it all mean? on Entire Cities In World of Warcraft Dead, Hack Suspected · · Score: 1

    No, it's objectively the best thing to do.

    We differ with some very valid points, so it's not objective, sorry.

    Explain to me why it is good for the society to keep enabling, supporting or even tolerating the retarded part thereof?

    Because what you're calling retarded is human interaction. You might not enjoy it, but others do, and even more in times when face to face interaction is being replaced by forums, chat rooms, etc.

    Also even assuming someone makes a stupid question, being aggressive our ironic about it is not the right kind of behaviour. The same message can be delivered without those elements.

  18. Re:What does it all mean? on Entire Cities In World of Warcraft Dead, Hack Suspected · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Stupid questions from literate adults who obviously have Internet (thus Google) access ... they deserve the snide remarks they receive. When you consider he could have Googled "NPC" in less time than it took to ask a stupid question, the remark was actually rather polite.

    Interaction with other humans is greatly underrated by intolerant nerds who think we should replace it with Google searches. There's absolutely no reason why you should first look for things in Google instead of asking them in a forum, other than your personal opinion that it's the right thing to do.

    Ignoring the question, or replying to it would've been far more tolerant ways to react to the post.

    Now then, go ahead and launch your personal attacks and invective. That's what those of your emotionally-goverened, offense-driven mentality usually do when the following two conditions have been met: a) they cannot formulate an effective counter-point, and b) they are too haughty to admit when a good point has been made.

    You sound like a robot, man. Chill out.

  19. Re:What they are actually reporting an Issue. on Stubborn Intel Graphics Bug Haunts Ubuntu 12.04 · · Score: 2

    Failure to recognize one's weaknesses is a sure way to fail. When a good number of people keeps telling you they reported errors and got treated as if they were stupid, ignoring them is just another confirmation for them to look elsewhere.

    Companies have a human resources department for a reason.

  20. Not sure it make me a fanboi, but I usually prefer Apple products to other brands - they just work better for me.

    I keep reading about Apple fanbois hating the rest of the world, and I honestly believe you're wrong. I haven't read many posts from "Apple fainbois" backing up your position either.

    In my particular case, I think this ruling truly sucks, I am all against patents being used this way. I don't want alternatives to disappear, I want a challenging market that keeps forcing Apple to remain competitive.

  21. Re:And in countries where it's legal? on Bitcoin-Based Drug Market Silk Road Thriving With $2 Million In Monthly Sales · · Score: 2

    Well, then you criminalize the actual CRIME - driving while impaired. You can't criminalize behavior that's not criminal. It's like saying you can't buy a car because it *might* be used in the commission of a crime. There are thousands of things that are already illegal that pretty much cover the bases - everything from reckless driving to child safety...these laws are perfectly capable of punishing real criminals instead of filling our prisons with responsible users.

    Using the same logic, driving while impaired is only considered a crime because you may end up killing someone - hence we should decriminalize driving while impaired and only arrest people when they run over and kill someone - which is the real crime.

    Prevention is the key word. The reason why drug usage (just as driving when intoxicated) is considered a crime is prevention.

  22. Re:Here we see the difference between Free and Sla on OS X Mountain Lion Review · · Score: 1

    Correction in bold, for my previous post: "The only exception being OS 9, which kinda sucked. I'm speaking about my perception of their software of course, and NOT implying others should share my opinion."

  23. Re:Here we see the difference between Free and Sla on OS X Mountain Lion Review · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you are a Mac user, as a drinker of the Kool-Aid you have no choice.

    I have been using Mac computers since 1989 and to this date I have found the OS to consistently improve over time. The only exception being OS 9, which kinda sucked. I'm speaking about my perception of their software of course, and implying others should share my opinion.

    It makes no sense for me to believe it's better to switch to Linux out of fear of being let down in the future. I really have no reason to believe it will happen. Even if it did, moving my files to some other PC would not really be an issue for me.

    My experiences with Linux weren't very happy ones either. I'm not trying to generalize but I've more than once found myself in a situation in which I've been told to fix something myself - which really is not something I'm interested in doing at all. I've got my dev projects and work, and I don't really care about improving the OS I use at home. Some of those issues were things that I know I can get working much easier in windows or mac (maybe due to experience on the OSes, that's not really important to me). My personal opinion on the subject is that Linux is not for me.

    Going back to your idea about Mac users drinking Kool-Aid, I think you're failing to put yourself in other people's shoes. Maybe your principles regarding open source/free software vs commercial software are not as important to others as they are to you?

  24. Re:Developer rebellion? on New Analyst Report Calls Agile a Scam, Says It's An Easy Out For Lazy Devs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agile works, as long as everyone involved has the balls to stand up for their own part of the process. If the client requests a feature that requires a big chunk of code to be rewritten / refactored, you just have to make sure you're upfront about it, and make it clear of how much effort and time will be required in the process.

    The basic thing to keep in mind if that your boss, or the client don't trust your effort / time estimations, agile won't work.

    And as a final note: the way to make sure you can trust someone is to hire the right people - have a good screening process when you hire.

  25. Re:"First sale" doesn't really apply. on ReDigi Defends Used Digital Music Market · · Score: 1

    When an mp3 is sold, it is not being transferred from the provider's server to the buyer's computer...it is being copied.

    It goes both way... it isn't stealing either then, as the media corps would like to make us believe.