"...and if someone did this to me I would probably show up at their door with a 2x4 and a bad attitude."
Actually, you probably would not. This is why you were picked on. People could "feel" you were an easy target that would not fight back and so they took advantage of you. It is, not to be crass, your fault for not fighting back. You were a coward who took these things. It's not your fault for getting picked on initially, but it is your fault for allowing it to happen as long as it did.
My first year of high school a kid tried messing with me and I blew it off. Just ear flicks that he thought were funny, mainly to impress other kids who didn't really have any issue with me. Eventually I decided it wasn't cool to do this to me anymore. There is no way the school or my parents can handle this situation....it's something you have to deal with on your own. So, he flicks me one more time and I turn around and crack him square in the face. Of course he was stunned and I pushed him a few times into the lockers yelling at him. I guess I kind of snapped. He ended up partnering with me in a small engines class (he was really good with these things) and no one picked on me. This is how it is done. Even if he would have "won" the fight, he wouldn't have came at me again as he would know it would involve fighting and these people want the path of least resistance.
This is how the world works. The school yard bully may not be doing all too well now days, but there are bullies all over. The RIAA is a good example. I'm sure you can come up with many more on a national, corporate and local level. Bullies always exist in every social situation.
If I ever have a kid my only advice to him will be not to go to me or a teacher for help. Whoever is picking on you (and really let them do it for a bit) beat the shit out of them. Follow them home and when they are alone, sneak on them and jump them. Cheap is OK here.
Anyways, the kid in this story (Star Wars kid) took the wrong approach. Granted, this is a bit different but he should have capitalized on this. I mean, he has to be able to laugh at himself. The ridicule isn't going to go on forever. He did after all make the video and left it around...and it was made in the school. He could have sold T-Shirts and made more videos, etc. Had an official Website and played it off real nice with a nice sum of cash to boot.
Instead, he ran like he always will in his life because he is dim witted and afraid. This is his fault.
But, seeing as it is only a one-player game you're only cheating against yourself by removing the challange.
At least the game is very moddable and there are already leveling mods available that change the whole system. I'm sure there will be a flavor for everyone eventually.
I agree 100%. I used to play some MMO's but find games like Oblivion are much better and probably more healthy. You can play on your time and not have to choose between getting some uber gear or hanging out with your friends in real life. You should probably hang out with your real friends...
But I agree, the MMO's are glorified chat rooms that invole repetitious tasks like leveling and killing things to get some item. I have plenty of friends that I socialize with in real life and over networks so I get nothing from the social aspect.
The only thing I liked in these games was the PVP. In WOW, it was fairly sad. The player skill level was poor and there was nothing to lose in battle.
I like Shadowbane because there was a lot to lose and the PVP and guild system were done well in that there was real game value in things. (I've heard this game is now 100% free to own and play. The bugs have been fixed too I guess....have thought about going back if only for the PVP)
I've enjoyed Oblivion more than any other RPG I've played in the last few years.
I think MMO's are shallow, boring and driven by anti-social people who finally have an outlet to express themselves in their pathtic way.
They offer nothing unique to players and have many documented problems. They have really shallow quest lines that generally offer nothing more than fetch and retrieve missions (ever feel like a dog?) that offer some item, generally available to anyone.
It is fun to raid dungeons with friends I will admit, but you can get this same experience in a non MMO such as Diablo 2 (still a good game) and the Baulders gate games among others.....and of course Dungeon Siege.
So, I agree that CRPG are deeper, more immersive and generally more healthy than the MMO variety. I will probably never play an MMO where my respectability is a function of time again. That's total nonsense and backwards. The more respectable people in the game are the same ones that have no respect for themselves. It's really sad and these people shouldn't be encouraged.
Well, it's not like you have to start over. You can change your race, birth sign and main skills with the command line. I don't have them handy but just Google for them. It's helpful if you've invested serious time in a character and want to change that one little thing now that you know better.
I have a 6800 (512 MB Video) and I've opened up the 4 extra vector pipelines and pixel pipeline and it runs amazing. I'm running a 2.8 P4 and have a gig of RAM and get 60fps.
If you haven't overclocked your 6800, I recommend you do it. You open 25% more vector pipelines resulting in a card that sells for $150 more. It's that easy.
For the record, I had a 5700FX with 256 MB Video and only 512 system RAM with the same chip. It ran in low res with a lot of things turned down but I generally didn't get a good frame rate and there was a lot of disk thrashing. Adding that extra 512 of system RAM helped a lot and of course throwing in a 6800 made a big difference.
Another reason the 5700 didn't run as well as I had hoped (it wasn't that bad, but not 50+fps except for in certain dungeons) was because I got a new motherboard a few weeks ago and forgot to set the video aperture up to 256 for that FX card and it defaulted to 64. So, with 256 set it would have had better performance....
Anyways, a 6800 with a gig and a decent CPU will result in perfect gameplay at high resolution and beautiful graphics and lighting.
Go for it if you want but whats the point of playing the game? If this makes it fun for you then go for it but I enjoy the game for reasons that you generally enjoy games: it's immersive and challenging and fun.
Anyways, you can just use the command line to set your gold to whatever you want as well as change your race, skills, birth-sign etc at any point in the game.
Bowling is a good game to play for people of skill levels. With the handicap system, it doesn't matter how good or bad you are. Sometimes players with low averages have the real advantage because bowling doesn't have a linear scoring system (as in there is not a one-to-one relation on pins hit to score. You can actually hit more pins and lose. And you can hit the same amount and win or lose, but in what order and frequency you hit them (3 strikes in a row is worth more than 3 strikes separated by a few frames)) so it's easier for bowlers of low skill to improve their score dramatically. Basically, bowling adheres to the law of diminishing returns.
It's fun for most ages and it gets you out of the house. Even at the lowest levels you can win money and awards in a league environment.
Go join a league today!
Golf is a good one too but hardly anyone plays "competively".
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If you're only interested in video games, most fighting games allow you to handicap a users strength/hit points. Try Soul Calibur 3. Same goes for most puzzle games as well.
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Really, in any game that uses points as a metric for determining the winner you can always front a few points.
--
If you want to have a code competition, allow your "newbie" opponent to use hgh level languages while you use C or.asm. Allow them to use a library while you roll your own everything.
--
My point, this is a really bad "Ask Slashdot". In most games, it's acceptable for someone to get the floor mopped until they develop the generally easy skill they learn from you.
It's not that people are not watching movies because they suck, it's because more and more people are investing in home theatres that are capable of delivering the cinema experiance at home with added comforts, accesability and customization.
That statement isn't very original but it's also why this is not news. The digital age has many casualities but the MPAA is not one of them. The cinemas were simply used by the MPAA to push their product but they have moved on to DVD's and home entertainment as it is more lucrative and the demand is there.
Cinema tickets are slumping and it's a poor time to invest in the super-plex but Hollywood is making more money than ever with the advent of quality, affordable (more than before anyways) home theatre.
You can turn lead into gold?! Holy shit, we're going to make a fortune! Don't tell many people about this or they might steal this great plan. Man, send me your email so we can get started on this. I have enough venture capital to get it going...wow, I can see it already...a house of gold! I'll have more gold than I'll ever know what to do with!
I never understood this backwards idea that as time goes on everyone will be a programmer! (when really, there was a time all computer users could program...)
Has everyone become a mechanic? Has everyone become an electronics repairman?
The point is most people can hardly turn their computer on. It's getting *harder* for them to use computers as they become more complex. Computer programs have also become much more complex. Therefore computer programming is becoming more and more specialized. Now you have programmers who only program certain types of things and it's going to move this way more and more.
Until you invent that magical compiler for that magical programming language which "just knows" what to make, this is never going to happen.
Yes, they take up considerable more space. You're getting disks that are 1080p. This is around 3X the space required today. So your typical movie will take around 20-25GB or more. Not to mention the extras will be 1080p so you'll likely have the same amount of disks.
Of course, the subset of people that can actually benefit from 1080p is marginal right now and probably for the next 7+ years. Mainly because hardly anyone actually has a TV that can handle 1080p. Hell, most people still don't have a TV that can handle HD.
If I was a betting man I would argue that our current DVD format has at least 10 years of market dominance; it will hold more than 80% of the market for the next 10 years.
Not to mention on smaller TV's the difference between 480p and 720p isn't noticable. It isn't until you start getting to TV's > 40" where you start to notice a bit. Once you're at this level 720p and 1080p are virtually impossible to distinguish until you start getting over 60" screens. And even then the picture still looks amazing.
I personally will not spend thousands more for marginal upgrades. I have a 720p TV and I'm more than happy with the video signal I get.
Call me when we're up to 2600p and 75" TV's are $2,000.00 and the DVD players that take advantage are $75.00. I'm guessing this will take awhile.
I constantly here people equate how hard they worked on something to how much time they spent on it. It has nothing to do with that. Work smarter, not harder, eh?
Anyways, being really good at what you do in comparison to your peers is really advantageous as it allows you to be a bumb and still get your work done at a faster pace and with superior quality affording you more luxuries/savings.
But this also gets you in trouble, as many things in life seem/are easy you don't know how to work really hard to accomplish something hard that will take time. I mean you can, but it's weird to have to really spend time on something in your domain. Humbling anyways.
Doesn't understand the physics? What kind of CS's are you dealing with? I had to take plenty of physics and math and I'm sure I could handle anything you have to.
I'm happy your friend gets a good chuckle. Hopefully he's a passenger on one of the craft you programmed for.
Yeah, requirements.....those are a real bumber. Imagine that...you have to have a consistent process to develop something very complicated.
Most people with a CS degree should have more than enough understanding of Physics and Mathematics that they should be able to interpret what you're doing. Couple that with the fact that once they've been in your system a bit and understand the lingo and systems, they can really start to flow.
It's quicker right now....maybe. It's easier right now...maybe. It's cheaper right now...maybe. Things have a tendency to catch up when you don't actually know what you're doing. I could design a rocket to go anywhere. I know the math and the physics and there is plenty of good books on it to reference but I would hardly trust myself with this task minus any software elements of it.
I seriously hope you don't write any software that could affect a humans life. Not to mention you could potentially be writing code that projects rather expensive (and heavy for that matter) things into space...and since you're not an expert in software design, practices or memory management for that matter, this could pose a problem.
Software is not to be taken lightly. The fact they have you programming in C++ scares me a bit. C++, as you probably know, is a rather low level programming languages with lots of little nuances and an incredible amount of ways to have things go wrong when you thought it was going right.
Learning some syntax and basic semantics is not that hard. I used to write C++ programs well before I received my CS degree. But after taking courses, many which were not raw programming courses, I could identify many flaws in the design of my code, the management of my code and very importantly the testing and testing methods of my code. I thought my programs were good...I mean they worked after all... But I think you quickly learn this is the base requirement for any program and hardly substantial when you've actually studied the complex science of software design (as well as the other tangent requirements).
I hope your company (sounds like NASA project management) really knows what they're getting into. Software design isn't engineering, but understanding every facet of software programming is critical, especially when human lives are at stake or expensive equipment for that matter.
As an above poster mentioned, it would be wise to have you describe an algorithm and then have someone who actually knows what they're doing (trust me, you don't) actually put it through the process of becoming a piece of the engineered system.
Backbase also ins't free. There is a "free" version but if I do recall you cannot use their free version for any commercial Website. But then, their API is feature rich enough if you need this ability it may be worth the money to invest in their API.
You, like most people, have absolutely no idea what AJAX really means. It has nothing to do with flashy graphics or UI's that are more interactive. It allows for these to exist, but this is simply some eye candy some people, as you pointed out, evangelised a bit too much.
Seriously, the purpose of this technology is really simple. you can now send user data back to the server and have it send messages back to any client with this data to allow the DHTML to be updated and rendered again without an explicit postback. Besides a nice GUI it allows for things like preemptive database searching (send search data in as it's being entered so the search comes back faster from the users perception), realtime data sharing between users and really the ability to make better UI's for some Web applications...like Gmail for instance.
Sure, some people have basterdized AJAX and really only think it's for making a better UI. But it's all the little things you can accomplish with it by now having an actual pipe and rendering system available to Web clients. Now it isn't such a "stateless" system and you can interact with user explicitly or "behind the scenes".
I mean, you can't be negative about a technology that when wielded correctly gives you more options.
I know some Web programmers don't like it because it's something new to learn.
This clearly is terrorism and new laws must be enacted to prevent this from happening. The government needs more "tools" to monitor people and help keep them safe. These radicals who's only purpose is to destroy the great Chinese empire need to be rounded up, questioned and put to death. They are "cowards" and don't wear a uniform to a sovereign state. They refuse to work within their countries political systems, thus making them criminals.
It is imperative China protects its interests, especially against nondescript criminals who could strike at any time from anywhere. China has rights to protect itself and hopefully they deploy troops to the suspected countries of these people if their governments cannot or won't cooperate.
"Well, little Billy came, saw and sneezed already. And Google prevails. So Google may well be an exception to this rule - and go from really big to omnipotent."
Billy hasn't even got out of bed yet.
When Vista is released, maybe you can say he's walking down the street. Three years after it has near market saturation it should be able to leverage this to make their search and data organization products prevail, if only because they are forced on people.
This is the next great war. Apple had a huge advantage. Netscape had a huge advantage. Google definitely has a huge advantage (as an aside, notice how these companies are all very similar. All had/have zealot user bases, all have new and cutting edge technology, all have great new ideas). Will MS respond? How will they respond? Will they interleave this technology with their business applications so they can use the old "I use it at work, so I like to use it at home" routine? Can they use their market dominance, like usual, to win? Can MS use their unparalled ability to develop business products to champion in their new era of search dominance?
"Their other products like SQL server, xbox, money and what have you enjoy no better then third place."
I hate to sound like a MS apologist, which I'm definitely not, but those statements are simply untrue. The XBox 360 is doing well and MS is getting more and more penetration and doing things to separate their product from Sony. SQL server is used on a vast percentage of MS servers, which is a very large number.
But I agree they have had their failures. Usually what happens though is they find these markets to not be as vast as speculated, such as Web TV. Who's dominating that market now?
The main reason I see success for them is because of their API's and ability to integrate them with their OS for truly rich Web experiences. That sounds like marketing BS but it's going to make a difference, I think.
I remember when they couldn't put together a good spread sheet application. They also had a poor word offering and their attempts at GUI shell was laughable at best for years. Hell, they didn't even have a TCP/IP stack once! But since they had certain OS control they were able to really take their time, learn from their competitors mistakes and eventually get it "right". Then they could leverage their strength (in this case IE, their OS and their ability to integrate their API's with these) and take advantage of the market.
Many of MS's Web tools are without a doubt second and third rate at best. Maybe they don't ever catch up but history has shown then do and do it well. They catch up and market better than anyone.
But then again, maybe they don't "get it" anymore. but at their current trading value, I assume they will at worst be able to double it in 3 years.
When little Billy comes over and sneezes on them, like he always does.
And then procedes to cut you, rape your mother and steal your cards. This is also why I think MS is a good investment, especially right now (buy low, sell high!). I guess when they steal Googles capitol their stock should rise about 200% or so...sad story but hey, it works for me!
(yes, yes, I know Google has all the "talent" and "new ideas" and technologically "cool" things. I know another company that did too.)
I think having the OS and browser is going to start paying more and more dividens soon as richer Web applications become richer and more popular. It's changing....the Internet...
Slashdot Mirror
"...and if someone did this to me I would probably show up at their door with a 2x4 and a bad attitude."
Actually, you probably would not. This is why you were picked on. People could "feel" you were an easy target that would not fight back and so they took advantage of you. It is, not to be crass, your fault for not fighting back. You were a coward who took these things. It's not your fault for getting picked on initially, but it is your fault for allowing it to happen as long as it did.
My first year of high school a kid tried messing with me and I blew it off. Just ear flicks that he thought were funny, mainly to impress other kids who didn't really have any issue with me. Eventually I decided it wasn't cool to do this to me anymore. There is no way the school or my parents can handle this situation....it's something you have to deal with on your own. So, he flicks me one more time and I turn around and crack him square in the face. Of course he was stunned and I pushed him a few times into the lockers yelling at him. I guess I kind of snapped. He ended up partnering with me in a small engines class (he was really good with these things) and no one picked on me. This is how it is done. Even if he would have "won" the fight, he wouldn't have came at me again as he would know it would involve fighting and these people want the path of least resistance.
This is how the world works. The school yard bully may not be doing all too well now days, but there are bullies all over. The RIAA is a good example. I'm sure you can come up with many more on a national, corporate and local level. Bullies always exist in every social situation.
If I ever have a kid my only advice to him will be not to go to me or a teacher for help. Whoever is picking on you (and really let them do it for a bit) beat the shit out of them. Follow them home and when they are alone, sneak on them and jump them. Cheap is OK here.
Anyways, the kid in this story (Star Wars kid) took the wrong approach. Granted, this is a bit different but he should have capitalized on this. I mean, he has to be able to laugh at himself. The ridicule isn't going to go on forever. He did after all make the video and left it around...and it was made in the school. He could have sold T-Shirts and made more videos, etc. Had an official Website and played it off real nice with a nice sum of cash to boot.
Instead, he ran like he always will in his life because he is dim witted and afraid. This is his fault.
Must get away from the Queue and use a Stack to order what movies a user wants.
But, seeing as it is only a one-player game you're only cheating against yourself by removing the challange.
At least the game is very moddable and there are already leveling mods available that change the whole system. I'm sure there will be a flavor for everyone eventually.
I agree 100%. I used to play some MMO's but find games like Oblivion are much better and probably more healthy. You can play on your time and not have to choose between getting some uber gear or hanging out with your friends in real life. You should probably hang out with your real friends...
But I agree, the MMO's are glorified chat rooms that invole repetitious tasks like leveling and killing things to get some item. I have plenty of friends that I socialize with in real life and over networks so I get nothing from the social aspect.
The only thing I liked in these games was the PVP. In WOW, it was fairly sad. The player skill level was poor and there was nothing to lose in battle.
I like Shadowbane because there was a lot to lose and the PVP and guild system were done well in that there was real game value in things. (I've heard this game is now 100% free to own and play. The bugs have been fixed too I guess....have thought about going back if only for the PVP)
I've enjoyed Oblivion more than any other RPG I've played in the last few years.
I think MMO's are shallow, boring and driven by anti-social people who finally have an outlet to express themselves in their pathtic way.
They offer nothing unique to players and have many documented problems. They have really shallow quest lines that generally offer nothing more than fetch and retrieve missions (ever feel like a dog?) that offer some item, generally available to anyone.
It is fun to raid dungeons with friends I will admit, but you can get this same experience in a non MMO such as Diablo 2 (still a good game) and the Baulders gate games among others.....and of course Dungeon Siege.
So, I agree that CRPG are deeper, more immersive and generally more healthy than the MMO variety. I will probably never play an MMO where my respectability is a function of time again. That's total nonsense and backwards. The more respectable people in the game are the same ones that have no respect for themselves. It's really sad and these people shouldn't be encouraged.
Well, it's not like you have to start over. You can change your race, birth sign and main skills with the command line. I don't have them handy but just Google for them. It's helpful if you've invested serious time in a character and want to change that one little thing now that you know better.
I have a 6800 (512 MB Video) and I've opened up the 4 extra vector pipelines and pixel pipeline and it runs amazing. I'm running a 2.8 P4 and have a gig of RAM and get 60fps.
If you haven't overclocked your 6800, I recommend you do it. You open 25% more vector pipelines resulting in a card that sells for $150 more. It's that easy.
For the record, I had a 5700FX with 256 MB Video and only 512 system RAM with the same chip. It ran in low res with a lot of things turned down but I generally didn't get a good frame rate and there was a lot of disk thrashing. Adding that extra 512 of system RAM helped a lot and of course throwing in a 6800 made a big difference.
Another reason the 5700 didn't run as well as I had hoped (it wasn't that bad, but not 50+fps except for in certain dungeons) was because I got a new motherboard a few weeks ago and forgot to set the video aperture up to 256 for that FX card and it defaulted to 64. So, with 256 set it would have had better performance....
Anyways, a 6800 with a gig and a decent CPU will result in perfect gameplay at high resolution and beautiful graphics and lighting.
Go for it if you want but whats the point of playing the game? If this makes it fun for you then go for it but I enjoy the game for reasons that you generally enjoy games: it's immersive and challenging and fun.
Anyways, you can just use the command line to set your gold to whatever you want as well as change your race, skills, birth-sign etc at any point in the game.
Bowling is a good game to play for people of skill levels. With the handicap system, it doesn't matter how good or bad you are. Sometimes players with low averages have the real advantage because bowling doesn't have a linear scoring system (as in there is not a one-to-one relation on pins hit to score. You can actually hit more pins and lose. And you can hit the same amount and win or lose, but in what order and frequency you hit them (3 strikes in a row is worth more than 3 strikes separated by a few frames)) so it's easier for bowlers of low skill to improve their score dramatically. Basically, bowling adheres to the law of diminishing returns.
.asm. Allow them to use a library while you roll your own everything.
It's fun for most ages and it gets you out of the house. Even at the lowest levels you can win money and awards in a league environment.
Go join a league today!
Golf is a good one too but hardly anyone plays "competively".
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If you're only interested in video games, most fighting games allow you to handicap a users strength/hit points. Try Soul Calibur 3. Same goes for most puzzle games as well.
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Really, in any game that uses points as a metric for determining the winner you can always front a few points.
--
If you want to have a code competition, allow your "newbie" opponent to use hgh level languages while you use C or
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My point, this is a really bad "Ask Slashdot". In most games, it's acceptable for someone to get the floor mopped until they develop the generally easy skill they learn from you.
It's not that people are not watching movies because they suck, it's because more and more people are investing in home theatres that are capable of delivering the cinema experiance at home with added comforts, accesability and customization.
That statement isn't very original but it's also why this is not news. The digital age has many casualities but the MPAA is not one of them. The cinemas were simply used by the MPAA to push their product but they have moved on to DVD's and home entertainment as it is more lucrative and the demand is there.
Cinema tickets are slumping and it's a poor time to invest in the super-plex but Hollywood is making more money than ever with the advent of quality, affordable (more than before anyways) home theatre.
But as per usual, Hollywood is producing garbage.
You can turn lead into gold?! Holy shit, we're going to make a fortune! Don't tell many people about this or they might steal this great plan. Man, send me your email so we can get started on this. I have enough venture capital to get it going...wow, I can see it already...a house of gold! I'll have more gold than I'll ever know what to do with!
I never understood this backwards idea that as time goes on everyone will be a programmer! (when really, there was a time all computer users could program...)
Has everyone become a mechanic? Has everyone become an electronics repairman?
The point is most people can hardly turn their computer on. It's getting *harder* for them to use computers as they become more complex. Computer programs have also become much more complex. Therefore computer programming is becoming more and more specialized. Now you have programmers who only program certain types of things and it's going to move this way more and more.
Until you invent that magical compiler for that magical programming language which "just knows" what to make, this is never going to happen.
Yes, they take up considerable more space. You're getting disks that are 1080p. This is around 3X the space required today. So your typical movie will take around 20-25GB or more. Not to mention the extras will be 1080p so you'll likely have the same amount of disks.
Of course, the subset of people that can actually benefit from 1080p is marginal right now and probably for the next 7+ years. Mainly because hardly anyone actually has a TV that can handle 1080p. Hell, most people still don't have a TV that can handle HD.
If I was a betting man I would argue that our current DVD format has at least 10 years of market dominance; it will hold more than 80% of the market for the next 10 years.
It's cheap, has evolved and people understand it.
Not to mention on smaller TV's the difference between 480p and 720p isn't noticable. It isn't until you start getting to TV's > 40" where you start to notice a bit. Once you're at this level 720p and 1080p are virtually impossible to distinguish until you start getting over 60" screens. And even then the picture still looks amazing.
I personally will not spend thousands more for marginal upgrades. I have a 720p TV and I'm more than happy with the video signal I get.
Call me when we're up to 2600p and 75" TV's are $2,000.00 and the DVD players that take advantage are $75.00. I'm guessing this will take awhile.
I constantly here people equate how hard they worked on something to how much time they spent on it. It has nothing to do with that. Work smarter, not harder, eh?
Anyways, being really good at what you do in comparison to your peers is really advantageous as it allows you to be a bumb and still get your work done at a faster pace and with superior quality affording you more luxuries/savings.
But this also gets you in trouble, as many things in life seem/are easy you don't know how to work really hard to accomplish something hard that will take time. I mean you can, but it's weird to have to really spend time on something in your domain. Humbling anyways.
Ah well.
Then who's going to write the game that's an Easter egg found by only the most savvy pilots?
Doesn't understand the physics? What kind of CS's are you dealing with? I had to take plenty of physics and math and I'm sure I could handle anything you have to.
I'm happy your friend gets a good chuckle. Hopefully he's a passenger on one of the craft you programmed for.
Yeah, requirements.....those are a real bumber. Imagine that...you have to have a consistent process to develop something very complicated.
Most people with a CS degree should have more than enough understanding of Physics and Mathematics that they should be able to interpret what you're doing. Couple that with the fact that once they've been in your system a bit and understand the lingo and systems, they can really start to flow.
It's quicker right now....maybe. It's easier right now...maybe. It's cheaper right now...maybe. Things have a tendency to catch up when you don't actually know what you're doing. I could design a rocket to go anywhere. I know the math and the physics and there is plenty of good books on it to reference but I would hardly trust myself with this task minus any software elements of it.
I seriously hope you don't write any software that could affect a humans life. Not to mention you could potentially be writing code that projects rather expensive (and heavy for that matter) things into space...and since you're not an expert in software design, practices or memory management for that matter, this could pose a problem.
Software is not to be taken lightly. The fact they have you programming in C++ scares me a bit. C++, as you probably know, is a rather low level programming languages with lots of little nuances and an incredible amount of ways to have things go wrong when you thought it was going right.
Learning some syntax and basic semantics is not that hard. I used to write C++ programs well before I received my CS degree. But after taking courses, many which were not raw programming courses, I could identify many flaws in the design of my code, the management of my code and very importantly the testing and testing methods of my code. I thought my programs were good...I mean they worked after all... But I think you quickly learn this is the base requirement for any program and hardly substantial when you've actually studied the complex science of software design (as well as the other tangent requirements).
I hope your company (sounds like NASA project management) really knows what they're getting into. Software design isn't engineering, but understanding every facet of software programming is critical, especially when human lives are at stake or expensive equipment for that matter.
As an above poster mentioned, it would be wise to have you describe an algorithm and then have someone who actually knows what they're doing (trust me, you don't) actually put it through the process of becoming a piece of the engineered system.
Backbase also ins't free. There is a "free" version but if I do recall you cannot use their free version for any commercial Website. But then, their API is feature rich enough if you need this ability it may be worth the money to invest in their API.
You, like most people, have absolutely no idea what AJAX really means. It has nothing to do with flashy graphics or UI's that are more interactive. It allows for these to exist, but this is simply some eye candy some people, as you pointed out, evangelised a bit too much.
Seriously, the purpose of this technology is really simple. you can now send user data back to the server and have it send messages back to any client with this data to allow the DHTML to be updated and rendered again without an explicit postback. Besides a nice GUI it allows for things like preemptive database searching (send search data in as it's being entered so the search comes back faster from the users perception), realtime data sharing between users and really the ability to make better UI's for some Web applications...like Gmail for instance.
Sure, some people have basterdized AJAX and really only think it's for making a better UI. But it's all the little things you can accomplish with it by now having an actual pipe and rendering system available to Web clients. Now it isn't such a "stateless" system and you can interact with user explicitly or "behind the scenes".
I mean, you can't be negative about a technology that when wielded correctly gives you more options.
I know some Web programmers don't like it because it's something new to learn.
This clearly is terrorism and new laws must be enacted to prevent this from happening. The government needs more "tools" to monitor people and help keep them safe. These radicals who's only purpose is to destroy the great Chinese empire need to be rounded up, questioned and put to death. They are "cowards" and don't wear a uniform to a sovereign state. They refuse to work within their countries political systems, thus making them criminals.
It is imperative China protects its interests, especially against nondescript criminals who could strike at any time from anywhere. China has rights to protect itself and hopefully they deploy troops to the suspected countries of these people if their governments cannot or won't cooperate.
"Well, little Billy came, saw and sneezed already. And Google prevails. So Google may well be an exception to this rule - and go from really big to omnipotent."
Billy hasn't even got out of bed yet.
When Vista is released, maybe you can say he's walking down the street. Three years after it has near market saturation it should be able to leverage this to make their search and data organization products prevail, if only because they are forced on people.
This is the next great war. Apple had a huge advantage. Netscape had a huge advantage. Google definitely has a huge advantage (as an aside, notice how these companies are all very similar. All had/have zealot user bases, all have new and cutting edge technology, all have great new ideas). Will MS respond? How will they respond? Will they interleave this technology with their business applications so they can use the old "I use it at work, so I like to use it at home" routine? Can they use their market dominance, like usual, to win? Can MS use their unparalled ability to develop business products to champion in their new era of search dominance?
Smart money is on MSFT.
"Their other products like SQL server, xbox, money and what have you enjoy no better then third place."
I hate to sound like a MS apologist, which I'm definitely not, but those statements are simply untrue. The XBox 360 is doing well and MS is getting more and more penetration and doing things to separate their product from Sony. SQL server is used on a vast percentage of MS servers, which is a very large number.
But I agree they have had their failures. Usually what happens though is they find these markets to not be as vast as speculated, such as Web TV. Who's dominating that market now?
The main reason I see success for them is because of their API's and ability to integrate them with their OS for truly rich Web experiences. That sounds like marketing BS but it's going to make a difference, I think.
I remember when they couldn't put together a good spread sheet application. They also had a poor word offering and their attempts at GUI shell was laughable at best for years. Hell, they didn't even have a TCP/IP stack once! But since they had certain OS control they were able to really take their time, learn from their competitors mistakes and eventually get it "right". Then they could leverage their strength (in this case IE, their OS and their ability to integrate their API's with these) and take advantage of the market.
Many of MS's Web tools are without a doubt second and third rate at best. Maybe they don't ever catch up but history has shown then do and do it well. They catch up and market better than anyone.
But then again, maybe they don't "get it" anymore. but at their current trading value, I assume they will at worst be able to double it in 3 years.
"When will the house of cards collapse?"
When little Billy comes over and sneezes on them, like he always does.
And then procedes to cut you, rape your mother and steal your cards. This is also why I think MS is a good investment, especially right now (buy low, sell high!). I guess when they steal Googles capitol their stock should rise about 200% or so...sad story but hey, it works for me!
(yes, yes, I know Google has all the "talent" and "new ideas" and technologically "cool" things. I know another company that did too.)
I think having the OS and browser is going to start paying more and more dividens soon as richer Web applications become richer and more popular. It's changing....the Internet...