"it hardly looks like a valid replacement for Llama or Camel books"
It's not supposed to be. Just as they have conventions for the books' color (e.g. Perl blue), O'Reilly and Associates has conventions for the titles.
* "... Essentials" means an overview of what's new. * "Learning..." is a discussion and tutorial on a topic, intended for beginners * "Programming..." is the same, but for intermediate and advanced users * "... Cookbook" is a series of problems and their solutions * "... in a Nutshell" is like a language reference * "...: The Definitive Guide" is a combination of all four * "... Pocket Reference" is a shorter version of the above
When they're launching a new website or redesign of an old one, it's the guys at the top who make the call. They tend to be old and aren't exactly early adopters.
If your site doesn't work on Netscape 4.7, you run the risk of some venerable board member nixing the project because it doesn't work (or even look) correctly.
Most of our clients want to support Netscape Navigator 4.7 (things certainly weren't helped by the awful early releases of Netscape 6.0), and hey -- despite all our lobbying for an upgrade -- it's their site and they pay the bills.
"Real operating systems don't use escape characters as a path separator."
Thanks for the clarification. You sound like the same kind of person who writes off Python because whitespace has meaning, Pascal because it uses ":=" and Lisp because it has too many parentheses.
Joel writes, "Microsoft has settled the lawsuit with AOL, agreeing to pay AOL $750,000,000 in a complicated deal that allows AOL to continue to use Internet Explorer for several years. I'm not sure why the second part is interesting."
In light of the recent news that "IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation", I think this could be an interesting way of lulling AOL into complacency.
Let's say that the rumors are true, and IE development is at a standstill. What's to prevent Microsoft from putting a ton of resources into the MSN browser and zooming past a totally unprepared AOL?
This would leave AOL with some poor options: * stick with the vanilla IE6, long surpassed by a superior MSN, or * get Mozilla/Netscape/Phoenix/Firebird to the point where it could be comfortably used by existing AOL users
28,000 people that haven't even opened the box yet?
Can you even play Sims Online in single-player mode?
Also, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with game quality or the fee structure; maybe people are all Sim-ed out after the seemingly endless number of expansions? I mean how many times can you trap your Sim in a doorless room and watch him pee himself, before it gets tired?
"Many are outraged, as this obviously makes for an incomprehensible game"
Sure, there's a places for cut-scenes, storylines and cinematics. But, believe it or not, some of us don't care about the story line; we'd rent a DVD if we wanted that.
Some of us have always enjoyed exploring interesting dungeons, killing cool monsters, collecting useful treasures, going on challenging quests and upgrading our characters without pondering the deeper meaning of *why* our character does this.
I mean, does anyone really read the storybooks that come with the game? I'd be surprised if 10% of gamers even bothered.
Plus, it's interesting for D&D fans to see the 3rd Edition rules engine applied to a video game format.
Considering how popular Nethack is, I don't think a game-only version of NWN for Linux would have any problems with popularity.
Please quit your bitching for one minute -- NWN is a top-flight game and now Linux users can enjoy it.
* You're probably using an editor that'll auto-indent (from emacs to Visual Python), so you don't have to do it consciously * It looks just like properly-indented code, so you don't have to read the whitespace. Believe me, you're not there saying "Hmm. This is indented so far, so I think it goes with that!"
In other words, the whitespace in Python doesn't have as much meaning as you seem to attribute to it.
Almost no one has to hit the spacebar 16 times (unless you're using Notepad for all your coding). And good C, C++, Perl, Java, Visual Basic, etc. is indented in blocks anyway.
I do like the fact "everything in Ruby is an object."
The whole whitespace thing weirded me out at first, but then again so did Ruby's "$" and "@" operators -- I initially thought to myself "Ugh. It's Perl again."
The whitespace rules help prevent people from getting lazy and sloppy about their code formatting -- plus it prevents the choice between (1) debates about "proper" style (2) having to read multiple styles on the same project or (3) having someone other than Guido dictate your style.:)
- Joe (who loves Python, is very pleased with what he's seen of Ruby so far, has a love-hate relationship with Perl, and thinks Java is too wordy)
At the risk of starting a flamewar... have you looked at Python?
I've found that once you get over the superficial (e.g. whitespace matters), it's really an enjoyable language to use -- even when you have to read someone else's code.
Am I the only one who likes to view website/blog entries in their original context (where relevant) -- i.e. on the webpage where it was published -- even if it means I have a really long "links" list?
Slashdot Mirror
"Robert X. Cringely, the PBS one"
Who gets to be a Robert X. Cringely? Just Mark Stephens (PBS) and anyone Infoworld gives that column to?
<veruca salt voice>But I want to be a Robert X. Cringely too!</veruca salt voice>
Umm, Perl and MySQL?
"it hardly looks like a valid replacement for Llama or Camel books"
..." is a discussion and tutorial on a topic, intended for beginners ..." is the same, but for intermediate and advanced users
It's not supposed to be. Just as they have conventions for the books' color (e.g. Perl blue), O'Reilly and Associates has conventions for the titles.
* "... Essentials" means an overview of what's new.
* "Learning
* "Programming
* "... Cookbook" is a series of problems and their solutions
* "... in a Nutshell" is like a language reference
* "...: The Definitive Guide" is a combination of all four
* "... Pocket Reference" is a shorter version of the above
"the most unlogical thing in the world, from a person's point of view, is a young puppy experiencing her world...."
You mean eating her own poop? Seems perfectly logical to me.
"if EOD is complete before Battlefield Vietnam is released, it may severely impact sales of BFV....."
Ever heard of marketing? Advertising?
I've played BF1942 and enjoyed it greatly. I even downloaded a few mods (blood!). But until reading this Slashdot thread, I'd never heard of EoD.
A little perspective, man: it does look great, but what percentage of BF1942 users even know EoD exists? 5%? 10%?
Plus, a significant number of them (incl. me) would want to see the updated engine and official Vietnam scenarios, etc.
"Severely impact sales"? Not likely.
Web developers are greatly constrained by this.
When they're launching a new website or redesign of an old one, it's the guys at the top who make the call. They tend to be old and aren't exactly early adopters.
If your site doesn't work on Netscape 4.7, you run the risk of some venerable board member nixing the project because it doesn't work (or even look) correctly.
Most of our clients want to support Netscape Navigator 4.7 (things certainly weren't helped by the awful early releases of Netscape 6.0), and hey -- despite all our lobbying for an upgrade -- it's their site and they pay the bills.
"You are fired!"
;)
But then who's going to support the legacy code in three totally different languages?
"Real operating systems don't use escape characters as a path separator."
Thanks for the clarification. You sound like the same kind of person who writes off Python because whitespace has meaning, Pascal because it uses ":=" and Lisp because it has too many parentheses.
You might be right, but ...
"M$ sux0rz! Windoze sux0rz! And I used a language named 'Basic' fifteen years ago and it sucked, so I'm going to hold a permanent grudge!"
"Stay faaaaaar away from anything with the word 'BASIC' in it. You've been warned."
.NET, or are you just talking out your ass?
Have you used Visual Basic
(Cross-posted -- sorry)
Joel writes, "Microsoft has settled the lawsuit with AOL, agreeing to pay AOL $750,000,000 in a complicated deal that allows AOL to continue to use Internet Explorer for several years. I'm not sure why the second part is interesting."
In light of the recent news that "IE6 SP1 is the final standalone installation", I think this could be an interesting way of lulling AOL into complacency.
Let's say that the rumors are true, and IE development is at a standstill. What's to prevent Microsoft from putting a ton of resources into the MSN browser and zooming past a totally unprepared AOL?
This would leave AOL with some poor options:
* stick with the vanilla IE6, long surpassed by a superior MSN, or
* get Mozilla/Netscape/Phoenix/Firebird to the point where it could be comfortably used by existing AOL users
Thoughts?
And the difference is between an array and a list is ... what???
Is it a fixed-length/variable-length thing?
A same-types/different-types thing?
A mutable/immutable thing?
RTFA.
"With those discoveries a total of 80 satellites are now known to orbit the giant gas planet."
28,000 people that haven't even opened the box yet?
Can you even play Sims Online in single-player mode?
Also, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with game quality or the fee structure; maybe people are all Sim-ed out after the seemingly endless number of expansions? I mean how many times can you trap your Sim in a doorless room and watch him pee himself, before it gets tired?
"Many are outraged, as this obviously makes for an incomprehensible game"
Sure, there's a places for cut-scenes, storylines and cinematics. But, believe it or not, some of us don't care about the story line; we'd rent a DVD if we wanted that.
Some of us have always enjoyed exploring interesting dungeons, killing cool monsters, collecting useful treasures, going on challenging quests and upgrading our characters without pondering the deeper meaning of *why* our character does this.
I mean, does anyone really read the storybooks that come with the game? I'd be surprised if 10% of gamers even bothered.
Plus, it's interesting for D&D fans to see the 3rd Edition rules engine applied to a video game format.
Considering how popular Nethack is, I don't think a game-only version of NWN for Linux would have any problems with popularity.
Please quit your bitching for one minute -- NWN is a top-flight game and now Linux users can enjoy it.
Why not just go to eBay and buy the hardware there?
"What is your greatest weakness?"
<SELF-DEPRECATION>
Krispy Kremes. Then again, they really don't need to ask, unless it's a phone interview.
</SELF-DEPRECATION>
I remembered "Vat a Country!" but not that line. Thx for the correction.
Mod parent up!
You can "offtopic" it all you want, but this guy has invented a new form of humor and it's damn funny.
Umm ... once you start using it:
* You're probably using an editor that'll auto-indent (from emacs to Visual Python), so you don't have to do it consciously
* It looks just like properly-indented code, so you don't have to read the whitespace. Believe me, you're not there saying "Hmm. This is indented so far, so I think it goes with that!"
In other words, the whitespace in Python doesn't have as much meaning as you seem to attribute to it.
Almost no one has to hit the spacebar 16 times (unless you're using Notepad for all your coding). And good C, C++, Perl, Java, Visual Basic, etc. is indented in blocks anyway.
I'd imagine you hate Java's "this" keywood too? ;)
:)
I do like the fact "everything in Ruby is an object."
The whole whitespace thing weirded me out at first, but then again so did Ruby's "$" and "@" operators -- I initially thought to myself "Ugh. It's Perl again."
The whitespace rules help prevent people from getting lazy and sloppy about their code formatting -- plus it prevents the choice between (1) debates about "proper" style (2) having to read multiple styles on the same project or (3) having someone other than Guido dictate your style.
- Joe (who loves Python, is very pleased with what he's seen of Ruby so far, has a love-hate relationship with Perl, and thinks Java is too wordy)
At the risk of starting a flamewar ... have you looked at Python?
I've found that once you get over the superficial (e.g. whitespace matters), it's really an enjoyable language to use -- even when you have to read someone else's code.
Yeah, those orange "XML" boxes are sure helpful.
On most MovableType sites, you can try "index.rdf" (the default), even if they don't link it up.
Am I the only one who likes to view website/blog entries in their original context (where relevant) -- i.e. on the webpage where it was published -- even if it means I have a really long "links" list?
Presentation isn't everything, but it matters.
BSD might not be dead, but people sure don't have a lot to say about it these days. WTF?