Yes, I only see a small part of the whole. In fact, I only see a small part of my own division, but I do know that the small part I'm in happens to be one of the most important, as far as IT is concerned. Everyone here uses.NET, except one guy who does mostly Java (and even he's said.NET is good, but we've gotta have somebody doing Java).
How is it a disservice to use a product that allows us to develop faster and integrate more seamlessly? I had to write a Java program a couple of days ago; nothing major, kinda small. Only took about two hours. Piece of cake. I wrote the exact same thing in C# in about 20 minutes. And if I wanted to publish it? Deploying C# web services is laughably easy. Java web services aren't difficult to deploy, but they're not so simple, either. And consuming web services is far simpler in.NET than with Java - just tell VS.NET, "Hey, there's a web service at [address] that I want" and VS gets the WSDL and builds all the necessary stubs automatically.
Being anti-Microsoft is one thing, but you can't bash everything they produce just because they produced it..NET is surprisingly good. Personally... I don't like Microsoft. I just don't trust them. But they've got a winner with.NET.
It's roughly 1 in 250 complete failure, resulting in loss of vehicle and possible injury or loss of crew and/or launch facilities. We discussed this at great length in my physical electronics class, as well as my technical writing and engineering statistics classes (it was a week almost entirely devoted to good engineering practices).
You also have to account for the acceleration of the shuttle in the opposite direction, if you're going to be relative about it. When we do these calculations relative to the surface of the Earth, we assume that the Earth is not accelerating in the opposite direction (even though it is, but it comes out in the math and doesn't really affect anything - it's all in how you word it).
The thing is, you've got a block of foam falling towards the earth with acceleration due to gravity and a shuttle falling away from the earth with acceleration due to thrust, and quite a lot of that. I'm not sure 500mph is accurate, but considering how incredibly quickly the shuttle gets to speed, I wouldn't be surprised.
It's frightening that such a light-weight piece of foam can doom a fantastically complex and brilliant piece of machinery like the shuttle, not to mention the crew on board who are far more complex and brilliant - and the loss of whom is so much more painful. But it's not really a surprise. I mean, if a penny can kill - and it certainly can - then so can a big block of foam, even if it doesn't weigh much.
Unfortunately, dangers such as these are just a part of space flight. It's never going to go away: as someone else posted earlier, birds can bring down planes and that's a mature technology. If space flight ever becomes routine, it will still be filled with dangers - the question is whether or not people are willing to take the risk. From a scientific perspective, we're very, very lucky that so many astronauts are willing to take it to advance our understanding of the world and the universe.
Still, it's really hard to see that shuttle crew lost to a piece of foam. Or a piece of rubber (Challenger). It strikes me as odd that on something as monstrously complicated as the shuttle, the only two complete failures were due to relatively simple components. It also strikes me as a major accomplishment. Anyway...
The United States doesn't actually have laws prohibiting the existence of monopolies. US law just strives to prevent monopolies from using their power to prevent competiton. It's perfectly okay to be the only person in the country selling wrenches, but it isn't okay to kill your neighbor when he starts selling them too (get you on two counts, there;)).
You're also not supposed to use your immense bankrolls to undercut your less-wealthy competitors to the point of driving them out of business. Wal-Mart uses this practice in the pharmaceutical industry, and it's why so many pharmacies close when Wal-Mart comes to town (damn Wal-Mart!).
The point is, you're allowed to be a monopoly, but you're not allowed to use your monopoly power to prevent others from competing with you.
Sorry, I haven't seen a failure of.NET. I'm just curious where you're looking. I work for the US Army Corps of Engineers, and we use the heck out of.NET and everyone loves it. There is some Java development here, too, but most of our new stuff is in C# (which is, of course, essentially a Microsoft-ized Java).
I haven't heard any complaints from people who use.NET on a regular basis. Personally, I think it's great.
Did the US Patent Office hire Rip van Winkle, or what? Hell, I live in Mississippi and the cable companies here even have video-on-demand, so I know the whole rest of the country has it. The guy that investigated this patent request must not have a television. Or indeed electricity. Or eyes or ears, for that matter. I'd say it's even debatable whether he had half a brain.
It's pretty well established that you can't patent something that you didn't invent, and you certainly can't patent something that you didn't invent and everyone else is already using. Something as common as video-on-demand can't be patented... not at this point anyway. I mean, ten years ago, when it was still a novelty (if available at all... I dunno), then yeah. Of course, it's only recently that this has become a big thing and is actually looking profitable.
And that, of course, is always when Microsoft steps in. "Oh look, a dollar to be had! Quick, sue somebody!" Baaah...
Can I sue everybody everywhere who has ever made a profit just by claiming that I made the product originally, but threw it away? I've never really thought about it; I just kinda assumed that I was giving up rights to my trash. I'm generally more than happy to turn it over to the nice men who come twice a week to take it away. Are those sons-of-bitches getting rich at my expense?!
Another reason to work in government... I've heard rumors of contract clauses in private industry that give your company ownership of code you write outside of work. If there's any truth to that, then government work is the only way to go.
What I write here is theirs (and rightfully so, as far as I'm concerned - they bought the computer, the software, etc., and they're the ones putting up the millions to get this project done), but what I write at home is 100% mine, unless I choose to give it to someone.
The government really isn't as interested in what you're doing as some people might lead you to believe. There is some constant monitoring going on behind the scenes, no doubt, but there's not anyone sitting around all day reading your email - except you. "Big Brother" doesn't care one iota about your email, unless you're planning some kind of terrorist activity, in which case - at least from where I sit - I want them to read your email.
They may also snatch your email if you steal a few million dollars from your investors, but I'd be happier if they snatched your bank account and shared the wealth.;)
Actually, it's IE that has it wrong, not Mozilla. IE has yet to do CSS properly (funny that they can take the time to invent their own CSS, but can't be bothered to implement the standardized stuff). IE also doesn't support the alpha channel on PNGs, which makes them all but useless from a web-design standpoint. Since IE dominates, we have to design to them... hooray...
Nuts to IE.
My question concerning harddrives in portable MP3 players is do you have problems with skipping? RAM-based players have no moving parts, so they don't suffer skipping as a result of physical shock. Can you jog with a drive-based player?
Slashdot Mirror
The Saudis don't like us. :P
ha... of course you'd go anonymous.
Yes, I only see a small part of the whole. In fact, I only see a small part of my own division, but I do know that the small part I'm in happens to be one of the most important, as far as IT is concerned. Everyone here uses .NET, except one guy who does mostly Java (and even he's said .NET is good, but we've gotta have somebody doing Java).
.NET than with Java - just tell VS.NET, "Hey, there's a web service at [address] that I want" and VS gets the WSDL and builds all the necessary stubs automatically.
.NET is surprisingly good. Personally... I don't like Microsoft. I just don't trust them. But they've got a winner with .NET.
How is it a disservice to use a product that allows us to develop faster and integrate more seamlessly? I had to write a Java program a couple of days ago; nothing major, kinda small. Only took about two hours. Piece of cake. I wrote the exact same thing in C# in about 20 minutes. And if I wanted to publish it? Deploying C# web services is laughably easy. Java web services aren't difficult to deploy, but they're not so simple, either. And consuming web services is far simpler in
Being anti-Microsoft is one thing, but you can't bash everything they produce just because they produced it.
It's roughly 1 in 250 complete failure, resulting in loss of vehicle and possible injury or loss of crew and/or launch facilities. We discussed this at great length in my physical electronics class, as well as my technical writing and engineering statistics classes (it was a week almost entirely devoted to good engineering practices).
You also have to account for the acceleration of the shuttle in the opposite direction, if you're going to be relative about it. When we do these calculations relative to the surface of the Earth, we assume that the Earth is not accelerating in the opposite direction (even though it is, but it comes out in the math and doesn't really affect anything - it's all in how you word it).
The thing is, you've got a block of foam falling towards the earth with acceleration due to gravity and a shuttle falling away from the earth with acceleration due to thrust, and quite a lot of that. I'm not sure 500mph is accurate, but considering how incredibly quickly the shuttle gets to speed, I wouldn't be surprised.
It's frightening that such a light-weight piece of foam can doom a fantastically complex and brilliant piece of machinery like the shuttle, not to mention the crew on board who are far more complex and brilliant - and the loss of whom is so much more painful. But it's not really a surprise. I mean, if a penny can kill - and it certainly can - then so can a big block of foam, even if it doesn't weigh much.
Unfortunately, dangers such as these are just a part of space flight. It's never going to go away: as someone else posted earlier, birds can bring down planes and that's a mature technology. If space flight ever becomes routine, it will still be filled with dangers - the question is whether or not people are willing to take the risk. From a scientific perspective, we're very, very lucky that so many astronauts are willing to take it to advance our understanding of the world and the universe.
Still, it's really hard to see that shuttle crew lost to a piece of foam. Or a piece of rubber (Challenger). It strikes me as odd that on something as monstrously complicated as the shuttle, the only two complete failures were due to relatively simple components. It also strikes me as a major accomplishment. Anyway...
The United States doesn't actually have laws prohibiting the existence of monopolies. US law just strives to prevent monopolies from using their power to prevent competiton. It's perfectly okay to be the only person in the country selling wrenches, but it isn't okay to kill your neighbor when he starts selling them too (get you on two counts, there ;)).
You're also not supposed to use your immense bankrolls to undercut your less-wealthy competitors to the point of driving them out of business. Wal-Mart uses this practice in the pharmaceutical industry, and it's why so many pharmacies close when Wal-Mart comes to town (damn Wal-Mart!).
The point is, you're allowed to be a monopoly, but you're not allowed to use your monopoly power to prevent others from competing with you.
Sorry, I haven't seen a failure of .NET. I'm just curious where you're looking. I work for the US Army Corps of Engineers, and we use the heck out of .NET and everyone loves it. There is some Java development here, too, but most of our new stuff is in C# (which is, of course, essentially a Microsoft-ized Java).
.NET on a regular basis. Personally, I think it's great.
I haven't heard any complaints from people who use
Oh, didn't they? Someone tell AT&T, Bell Atlantic, and others that their video-on-demand doen't count. :P
See here
Did the US Patent Office hire Rip van Winkle, or what? Hell, I live in Mississippi and the cable companies here even have video-on-demand, so I know the whole rest of the country has it. The guy that investigated this patent request must not have a television. Or indeed electricity. Or eyes or ears, for that matter. I'd say it's even debatable whether he had half a brain.
It's pretty well established that you can't patent something that you didn't invent, and you certainly can't patent something that you didn't invent and everyone else is already using. Something as common as video-on-demand can't be patented... not at this point anyway. I mean, ten years ago, when it was still a novelty (if available at all... I dunno), then yeah. Of course, it's only recently that this has become a big thing and is actually looking profitable.
And that, of course, is always when Microsoft steps in. "Oh look, a dollar to be had! Quick, sue somebody!" Baaah...
Can I sue everybody everywhere who has ever made a profit just by claiming that I made the product originally, but threw it away? I've never really thought about it; I just kinda assumed that I was giving up rights to my trash. I'm generally more than happy to turn it over to the nice men who come twice a week to take it away. Are those sons-of-bitches getting rich at my expense?!
I'm suing!
Another reason to work in government... I've heard rumors of contract clauses in private industry that give your company ownership of code you write outside of work. If there's any truth to that, then government work is the only way to go.
What I write here is theirs (and rightfully so, as far as I'm concerned - they bought the computer, the software, etc., and they're the ones putting up the millions to get this project done), but what I write at home is 100% mine, unless I choose to give it to someone.
So now instead of finding the needle in the haystack, we have to figure out how to put the needle in the haystack?
Doesn't sound so hot to me...
The government really isn't as interested in what you're doing as some people might lead you to believe. There is some constant monitoring going on behind the scenes, no doubt, but there's not anyone sitting around all day reading your email - except you. "Big Brother" doesn't care one iota about your email, unless you're planning some kind of terrorist activity, in which case - at least from where I sit - I want them to read your email. They may also snatch your email if you steal a few million dollars from your investors, but I'd be happier if they snatched your bank account and shared the wealth. ;)
Actually, it's IE that has it wrong, not Mozilla. IE has yet to do CSS properly (funny that they can take the time to invent their own CSS, but can't be bothered to implement the standardized stuff). IE also doesn't support the alpha channel on PNGs, which makes them all but useless from a web-design standpoint. Since IE dominates, we have to design to them... hooray... Nuts to IE.
My question concerning harddrives in portable MP3 players is do you have problems with skipping? RAM-based players have no moving parts, so they don't suffer skipping as a result of physical shock. Can you jog with a drive-based player?
I *think* that what you're looking for is the HHGTTG...