I've never used an apple except in passing. I develop on Windows and Linux. I prefer working on Windows because things just work(yes they do). My wife, a teacher, uses Apples at work and Windows at home. She's an average computer user. She's starting to lean towards a more advanced user. She sees no real difference in usability between her work iMac and homebuilt Windows XP system. There are no security issues because the home system is behind a firewall, the same as the work system. The main thing apple has going for it is cuteness.
As a software engineer(yes engineer) who develops algorithms dealing mostly with geometry, I love these ideas. I've already sent an email to my boss asking for a copy of the book. Anytime you can simplify geometric math, you not only make your own life easier, but you can make the computer games of the world faster....and that's a good thing.
...only when you pry it from my cold, dead hands
on
The Future of the Net
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· Score: 1
There's no way people who actually USE computers for things that push the hardware will ever give up having the whole system sitting beside them. I know I won't. For people who just need a computer to surf, type papers, and read email, net-based systems may work fine. I can't help but think that anyone who is a proponent of such a system is one of those people and is therefore showing their lack of compuer savvy by even suggesting such a farce.
It's so easy to have your Windows not get viruses that I'm sometimes amazed that people who are supposedly experts seem to have problems. It's been several years since I've had any viruses or problems with my windows computers. When I did have problems, it was before I had a firewall. I have 3 systems running non-stop with one of them acting as a net server. I regularly check them to make sure that they're clean, and they are.
Glad you moved north? The illegals are heading north with no delay, buddy! They're all over the place now. It's a major issue that the US needs to crack down on and fix. Big business doesn't want to fix it because they can pay illegals less and inflate their margins(you don't seriously believe they do it so they can offer us lower prices, do you?)
Let's face it, fundamentalists of any religion have already disconnected their centers of logic and reason and blindly follow their pastor/priest/imam without thought. Those that do this long enough and fervently enough become the pastor/priest/imam and gain followers. If they are even more fervent and persistent they can become the pope/ayatollah/etc. If we agree that the brain must be excercised in order to be maintained, then the leaders of fundamentalist groups, though they have excellent people skills with which to make followers, have gone the longest without critical thought and therefore are the least capable of doing anything that's truly exceptional and/or intelligent. So let's all get in line to become a zombie.
Re:Captain Obvious Strikes Again
on
Return of the Mac
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· Score: 3, Interesting
I used to hate MS, but after using Linux for a couple of years, I dread having to work on Linux. If you complain about MS being insecure, then why do I have no problems with either of my MS machines that are always on and virus and spyware free? In addition, they're never rebooted...ever! The only problem I have with MS is the fact that it costs so much to get a new version of MSDev.
Heh, my wife is a head start teacher. For some reason, they just keep giving her new apple computers. She has a computer for every 2 students. The kids are 4. It's a total waste. She doesn't even have room for them. There are as many in the closet as in the classroom. These are brand new computers. It doesn't help that there's nobody in the school who is an administrator, so my wife can't even install things she wants her kids to use.
I'm so proud of my wife for not liking apple computers. She came by it honestly, by using her home computer(not apple) and the ones at work.
When you start teaching kids how to do math using calculators and computers, then they don't actually learn how TO DO math, they learn HOW to do math. There's a big difference in those otherwise identical phrases. If you give them a test where they have to do it by hand, many of them are going to fall on their faces since they haven't ever had to do that.
My example was specific to MS VC++ 6.0, which is still widely used. It's an example that you cannot rely on optimizations in all compilers. The code was compiled in release mode with optimizations set to Maximize Speed. Often, developers in large projects have no control over the build settings and must optimize their own code.
Here's some example code to prove you wrong for MS VC++ 6.0 on Win XP. The function call takes 10% more time than the in-place code over 1 billion iterations. 77 seconds vs. 70 seconds.
int q, steps = 1000000000; long location; int x, y, z; time_t first, second, third; time(&first); for(q=0;q<steps;q++) { //function GetCoordinates(4567, x, y, z); }
CString tempy; tempy.Format("Func: %d \tCode: %d", second - first, third - second); AfxMessageBox(tempy);
If I can save 10% by removing function calls in a time-critical process, I will any day. Notice that I still have a function call in the code section. If I were to remove that, I would get even bigger gains.
I have profiled code with function calls and with the body of the function in place of the function call and it's definitely faster to use the in-place code. Not all code can be inlined. The compiler will ignore the inline if the code gets outside of a very restrictive set of constraints.
It really depends on if you're writing code that needs to be fast or not.
Now, please don't think ill of me for this, but I just wrote a single function that is over 6000 lines of code. That's including some MACROS that were written specifically for the function so the line count wouldn't be over 8000 lines. It's written purely for speed. Since function calls have overhead, they were all removed. The code is a line-of-sight check for a hexagonal grid with asymmetricaly layers. The function is called very frequently and speed of execution is far more important than good style in this case. I did everything that I could to make it run faster, at the expense of simplicity and style. It runs 3.5 times faster than the old code with much more information gleaned in the process.
I'm sure many slashdotters would look at the code and their eyes would bleed, but when speed matters most, that's what you get.
You CHOOSE to have Brinks, or whoever, protect your house. It's not required by law. If Brinks came to your house and told you they were going to put cameras in every room of your house to see if anything illegal was happening and there wasn't anything you could do about it, that's more like the problem we're discussing.
I have a math degree. I work as a software engineer. Without a CS degree, you can't get in the door at most places no matter how much experience you have or how good you are. I'm a good software engineer. I worked with a fella who had a good GPA and a CS degree from Cornell who was terrible, but who could get in the door and get a job because he had a degree. I had to work my way into the position he was handed and then worked right on past him to be his supervisor in less than 3 total years.
Re:Now if hackers could just learn to hack the gov
on
Good Bad Attitude
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· Score: 1
Only a fool would think that communism is a good solution. A smart man realizes that people are not all good actors and that equality under communism is impossible. Nobody from the intellectual elite would truly believe that communism is good, except as a pie-in-the-sky-but-no-chance-of-working ideal. Those who only THINK they are in the intellectual elite might though.
It sounds to me like Glenn didn't know what he was doing. He's yet another tech who thinks very highly of himself, yet doesn't know what's wrong with your PC.
He had to cave. Creative brought this so late in the game that Doom 3 would have been delayed, and that costs lots of money. It's extortion. Creative said, "Play my game, or you'll be late."
I dislike Creative products. I used to like them, when the PC gaming world was new and their hardware worked. Nowdays, I have more problems with Creative than with anything else in my systems. The Creative cards cause the driver crashes. The Creative cards are the reason some games don't work. The Creative cards are the first things to fail in my systems. Why should I like them?
I vote that they're making fun of Utah. Jebediah Springfield = Brigham Young. Ogdenville = Ogden. Ned Flanders = all the goody goody mormons. Barney = All the jack mormons.
I'd say I'm an average joe. I never had any help from my parents for college. They couldn't afford it and I wasn't going to ask them to take out a loan to pay for me. I paid for my own school. There's debt involved in such a thing. I still haven't gotten out from under it after 5 years, but the light is near. I have no savings and no stock. I have a house, but it's the cheapest house I could find that wasn't in a gang neighborhood. I took a huge hit when Software Engineers started getting discarded because they didn't happen to speak hindi and live in India. I realize that jobs are being sent overseas to raise profits, but I see none of those profits myself, and I'm not likely to do so. The only people that I know who are the average joes that you speak of are the folks who grew up in wealthy families...and that hardly makes them an average joe. I may only make 50% of what I used to make, but now I work for someone who cares about me and doesn't refer to me as a "resource".
If you don't think the CD is worth the money, don't buy it until you find it for less in a used bin somewhere. It will happen. You might not have the latest music RIGHT FUCKING NOW, but maybe your attention span will grow a little while you wait for it to show up.
Slashdot Mirror
I've never used an apple except in passing. I develop on Windows and Linux. I prefer working on Windows because things just work(yes they do). My wife, a teacher, uses Apples at work and Windows at home. She's an average computer user. She's starting to lean towards a more advanced user. She sees no real difference in usability between her work iMac and homebuilt Windows XP system. There are no security issues because the home system is behind a firewall, the same as the work system. The main thing apple has going for it is cuteness.
As a software engineer(yes engineer) who develops algorithms dealing mostly with geometry, I love these ideas. I've already sent an email to my boss asking for a copy of the book. Anytime you can simplify geometric math, you not only make your own life easier, but you can make the computer games of the world faster....and that's a good thing.
There's no way people who actually USE computers for things that push the hardware will ever give up having the whole system sitting beside them. I know I won't. For people who just need a computer to surf, type papers, and read email, net-based systems may work fine. I can't help but think that anyone who is a proponent of such a system is one of those people and is therefore showing their lack of compuer savvy by even suggesting such a farce.
It's so easy to have your Windows not get viruses that I'm sometimes amazed that people who are supposedly experts seem to have problems. It's been several years since I've had any viruses or problems with my windows computers. When I did have problems, it was before I had a firewall. I have 3 systems running non-stop with one of them acting as a net server. I regularly check them to make sure that they're clean, and they are.
Glad you moved north? The illegals are heading north with no delay, buddy! They're all over the place now. It's a major issue that the US needs to crack down on and fix. Big business doesn't want to fix it because they can pay illegals less and inflate their margins(you don't seriously believe they do it so they can offer us lower prices, do you?)
Let's face it, fundamentalists of any religion have already disconnected their centers of logic and reason and blindly follow their pastor/priest/imam without thought. Those that do this long enough and fervently enough become the pastor/priest/imam and gain followers. If they are even more fervent and persistent they can become the pope/ayatollah/etc. If we agree that the brain must be excercised in order to be maintained, then the leaders of fundamentalist groups, though they have excellent people skills with which to make followers, have gone the longest without critical thought and therefore are the least capable of doing anything that's truly exceptional and/or intelligent. So let's all get in line to become a zombie.
I used to hate MS, but after using Linux for a couple of years, I dread having to work on Linux. If you complain about MS being insecure, then why do I have no problems with either of my MS machines that are always on and virus and spyware free? In addition, they're never rebooted...ever! The only problem I have with MS is the fact that it costs so much to get a new version of MSDev.
Heh, my wife is a head start teacher. For some reason, they just keep giving her new apple computers. She has a computer for every 2 students. The kids are 4. It's a total waste. She doesn't even have room for them. There are as many in the closet as in the classroom. These are brand new computers. It doesn't help that there's nobody in the school who is an administrator, so my wife can't even install things she wants her kids to use.
I'm so proud of my wife for not liking apple computers. She came by it honestly, by using her home computer(not apple) and the ones at work.
When you start teaching kids how to do math using calculators and computers, then they don't actually learn how TO DO math, they learn HOW to do math. There's a big difference in those otherwise identical phrases. If you give them a test where they have to do it by hand, many of them are going to fall on their faces since they haven't ever had to do that.
My example was specific to MS VC++ 6.0, which is still widely used. It's an example that you cannot rely on optimizations in all compilers. The code was compiled in release mode with optimizations set to Maximize Speed. Often, developers in large projects have no control over the build settings and must optimize their own code.
Optimizations are on Maximize Speed. MSVC++ 6.0 is widely used, so these problems are relevant to many software engineers.
Here's some example code to prove you wrong for MS VC++ 6.0 on Win XP. The function call takes 10% more time than the in-place code over 1 billion iterations. 77 seconds vs. 70 seconds.
//function
//code from function
int q, steps = 1000000000;
long location;
int x, y, z;
time_t first, second, third;
time(&first);
for(q=0;q<steps;q++)
{
GetCoordinates(4567, x, y, z);
}
time(&second);
for(q=0;q<steps;q++)
{
location = GetLocationFromIndex(4567);
location--;
x=location % maxX;
location=location / maxX;
y=location % maxY;
location=location / maxY;
z=location;
}
time(&third);
CString tempy;
tempy.Format("Func: %d \tCode: %d", second - first, third - second);
AfxMessageBox(tempy);
If I can save 10% by removing function calls in a time-critical process, I will any day. Notice that I still have a function call in the code section. If I were to remove that, I would get even bigger gains.
I have profiled code with function calls and with the body of the function in place of the function call and it's definitely faster to use the in-place code. Not all code can be inlined. The compiler will ignore the inline if the code gets outside of a very restrictive set of constraints.
It really depends on if you're writing code that needs to be fast or not.
Now, please don't think ill of me for this, but I just wrote a single function that is over 6000 lines of code. That's including some MACROS that were written specifically for the function so the line count wouldn't be over 8000 lines. It's written purely for speed. Since function calls have overhead, they were all removed. The code is a line-of-sight check for a hexagonal grid with asymmetricaly layers. The function is called very frequently and speed of execution is far more important than good style in this case. I did everything that I could to make it run faster, at the expense of simplicity and style. It runs 3.5 times faster than the old code with much more information gleaned in the process.
I'm sure many slashdotters would look at the code and their eyes would bleed, but when speed matters most, that's what you get.
You CHOOSE to have Brinks, or whoever, protect your house. It's not required by law. If Brinks came to your house and told you they were going to put cameras in every room of your house to see if anything illegal was happening and there wasn't anything you could do about it, that's more like the problem we're discussing.
I have a math degree. I work as a software engineer. Without a CS degree, you can't get in the door at most places no matter how much experience you have or how good you are. I'm a good software engineer. I worked with a fella who had a good GPA and a CS degree from Cornell who was terrible, but who could get in the door and get a job because he had a degree. I had to work my way into the position he was handed and then worked right on past him to be his supervisor in less than 3 total years.
Only a fool would think that communism is a good solution. A smart man realizes that people are not all good actors and that equality under communism is impossible. Nobody from the intellectual elite would truly believe that communism is good, except as a pie-in-the-sky-but-no-chance-of-working ideal. Those who only THINK they are in the intellectual elite might though.
We all live in a yellow submarine! A yellow submarine! A yellow submarine! More use of the demonstration would be useful.
It sounds to me like Glenn didn't know what he was doing. He's yet another tech who thinks very highly of himself, yet doesn't know what's wrong with your PC.
He had to cave. Creative brought this so late in the game that Doom 3 would have been delayed, and that costs lots of money. It's extortion. Creative said, "Play my game, or you'll be late."
I dislike Creative products. I used to like them, when the PC gaming world was new and their hardware worked. Nowdays, I have more problems with Creative than with anything else in my systems. The Creative cards cause the driver crashes. The Creative cards are the reason some games don't work. The Creative cards are the first things to fail in my systems. Why should I like them?
I vote that they're making fun of Utah. Jebediah Springfield = Brigham Young. Ogdenville = Ogden. Ned Flanders = all the goody goody mormons. Barney = All the jack mormons.
Can I get 9.1 for free yet? I'm on 9.0. I like it, but I want to go to 9.1.
I'd say I'm an average joe. I never had any help from my parents for college. They couldn't afford it and I wasn't going to ask them to take out a loan to pay for me. I paid for my own school. There's debt involved in such a thing. I still haven't gotten out from under it after 5 years, but the light is near. I have no savings and no stock. I have a house, but it's the cheapest house I could find that wasn't in a gang neighborhood. I took a huge hit when Software Engineers started getting discarded because they didn't happen to speak hindi and live in India. I realize that jobs are being sent overseas to raise profits, but I see none of those profits myself, and I'm not likely to do so. The only people that I know who are the average joes that you speak of are the folks who grew up in wealthy families...and that hardly makes them an average joe. I may only make 50% of what I used to make, but now I work for someone who cares about me and doesn't refer to me as a "resource".
If you don't think the CD is worth the money, don't buy it until you find it for less in a used bin somewhere. It will happen. You might not have the latest music RIGHT FUCKING NOW, but maybe your attention span will grow a little while you wait for it to show up.