I can understand the long install time. This is proof on one of the major flaws with linux. Poor documentation, poor standards across distros, and obscure undocumented dependencies. Don't get me wrong; I have been using linux since 1999 and have come to appreciate a lot of it. But still to date I want to bang my head on my keyboard when I install some new software and I am told that I need such-and-such lib or a different version of something. Then a good part of a day is shot trying to track all of this stuff down and get it installed. What I have just said should be tempered by the fact that I do not believe that windows is a good choice. 99 times out of 100 you have an unstable machine that costs you huge $ in downtime. This is where linux (and Mac) is good. Once you get it set up it is rock solid. I guess that you have a choice, long set up with linux then less maintenance or short set up with Windows, and a lot of further maintenance.
I received one of the first Das Keyboards back in June of this year and have been using it since. I too am a self taught typist. I have to say that my typing has got better, but it has taken a long time. I find that I have to use the force sometimes to get things going well. If I just forget about typing and just actually type, I am faster and more accurate. When I think too much about what I am doing I make mistakes. The hardest thing for me was to remember what the shift characters were above the number line. Occasionally, I have to hit a key and then the backspace a few times until I get the one I wanted. The coolest part is when people come into my office and see it. It gets a better response than my TouchStream keyboard. Now that is a cool and innovative keyboard. Too bad they went out of business!
Since java apps don't worry about the processor so much, does this mean that we may see an increase in java based apps out there? Or is it just easier to deal with re-complie issues?
Does this mean I can look forward to a PowerBook with something better than a G4? I don't see any mention of how this move will impact their notebook lines.
Any chance you can be a bit more specific about what "didn't work great with PostgreSQL"? I use it with postgres, and it works just fine. Maybe I just haven't run into the issues you did. Also, why wouldn't you think that it could handle larger traffic sites?
I will believe it when I see it. I wouldn't be surprised if the XML format they choose is renamed XML+ and it doesn't work like normal XML. Can anyone say J++?
Agreed, the names that are used for a lot of the programs (or program helpers) is utterly ridiculous. Us geeks have got to stop writing software that is supposedly aimed at average end users like we are writing them for our fellow geeks.
While I am sure that there are lessons to be learned from the history of DOS, I think that the biggest one that has shone itself since then is that it really doesn't matter. What I mean by that is that I do not believe that the future will hold as much singular dominance as it once did. What linux and other OSS projects have taught me is that there are other choices, other solutions for a particular problem. It may be OSS, it may be proprietary. It really doesn't matter. Also what I believe to be tantamount to that is that linux and the OSS community as a whole needs to learn is that users are not going to use difficult products. That is why the GUI came into existence. Most users shunned computers until they had a way of interacting with them that had some intuitiveness to it. Although I am a big linux and OSS supporter, I am constantly amazed at the horrible or non-existant documentation that comes with OSS. Don't even get me started about installation procedures and dependancies. What linux needs to learn if they want a larger market penetration is that no one, other than those willing to devote lots of time to learning how it all works at a low level will adopt it. Make it easy for the masses. Make things work without having to dig around the internet for libraries and other dependancies. Give good documentation - not geek speak.
While I agree wholeheartedly that python is a wonderful language to code in, I think that it lacks a sting GUI system. Yes wxPython is cross-platform, but without getting overly detailed here, it definately lacks the detail and robustness of SWT or even Swing. Until wxPython can stand up to those, I think the movement to it for more broad based use with be a bit slow. As far as apeed goes, who cares? We are not programming for 286 machines anymore!
If this holds it may begin to show that the profits from spamming are just too risky, and others may not wish to try it. On the other hand, bankruptcy is often just a shield to protect assets. Maybe with a combination of civil and criminal action we will one day see a reduction in spam.
I had one of those Osborne 1's. CP/M, now that is an OS! I even wrote a rudimentiary Hold'em game for it in pascal - text based, but it worked. I thought I was really cool lugging that thing around airports with me.
I am having problems with this calculation - I may probably not thinking clearly this morning. If Firefox has 6 percent and IE is now below 90% (granted they don't give an exact figure) then that means that other browsers like Safari, Opera, Netscape, Mozilla and Conquer total for only 4% of usage? Since Apple has about a 5% market share, and Safari is the de-facto browser for Apple, doesn't that mean that mean that all of the other bowsers I mentioned basically are not used by anyone? My website statistics do not show that. I would guess that IE is WAY below 90%; maybe even approaching somewhere in the 70% area.
Oh well. I guess that if you only know VB6 then you are SOL. TIme to sign up for some classes at the local community college then. So what if MS is going to stop support for this "classic" form. I have always thought that VB and Office Macros were the cause of more security problems anyway.
I never complained about the customer, nor did I ever make any reference to my thinking that the customer was being unreasonable. You apparently didn't read the part where I said that I felt bad that there was nothing I could do to help them. I was merely pointing out that we were most times caught in the middle. I even commented on the lose-lose proposition. Additionally there was not false advertising. It clearly stated in the ads that products were available "while supplies last."
About 6 years ago I did a stint as a low level manager at a CompUSA in the northwest while I was between jobs. Rebates were a constant thorn in my side. Every weekend a flyer hit the paper offering about 10 different items that were "free after rebate." People would line up out front waiting for the doors to open. Then they would rush in and grab up all of our stock of that item. Then the fun began. Those people who came in after the rush would get belligerent that we didn't have any more and start big scenes in the store. Or, we wouldn't have enough rebate forms for everyone. I was also always dealing with customers that never got their rebate, or got a card telling them that they didn't handle the process correctly and were not going to receive their money. What most seem to not understand is that 99% of the rebates that were offered were given buy the manufacturer, not CompUSA. Our sales agreements forced us to offer these rebates, then we were forced to deal with inventory and coupon shortages caused by the vendor, and the customers that never got their check. VERY, VERY, rarely did CompUSA offer their own rebate. But since we were the retailer those with problems came to use for resolution. I felt bad for them that I was not able to help. Corporate policy forbade us from giving them anything as compensation (the thought was that WE did not own them, the vendor did, so why does it have to come off our bottom line). My thought is that we possibly made money off the transaction, so we should do something. But in the end it was a lose-lose situation.
I completely agree. With an MBA and a CS degree you will be able to get jobs with groups like SAP and Accenture. I have a friend with that combo and he is in his 4th year at Accenture. He has now done 3 RETEK installs, and is managing a 4th. His complete annual package is in excess of 125k.
Re:If it works it still may not
on
QA != Testing
·
· Score: 1
Communication is absolutely key. However, if one person speaks French and the other Russian, there is no communication. The never ending gripe I hear from coders is "Why do they want that, that's stupid!" and from the biz pros its "Those computer geeks know nothing about business." While introductory courses to business and IT may not prepare them for the intricacies of each other's environment, it at least goes partly to reducing the communication problems. Another solution may be for the business guys to learn how to write cursory use cases. While the coders may be able to build in the functionality outlined in the requirements docs, it is often the implementation that sets off the guys on the other side of the aisle.
If it works it still may not
on
QA != Testing
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I think that the real issue here is the difference between code that works, and code that meets the business rules and need. Anyone can make good code, and have it compile and execute. The problem comes when that great code still doesn't fit the need that it was supposed to fill in the first place. This issue has two hurdles if it is to be overcome. First, are coders that have no business knowledge. Second, business pros that have no software development experience. The coders complain that they weren't given the proper details of the project, and the business guys complain that the coders know nothing about business. I think that all biz people need to take a basic programming course, and all coders need to take a business class. The gulf of poor communication between the two camps is quite large without it.
I couldn't agree more! My wife is a HS english teacher, and even she says the system needs a complete redesign. We are not talking about a refactoring here, but a complete change. We do not give kids the credit and challenges they deserve. The big obstacles are, however, culture, parents, and social economic issues. If mom and dad don't value an education, the kids wont either. If we don't expect more of our kids, they wont expect more of themselves. Additionally, teaching methods are very outdated. There hasn't been significant change and improvement in teaching methods for 50 years. It is the same "lather, rinse, repeat" system. We teach kids to memorize, not learn. We must teach kids how to learn, not be taught.
I just checked out the hijacked site and saw their warning. It claims that downloading copyrighted files leaves a trail and the only way not to get caught is to stop. I wonder if this is the same trail that led them to the 80 year old woman that didn't own a computer that they sued (repealing the suit only after she died).
I heard as she died she exclaimed, "Run, run as fast as you can (MPAA) you can't catch me I am the gingerbread man!!!!"
I have both a Tivo and a DVR supplied by Time Werner. Tivo wins hands down. I would be one of the first in line to get the SDK and start writing some apps for it. It would be cool to see a web site with a ton of free (as in beer) and pay apps to download to extend the functionality of the Tivo. If they opened it up, you might even see better bug releases. While this type of thing may not lead to a company's survival by itself, it may open the door to a new way to market the product (as in "Hey everybody, buy Tivo and you can download a lot of cool stuff to make it work how YOU want it to work!).
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A good friend works as an SAP and Retek consultant for Accenture. His installs and integrations have lasted almost 2 years (Nordstrom took 3).
I can understand the long install time. This is proof on one of the major flaws with linux. Poor documentation, poor standards across distros, and obscure undocumented dependencies. Don't get me wrong; I have been using linux since 1999 and have come to appreciate a lot of it. But still to date I want to bang my head on my keyboard when I install some new software and I am told that I need such-and-such lib or a different version of something. Then a good part of a day is shot trying to track all of this stuff down and get it installed. What I have just said should be tempered by the fact that I do not believe that windows is a good choice. 99 times out of 100 you have an unstable machine that costs you huge $ in downtime. This is where linux (and Mac) is good. Once you get it set up it is rock solid. I guess that you have a choice, long set up with linux then less maintenance or short set up with Windows, and a lot of further maintenance.
I received one of the first Das Keyboards back in June of this year and have been using it since. I too am a self taught typist. I have to say that my typing has got better, but it has taken a long time. I find that I have to use the force sometimes to get things going well. If I just forget about typing and just actually type, I am faster and more accurate. When I think too much about what I am doing I make mistakes. The hardest thing for me was to remember what the shift characters were above the number line. Occasionally, I have to hit a key and then the backspace a few times until I get the one I wanted. The coolest part is when people come into my office and see it. It gets a better response than my TouchStream keyboard. Now that is a cool and innovative keyboard. Too bad they went out of business!
This is great, but what does it have to do with Apple switching to Intel chips? :)
Since java apps don't worry about the processor so much, does this mean that we may see an increase in java based apps out there? Or is it just easier to deal with re-complie issues?
Does this mean I can look forward to a PowerBook with something better than a G4? I don't see any mention of how this move will impact their notebook lines.
Any chance you can be a bit more specific about what "didn't work great with PostgreSQL"? I use it with postgres, and it works just fine. Maybe I just haven't run into the issues you did. Also, why wouldn't you think that it could handle larger traffic sites?
I will believe it when I see it. I wouldn't be surprised if the XML format they choose is renamed XML+ and it doesn't work like normal XML. Can anyone say J++?
Agreed, the names that are used for a lot of the programs (or program helpers) is utterly ridiculous. Us geeks have got to stop writing software that is supposedly aimed at average end users like we are writing them for our fellow geeks.
While I am sure that there are lessons to be learned from the history of DOS, I think that the biggest one that has shone itself since then is that it really doesn't matter. What I mean by that is that I do not believe that the future will hold as much singular dominance as it once did. What linux and other OSS projects have taught me is that there are other choices, other solutions for a particular problem. It may be OSS, it may be proprietary. It really doesn't matter. Also what I believe to be tantamount to that is that linux and the OSS community as a whole needs to learn is that users are not going to use difficult products. That is why the GUI came into existence. Most users shunned computers until they had a way of interacting with them that had some intuitiveness to it. Although I am a big linux and OSS supporter, I am constantly amazed at the horrible or non-existant documentation that comes with OSS. Don't even get me started about installation procedures and dependancies. What linux needs to learn if they want a larger market penetration is that no one, other than those willing to devote lots of time to learning how it all works at a low level will adopt it. Make it easy for the masses. Make things work without having to dig around the internet for libraries and other dependancies. Give good documentation - not geek speak.
Because when I did talk with a pilot for Delta, he didn't know what Bluetooth was....
While I agree wholeheartedly that python is a wonderful language to code in, I think that it lacks a sting GUI system. Yes wxPython is cross-platform, but without getting overly detailed here, it definately lacks the detail and robustness of SWT or even Swing. Until wxPython can stand up to those, I think the movement to it for more broad based use with be a bit slow. As far as apeed goes, who cares? We are not programming for 286 machines anymore!
If this holds it may begin to show that the profits from spamming are just too risky, and others may not wish to try it. On the other hand, bankruptcy is often just a shield to protect assets. Maybe with a combination of civil and criminal action we will one day see a reduction in spam.
I had one of those Osborne 1's. CP/M, now that is an OS! I even wrote a rudimentiary Hold'em game for it in pascal - text based, but it worked. I thought I was really cool lugging that thing around airports with me.
I am having problems with this calculation - I may probably not thinking clearly this morning. If Firefox has 6 percent and IE is now below 90% (granted they don't give an exact figure) then that means that other browsers like Safari, Opera, Netscape, Mozilla and Conquer total for only 4% of usage? Since Apple has about a 5% market share, and Safari is the de-facto browser for Apple, doesn't that mean that mean that all of the other bowsers I mentioned basically are not used by anyone? My website statistics do not show that. I would guess that IE is WAY below 90%; maybe even approaching somewhere in the 70% area.
Oh well. I guess that if you only know VB6 then you are SOL. TIme to sign up for some classes at the local community college then. So what if MS is going to stop support for this "classic" form. I have always thought that VB and Office Macros were the cause of more security problems anyway.
I never complained about the customer, nor did I ever make any reference to my thinking that the customer was being unreasonable. You apparently didn't read the part where I said that I felt bad that there was nothing I could do to help them. I was merely pointing out that we were most times caught in the middle. I even commented on the lose-lose proposition. Additionally there was not false advertising. It clearly stated in the ads that products were available "while supplies last."
About 6 years ago I did a stint as a low level manager at a CompUSA in the northwest while I was between jobs. Rebates were a constant thorn in my side. Every weekend a flyer hit the paper offering about 10 different items that were "free after rebate." People would line up out front waiting for the doors to open. Then they would rush in and grab up all of our stock of that item. Then the fun began. Those people who came in after the rush would get belligerent that we didn't have any more and start big scenes in the store. Or, we wouldn't have enough rebate forms for everyone. I was also always dealing with customers that never got their rebate, or got a card telling them that they didn't handle the process correctly and were not going to receive their money. What most seem to not understand is that 99% of the rebates that were offered were given buy the manufacturer, not CompUSA. Our sales agreements forced us to offer these rebates, then we were forced to deal with inventory and coupon shortages caused by the vendor, and the customers that never got their check. VERY, VERY, rarely did CompUSA offer their own rebate. But since we were the retailer those with problems came to use for resolution. I felt bad for them that I was not able to help. Corporate policy forbade us from giving them anything as compensation (the thought was that WE did not own them, the vendor did, so why does it have to come off our bottom line). My thought is that we possibly made money off the transaction, so we should do something. But in the end it was a lose-lose situation.
I completely agree. With an MBA and a CS degree you will be able to get jobs with groups like SAP and Accenture. I have a friend with that combo and he is in his 4th year at Accenture. He has now done 3 RETEK installs, and is managing a 4th. His complete annual package is in excess of 125k.
Now my wife can find me easier...
Communication is absolutely key. However, if one person speaks French and the other Russian, there is no communication. The never ending gripe I hear from coders is "Why do they want that, that's stupid!" and from the biz pros its "Those computer geeks know nothing about business." While introductory courses to business and IT may not prepare them for the intricacies of each other's environment, it at least goes partly to reducing the communication problems. Another solution may be for the business guys to learn how to write cursory use cases. While the coders may be able to build in the functionality outlined in the requirements docs, it is often the implementation that sets off the guys on the other side of the aisle.
I think that the real issue here is the difference between code that works, and code that meets the business rules and need. Anyone can make good code, and have it compile and execute. The problem comes when that great code still doesn't fit the need that it was supposed to fill in the first place. This issue has two hurdles if it is to be overcome. First, are coders that have no business knowledge. Second, business pros that have no software development experience. The coders complain that they weren't given the proper details of the project, and the business guys complain that the coders know nothing about business. I think that all biz people need to take a basic programming course, and all coders need to take a business class. The gulf of poor communication between the two camps is quite large without it.
I couldn't agree more! My wife is a HS english teacher, and even she says the system needs a complete redesign. We are not talking about a refactoring here, but a complete change. We do not give kids the credit and challenges they deserve. The big obstacles are, however, culture, parents, and social economic issues. If mom and dad don't value an education, the kids wont either. If we don't expect more of our kids, they wont expect more of themselves. Additionally, teaching methods are very outdated. There hasn't been significant change and improvement in teaching methods for 50 years. It is the same "lather, rinse, repeat" system. We teach kids to memorize, not learn. We must teach kids how to learn, not be taught.
I just checked out the hijacked site and saw their warning. It claims that downloading copyrighted files leaves a trail and the only way not to get caught is to stop. I wonder if this is the same trail that led them to the 80 year old woman that didn't own a computer that they sued (repealing the suit only after she died). I heard as she died she exclaimed, "Run, run as fast as you can (MPAA) you can't catch me I am the gingerbread man!!!!"
I have both a Tivo and a DVR supplied by Time Werner. Tivo wins hands down. I would be one of the first in line to get the SDK and start writing some apps for it. It would be cool to see a web site with a ton of free (as in beer) and pay apps to download to extend the functionality of the Tivo. If they opened it up, you might even see better bug releases. While this type of thing may not lead to a company's survival by itself, it may open the door to a new way to market the product (as in "Hey everybody, buy Tivo and you can download a lot of cool stuff to make it work how YOU want it to work!).