You have to admit that it is tempting at times to drop an anvil on people. I think the limiting factors for me are how bloody heavy and expensive they are (unless you can find a dead one somewhere). Besides, my inner blacksmith doesn't like the idea of abusing a perfectly good tool.
I suspect you have a background with a proprietary vendor's solutions yourself (say Microsoft?) and it is your own ignorance of other solutions that influences your decisions.
Actually, I have a background in solutions from various sources. Yes, I have a background in stuff from Microsoft. I also have a background in Linux and open source solutions.
In fact, I was the executive editor for an open source enterprise magazine (circulation of over 500,000 in 140+ countries not counting the numbers for the internal distribution at IBM) for a while. Even had a well reviewed article.
Like I said. I use what makes sense. I am a rather practical person.
Spoken like someone who hasn't spent any real length of time working for a company.
Several years, actually. I use what makes sense. Sometimes that's open source, and sometimes that's propietary.
Cost has more to it than the cost of the software (now or in the future). Total Cost of Ownership really is something that has to be considered (and part of that TCO is finding people who can maintain and even use the software).
As an example, want to know why most places use Word? Because, in addition to being pretty easy to use, most *other* places use Word and being able to send someone a document without having to worry if they can open it is a really nice thing.
Choosing a proprietary solution when another solution will get the job done is short-sighted at best and negligent at worst. No, choosing the "other" solution just because it isn't propietary is short sighted and foolish. Just going with a non-propietary solution because it isn't propietary is not doing the business you work for any good. It is, in fact, just a personal little crusade on your part.
Spoken like someone who's never really worked for a company.
Competent tech people consider the business requirements and then choose the solution which best meets those needs. Sometimes that's an open source solution; sometimes it's a propietary one.
Really, I know what I can and can not do and is why I do not play with real explosives, I like really big "booms" yet legally can not purchase them nor do I really know how to safely set them off.
That was one of the fun things that I remember as a kid. My great grandfather was a trained demolitions man for the railroad. I got great enjoyment blowing things up with the cantankerous old man =]
Yes, I got to learn about explosives from my great grandfather, bladed weapons from my martial arts teachers, and various other things from assorted members of my family. Childhood was interesting *grin*
All I can say is that this truly looks like fun. Given the spare time and spare cash, I'd love to do something like that.
I haven't gotten to play with explosives under the watch of a trained professional since I was a wee lad before my great grandfather passed away (he was a demolitions man for the railroad). *grin*
But then again, you don't sound like a professional developer. You obviously can't read documentation and can only program with an IDE holding your hand.
Oh boy. An "I'm geekier than you" boast. I am so sick and tired of the "real men don't use IDE" fools.
Hate to break it to you, but the reason we use IDEs is because they make us more productive. A good IDE can help you write better code faster than using a text editor.
Those of us who do it for a living tend to be rather fond of our IDEs. I am perfectly capable of coding just using notepad or pico and a compiler (after all, if you have that much of a hatred of people who use IDEs, anything but the most basic text editor must be evil) if I wanted, but that would, on the whole, be a waste of my time.
Give the guy a break. Java's a big language (face it, the core o'reilly books on the subject span three volumes) and it can be a pain in the rear to work with at times, especially if you don't have a lot of experience in it and don't have someone to ask questions of.
There was also another class of competition using the Aibo dog robots. I don't know if they're still doing it or not.
My univeristy was doing the small wheeled robot division. I kept getting asked to participate, but never had the time because I was also working. Instead, I got called in for trouble shooting and brain storming when I had the free time since I had experience that my friends in the competition didn't.
I started out consulting in java. Making GUIs gave me a headache. It's not that java is a bad language, it's just that I hate having to spend 80% of my time nudging interface componants around in code until I finally get it to look right.
Now I use C# in visual studio. Being able to lay out the user interface graphically without having to jump through hoops is such a very nice thing.
Are you kidding? I've seen businesses that were still running pentium 1 systems in 2000 and 2001.
Not everyone replaces all of their equipment every couple of years. For instance, the laptop I'm writing this on was bought in 2003. With a 2.4ghz processor and a decent amount of ram, it still performs quite well even when I'm doing development.
As for the people who just use a computer for email and surfing, most of them don't have to get a new machine until the one they're using dies.
It's a budget thing, and most people simply have better things to spend their money on than a new computer every other year.
Unfortunately, most nix people pronounce daemon the same as demon. I always had to resist the urge to slap some of them in college when they'd say "what's a daemon? oh, you mean demon!"
A real space-faring civilization (one that can go to another solar system) is a lot more difficult to ignore. I expect to meet other species as soon as we develop a viable way to go interstellar, but not before. Giving this kind of technology to people who tend to blow each other up for silly reasons is very irresponsible.
We had a similar situation with the exploration of the "New World" and westward expansion. The people in power viewed it as their right to own everything they came across and lied, cheated, stole from, and killed the native peoples.
When they got tired of killing them, they forced them onto "reservations." That is, until they found gold there and then they forced them to other reservations, and killed anyone in the group who spoke up.
Treaties were made and broken time and again. Food that was provided for the native americans was often rotten or worm riddled, and they were thrown onto the worst parts of the country where the majority of the population lives well below the poverty level even now while the United States government continues to ignore the treaties that it made with the native nations.
If that weren't enough, the United States government used part of the reservation land in the Dakotas for BOMBING PRACTICE!
If we do begin space exploration and there are alien races, I wouldn't blame them for destroying every vessel from Earth that they came across for fear that the leaders of this world might try the same things again on a galactic scale.
The response I usually get is like the one above you that "oh, those are just dumb animals."
I find that kind of amusing considering how many extremely intelligent animals, and painfully stupid people I have known.
As an example, the cat that, as I type, is laying behind me asleep learned how to lock the front door of the house I used to live in. In fact, he made a habit of locking the door on me while I was outside if I ticked him off. It got to the point where I took my keys with me even if I was only going out to get the mail.
Organized religion as we know it would probably crumble
You mean kind of like how, in the face of proof of things like how the universe didn't revolve around the earth, the Catholic Church changed its views on cosmology.
Oh wait. No, they opted for things along the lines of killing the people who presented the evidence instead. My bad.
*Never* underestimate the lengths that people in power will go to in order to remain in power.
Actually, chances are that the extremely religious segment (and, whether or not you want to admit it to yourself, there are a lot of really religious people out there) would go nuts and possibly become extremely violent.
They've been told over and over again that they are [insert deity of choice]'s chosen people, and, in the case of Christianity, that humans were made basically to be stewards of the world and indeed were created to be God's special children.
Now, picture their reaction to a vastly advanced life form showing up on their doorstep. There would be riots and holy wars that would make the Crusades look like a playground scuffle.
(amusing fact - when I started to write this, the song that came up in my playlist was "Road to Nowhere" by the Talking Heads. Somehow it just seemed appropriate that that happened.)
We have the most powerful nation on the planet with 92% of it's citizens believe in some magical man up in the sky
Devil's advocate time. (debate for the sake of enjoyment is fun at times)
Well, if it turns out there are aliens, then they'd be right about the guy up in the sky part. Take into account the old saying that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and consider that the accounts of the "magical man up in the sky" are all, for the most part, 2000+ years old, it's not much of a stretch that the people of the time might have thought them some magical beings.
I mean, come on. We're talking about beings that fly around in the air in what, to the eyes of the native people, were "firey chariots".
I have problems with the whole UFO thing, mostly that they hide from us seems to be more of a contrived book plot than anything
IF they exist, why would it be so hard to believe that they'd stay hidden while studying us? Biologists do it to animals all the time when they want to study them without affecting their behavior. Heck, even a lot of hunters conceal themselves from their prey through the use of things like blinds that blend into the environment.
I disagree. A hack is generally defined as using the rules of a system in such a way that it accomplishes something that the creators of the system never intended. The system doesn't have to be a computer (social engineering is a form of hacking as well.)
Slashdot Mirror
You have to admit that it is tempting at times to drop an anvil on people. I think the limiting factors for me are how bloody heavy and expensive they are (unless you can find a dead one somewhere). Besides, my inner blacksmith doesn't like the idea of abusing a perfectly good tool.
I suspect you have a background with a proprietary vendor's solutions yourself (say Microsoft?) and it is your own ignorance of other solutions that influences your decisions.
Actually, I have a background in solutions from various sources. Yes, I have a background in stuff from Microsoft. I also have a background in Linux and open source solutions.
In fact, I was the executive editor for an open source enterprise magazine (circulation of over 500,000 in 140+ countries not counting the numbers for the internal distribution at IBM) for a while. Even had a well reviewed article.
Like I said. I use what makes sense. I am a rather practical person.
Spoken like someone who hasn't spent any real length of time working for a company.
Several years, actually. I use what makes sense. Sometimes that's open source, and sometimes that's propietary.
Cost has more to it than the cost of the software (now or in the future). Total Cost of Ownership really is something that has to be considered (and part of that TCO is finding people who can maintain and even use the software).
As an example, want to know why most places use Word? Because, in addition to being pretty easy to use, most *other* places use Word and being able to send someone a document without having to worry if they can open it is a really nice thing.
Choosing a proprietary solution when another solution will get the job done is short-sighted at best and negligent at worst.
No, choosing the "other" solution just because it isn't propietary is short sighted and foolish. Just going with a non-propietary solution because it isn't propietary is not doing the business you work for any good. It is, in fact, just a personal little crusade on your part.
Spoken like someone who's never really worked for a company.
Competent tech people consider the business requirements and then choose the solution which best meets those needs. Sometimes that's an open source solution; sometimes it's a propietary one.
It's business not a moral crusade.
Really, I know what I can and can not do and is why I do not play with real explosives, I like really big "booms" yet legally can not purchase them nor do I really know how to safely set them off.
That was one of the fun things that I remember as a kid. My great grandfather was a trained demolitions man for the railroad. I got great enjoyment blowing things up with the cantankerous old man =]
Yes, I got to learn about explosives from my great grandfather, bladed weapons from my martial arts teachers, and various other things from assorted members of my family. Childhood was interesting *grin*
All I can say is that this truly looks like fun. Given the spare time and spare cash, I'd love to do something like that.
I haven't gotten to play with explosives under the watch of a trained professional since I was a wee lad before my great grandfather passed away (he was a demolitions man for the railroad). *grin*
You beat me to it. :P
While it may be hard to find the program itself anymore, you can usually find something that can read the files.
The definition of demon has since changed through use.
The definition of daemon has not and is still used for the origional meaning in most mythological and occult contexts.
But then again, you don't sound like a professional developer. You obviously can't read documentation and can only program with an IDE holding your hand.
Oh boy. An "I'm geekier than you" boast. I am so sick and tired of the "real men don't use IDE" fools.
Hate to break it to you, but the reason we use IDEs is because they make us more productive. A good IDE can help you write better code faster than using a text editor.
Those of us who do it for a living tend to be rather fond of our IDEs. I am perfectly capable of coding just using notepad or pico and a compiler (after all, if you have that much of a hatred of people who use IDEs, anything but the most basic text editor must be evil) if I wanted, but that would, on the whole, be a waste of my time.
Give the guy a break. Java's a big language (face it, the core o'reilly books on the subject span three volumes) and it can be a pain in the rear to work with at times, especially if you don't have a lot of experience in it and don't have someone to ask questions of.
If the actions of the RIAA's members are anything to go by, the layers are probably composed of something that was formerly inside a male cow.
There was also another class of competition using the Aibo dog robots. I don't know if they're still doing it or not.
My univeristy was doing the small wheeled robot division. I kept getting asked to participate, but never had the time because I was also working. Instead, I got called in for trouble shooting and brain storming when I had the free time since I had experience that my friends in the competition didn't.
I started out consulting in java. Making GUIs gave me a headache. It's not that java is a bad language, it's just that I hate having to spend 80% of my time nudging interface componants around in code until I finally get it to look right.
Now I use C# in visual studio. Being able to lay out the user interface graphically without having to jump through hoops is such a very nice thing.
How many people use 3 year old PC's
Are you kidding? I've seen businesses that were still running pentium 1 systems in 2000 and 2001.
Not everyone replaces all of their equipment every couple of years. For instance, the laptop I'm writing this on was bought in 2003. With a 2.4ghz processor and a decent amount of ram, it still performs quite well even when I'm doing development.
As for the people who just use a computer for email and surfing, most of them don't have to get a new machine until the one they're using dies.
It's a budget thing, and most people simply have better things to spend their money on than a new computer every other year.
Not daemons, demons.
Unfortunately, most nix people pronounce daemon the same as demon. I always had to resist the urge to slap some of them in college when they'd say "what's a daemon? oh, you mean demon!"
then a cute intern comes along and offers them a hand job.
What would you put on your resume if you had that job? Imagine an interviewer asking you what you did while you were working at the zoo.
I just have to say that you win. I nearly sprayed tea across my monitor
but couldn't we make the T be something like "Theo de Raadt?" =]
And it only took them how long to do it? Centuries?
Do you think that they would be any different on something else that was just as world shaking?
A real space-faring civilization (one that can go to another solar system) is a lot more difficult to ignore. I expect to meet other species as soon as we develop a viable way to go interstellar, but not before. Giving this kind of technology to people who tend to blow each other up for silly reasons is very irresponsible.
We had a similar situation with the exploration of the "New World" and westward expansion. The people in power viewed it as their right to own everything they came across and lied, cheated, stole from, and killed the native peoples.
When they got tired of killing them, they forced them onto "reservations." That is, until they found gold there and then they forced them to other reservations, and killed anyone in the group who spoke up.
Treaties were made and broken time and again. Food that was provided for the native americans was often rotten or worm riddled, and they were thrown onto the worst parts of the country where the majority of the population lives well below the poverty level even now while the United States government continues to ignore the treaties that it made with the native nations.
If that weren't enough, the United States government used part of the reservation land in the Dakotas for BOMBING PRACTICE!
If we do begin space exploration and there are alien races, I wouldn't blame them for destroying every vessel from Earth that they came across for fear that the leaders of this world might try the same things again on a galactic scale.
(disclamer: I'm part native)
I've made a similar comment in the past.
The response I usually get is like the one above you that "oh, those are just dumb animals."
I find that kind of amusing considering how many extremely intelligent animals, and painfully stupid people I have known.
As an example, the cat that, as I type, is laying behind me asleep learned how to lock the front door of the house I used to live in. In fact, he made a habit of locking the door on me while I was outside if I ticked him off. It got to the point where I took my keys with me even if I was only going out to get the mail.
Organized religion as we know it would probably crumble
You mean kind of like how, in the face of proof of things like how the universe didn't revolve around the earth, the Catholic Church changed its views on cosmology.
Oh wait. No, they opted for things along the lines of killing the people who presented the evidence instead. My bad.
*Never* underestimate the lengths that people in power will go to in order to remain in power.
Actually, chances are that the extremely religious segment (and, whether or not you want to admit it to yourself, there are a lot of really religious people out there) would go nuts and possibly become extremely violent.
They've been told over and over again that they are [insert deity of choice]'s chosen people, and, in the case of Christianity, that humans were made basically to be stewards of the world and indeed were created to be God's special children.
Now, picture their reaction to a vastly advanced life form showing up on their doorstep. There would be riots and holy wars that would make the Crusades look like a playground scuffle.
(amusing fact - when I started to write this, the song that came up in my playlist was "Road to Nowhere" by the Talking Heads. Somehow it just seemed appropriate that that happened.)
We have the most powerful nation on the planet with 92% of it's citizens believe in some magical man up in the sky
Devil's advocate time. (debate for the sake of enjoyment is fun at times)
Well, if it turns out there are aliens, then they'd be right about the guy up in the sky part. Take into account the old saying that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and consider that the accounts of the "magical man up in the sky" are all, for the most part, 2000+ years old, it's not much of a stretch that the people of the time might have thought them some magical beings.
I mean, come on. We're talking about beings that fly around in the air in what, to the eyes of the native people, were "firey chariots".
Makes a lot of sense, really.
I have problems with the whole UFO thing, mostly that they hide from us seems to be more of a contrived book plot than anything
IF they exist, why would it be so hard to believe that they'd stay hidden while studying us? Biologists do it to animals all the time when they want to study them without affecting their behavior. Heck, even a lot of hunters conceal themselves from their prey through the use of things like blinds that blend into the environment.
I disagree. A hack is generally defined as using the rules of a system in such a way that it accomplishes something that the creators of the system never intended. The system doesn't have to be a computer (social engineering is a form of hacking as well.)
I'd say this qualifies.
I'm not evil...
*smiles innocently and goes back to sharpening his blades*
(sorry. Couldn't resist) =]