But personally I find nothing beats a short comment at the top of chunks of code to give a quick idea what it's doing (or supposed to do).
I absolutely agree that decent headers are vital, especially when working on a team of size greater than zero. And furthermore, your team should have an agreed-upon standard to facilitate reading and writing the headers for each "chunk". I'm guessing that the term "chunk" is used here to be sort of generic for procedure, function, method, aspect, or whatever in an agnostic sort of way.
None of this excuses one from writng self-documenting code. I don't use that term to mean "doesn't need comments" but rather I mean your code should look like it does what it does.
Just to be clear, I believe you still should explain anything that needs amplification in your comments. You should wholeheartedly follow your organization's internal documentation rules, and if you can't love them, at least tell yourself that they're "better than nothing". But on top of all of that, make your code as clear as possible for the language you are using. As I frequently told myself and others, "the guy that has to maintain this code could be YOU."
That is the trick, though. You put too many comments in your code, and you end up maintaining your comments as well. Or worse, you end up with code that obviously doesn't match the comment. Or even worse, you end up with code that doesn't match the comments, but not obviously -- sort of software counter-intelligence.
I've used some of the corallaries to this comment, e.g.
/*Be afraid. Be very afraid.*/
Once I actually did use the "/* you are not expected . .." comment and got a severe talkin'-to by my boss about being a "team player". After that incident, I only commented in Latin and Klingon for that employer.
Actually demand for electricity SHOULD be directly affected by the price. I know when my electric bill is high one month, I notice for a new months when I leave my lights on, my TV on, and even cut back a little on other electrical usage (my projector, etc). The same is true for my natural gas and all that.
Actually, the original poster did refer to this effect when he wrote of the elasticity of electricity demand. It is the tendency of consumers to buy less of something when it is dear and more when it is cheap. The demand curve for such a commodity has a nice monotonic slope, as price goes up, demand goes down. When the demand is "inelastic", it remains more constant as prices change. It's been a few years since ECON 140, but I think the essence is there. Wikipedia probably has a primer on economic demand, which you should read instead of relying my summary for anything involving life-support.
Anyway, a given commodity can have a demand curve that is elastic in some places and inelastic in others. You illustrate this point by turning off unused lights and refraining from use of high-wattage luxuries. You reduced your demand in response to higher prices. After you've turned off all the unnecessary appliances, your demand can't be cut much more -- it is now more inelastic. Your fridge keeps humming along, oblivious to how much it's costing you, and the kids need some light to do homework by, etc. Kinda sucks to be poor and have to choose between paying the electricy and gas bills while well-off guys like you and me have to decide whether or not to use space heaters and grow lamps to turn the garage into a tropical orchid paradise.
As for taxes, I don't think mine have ever been lower. Yours too, probably. But our friend who's struggling to pay the electricity bill hasn't seen much improvement in his tax situation. He's still got to pay sales tax on everything he buys, and on top of that, the necesities of life consume a far greater portion of his income. And his Social Security still comes out of his paycheck at the same rate we pay. Except we don't have to pay SS tax on all our income. Interest, dividends, capital gains, etc. aren't considered earned income, so no Social Security on those.
So my effective tax rate is nowhere near 50% -- once upon a time it had been if you counted SS and sales tax, but it's far lower now.
Once Governments start controlling internet access, whether through free wifi or any other method, they will start regulating content.
Dude, your people control all three branches of government in the U.S. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to stop complaining about being oppressed by "arrogant, progressive . . . nerd[s]". You're not being hassled by the Man, you are the Man, now.
The hurricane damage is evidence to me of the decay of government projects and the wasted taxpayer money. That money would produce a safer city with more jobs if it was left to the citizens.
I disagree. Many things, like bridges, levees, streets, and building codes really have to be done collectively, i.e. through government. I realize that this is heresy to the people who call themselves Republicans these days, but I do not believe that their god -- "The Free Market" -- is a benevolent deity when it comes to infrastructure and public safety. Sure the government could have done a better job preparing for such a disaster at all levels. But the way to do that is to get involved, hold your government responsible and accountable, and keep doing that forever. The answer is not to suggest that each citizen provide his own flood control, police, fire protection, roads, and be his own codes inspector. Lack of electricity to power computers is a hassle, but not insurmountable with vehicle power outlets, job-site generators, batteries, etc.
Back to the WiFi topic: With telephone systems, cable systems and the internet services that depend on them in various states of disrepair right now, citywide WiFi is not a bad idea at all. Right now, restoring communications is critical to reconstruction, and if a metropolitan WiFi net does the trick, great. It's true that this might discourage the installation of wireless enabled coffee shops, but I think the city has bigger fish to fry right now, like coordinating a massive rebuilding and repair effort involving tens of thousands of people.
The toaster that adjusts to your desired level of toast,
The fridge that remembers that you like crushed ice instead of cubed
The Tivo that remembers your choices (I know...mentioned in the article)
The Car that remembers your seating positions
The stereo that remembers your station and desired volume
The computer that logs you on as soon as you sit down
I was thinking . . . I don't need any of these things. My stereo is always set to my station, my ice is the way I like it, the car seat is adjusted for me, because I live alone! you RFID-enabled insensitive clod. It seriously took me a moment to realize why anyone would need this sort of functionality. Sigh.
North American Natural Gas production peaked in 2001. When world oil peaks within the next few years then people will be faced with tearing the walls of their houses apart and in the alternative freezing in the dark. They can thank their far sighted home builders for part of this. But even today, I see builders in this city have no idea what a shitty job they are doing.
I agree that insufficient insulation in new construction is a problem, but home buyers share some of the blame. I suspect that very few people would be willing to pay a premium for a well-insulated home. But this problem may get more awareness with increases in energy prices lately. Perhaps an "Energy Star"-like program for home insulation would be useful in this case.
I suppose it is like these electronic thermostats that seem so popular. My family always just turned it down before the last person went to sleep at night...
I think the real utility with the automatic thermostats is that they'll turn the heat back up for you before you get up in the morning, so you don't freeze your little toes. I suppose you could do the same thing if the house is unoccupied for portions of the day, too. They're rather cheap these days, with 7 day programmable models under $30.
Formic acid is also produced by our friend, the Stinging Nettle. Definitely want to seal that up really well, or ensure that if it does leak, that it gets neutralized in the process.
But batteries also contain scary stuff, and it's been a long time since I've had one leak on me.
Just wait till 2006 when the Kansas State Board of Education will have to face the voters on this issue.
Oh goody. So then the 4 people who voted against it will be voted out of office, further solidifying this teaching policy.
No. The last time the BoE pulled this stunt, the electorate got fired up and unelected the guilty Board members. The issue died down for a while, then the Phred Phelpsians and the Jerry Jonstonites got their minions back on the Board in an off-year election. We will throw out the redneck trash again in 2006, in time to prevent the new standards from taking effect in 2007.
You're right of course, it isn't a benefit at all. In fact I would say that RFID is a poor technology for use in an ID document. You've gotta wonder how the brainstorming session went:
Boss: We need machine-readable data on this passport. But we only want it to be read by someone actually holding it. Like RFID that only works when you touch it . ..
Underling: I've got it! RFID with a shield around it.
Every advantage of RFID is a liability in this application. Almost any kind of contact or optically readable format would be preferable. Someone sufficiently powerful got a hard-on for RFID and no one wanted the headache of telling the boss that it was a stupid idea.
I bought a DVD player and I could not plug it directly to my VCR because of its "antipiracy" technology . ..
This happened to me when I got my sister a DVD player -- she has a TV/VCR. I was gonna get her some DVDs to go with it, but I had to spend that money instead on an RF modulator. MPAA's loss is Radio Shack's gain, I guess.
The speed an electric signal will propogate in a transmission line is somewhat less than 1C. The value of 0.1C in a sibling post is a good rule of thumb. Think of your transmission line as a bunch of inductors in series and a bunch of capacitors in parallel (imagine a ladder with inductor legs and capacitor rungs). At each step along the way you need to charge up the capacitor before current will move to the next inductor, where your current will charge up the magnetic flux and then on to the next cap, etc.
You can build what's called an "aritficial transmission line" in just such a manner. It simulates the effect of a much longer pair of wires for lab purposes.
In Catch-22, Major Major Major has just such name change forced on him. His father told his mother in the maternity ward that he named the boy "Caleb" . ..
Not until Major Major was enrolling in kindergarten was the discovery of his real name made . . . It was a harsh and stunning realization that was forced upon him at so tender an age, the realization that he was not, as he had always been led to believe, Caleb Major, but instead was some total stranger named Major Major Major about whom he knew absolutely nothing and about whom nobody else had ever heard before."
In America, you can vote for Senators and Representatives, and that matters a little, although not as much as giving large donations.
However, due to the electoral college, you really can't vote for president. This is not just a technicality -- it is a winner take all, state by state process. You only have 2 viable choices (R & D), if your state is a swing state. If your state is not a "swing state", i.e. could go for either candidate, your vote does not matter. If you are in the minority, your candidate will lose, if in the majority, your candidate will win. Your vote does not make a lick of difference. This process is designed to ensure that even a vocal minority is not heard. It is also the process that allows "W" to claim a "mandate" after getting approximately 50% of the popular vote.
Yes, I've become very cynical. I still write my Auctioneers -- err. Congressmen -- but since I cannot afford to enclose large donations, I doubt it makes much difference.
The danger with sarcasm like this, is that it often gets taken at face value, as it did here. I don't have any mod points right now, and anyway there isn't a +1 Sarcastic or +1 Misunderstood. You may take some solace from the fact that it happens to the best of writers, e.g. Ed Zern.
Like Fluorescent, requires supporting circuitry -- doesn't plug directly into AC wiring.
Cost (initial investment)
Harder to dim -- can't use simple rheostat
Flicker (if using less than 100% on time)
I don't have anything against LED lighting, and none of these disadvantages are insurmountable. Indeed, these could be viewed as business opportunities instead. Most of the disadvantages are shared with fluorescents, and adequate solutions already exist there. I know a guy who lights his whole off-grid house with LEDs (using low voltage DC wiring). I particularly like the possibility of creating variable color lighting with LEDs, emulating daylight, sunlight, tungsten or whatever.
Slashdot Mirror
I absolutely agree that decent headers are vital, especially when working on a team of size greater than zero. And furthermore, your team should have an agreed-upon standard to facilitate reading and writing the headers for each "chunk". I'm guessing that the term "chunk" is used here to be sort of generic for procedure, function, method, aspect, or whatever in an agnostic sort of way.
None of this excuses one from writng self-documenting code. I don't use that term to mean "doesn't need comments" but rather I mean your code should look like it does what it does.
Just to be clear, I believe you still should explain anything that needs amplification in your comments. You should wholeheartedly follow your organization's internal documentation rules, and if you can't love them, at least tell yourself that they're "better than nothing". But on top of all of that, make your code as clear as possible for the language you are using. As I frequently told myself and others, "the guy that has to maintain this code could be YOU."
That is the trick, though. You put too many comments in your code, and you end up maintaining your comments as well. Or worse, you end up with code that obviously doesn't match the comment. Or even worse, you end up with code that doesn't match the comments, but not obviously -- sort of software counter-intelligence.
Once I actually did use the "/* you are not expected . . ." comment and got a severe talkin'-to by my boss about being a "team player". After that incident, I only commented in Latin and Klingon for that employer.
I really wouldn't worry about that scenario. If I've learned anything in life, it's that collapsing in public draws a big crowd.
Actually, the original poster did refer to this effect when he wrote of the elasticity of electricity demand. It is the tendency of consumers to buy less of something when it is dear and more when it is cheap. The demand curve for such a commodity has a nice monotonic slope, as price goes up, demand goes down. When the demand is "inelastic", it remains more constant as prices change. It's been a few years since ECON 140, but I think the essence is there. Wikipedia probably has a primer on economic demand, which you should read instead of relying my summary for anything involving life-support.
Anyway, a given commodity can have a demand curve that is elastic in some places and inelastic in others. You illustrate this point by turning off unused lights and refraining from use of high-wattage luxuries. You reduced your demand in response to higher prices. After you've turned off all the unnecessary appliances, your demand can't be cut much more -- it is now more inelastic. Your fridge keeps humming along, oblivious to how much it's costing you, and the kids need some light to do homework by, etc. Kinda sucks to be poor and have to choose between paying the electricy and gas bills while well-off guys like you and me have to decide whether or not to use space heaters and grow lamps to turn the garage into a tropical orchid paradise.
As for taxes, I don't think mine have ever been lower. Yours too, probably. But our friend who's struggling to pay the electricity bill hasn't seen much improvement in his tax situation. He's still got to pay sales tax on everything he buys, and on top of that, the necesities of life consume a far greater portion of his income. And his Social Security still comes out of his paycheck at the same rate we pay. Except we don't have to pay SS tax on all our income. Interest, dividends, capital gains, etc. aren't considered earned income, so no Social Security on those.
So my effective tax rate is nowhere near 50% -- once upon a time it had been if you counted SS and sales tax, but it's far lower now.
Dude, your people control all three branches of government in the U.S. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to stop complaining about being oppressed by "arrogant, progressive . . . nerd[s]". You're not being hassled by the Man, you are the Man, now.
I disagree. Many things, like bridges, levees, streets, and building codes really have to be done collectively, i.e. through government. I realize that this is heresy to the people who call themselves Republicans these days, but I do not believe that their god -- "The Free Market" -- is a benevolent deity when it comes to infrastructure and public safety. Sure the government could have done a better job preparing for such a disaster at all levels. But the way to do that is to get involved, hold your government responsible and accountable, and keep doing that forever. The answer is not to suggest that each citizen provide his own flood control, police, fire protection, roads, and be his own codes inspector. Lack of electricity to power computers is a hassle, but not insurmountable with vehicle power outlets, job-site generators, batteries, etc.
Back to the WiFi topic: With telephone systems, cable systems and the internet services that depend on them in various states of disrepair right now, citywide WiFi is not a bad idea at all. Right now, restoring communications is critical to reconstruction, and if a metropolitan WiFi net does the trick, great. It's true that this might discourage the installation of wireless enabled coffee shops, but I think the city has bigger fish to fry right now, like coordinating a massive rebuilding and repair effort involving tens of thousands of people.
And remember, Grammar Ninja never give up. Adjust your lifestyle accordingly.
I was thinking . . . I don't need any of these things. My stereo is always set to my station, my ice is the way I like it, the car seat is adjusted for me, because I live alone! you RFID-enabled insensitive clod. It seriously took me a moment to realize why anyone would need this sort of functionality. Sigh.
QI'yaH! To truly appreciate Tolkien, you have to read his works in the original Klingon.
I agree that insufficient insulation in new construction is a problem, but home buyers share some of the blame. I suspect that very few people would be willing to pay a premium for a well-insulated home. But this problem may get more awareness with increases in energy prices lately. Perhaps an "Energy Star"-like program for home insulation would be useful in this case.
I think the real utility with the automatic thermostats is that they'll turn the heat back up for you before you get up in the morning, so you don't freeze your little toes. I suppose you could do the same thing if the house is unoccupied for portions of the day, too. They're rather cheap these days, with 7 day programmable models under $30.
"Oops! I should have warned you. That clock gets incredibly hot if you leave it plugged in."
But batteries also contain scary stuff, and it's been a long time since I've had one leak on me.
No. The last time the BoE pulled this stunt, the electorate got fired up and unelected the guilty Board members. The issue died down for a while, then the Phred Phelpsians and the Jerry Jonstonites got their minions back on the Board in an off-year election. We will throw out the redneck trash again in 2006, in time to prevent the new standards from taking effect in 2007.
So microwave other people's passports instead . . .
You're right of course, it isn't a benefit at all. In fact I would say that RFID is a poor technology for use in an ID document. You've gotta wonder how the brainstorming session went:
Boss: We need machine-readable data on this passport. But we only want it to be read by someone actually holding it. Like RFID that only works when you touch it . . .
Underling: I've got it! RFID with a shield around it.
Every advantage of RFID is a liability in this application. Almost any kind of contact or optically readable format would be preferable. Someone sufficiently powerful got a hard-on for RFID and no one wanted the headache of telling the boss that it was a stupid idea.
Don't worry, I'm sure we can think of another reason.
This happened to me when I got my sister a DVD player -- she has a TV/VCR. I was gonna get her some DVDs to go with it, but I had to spend that money instead on an RF modulator. MPAA's loss is Radio Shack's gain, I guess.
Dear God, NO, not the Bill Gates wedding night video!!!
You can build what's called an "aritficial transmission line" in just such a manner. It simulates the effect of a much longer pair of wires for lab purposes.
However, due to the electoral college, you really can't vote for president. This is not just a technicality -- it is a winner take all, state by state process. You only have 2 viable choices (R & D), if your state is a swing state. If your state is not a "swing state", i.e. could go for either candidate, your vote does not matter. If you are in the minority, your candidate will lose, if in the majority, your candidate will win. Your vote does not make a lick of difference. This process is designed to ensure that even a vocal minority is not heard. It is also the process that allows "W" to claim a "mandate" after getting approximately 50% of the popular vote.
Yes, I've become very cynical. I still write my Auctioneers -- err. Congressmen -- but since I cannot afford to enclose large donations, I doubt it makes much difference.
The danger with sarcasm like this, is that it often gets taken at face value, as it did here. I don't have any mod points right now, and anyway there isn't a +1 Sarcastic or +1 Misunderstood. You may take some solace from the fact that it happens to the best of writers, e.g. Ed Zern.
Like Fluorescent, requires supporting circuitry -- doesn't plug directly into AC wiring.
Cost (initial investment)
Harder to dim -- can't use simple rheostat
Flicker (if using less than 100% on time)
I don't have anything against LED lighting, and none of these disadvantages are insurmountable. Indeed, these could be viewed as business opportunities instead. Most of the disadvantages are shared with fluorescents, and adequate solutions already exist there. I know a guy who lights his whole off-grid house with LEDs (using low voltage DC wiring). I particularly like the possibility of creating variable color lighting with LEDs, emulating daylight, sunlight, tungsten or whatever.