At University, during the end of the semester when my friends were all writing essays like mad, or in my case writing code, I ran into the disconnect that exists between programming and some other disciplines.
First off, friends would say that they had four essays, with exact word lengths for all of them. In the course of talking about what we all had to do I got asked how many pages my final project was supposed to be. Naturally I said that I didn't have a set page length, as long as it worked and was written efficiently and with good form.
Programming can't be correlated to word counts. Talented programmers can do stuff with less code. Bad programmers can do stuff with much, much more code. Clever programmers can do the same stuff with tiny amounts of code, but $DEITY help the poor guy who has to maintain it.
If you're just trying to get across a general idea of how complex code is, I'm somewhat fond of the 'full course meal' analogy. It's like cooking anything from a snack to a twelve course meal for a large number of people. Even though each dish is independent (if you do it right, I'd hate to see a dinner without good division between the dishes), each of them affects the meal as a whole as well.
Sorry, not meaning to poke fun at you. The intention of the comment is to make a joke out of how many different ways we describe what's essentially the same thing.
I notice that the blogger is reading this thread, so I was wondering if he'd answer a question.
Being the author of the original piece and the guy who submitted the summary, I'd expect him to have a fairly good grasp on how to summarize it. However the summary reads as if a Web based OS would be a bad thing, yet he states in the blog post:
A web based operating system would be really neat, and Jason Kottke wrote about it a while ago.
So do you think it's a good idea or a bad idea?
Also, why is the Slashdot summary focussed on the idea of a web based OS when you only mention the term once, and refer to a 'Web Windows' one time?
I'd assumed something similar, perhaps $150,000 or he switched the numbers around. But I'd hate to make an assumption and say "He really meant to post this" while missing his point completely.
I used to cost and estimate in the printing industry and any estimate considered the value of space used. If a machine cost $50,000 but saved 500 square feet of space that may very well be cheaper in the long term than a $100,000 machine that saved none.
Maybe I'm missing something.
$50,000 may be cheaper than $100,000?
Especially given that you state the $50,000 machine saves space on top of already being cheaper.
Why does Wash have to be gone? His wife is still there. Firefly's shown that it can do flashbacks without being annoying at it (Out of Gas). It could add a lot to Zoe's character.
Just because he's gone means she'll stop thinking about him? He wouldn't have to be a main character, or even in every episode, but I'd expect at least a bit of reference back to Wash.
I love travelling by bus, as I prefer driving but don't own a car. Maybe if I stopped spending all my spare cash on Apple products...
Anyhow, I've taken five or six bus trips from Alberta to Victoria BC in the last year. The trip length is just over 24 hours. Each way. I use my 1 Gig Shuffle. The length on it is fine, I hear each some as many as two or three times, and one of those times I'm probably asleep. The difficult thing I run into is battery life, so somewhere around 10 hours into the trip I find myself bringing out my laptop, letting the USB charge my shuffle, and watching an episode of whatever I have on my powerbook right then.
Seven hours is not a long bus ride when you use the bus as a way to get between cities.
this isn't even realistic. phones have been the same, weak, slow, useless crap for the last 10 years. even if these phones are plausibile, they are totally unergonomic and unrealistic. i mean what planet are these guys on?
I read that as 'ungnomic' and the first thought was "Yeah! We need better phones for the gnome people to use!"
Thank you so very much for that. My inability to read has made my night.
The 2001 census recorded 30,007,094 people, and as of April 2005 the population has been estimated by Statistics Canada as 32.2 million people[9]. Approximately 85% of Canada's population lives within 160 km of the U.S. border. Source: Wikipedia
Didn't you know? You drag the drive icon to the trash can. It's a well-thought-out metaphor. You go to the store to buy a new bigger hard drive, then you drag the old icon to the trashcan. No screwdriver needed at all!!
Under OS X, when you drag the disc to the dock, you have an 'eject' icon rather than a trash icon.
Slashdot Mirror
First off, friends would say that they had four essays, with exact word lengths for all of them. In the course of talking about what we all had to do I got asked how many pages my final project was supposed to be. Naturally I said that I didn't have a set page length, as long as it worked and was written efficiently and with good form.
Programming can't be correlated to word counts. Talented programmers can do stuff with less code. Bad programmers can do stuff with much, much more code. Clever programmers can do the same stuff with tiny amounts of code, but $DEITY help the poor guy who has to maintain it.
If you're just trying to get across a general idea of how complex code is, I'm somewhat fond of the 'full course meal' analogy. It's like cooking anything from a snack to a twelve course meal for a large number of people. Even though each dish is independent (if you do it right, I'd hate to see a dinner without good division between the dishes), each of them affects the meal as a whole as well.
Happy Birthday Cmdr. I didn't get you anything, but if you want you can go watch duckpins.
And with my luck, I'll still live right across the hall from the guy with the huge stereo and no taste in music.
"Command - Option - Esc" actually.
I only play SubEthaEdit at LAN parties.
Try running "rm -rfv /" next time. Much cooler looking.
I'd assume "doing the same."
Sorry, not meaning to poke fun at you. The intention of the comment is to make a joke out of how many different ways we describe what's essentially the same thing.
Quickly querying Google to make sure I've got my definitions right, DHTML is a combination of HTML, Javascript, and CSS.
Asynchronous Javascript and XML with Javascript/HTML, Javascript and CSS.
Mmmm...buzzword redundancy.
Being the author of the original piece and the guy who submitted the summary, I'd expect him to have a fairly good grasp on how to summarize it. However the summary reads as if a Web based OS would be a bad thing, yet he states in the blog post:
So do you think it's a good idea or a bad idea?
Also, why is the Slashdot summary focussed on the idea of a web based OS when you only mention the term once, and refer to a 'Web Windows' one time?
I'd assumed something similar, perhaps $150,000 or he switched the numbers around. But I'd hate to make an assumption and say "He really meant to post this" while missing his point completely.
Maybe I'm missing something.
$50,000 may be cheaper than $100,000?
Especially given that you state the $50,000 machine saves space on top of already being cheaper.
Just because he's gone means she'll stop thinking about him? He wouldn't have to be a main character, or even in every episode, but I'd expect at least a bit of reference back to Wash.
That kinda does sound like it might kill me.
You just had to say it, eh?
Actually that can be "Best". At least it was for Katie. Now what can 800,000 geeks do to help out this woman?
Anyhow, I've taken five or six bus trips from Alberta to Victoria BC in the last year. The trip length is just over 24 hours. Each way. I use my 1 Gig Shuffle. The length on it is fine, I hear each some as many as two or three times, and one of those times I'm probably asleep. The difficult thing I run into is battery life, so somewhere around 10 hours into the trip I find myself bringing out my laptop, letting the USB charge my shuffle, and watching an episode of whatever I have on my powerbook right then.
Seven hours is not a long bus ride when you use the bus as a way to get between cities.
He's referring to the Betamax Case which ensured that time shifting (recording for later watching) TV was legal in the U.S.
If you have the video, which you can play and listen to the song on, or just rip the audio off, you have the song. You do not want the song anymore.
Maybe videos should be priced the same as songs?
Now I shop at eBay.
I read that as 'ungnomic' and the first thought was "Yeah! We need better phones for the gnome people to use!"
Thank you so very much for that. My inability to read has made my night.
I've got an iPod Shuffle. No scratches on my screen!
Who's eating this chicken?
As of the '04 census:P op.pdf
Edmonton, AB 666,104
Red Deer, AB 75,923
Calgary, AB 933,495
Source: http://www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/ms/pdf/2004
The 2001 census (back to Wikipedia article now) recorded 30,007,094 in Canada.
Quick math shows those cities come out to be about 5.5% of the population.
Alberta is pretty damn empty compared to Southern Ontario/Quebec/BC. The cities you mentioned are not the norm.
Quick searching only found a 1976 version, but here's a population distribution map of Canada. Pay special attention to the Southern Ontario/Quebec region: http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/archives/5the dition/peopleandsociety/population/mcr4064
Under OS X, when you drag the disc to the dock, you have an 'eject' icon rather than a trash icon.