I am an Android developer and am curious about your experience with older apps on Android 4.2. Could you provide some examples? My experience matches the GP in that apps "just work" on when placed on newer versions of Android.
For a while the BBC iPlayer app didn't support newer versions, but that was because it was built on Adobe Flash, which was discontinued in later versions of Android. I think you could install them by installing both apk files manually, but you got a message in the Play Store saying that your version was not supported if you tried to install it through there.
Most of the cameras in the UK are privately owned, plus everyone can request a copy of the footage of them from whomever owns the camera in question. All this "oh no the cameras!!!" stuff is pretty annoying.
There are a load of cameras going up the M1 that you can view online. Handy to see whether it might be worth it to take an alternate route...
Some time ago I wrote a shareware program that does something no other software does. 100,000 people downloaded it. It got top ratings everywhere. About 60 people emailed me saying how much they like the software. Exactly ONE person paid the $5 "donation" for it. Web sites are like that - people will visit daily, they'll talk about how awesome the site is, but no way they'll fork over $1. They just don't.
I remember once seeing some software that worked fine for a set trial period (a couple of weeks probably), and then added a message saying "Trial period over. You may buy a license to continue using the software as is. If you don't, the software will still function as normal, but everything will be in Comic Sans"
I don't know how many people got a license just to get rid of Comic Sans, however.
Different teams will have different merging policies, and given how one off the browser box is/was, I suspect it may not have been done by a main Windows developer.
I don't think it was supposed to be much of a "one off":
Microsoft initially argued that the move benefited users, but after the European Commission issued a preliminary report suggesting the firm had abused its position, the company agreed to offer a choice of browser until at least 2014 to avoid risking a fine.
However, this option was missing from its Windows 7 Service Pack 1 released in 2011 and it continued to be absent for 14 months.
During that time, Microsoft reported it was still complying with the agreement.
My only gripe is that the programs are all made to be only 40 minutes long so that when they get sold abroad they can insert ads and still fit in an hour slot...
Top Gear is actually an hour long (sometimes a couple of minutes over an hour - I watch it on iPlayer so see the length).
It is a shame that shows like Doctor Who aren't longer (although that used to be something like 25 minutes long, so I can't complain too much)
Etiquette where I work, in an open plan environment (Google), is that you get someone's attention by IMing them. Yes, my teammate who sits right next to me, less than three feet away, often sends me an instant message to ask a question. I respond by yanking off my headphones and turning to face him. It's weird, I suppose, but it works, providing both easy collaboration and strong isolation, as necessary.
The etiquette where I work in an open plan office is that people aren't too noisy in general. There are a couple of big bits of hardware whirring away in some places which might drown distance talking out a little bit without being too annoying itself. I'll keep in mind the IM if someone has headphones in though, not too many people use them here so its usually not an issue.
I remember a while back there was a consideration to rearrange the office slightly adding a couple of tables for "ad hoc meetings", but there was a complaint that the talking would disturb anyone working near them and they should use a meeting room instead.
and sometimes I take a meeting or do work with her sitting on my lap happily burbling away and grabbing at the keyboard.
I usually work in an office but occasionally remote in (commuting is apparently impossible in the UK when it snows, so they've started a set-up for that); my son (about 9 months) seems more interested in my mouse (its got a colourful LED on it) if he sits on my lap.
While I prefer this style of bracing, the superfluous comments violate the D.R.Y. (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle. Might as well add a comment "break when x is one", as well.
I've done similar comments before, although more like this: if(condition) {
doSomething(); }// else do nothing because XYZ reason
Usually if there isn't an else because it is not needed, I explain why it isn't needed if it isn't clear from just the code. It is also helpful if there are many nested brackets that all end one after another
In Eclipse you can right click on a.java file and select "Run As->Java Application" to run the file as a Java application. You don't get a program file but you probably wouldn't want one for a first "Hello, World"
That's all I ask in regards to comments -- no/* . . . */ to comment out multiple lines of code. Nothing I hate worse than spotting something in code that piques my interest only to discover there's an open/* several lines above it (often times scrolled out of my window). So I make a point of ensuring that every comment is identified on each line (a complete/* . . . */ set,//, or whatever the particular language dictates). Only exception being multi-line text or narrative -- I have no problem with that being wrapped in/* . . . */.
Yeah, yeah, I should use a better IDE that would identify all those lines as comments, but many times I'll be browsing code with nothing more than vi or grep.
I've seen the same issue using the diff tools in Version Control systems - there's no syntax highlighting there either.
As of this writing (January 2013) the United Kingdom still uses MILES to measure distance, MILES PER HOUR to measure speed, STONES and POUNDS and OUNCES to measure weight, and FLUID OUNCES to measure volume.
Weight is measured in KG in the UK, however a conversion is often done as a lot of people still think in pounds and ounces - when my son was weighed when he was born the scale used was metric, but the midwives had a conversion chart so we knew both.
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm glad I was mistaken about Barcode Scanner's Freeness. Another reason I lucked out picking this app out of the crowd.
I think I got the Barcode Scanner from F-Droid (Open Source android app repository); I usually check there before the Play store for utility apps like that.
Was there a survey I missed or has the poster missed the difference between
"Slashdot readers using Android"
and
"Slashdot readers using Android to read Slashdot...
I look at Slashdot on my computer, NOT my Android 2.3 phone.
I got an email a while back about a new slashdot site designed for phones/tablets. There was also a survey that you could take regarding your opinions of the site.
This is a good thing. If it's more expensive than other options, then Facebook won't be too ad-riddled for a couple years yet.
The Android app for Facebook is getting there as there are a lot of "Promoted" posts for things I have no interest in (but perhaps one or two of my friends do)
The are reasons that the view that we shouldn't pay taxes is somewhat more widespread in Greece than in other countries, though. When you have a corrupt government, and a broken down pubic education and healthcare system, you really don't like giving part of the wealth you produce to bankers, weapon dealers and friends of the govenment.
I take it those who avoid tax because they don't want the government getting it invest heavily in local schools and hospitals instead, right?
No, my thought was that people who bought tablets other than iPads don't end up using them because they suck. Hence, they account for less traffic then their purchases would indicate.
My first thought was people are doing things other than browse the internet on non-iPad tablets.
And often food in commercials is faked and not suitable for eating (because of paint, being raw inside etc). Often chocolate is just brown paint, strawberries are painted to have more vidi colors, icecream can be made of "mashed potato covered in motor oil" etc. Commercials have long history of being full of lies and often even reviews of products are fake.
I remember watching an interview with someone who did a beer commercial. They said that unfortunately they couldn't spend the whole day drinking beer so had to be drinking something that looked the same, because they would be taking shots over and over again.
Unless the commercial explicitly says something like "shot with a real Lumia 920", I really don't see this as a bad sin.
I think the expectation is to do the reverse - I've seen other phone adverts that has "Sequences shortened" or words to that effect at the bottom of the screen, because the phone can't actually do all the things shown in the length of the advert. The main complaint I have seen about this Nokia advert is that they did not disclose that they weren't using the phone when the implication is that they were.
Slashdot Mirror
TFA does not say what OS this is running. Anyone knows?
I don't think it is running an OS at the moment, it has not been completed yet:
"Once the prototype of the product is ready"
I am an Android developer and am curious about your experience with older apps on Android 4.2. Could you provide some examples? My experience matches the GP in that apps "just work" on when placed on newer versions of Android.
For a while the BBC iPlayer app didn't support newer versions, but that was because it was built on Adobe Flash, which was discontinued in later versions of Android. I think you could install them by installing both apk files manually, but you got a message in the Play Store saying that your version was not supported if you tried to install it through there.
Most of the cameras in the UK are privately owned, plus everyone can request a copy of the footage of them from whomever owns the camera in question. All this "oh no the cameras!!!" stuff is pretty annoying.
There are a load of cameras going up the M1 that you can view online. Handy to see whether it might be worth it to take an alternate route...
Some time ago I wrote a shareware program that does something no other software does. 100,000 people downloaded it. It got top ratings everywhere. About 60 people emailed me saying how much they like the software. Exactly ONE person paid the $5 "donation" for it. Web sites are like that - people will visit daily, they'll talk about how awesome the site is, but no way they'll fork over $1. They just don't.
I remember once seeing some software that worked fine for a set trial period (a couple of weeks probably), and then added a message saying "Trial period over. You may buy a license to continue using the software as is. If you don't, the software will still function as normal, but everything will be in Comic Sans"
I don't know how many people got a license just to get rid of Comic Sans, however.
Different teams will have different merging policies, and given how one off the browser box is/was, I suspect it may not have been done by a main Windows developer.
I don't think it was supposed to be much of a "one off":
Microsoft initially argued that the move benefited users, but after the European Commission issued a preliminary report suggesting the firm had abused its position, the company agreed to offer a choice of browser until at least 2014 to avoid risking a fine.
However, this option was missing from its Windows 7 Service Pack 1 released in 2011 and it continued to be absent for 14 months.
During that time, Microsoft reported it was still complying with the agreement.
BBC (bolding by me)
I'm with you on this..
My only gripe is that the programs are all made to be only 40 minutes long so that when they get sold abroad they can insert ads and still fit in an hour slot...
Top Gear is actually an hour long (sometimes a couple of minutes over an hour - I watch it on iPlayer so see the length).
It is a shame that shows like Doctor Who aren't longer (although that used to be something like 25 minutes long, so I can't complain too much)
Etiquette where I work, in an open plan environment (Google), is that you get someone's attention by IMing them. Yes, my teammate who sits right next to me, less than three feet away, often sends me an instant message to ask a question. I respond by yanking off my headphones and turning to face him. It's weird, I suppose, but it works, providing both easy collaboration and strong isolation, as necessary.
The etiquette where I work in an open plan office is that people aren't too noisy in general. There are a couple of big bits of hardware whirring away in some places which might drown distance talking out a little bit without being too annoying itself. I'll keep in mind the IM if someone has headphones in though, not too many people use them here so its usually not an issue.
I remember a while back there was a consideration to rearrange the office slightly adding a couple of tables for "ad hoc meetings", but there was a complaint that the talking would disturb anyone working near them and they should use a meeting room instead.
and sometimes I take a meeting or do work with her sitting on my lap happily burbling away and grabbing at the keyboard.
I usually work in an office but occasionally remote in (commuting is apparently impossible in the UK when it snows, so they've started a set-up for that); my son (about 9 months) seems more interested in my mouse (its got a colourful LED on it) if he sits on my lap.
While I prefer this style of bracing, the superfluous comments violate the D.R.Y. (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle. Might as well add a comment "break when x is one", as well.
I've done similar comments before, although more like this:
if(condition)
{
doSomething();
}// else do nothing because XYZ reason
Usually if there isn't an else because it is not needed, I explain why it isn't needed if it isn't clear from just the code. It is also helpful if there are many nested brackets that all end one after another
In Eclipse you can right click on a .java file and select "Run As->Java Application" to run the file as a Java application. You don't get a program file but you probably wouldn't want one for a first "Hello, World"
That's all I ask in regards to comments -- no /* . . . */ to comment out multiple lines of code. Nothing I hate worse than spotting something in code that piques my interest only to discover there's an open /* several lines above it (often times scrolled out of my window). So I make a point of ensuring that every comment is identified on each line (a complete /* . . . */ set, //, or whatever the particular language dictates). Only exception being multi-line text or narrative -- I have no problem with that being wrapped in /* . . . */.
Yeah, yeah, I should use a better IDE that would identify all those lines as comments, but many times I'll be browsing code with nothing more than vi or grep.
I've seen the same issue using the diff tools in Version Control systems - there's no syntax highlighting there either.
As of this writing (January 2013) the United Kingdom still uses MILES to measure distance, MILES PER HOUR to measure speed, STONES and POUNDS and OUNCES to measure weight, and FLUID OUNCES to measure volume.
Weight is measured in KG in the UK, however a conversion is often done as a lot of people still think in pounds and ounces - when my son was weighed when he was born the scale used was metric, but the midwives had a conversion chart so we knew both.
My dad does the same thing, and I do a weak version with Gmail's + thing.
I usually do the Gmail "+" thing too, although I've come across a couple of forms that didn't see it as a valid email character :-/
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm glad I was mistaken about Barcode Scanner's Freeness. Another reason I lucked out picking this app out of the crowd.
I think I got the Barcode Scanner from F-Droid (Open Source android app repository); I usually check there before the Play store for utility apps like that.
Do you give the taxi driver more money than is displayed on the metre?
The last taxi I got I did tell them to just round it up to the nearest pound.
Was there a survey I missed or has the poster missed the difference between "Slashdot readers using Android" and "Slashdot readers using Android to read Slashdot ...
I look at Slashdot on my computer, NOT my Android 2.3 phone.
I got an email a while back about a new slashdot site designed for phones/tablets. There was also a survey that you could take regarding your opinions of the site.
The Memory Game That classic game of remembering is back in this awesome new iPhone app!
Apple: Please remove 'memory' from the title of your game or we will remove your game for you!
The Memorie Game The Anglo-Normans are challenging your ability to remember in this awesome new iPhone app!
Apple: Don't be a smartass, you know what we mean. Please remove 'memorie' from the title of your game or we will remove your game for you!
I guess Apple would be good at spotting when someone isn't complying with an order as expected
This is a good thing. If it's more expensive than other options, then Facebook won't be too ad-riddled for a couple years yet.
The Android app for Facebook is getting there as there are a lot of "Promoted" posts for things I have no interest in (but perhaps one or two of my friends do)
The are reasons that the view that we shouldn't pay taxes is somewhat more widespread in Greece than in other countries, though. When you have a corrupt government, and a broken down pubic education and healthcare system, you really don't like giving part of the wealth you produce to bankers, weapon dealers and friends of the govenment.
I take it those who avoid tax because they don't want the government getting it invest heavily in local schools and hospitals instead, right?
It's a bit sad that there's no equivalent to Slashdot in other languages, locales or on other topics.
Some slashdot members have mentioned that there is a Japanese slashdot (I don't speak Japanese so I've never been myself)
*whoosh*
Say, did a door just automatically open?
No, my thought was that people who bought tablets other than iPads don't end up using them because they suck. Hence, they account for less traffic then their purchases would indicate.
My first thought was people are doing things other than browse the internet on non-iPad tablets.
With comments, I prefer that they explain why the code is doing something, not what it does (which should be evident from the code)
And often food in commercials is faked and not suitable for eating (because of paint, being raw inside etc). Often chocolate is just brown paint, strawberries are painted to have more vidi colors, icecream can be made of "mashed potato covered in motor oil" etc. Commercials have long history of being full of lies and often even reviews of products are fake.
I remember watching an interview with someone who did a beer commercial. They said that unfortunately they couldn't spend the whole day drinking beer so had to be drinking something that looked the same, because they would be taking shots over and over again.
Unless the commercial explicitly says something like "shot with a real Lumia 920", I really don't see this as a bad sin.
I think the expectation is to do the reverse - I've seen other phone adverts that has "Sequences shortened" or words to that effect at the bottom of the screen, because the phone can't actually do all the things shown in the length of the advert. The main complaint I have seen about this Nokia advert is that they did not disclose that they weren't using the phone when the implication is that they were.