Don't even bother trying to use HTML to make printing work. Generate something else (pdf is good.. consistent, widely supported.. evil) and have the user print that.
I don't mean slightly easier, either. If other databases are like putting a band-aid on a cut, Oracle is like brain surgery.
Totally.
I almost think oracle does this on purpose to drum up consulting fees or something. For such a powerful database product, all the tools around it are almost intentionally unintuitive and fragile.
Even connecting to oracle, arguably the simplest interaction with most databases, is more complicated. Most databases you just specify a hostname, username, and password.. oracle seems to insist on all manner of weird voodoo. Once you know that voodoo it's no problem.. but initially it's like "service name".. wtf is that.. and what do you mean I have to add this to some config file!
.. the linked test reminds me of those "what job are you best suited for" tests we got in school. The ones which after answering at least 100 very transparent and subjective questions would recommend you become a garbage man, an astronaut, or maybe a carpenter.
And all the questions are the same.. they could have essentially made the whole thing two questions:
1) are you empathetic 2) are you _NOT_ empathetic
Personally I think people are just as self centered now as always and we've just gotten better (supposedly) at measuring it.
It's like how mental illness would appear to be on the rise. It could be legitimate change, or it could be that we've come up with fancy names for kids who back in the day would've just been called "a little slow" and/or ended up in a job where no one would notice.
Is that now all the people who spend their time watching reality TV all day will be out in public interacting with others..
It's like myspace and facebook.. evil.. but at least contained! Better than the anglefire/geocities days!
And yeah.. this is totally a troll.. but it's Tuesday and I just got back from work and I really need to make something for dinner but I don't have anything and I'm too lazy to go to the store..
Did you see Linux mentioned anywhere in my post...
I've not claimed Linux to be more secure.. in fact I tend to say that Linux can be considerably less secure.. especially in the hands of inexperienced users.
Linux gives you a lot more rope to hang yourself.. and a command to enable opengl looks as much like random gibberish as a command to connect to an external host and provide a bash shell using netcat.. combined with users who will pretty much run any command as root that you tell them to if they think it will fix their problems.
That said.. I still prefer Linux for a number of other reasons.. and at least with Linux you can see what the heck is going on.. windows is a closed box that you just have to hope is doing what it's supposed to..
Anti virus software has become increasingly ineffective? Potentially opens up even more venues for attack! The Windows system of limiting privileges isn't always effective??!!??!!
Next you'll be telling me that fire is hot, water is wet, sci.. you know the rest
I mean this is cool and all, it's a neat discovery... but I think the whole concept of anti virus software is critically flawed and has become completely ineffective.
There is such a wide variety of office "culture" that general advice is hard. I think a lot of it is trial an error.. you're going to at some point piss someone off or at least do something/say something and hate yourself for it. When you do, just try and learn from it and minimize the damage as best you can.
I guess one thing I'd recommend though is that while you (being fresh out of school) probably have all kinds of great ideas on how you're going to revolutionize everything, you have to accept that companies can't just change their process with ever new graduating class. Not saying you shouldn't try to bring in new ideas.. but don't be "that guy" who spends every meeting talking about how the way things are being done is totally wrong and how pair programming and executable UML would be perfect. The guys with 20+ years of experience may be set in their ways.. but they also (probably) have a lot of experience seeing projects succeed and fail.. having some new kid throwing ideas from a textbook at them can ruffle some feathers.
Seriously.. a well designed cube farm is pretty nice..
Monitors should be positioned such that someone walking by can't see what's on the screen..
As a programmer.. I hate all this "open concept" stuff. If I want to talk to someone.. I can get up and go visit them. Little pow wows around someones cubicle are insanely common where I work.. and very effective. Anything bigger than 3 or 4 people.. go find an empty room somewhere...
I know this is troll-ish, but the way I view it a script is just that.. a script. A series of commands to be executed in a specific order designed to automate a repetative task. Basic logic, control, and input are generally ok.. but interaction is in my opinion an indicator that your task is out of scope for a "script" and should become a full fledged application.
(you may now freely argue amongst yourselves on the difference between a script and an application)
There are a metric ass-tonne of dialog-type apps out there.. just google for your favorite toolkits prefix and "dialog" and you'll probably find something..
If you're talking high school and university students.. then yeah.. probably..
If you're talking people working as programmers.. then I think a big part of it is the scarier and scarier policies big (and sometimes even small) dev shops are putting on what people do with their free time.
And if it's not that.. it's the fear of legal action and who owns ideas and skills. There is often a lot of overlap in what people do at work and what people contribute to at home.. and this is becoming a thinner and thinner rope to walk across.
And I know a whole bunch of people are going to reply with their interpretation of what you own vs what your employer owns.. but when it comes to your career.. a lot of people start getting wary even if they probably are in their right.. and I think that takes away a lot of the fun and leads to people simply "not bothering"
Democracy slows down progress!.. in other news, scissors sharp.. fire hot.. water wet
But seriously.. when a huge number of people with completely different objectives and viewpoints have to agree for anything to happen.. stuff happens very slowly. Still, better than most alternatives..
More likely, line-in is just not a feature used by enough mobile users to make it worth putting on a laptop.
Most laptops don't come with 7.1 surround sound output either.. and it's not because surround sound is fading into the sunset..
Any desktop motherboard with integrated sound will probably have one though.. and just about any add-on sound card will as well.
_AND_ any decent external sound "card" will probably have one.. have a look at terratec's produce line. The DMX 6Fire USB has a whole plethora of inputs.
Even cheap mini-itx boards (MSI Wind for instance) have line in.. just get yourself one o` those...
I have yet to find anything that can replace the flexibility of a notepad..
Some stuff comes close (or even surpasses) in specific areas, but for general day to day stuff like taking notes at a meeting or scribbling out something to argue a point.. nah
People:
There are still people.. lots of them.. who will print out emails to read them. No technology will fix this.
Implementing a graphical interface is often a chore.. and I think a lot of coders (myself included) are looking for functionality over usability when they write something.
If you're developing software to sell.. then there is an incentive to put in the work and put a graphical front-end on the thing.. but if you are working on something for fun.. what incentive is there to make it more accessible to others? (besides bragging rights of being the author of a widely used piece of software).
Is this a medical concern, or are you trying to improve speed?
If you work in a data entry job, I guess it makes sense, but if you're actually spewing out so much code or documentation that typing speed is becoming an issue.. you're either a mad genius or producing some very poor quality code!
I honestly think when it comes to most non-data entry jobs.. quality is generally better than quantity. A few slowly typed but well thought out lines are always going to be better than a page of garbage.
this is what holds linux back from being a mainstream desktop
And in my opinion, well it should!
For Linux to appeal to the common user, stuff has to just work without needing a proxy to make it work for them (i.e. package maintainers) or getting it to work themselves (i.e. compiling it). For this to work, Linux has to become standardized.. so that people don't have to worry about supporting my favourite stack vs some other gentoo (or other distro) user's.
And then you basically just have a cheaper, more open version of windows.
Personally I see Linux as a playground. I can mess around with stuff.. write custom patches.. play with different implementations of core tools.. etc. It's not productive, or even sane.. but I enjoy it.
Call me selfish.. but I miss the days where unless you were a hard core geek..you'd never even hear the name "Linux". I'd rather a relatively unheard of Linux than a ubiquitous Linux in the Ubuntu vision.
You want something that just works.. get windows.. or a mac! (Seriously.. not trolling.. I think either are good if you want to just come home at the end of the day and have a usable computer)
I don't want the government tapping into my phone, spying on my Internet traffic, or searching through my house without just cause.. but we're talking finger prints here.
And while I do agree.. saying the only alternative is welfare was a little extreme.. you are definitely limiting yourself by refusing to allow any intrusions into your precious privacy.
I suppose some people will accept a lot of money to surrender their freedoms.
This is completely true.. and I think in a lot of cases.. people are better off for it. Everything is a balancing act.. certain jobs (especially government) require a fair degree of background checking.. this is of course an invasion into your privacy.. but you are compensated for it (both financially and in terms of getting to work on some really cool stuff).
It's not about completely selling out your privacy.. but it's not about living the life of a paranoid delusional who thinks the world is out to get them either. It's about finding a balance you're comfortable with.
As someone who has "given up" a lot of privacy in exchange for a very enjoyable career.. I've felt no ill effects from it. What exactly do the tin foil types of the world think the government / Illuminati / whatever.. are doing with this information.. and specifically.. how do they think it's going to realistically effect their lives in an actual concrete way (vice some paranoid "when the commies come back" throb).
You mean, like having a functioning always-connected-to-broadband potential attack platform?
Sitting on the same Internet as thousands unsecured windows machines.
Seriously.. you're argument is just plain silly. No one is going to go to the hassle of covertly breaking Diffe-Hellman or AES for the purpose of setting up a zombie box. If you could do either.. heck if you could do either.. you'd probably make a mint..
The minor advantage over one or the other is moot.. because unless you've got something of actual importance (in which case it shouldn't be on your home computer) no one is going to go through the bother of trying to break in either way.
If someone wants whats on your computer.. they'll probably just grab you and beat you to a pulp until you give them your password.
I actually kind of feel sorry for those who's lives basically peak in high school.
I'm not just talking about the jerk/bully types.. but the socialite party every night types. They get 3 (or 4.. or 5) years where they are on top of the world.. then 50 or 60 years of mundane "it's a job" type lives.
I wouldn't say I hated high school.. but I definitely didn't enjoy it. I saw it as a necessary evil that I'd work hard at and get into what I really wanted to do..
And I did! I've got a great job and nothing major to worry about. I wouldn't say I jump out of bed every morning.. but I definitely care about what I do and treat it as a part of my life rather than "8 hours of time that has to be served every day".
Lots of people I knew peaked in high school.. and are now in a job they don't really like.. just kind of doing it cause it has to be done.. for the mortgage so to speak. No real plan to get into something else.. intent on just coasting through through the next 40 years.
It really is an under-addressed public health issue
I really hope they don't _over_ address it (WAIT! this is a serious comment!).
I'm really glad to see them taking a "help the kids function in the real world" vice the traditional "turn schools into a happy fantasy world" approach.
At the same time, learning to deal with these kind of challenges on your own is important. Obviously there are lots of cases where things get out of hand, and as the article describes, kids grow up with all sorts of problems as a result.
I think the assumption here is that you are giving the kid a push in the right direction.. rather than hand holding.. which might work. When you start doing the latter.. I think you just serve to isolate the kid more (classic example.. when a teacher essentially forces a group to include someone).
Most kids are so desperate to have friends, they just jump on board
Personally I think this hints at the root of the problem... self esteem.
It's cliche.. but "just be yourself" works. If you're a geek.. be a geek.. you'll fit in somewhere.
This got modded funny.. but you actually nailed it on the head!
It's been my experience that "inner-office communication tools" generally don't get used.. or if they do.. it's because people are forced to use them.
You're doing it backwards.. people seek out tools when they need to communicate.. they don't communicate because tools are provided.
What you need is an area where people will tend to "bump into each other"..
Like a water cooler.. or a kitchen.. or if you want to go extreme.. even a little room with chairs and maybe a pool table where people can get away from their work for a few minutes.
You might also want to get some "silly office game" type stuff going. Have a white board somewhere where people post math problems.. word problems.. or whatever. AND don't formalize it.. don't write a web app to keep track of it.. just stick a white board up with some markers and an eraser near by and write "rock songs NOT about girls, drugs, or rock n` roll:". This kind of thing regulates itself. When people get tired ot the topic.. someone will erase it and put a new one.. some will last days.. some will last hours.. great "ice breaker".
Slashdot Mirror
Don't even bother trying to use HTML to make printing work. Generate something else (pdf is good.. consistent, widely supported.. evil) and have the user print that.
I don't mean slightly easier, either. If other databases are like putting a band-aid on a cut, Oracle is like brain surgery.
Totally.
I almost think oracle does this on purpose to drum up consulting fees or something. For such a powerful database product, all the tools around it are almost intentionally unintuitive and fragile.
Even connecting to oracle, arguably the simplest interaction with most databases, is more complicated. Most databases you just specify a hostname, username, and password.. oracle seems to insist on all manner of weird voodoo. Once you know that voodoo it's no problem.. but initially it's like "service name" .. wtf is that.. and what do you mean I have to add this to some config file!
.. the linked test reminds me of those "what job are you best suited for" tests we got in school. The ones which after answering at least 100 very transparent and subjective questions would recommend you become a garbage man, an astronaut, or maybe a carpenter.
And all the questions are the same.. they could have essentially made the whole thing two questions:
1) are you empathetic
2) are you _NOT_ empathetic
Personally I think people are just as self centered now as always and we've just gotten better (supposedly) at measuring it.
It's like how mental illness would appear to be on the rise. It could be legitimate change, or it could be that we've come up with fancy names for kids who back in the day would've just been called "a little slow" and/or ended up in a job where no one would notice.
Is that now all the people who spend their time watching reality TV all day will be out in public interacting with others..
It's like myspace and facebook.. evil .. but at least contained! Better than the anglefire/geocities days!
And yeah.. this is totally a troll.. but it's Tuesday and I just got back from work and I really need to make something for dinner but I don't have anything and I'm too lazy to go to the store..
Did you see Linux mentioned anywhere in my post...
I've not claimed Linux to be more secure.. in fact I tend to say that Linux can be considerably less secure.. especially in the hands of inexperienced users.
Linux gives you a lot more rope to hang yourself.. and a command to enable opengl looks as much like random gibberish as a command to connect to an external host and provide a bash shell using netcat .. combined with users who will pretty much run any command as root that you tell them to if they think it will fix their problems.
That said.. I still prefer Linux for a number of other reasons.. and at least with Linux you can see what the heck is going on.. windows is a closed box that you just have to hope is doing what it's supposed to..
Anti virus software has become increasingly ineffective? Potentially opens up even more venues for attack! The Windows system of limiting privileges isn't always effective??!!??!!
Next you'll be telling me that fire is hot, water is wet, sci.. you know the rest
I mean this is cool and all, it's a neat discovery... but I think the whole concept of anti virus software is critically flawed and has become completely ineffective.
There is such a wide variety of office "culture" that general advice is hard. I think a lot of it is trial an error.. you're going to at some point piss someone off or at least do something/say something and hate yourself for it. When you do, just try and learn from it and minimize the damage as best you can.
I guess one thing I'd recommend though is that while you (being fresh out of school) probably have all kinds of great ideas on how you're going to revolutionize everything, you have to accept that companies can't just change their process with ever new graduating class. Not saying you shouldn't try to bring in new ideas.. but don't be "that guy" who spends every meeting talking about how the way things are being done is totally wrong and how pair programming and executable UML would be perfect. The guys with 20+ years of experience may be set in their ways.. but they also (probably) have a lot of experience seeing projects succeed and fail.. having some new kid throwing ideas from a textbook at them can ruffle some feathers.
Seriously.. a well designed cube farm is pretty nice..
Monitors should be positioned such that someone walking by can't see what's on the screen..
As a programmer.. I hate all this "open concept" stuff. If I want to talk to someone.. I can get up and go visit them. Little pow wows around someones cubicle are insanely common where I work.. and very effective. Anything bigger than 3 or 4 people.. go find an empty room somewhere...
I know this is troll-ish, but the way I view it a script is just that.. a script. A series of commands to be executed in a specific order designed to automate a repetative task. Basic logic, control, and input are generally ok.. but interaction is in my opinion an indicator that your task is out of scope for a "script" and should become a full fledged application.
(you may now freely argue amongst yourselves on the difference between a script and an application)
There are a metric ass-tonne of dialog-type apps out there .. just google for your favorite toolkits prefix and "dialog" and you'll probably find something..
gdialog
kdialog
xdialog
etc..
If you're talking high school and university students.. then yeah.. probably..
If you're talking people working as programmers.. then I think a big part of it is the scarier and scarier policies big (and sometimes even small) dev shops are putting on what people do with their free time.
And if it's not that.. it's the fear of legal action and who owns ideas and skills. There is often a lot of overlap in what people do at work and what people contribute to at home.. and this is becoming a thinner and thinner rope to walk across.
And I know a whole bunch of people are going to reply with their interpretation of what you own vs what your employer owns.. but when it comes to your career.. a lot of people start getting wary even if they probably are in their right.. and I think that takes away a lot of the fun and leads to people simply "not bothering"
.. hence the "better than most alternatives" bit..
Democracy slows down progress! .. in other news, scissors sharp.. fire hot.. water wet
But seriously.. when a huge number of people with completely different objectives and viewpoints have to agree for anything to happen.. stuff happens very slowly. Still, better than most alternatives..
More likely, line-in is just not a feature used by enough mobile users to make it worth putting on a laptop.
Most laptops don't come with 7.1 surround sound output either.. and it's not because surround sound is fading into the sunset..
Any desktop motherboard with integrated sound will probably have one though.. and just about any add-on sound card will as well.
_AND_ any decent external sound "card" will probably have one.. have a look at terratec's produce line. The DMX 6Fire USB has a whole plethora of inputs.
Even cheap mini-itx boards (MSI Wind for instance) have line in.. just get yourself one o` those...
Technology:
I have yet to find anything that can replace the flexibility of a notepad..
Some stuff comes close (or even surpasses) in specific areas, but for general day to day stuff like taking notes at a meeting or scribbling out something to argue a point.. nah
People:
There are still people.. lots of them.. who will print out emails to read them. No technology will fix this.
I think that's part of it.. but not all of it..
Implementing a graphical interface is often a chore.. and I think a lot of coders (myself included) are looking for functionality over usability when they write something.
If you're developing software to sell.. then there is an incentive to put in the work and put a graphical front-end on the thing.. but if you are working on something for fun.. what incentive is there to make it more accessible to others? (besides bragging rights of being the author of a widely used piece of software).
Don't be too quick to put Java down.. it's slower but it scales fairly well.
Is this a medical concern, or are you trying to improve speed?
If you work in a data entry job, I guess it makes sense, but if you're actually spewing out so much code or documentation that typing speed is becoming an issue.. you're either a mad genius or producing some very poor quality code!
I honestly think when it comes to most non-data entry jobs.. quality is generally better than quantity. A few slowly typed but well thought out lines are always going to be better than a page of garbage.
this is what holds linux back from being a mainstream desktop
And in my opinion, well it should!
For Linux to appeal to the common user, stuff has to just work without needing a proxy to make it work for them (i.e. package maintainers) or getting it to work themselves (i.e. compiling it). For this to work, Linux has to become standardized.. so that people don't have to worry about supporting my favourite stack vs some other gentoo (or other distro) user's.
And then you basically just have a cheaper, more open version of windows.
Personally I see Linux as a playground. I can mess around with stuff.. write custom patches.. play with different implementations of core tools.. etc. It's not productive, or even sane.. but I enjoy it.
Call me selfish.. but I miss the days where unless you were a hard core geek..you'd never even hear the name "Linux". I'd rather a relatively unheard of Linux than a ubiquitous Linux in the Ubuntu vision.
You want something that just works.. get windows.. or a mac! (Seriously.. not trolling.. I think either are good if you want to just come home at the end of the day and have a usable computer)
I totally agree with commodore64_love
I don't want the government tapping into my phone, spying on my Internet traffic, or searching through my house without just cause.. but we're talking finger prints here.
And while I do agree.. saying the only alternative is welfare was a little extreme.. you are definitely limiting yourself by refusing to allow any intrusions into your precious privacy.
I suppose some people will accept a lot of money to surrender their freedoms.
This is completely true.. and I think in a lot of cases.. people are better off for it. Everything is a balancing act.. certain jobs (especially government) require a fair degree of background checking.. this is of course an invasion into your privacy.. but you are compensated for it (both financially and in terms of getting to work on some really cool stuff).
It's not about completely selling out your privacy.. but it's not about living the life of a paranoid delusional who thinks the world is out to get them either. It's about finding a balance you're comfortable with.
As someone who has "given up" a lot of privacy in exchange for a very enjoyable career.. I've felt no ill effects from it. What exactly do the tin foil types of the world think the government / Illuminati / whatever .. are doing with this information.. and specifically.. how do they think it's going to realistically effect their lives in an actual concrete way (vice some paranoid "when the commies come back" throb).
You mean, like having a functioning always-connected-to-broadband potential attack platform?
Sitting on the same Internet as thousands unsecured windows machines.
Seriously.. you're argument is just plain silly. No one is going to go to the hassle of covertly breaking Diffe-Hellman or AES for the purpose of setting up a zombie box. If you could do either.. heck if you could do either.. you'd probably make a mint ..
Seriously..
The minor advantage over one or the other is moot.. because unless you've got something of actual importance (in which case it shouldn't be on your home computer) no one is going to go through the bother of trying to break in either way.
If someone wants whats on your computer.. they'll probably just grab you and beat you to a pulp until you give them your password.
Totally..
I actually kind of feel sorry for those who's lives basically peak in high school.
I'm not just talking about the jerk/bully types.. but the socialite party every night types. They get 3 (or 4.. or 5) years where they are on top of the world.. then 50 or 60 years of mundane "it's a job" type lives.
I wouldn't say I hated high school.. but I definitely didn't enjoy it. I saw it as a necessary evil that I'd work hard at and get into what I really wanted to do..
And I did! I've got a great job and nothing major to worry about. I wouldn't say I jump out of bed every morning .. but I definitely care about what I do and treat it as a part of my life rather than "8 hours of time that has to be served every day".
Lots of people I knew peaked in high school.. and are now in a job they don't really like.. just kind of doing it cause it has to be done .. for the mortgage so to speak. No real plan to get into something else.. intent on just coasting through through the next 40 years.
It really is an under-addressed public health issue
I really hope they don't _over_ address it (WAIT! this is a serious comment!).
I'm really glad to see them taking a "help the kids function in the real world" vice the traditional "turn schools into a happy fantasy world" approach.
At the same time, learning to deal with these kind of challenges on your own is important. Obviously there are lots of cases where things get out of hand, and as the article describes, kids grow up with all sorts of problems as a result.
I think the assumption here is that you are giving the kid a push in the right direction.. rather than hand holding.. which might work. When you start doing the latter.. I think you just serve to isolate the kid more (classic example.. when a teacher essentially forces a group to include someone).
Most kids are so desperate to have friends, they just jump on board
Personally I think this hints at the root of the problem... self esteem.
It's cliche.. but "just be yourself" works. If you're a geek.. be a geek.. you'll fit in somewhere.
This got modded funny.. but you actually nailed it on the head!
It's been my experience that "inner-office communication tools" generally don't get used.. or if they do.. it's because people are forced to use them.
You're doing it backwards.. people seek out tools when they need to communicate.. they don't communicate because tools are provided.
What you need is an area where people will tend to "bump into each other"..
Like a water cooler.. or a kitchen.. or if you want to go extreme.. even a little room with chairs and maybe a pool table where people can get away from their work for a few minutes.
You might also want to get some "silly office game" type stuff going. Have a white board somewhere where people post math problems.. word problems.. or whatever. AND don't formalize it.. don't write a web app to keep track of it.. just stick a white board up with some markers and an eraser near by and write "rock songs NOT about girls, drugs, or rock n` roll:". This kind of thing regulates itself. When people get tired ot the topic.. someone will erase it and put a new one.. some will last days.. some will last hours.. great "ice breaker".
I really don't :(
Hopefully this whole thing gets corrected without too much harm :)