Okay, here's a better description: garbage collection is a means of freeing memory by cleaning out old objects (variables, buffers, data structures, code, etc.) the program doesn't need anymore.
Example: I open a file in an application and work with it. While working with it, the programs allocates buffers (temporary holding places) and data structures and so forth in memory. When I'm done, I close the file. The application needs no longer needs all this data associated with the file, so it calls garbage collection routines to free them up.
Do you have a sense of humor? Have you ever actually watched cellphone television commercials?
Nevermind.
In general, I find the following to be true: Gen X, early Gen Y and late Boomers, in general, tend to (currently) be the most tech proficient. Middle and Late Gen Yers are tech proficient enough to use everything, but have, as a group, shunned learning anything deep about tech, instead preferring to rely on others to tell them what to do when they want to do advanced stuff like modding or jailbreaking a device.
Of the technorati who are proficient enough to hack stuff and write code, men still tend to be more proficient than women, but this is changing. In general, females in those above-mentioned age brackets (Gen X, early Gen Y and late Boomers) tend to be the most proficient, and there tend to be more proficient females in those age groups than in any other.
But, y'know, think whatever you want about me, because I don't really care what anyone who is afraid to stand behind their own words has to say about me.
And that, my friend AC, is the key to your entire post. It isn't likely that the court will buy such an argument. After all, one presumes that the software company in question offers technical support and that technical support is going to provide more help than "d00d, ju5t d/l teh g4m3 fr TPB!!11!!!"
No, I think what the article is saying is that Google is offering scaled-back versions of Android, I'm guessing, so that more carriers will snap them up. Some carriers don't and won't want to offer phones with Google branding, pre-loaded Google applications, etc., since they want more 'control' over handsets than what Google was previously providing.
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; (3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; (4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; (5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
(empahsis mine). Only the copyright holder can make copies. As you (and the above0quoted text) allude to, there are limitations on these exclusive rights under Title 17, Chapter 1 Â 106:
(a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy.â" Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided: (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or (2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
However, note the emphasized text: only if it is an essential step. Pirating a game for the purpose of running a game, even one that you legitimately purchased, doesn't fall under this exception. An "essential step" would include loading it onto a hard drive or the copy that is made in RAM when it is loaded from the hard drive, etc. Getting a cracked version from The Pirate Bay does not count as an essential step.
Your coffee cup is a container. The implication of "content" is that a CD, DVD, etc. is a container also. When you buy it, you're not after the container, you're after the content.
Last month I bought a new mid-spec laptop and went shopping for an "old" game that would run on it, and I settled on Civ4. After buying it, I discovered that it too uses SecuROM so I will not install it. Instead, I think it's morally (and legally?) acceptable to download a pirate copy without DRM.
Morally, yes. Legally? Forget it. The uploader violated the law by distributing illegal copies. You violated the law by downloading and burning, thereby making an illegal copy. Remember what copyright is: it's a legal right to copy, literally. Also, usnig a Alcohol to make an image of the DVD is probably also a violation of the law, though the Software Act of 1980 does allow for you to make a copy for archival purposes and as an essential step in executing the program. Whether imaging the DVD can be viewed as "an essential step" or not depends on how good your lawyer is.;)
Oh, we'll fight for our freedom alright. Just give it a little more time... keep taking away our rights. Watch what happens. All I know is, I don't want any part of it because it's going to be very, very ugly. Don't believe me? Read this wacko. Don't think she's credible? There's a hundred thousand more out there, each with a different agenda.
*I* didn't "bash" Cairo for being too immature, the Inkscape developers did. In their Wiki. I actually had no idea that librsvg used Cairo for rendering.
But I will say that I make heavy use of SVG and many advanced features, and when an application uses Cairo (like the Gnome Image Viewer) they never render correctly.
The Inkscape project is huge, but it almost sounds like you could rip livarot, Inkscape's current renderer, right from the code and use it. Inkscape itself doesn't even use Cairo because they consider it too immature (and, IMHO, it is, at this point).
OTOH, you could simply use librsvg to render the SVG graphics to PNG (or some other supported format) and display with the appropriate library calls.
Using librsvg this way always seemed like a bit of a kludge to me, but lots of projects use it for rendering.
So, to answer the OPs question as to whether or not there is a need for a lightweight C/C++ renderer -- I'd say yes.
I don't think anybody around here ever said patents were bad. And if they did, they certainly don't represent the majority opinion. Most of feel that software patents are bad, and that the patent system, particularly in the U.S., is just really screwed up because the USPTO awards patents for ideas that are clearly either non-novel (prior art exists) or are obvious to those in the field(s) of study in question. Many of us also feel that patents are granted for too long a period of time, especially in the realms of IT and consumer electronics.
On the contrary, I think that patents are a useful way to encourage inventors to invent things by enabling them to reap benefits for their inventions, both monetary and non-monetary.
Lightweight IDE - it may only be a 3MB installer, but it downloads a lot more to install on the fly and it can chew up plenty of resources for any non-trivial code bases. It often stalls out updating Intellisense on a project of any appreciable size. Part of the reason it's a smaller install is all the help and docs are online which makes doing work without an active internet connection a PIA (i.e. laptop on an airplane).
Agreed. Microsoft's IDEs, VC++ Express included, are anything but lightweight. They eat gobs of memory and take a long time to launch, unless you happen to 8GB of RAM and a quad core. Intellisense is horrible with large code bases.
best compiler - Nope. Not even close. Intel compiler is generally 10-20% faster code than MSVC++.
Well, I'd just like to point out that "best" doesn't always mean that the resulting code runs the fastest. It all depends on your criteria. If you're developing embedded systems, you want to cram things into less memory more than you want absolute speed. Other times you may want the compiler with the most supported language features and standard. I believe gcc and gcc-derived compilers like MinGW win on this count for C++ compilers, but Intel's compiler is also very good in this respect.
I do think that the general consensus I see around the Net and in the industry is that the Intel compiler is both faster and produces faster code than any others, though, at least on x86 and x86_64 processors. For all-around capability on any processor, gcc still wins hands down.
Actually, there really isn't much difference. The main difference is that hard drive manufacturers build their SCSI/SAS drives better than their IDE/SATA drives, because most SCSI/SAS drives are going into servers.
The performance difference historically was much faster and that's the reason why SCSI is used in server hardware, but now it's mostly a matter of economics and pricing.
So I have a list of hundreds of supported printers. But I don't know which ones are in stock at the local Best Buy store, and there are too many models for me to jot down.
Yeah, but Best Buy only sells these brands: HP, Lexmark, Canon, and Epson. Of those, virtually everything by HP will work, and the rest will work partially, though some Epson models will work 100%.
You don't need to write down every friggin' model, just the printers that look promising. Plus, you can always look on Best Buy's website.
Maybe a symptom of a greater disorder, perhaps? Depression? A personality disorder, perhaps?
I don't think excessive bitterness is, in and of itself, classifiable as a disorder. It is merely one symptom of a greater problem. BTW--how did you change the font like that?
Slashdot Mirror
Who said anything about cathode ray tubes? Get off my lawn and let me go back to my Teletype!
Okay, here's a better description: garbage collection is a means of freeing memory by cleaning out old objects (variables, buffers, data structures, code, etc.) the program doesn't need anymore.
Example: I open a file in an application and work with it. While working with it, the programs allocates buffers (temporary holding places) and data structures and so forth in memory. When I'm done, I close the file. The application needs no longer needs all this data associated with the file, so it calls garbage collection routines to free them up.
Do you have a sense of humor? Have you ever actually watched cellphone television commercials?
Nevermind.
In general, I find the following to be true: Gen X, early Gen Y and late Boomers, in general, tend to (currently) be the most tech proficient. Middle and Late Gen Yers are tech proficient enough to use everything, but have, as a group, shunned learning anything deep about tech, instead preferring to rely on others to tell them what to do when they want to do advanced stuff like modding or jailbreaking a device.
Of the technorati who are proficient enough to hack stuff and write code, men still tend to be more proficient than women, but this is changing. In general, females in those above-mentioned age brackets (Gen X, early Gen Y and late Boomers) tend to be the most proficient, and there tend to be more proficient females in those age groups than in any other.
But, y'know, think whatever you want about me, because I don't really care what anyone who is afraid to stand behind their own words has to say about me.
Of course, a judge might not see it that way.
And that, my friend AC, is the key to your entire post. It isn't likely that the court will buy such an argument. After all, one presumes that the software company in question offers technical support and that technical support is going to provide more help than "d00d, ju5t d/l teh g4m3 fr TPB!!11!!!"
Only those who know what they're doing. The vast majority of these phones will likely be sold to 13-year old girls and 86 year-old grandmothers.
No, I think what the article is saying is that Google is offering scaled-back versions of Android, I'm guessing, so that more carriers will snap them up. Some carriers don't and won't want to offer phones with Google branding, pre-loaded Google applications, etc., since they want more 'control' over handsets than what Google was previously providing.
Um... It's only specifically illegal to distribute copies.
No, that's just completely incorrect. You should really consult a lawyer rather than rely on "he said, she said" in forums on Slashdot.
Here is the relevant law, Title 17, Chapter 1 Â 106 US Code: Exclusive rights in copyrighted works:
(empahsis mine). Only the copyright holder can make copies. As you (and the above0quoted text) allude to, there are limitations on these exclusive rights under Title 17, Chapter 1 Â 106:
However, note the emphasized text: only if it is an essential step. Pirating a game for the purpose of running a game, even one that you legitimately purchased, doesn't fall under this exception. An "essential step" would include loading it onto a hard drive or the copy that is made in RAM when it is loaded from the hard drive, etc. Getting a cracked version from The Pirate Bay does not count as an essential step.
IANAL, and YMMV.
Your coffee cup is a container. The implication of "content" is that a CD, DVD, etc. is a container also. When you buy it, you're not after the container, you're after the content.
Last month I bought a new mid-spec laptop and went shopping for an "old" game that would run on it, and I settled on Civ4. After buying it, I discovered that it too uses SecuROM so I will not install it. Instead, I think it's morally (and legally?) acceptable to download a pirate copy without DRM.
Morally, yes. Legally? Forget it. The uploader violated the law by distributing illegal copies. You violated the law by downloading and burning, thereby making an illegal copy. Remember what copyright is: it's a legal right to copy, literally. Also, usnig a Alcohol to make an image of the DVD is probably also a violation of the law, though the Software Act of 1980 does allow for you to make a copy for archival purposes and as an essential step in executing the program. Whether imaging the DVD can be viewed as "an essential step" or not depends on how good your lawyer is. ;)
Law isn't science. It's voodoo.
No, I was simply agreeing with them. Bashing them would imply that it was all my idea. :-P
Oh, we'll fight for our freedom alright. Just give it a little more time... keep taking away our rights. Watch what happens. All I know is, I don't want any part of it because it's going to be very, very ugly. Don't believe me? Read this wacko. Don't think she's credible? There's a hundred thousand more out there, each with a different agenda.
It'll be interesting to see, the first time some guy (or girl) has the stones to tell the customs agent to screw off.
If Dick Cheney gets his way, it'll be Gitmo for him or her.
I'm not laughing. See this? This is me. Not laughing.
*I* didn't "bash" Cairo for being too immature, the Inkscape developers did. In their Wiki. I actually had no idea that librsvg used Cairo for rendering.
But I will say that I make heavy use of SVG and many advanced features, and when an application uses Cairo (like the Gnome Image Viewer) they never render correctly.
The Inkscape project is huge, but it almost sounds like you could rip livarot, Inkscape's current renderer, right from the code and use it. Inkscape itself doesn't even use Cairo because they consider it too immature (and, IMHO, it is, at this point).
OTOH, you could simply use librsvg to render the SVG graphics to PNG (or some other supported format) and display with the appropriate library calls.
Using librsvg this way always seemed like a bit of a kludge to me, but lots of projects use it for rendering.
So, to answer the OPs question as to whether or not there is a need for a lightweight C/C++ renderer -- I'd say yes.
I don't think anybody around here ever said patents were bad. And if they did, they certainly don't represent the majority opinion. Most of feel that software patents are bad, and that the patent system, particularly in the U.S., is just really screwed up because the USPTO awards patents for ideas that are clearly either non-novel (prior art exists) or are obvious to those in the field(s) of study in question. Many of us also feel that patents are granted for too long a period of time, especially in the realms of IT and consumer electronics.
On the contrary, I think that patents are a useful way to encourage inventors to invent things by enabling them to reap benefits for their inventions, both monetary and non-monetary.
Lightweight IDE - it may only be a 3MB installer, but it downloads a lot more to install on the fly and it can chew up plenty of resources for any non-trivial code bases. It often stalls out updating Intellisense on a project of any appreciable size. Part of the reason it's a smaller install is all the help and docs are online which makes doing work without an active internet connection a PIA (i.e. laptop on an airplane).
Agreed. Microsoft's IDEs, VC++ Express included, are anything but lightweight. They eat gobs of memory and take a long time to launch, unless you happen to 8GB of RAM and a quad core. Intellisense is horrible with large code bases.
best compiler - Nope. Not even close. Intel compiler is generally 10-20% faster code than MSVC++.
Well, I'd just like to point out that "best" doesn't always mean that the resulting code runs the fastest. It all depends on your criteria. If you're developing embedded systems, you want to cram things into less memory more than you want absolute speed. Other times you may want the compiler with the most supported language features and standard. I believe gcc and gcc-derived compilers like MinGW win on this count for C++ compilers, but Intel's compiler is also very good in this respect.
I do think that the general consensus I see around the Net and in the industry is that the Intel compiler is both faster and produces faster code than any others, though, at least on x86 and x86_64 processors. For all-around capability on any processor, gcc still wins hands down.
We'll get off your lawn now.
Faster, Faster!
More, More!
OMG, I think I just blew my wad!
Actually, there really isn't much difference. The main difference is that hard drive manufacturers build their SCSI/SAS drives better than their IDE/SATA drives, because most SCSI/SAS drives are going into servers.
The performance difference historically was much faster and that's the reason why SCSI is used in server hardware, but now it's mostly a matter of economics and pricing.
I thought they were in Minnesota. Shows you what I know.
So I have a list of hundreds of supported printers. But I don't know which ones are in stock at the local Best Buy store, and there are too many models for me to jot down.
Yeah, but Best Buy only sells these brands: HP, Lexmark, Canon, and Epson. Of those, virtually everything by HP will work, and the rest will work partially, though some Epson models will work 100%.
You don't need to write down every friggin' model, just the printers that look promising. Plus, you can always look on Best Buy's website.
So you work for CDW, eh?
Being overly bitter is indicative of something.
Maybe a symptom of a greater disorder, perhaps? Depression? A personality disorder, perhaps?
I don't think excessive bitterness is, in and of itself, classifiable as a disorder. It is merely one symptom of a greater problem. BTW--how did you change the font like that?