For Chrome at least, have you done some remote debugging, as outlined here in this article: https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/remote-debugging ? Doing this lets you use the built-in Chrome DevTools to track what JavaScript events fire, set breakpoints for your JavaScript, etc.
I did this out of curiosity, and found that m.slashdot.org gets "stuck" -- that is, when attempting to scroll, the page doesn't move. Upon inspecting events, it appears that something's attempting to recalculate the stying, and also firing off/detecting a whole bunch of "scroll", "touch", "touchstart" and "touchmove" events at once. Though, that "recalculate style" event occurs _every_time_ that scrolling gets "stuck". The pattern seems to be this:// single scroll "Recalculate Style" "Recalculate Style" "Event(scroll)" (varying "scroll", "touch", "touchstart" and "touchmove", at least 10+ occurrences at once)// end single scroll
Do you have code somewhere that's trying to detect scroll-related events? Maybe there's a touch-related (module of an) API that you're using (unnecessarily)? I looked at events that occur while scrolling on coding.smashingmagazine.com, m.bbc.co.uk/news, and allthingsd.com. The last one also fires a series of scroll events, but they're all just "scroll" events and not the various "touch", "touchstart", and "touchmove" events m.slashdot.org is firing. And, the "recalculate style" event doesn't occur either.
One trigger of stuck scrolling appears to be an attempt to invoke a scroll by dragging your finger at a 45 degree angle. Actually, it appears to happen at most angles other than up-down/90 degrees (i.e., dragging your finger vertically, from the top of the screen toward the bottom). Interestingly, you should be able to scroll a page even with a 45 degree angled drag on most pages (it worked on m.bbc.co.uk and coding.smashingmagazine.com, but not on allthingsd.com).
Also, on that "scrolling being interpreted as clicks" issue, it appears there's something wrong with Zepto.js (at least, that was the comment at the beginning of the file). Specifically, the error that was thrown about the time that the issue occurred: "Uncaught TypeError: Cannot call method 'trigger' of undefined". DevTools points at line 5/the first line of actual code, but as it's minified it's very hard to say what code is the culprit. I haven't been able to duplicate this to verify, and I have no idea what I did to cause the issue to occur.
I'm using Chrome 18.0.1025469 on a Galaxy Nexus, running Android 4.1.1.
I third that. I don't understand why we need a dumbed down version of the site when my phone can display the full site just fine? I'v enever had a problem browsing the full site and prefer it.
My one annoyance with viewing the full site on a mobile browser is the comment slider doesn't work/can't be used -- that slider determines how many full/abbreviated comments I see (which, sometimes I want to modify). Using the slider requires a click+drag motion on the desktop, which isn't necessarily possible on mobile. On Chrome for Android, these two things happen: (1) tap+drag in a web browser means you scroll the page or navigate to the next tab; or (2) a long-tap+drag means you're selecting text.
For the longest time, I used a search engine to help me figure out some programming issues. Now, I tend to go directly to StackOverflow and its related sites because (1) there's (sample) code that I can look at to figure out whether I'm missing something; and (2) people tend to be interested in providing helpful info. The times I use a search engine are when (a) I have some specific error message (compiler, some program I'm using, etc.); or (b) I'm looking up a tag/method/etc. that's new to me.
I wouldn't consider StackOverflow et. al. to be a Facebook/Twitter/etc. kind of "social container" because I think it has two primary goals: (1) Ask questions specifically to get help, and (2) Answer questions specifically to help our your fellow StackOverflow user. I don't see Facebook/Twitter/etc. having those two goals as primary (e.g., anything goes). I do consider it a "forum", which is like a social container but more focused/purposeful.
Nope, I don't think you're imagining things. I didn't realize it myself until this article appeared and I came across your comment.
I've done some web design, and so here's my basic <theory> below, typed as a stream of consciousness. As for making something look "Japanese", I think it's a result of various things:
Rounded Corners:
I don't these are strictly Japanese (see Slashdot's header, Southwest Airlines, Expedia, BBC (UK), Virgin Group (UK)). Though, rounded corners have made websites nicer to look at (not rigid - don't round/curvy things make people generally happy? Interpret as you wish.)
Pastel color scheme presence:
This may be a Japanese thing - all the non-Japanese sites I mentioned above generally employ primary colors. Two interesting US-based website examples are: Sprinkles Cupcakes and Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt. Both sites use lighter, non-primary colors and those color shades and combinations give me a sense of "fun" instead of "corporate". Note, though, that the different color shades aren't necessarily pastel-like in my opinion. One US-based website that uses something very close to pastel colors is Martha Stewart Omnimedia. We'll have to bring in a color expert to state whether Martha's colors are truly pastel.
At any rate, I think that only certain companies can satisfactorily use pastels in the US, and that would be companies dealing with fun food (cupcakes, frozen yogurt, etc) and hobbyist home decor arts/crafts. I think this is part to how I (and maybe you) without a Japanese background/surrounding/etc interpret colors and, as part of our respective cultures, have an understanding of what those colors represent. See this Visual Color Symbolism Chart by Culture and Color Symbolism Chart by Culture for a basic review. As noted in these two charts, "Green" in the US can mean money and trees and other things, but in China green hats mean a man's wife is cheating on him. One color, vastly different meanings! More information on "green" as a color: http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/colorselection/p/green.htm.
High-Context (Japanese) v. Low-Context (N. American, German-Speaking, etc) Cultures:
I came across this article while looking up cultureal color perception in Japan: Elizabeth Würtz's 2005 analysis titled: "A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Websites from High-Context Cultures and Low-Context Cultures". In this study, she noted that Japan is a high-context (HC) culture, whereas North America (and German-speaking countries even moreso) are low-context (LC) cultures:
Face-to-face communication in HC cultures is thus characterized by an extensive use of non-verbal strategies for conveying meanings. These strategies usually take the shape of behavioral language, such as gestures, body language, silence, proximity and symbolic behavior, while conversation in LC cultures tends to be less physically animated, with the meaning depending on content and the spoken word.
What was interesting to read were two of her conclusions regarding animation and presentation of individuals+products on websites:
Animation: Tendency in HC Cultures: High use of animation, especially in connection with images of moving people. Tendency in LC Cultures: Lower use of
Interesting comparison. In addition to the color scheme choice you mention, the image usage is certainly different between the two versions and alludes to a difference in what English-speaking customers and Japanese-speaking customers perceive as a big business's formal/consumer website. To me, it looks like the English version has a significant "corporate" feel (no people in main image; if there were any, most of those people would be in business casual), whereas the Japanese version has emphasis on a personable feel (people in generally typical, common clothing). Of course, the target audience probably has a lot to do with how the sites are designed: JP - primary customer base and your everyday customer, EN - probably mostly corporations as customer.
Sony USA presents an overall Flash-based primary website, complete with an intro/splash page, whereas Sony Japan appears to use Flash only for their interactive content on their own primary website. While Sony USA directs your attention to the product (and, for example, points out how you can save money if you're a student), Sony Japan has images that conjure up uses for products and interactivity with customers (e.g., Sony Japan's alternating banner at the top of site: camera for destination photos, Sony science program, 3D TV, Football fandom).
With these examples, I wonder if the Japanese style of website design isn't really to insist on cluttering, but instead on making their site as welcoming and personable as possible to their viewer. Perhaps this aim (if plausible) may explain the incorporation of emoticons and pastels and people in the website designs. And, if this is the case, I also wonder if this is based on the Japanese culture where politeness and respect is tantamount.*
* Not Japanese, never been to Japan. (Yet, anyway. I want to go!) Just presenting what I know from what I've deduced from Japanese dramas, and travel shows and books on Japan.
Re:Multitasking as the dev's responsiblity. Common
on
iPhone 4 News Roundup
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Full quote that should've been referenced (emphasis mine):
But most apps won't do anything except go to sleep, which means one of the classic tricks of multitasking, loading one task while you perform another, is not available unless the developer adds that function under a special task completion API. Some apps, such as Flickr, may take advantage of this feature for large file transfers, but others won't. Waiting for a YouTube video to buffer over a 3G connection? It won't go anywhere unless you're staring at the loading screen.
Multitasking as the dev's responsiblity. Common?
on
iPhone 4 News Roundup
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Waiting for a YouTube video to buffer over a 3G connection? It won't go anywhere unless you're staring at the loading screen.
Honestly, doesn't this also happen by default with applications on other mobile OS'es like Android, unless the developer specifies otherwise in the app's code?
From what I understand about the Android application life cycle under normal circumstances, once an Activity (the app's presentation layer, what you interact with) is completely obscured, the application's host process becomes a "background" process. Meaning, the app's Activities aren't visible and there are no Services running, thereby making the app's host process one of the first processes to be killed off so to allocate resources. (Service example: a media player running in the background while you're actively using another app). For an app's host process to remain in an active state, the app must have a running Activity, Service or Broadcast Receiver. In my following the Android dev tutorials, I've seen that only the Activity is absolutely required - Services and Broadcast Receivers are added only when you need them for your app to fulfill it's intended purpose.
So, in the case of buffering the YouTube video, if I were writing an Android app to do just that, I'd have to have explicitly created a Service to keep buffering the video while I used another app. If I didn't create a Service to keep buffering when the app's Activity exited the active state, then my app would do just what the article says - the app does nothing until I explicitly return to the app.
Entities that want to ensure controversial legislation (or controversial anything) gets enacted will surely do everything they can to keep it quiet and will encourage this behavior with their child entities.
A question: where did you hear that the specific major news companies you mentioned supported this legislation? From reading the article, it seems plausible that these news companies would like to keep their content from being illegally distributed by others, but there's no mention of who actually supports it (aside from the countries).
Though, your post further reinforces the impression that our 'real' news appears even more pre-packaged to the respective entity's benefit.
I mean, it's great to have someone available to handle that sort of thing, but can you really sustain a job with this as your only skill?
I'd say yes, but mostly no. This is strictly regarding people with knowledge on only HTML and CSS, and a good eye to ensure a design is properly rendered and such graphical pieces are aligned properly.
"Yes". This is generally the case when your prospective clients are primarily technological, web-aware, and/or have been sued over their accessibility.
Cross-browser rendering. As more attention has been placed on cross-browser compatibility and proper rendering of designs on pages, being able to write/code syntactically-correct, clean HTML and CSS (without hacks) quickly is a very helpful skill. The real bonus: having the ability to look at a page across browsers and being able to pinpoint the issue in minutes instead of hours.
Accessibility. Coding truly accessible pages requires a good understanding of how to write syntactically-correct HTML in the first place, what accessible HTML tags and attributes to use and how to order these HTML elements such that when a screen reader goes through the page, the verbally-communicated output makes sense to the user. The CSS comes into play to ensure your accessibility-oriented HTML (which sometimes doesn't quite flow with how you planned to lay out these same HTML elements) still shows up nicely on the page. See the Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines.
"Mostly No". This can be primarily the case in general.
Currently, HTML and CSS can generally be written properly or horribly and still render. As long as browsers are very forgiving of mistakes, some clients might not be able to note rendering differences until their favorite browser stops being forgiving and people tell them something more substantive than "your website sucks." In some cases, despite cost/benefit explanations in favor of properly-written HTML and CSS from the get-go, the client's answer might be that they were going to pay someone to maintain it anyway.
HTML and CSS help position shiny whistles, not make them. What, you can't actually design our site and make it awesome pretty (we expected you to create the design, and do a user analysis and such)? Ok, thanks for your time.
HTML and CSS are not programming languages, and therefore can't render that super awesome [insert sleek interactive widget]. If you can't understand the server-side code so you can fix the rendering issue, and the client isn't willing to let you learn as you go, you will be passed over.
Leaving the biggest imprint on me are the works of Polish graphic novelist Mateusz Skutnik. Skutnik is the author of the Submachine series of games, each of which finds you escaping from an elaborate, explorable puzzle box. Captivity is a familiar theme in this genre of games, known as escape the room games in the point-and-click world. This gameplay style evolved from Robyn and Rand Miller's 1993 classic Myst, which shaped the game industry as much as SimCity and Doom.
The Submachine games could all be described as immersive labyrinths. In each of these first-person sleuthers, the player must navigate through a series of abandoned research facilities and ruins in hopes of finding a means to freedom. Stranded without instructions, maps or context, the story forms via notes and transmissions picked up along the way. The Submachines demand an eye for pattern recognition, and the intricacy of some of the puzzles can be quite maddening. Adding to the ambiance is an eerie score and impressive sound design. There are a number of recurring motifs including typewriters, radios and pipelines that visually unite the games. Be warned, these puzzle boxes are habit-forming.
Hmm... Let's go through your recent post, one statement at a time.
The problem with your attitude is that nobody is responsible for problems caused by a company, department and so on.
I'm not certain what in my reply indicated such. Perhaps elaboration would help?
Personally, I think everyone in a deparment is responsible. In fact, I hold myself quite accountable for what I have control over. If I do not have control over something, I go talk to the person who does, AND I ensure the customer is involved. That way, there's clear communication amongst all. It no longer becomes a "he said, she said" event; it's more of direct discourse with ample opportunities to clarify statements. Moreover, at least 90% of a message's true meaning is lost in email -- people use facial cues, voice pitch and tone, physical gestures, etc. to determine whether someone is in a calm state or absolutely livid.
But, there's only so many things about which one can take responsibility. See, even if I do everything I possibly can to tell an administrator (for example), the burden is on that administrator to get the problem resolved, especially when that administrator absolutely refuses to give anyone the passwords to a server/knowledge of how to fix things in code/etc. Okay, your argument may be, "well, it's your (the customer support person) responsibility to ensure that the admin fixes my issue." That's not necessarily the case, because of a thing called free will --> that administrator has the complete free will to choose whether or not to work on your issue, depending on what other things are broken or whether they feel like working (seriously). This "free will" scenario applies to all people, in every field. Office Space, anyone?
Rank and file claims that it is out of their control and management is not available to be contacted.
If I understood this correctly, then yes typical rank and file people do make the aforementioned claim. Most people abhor being customer support, and many find out after they've taken a support job (because they thought it would be something easy).
I'm not the typical rank and file. I hate being, in your words, "screwed". And, I do all I can to ensure the customer gets their issue resolved (I'm referred to as the "problem solver" at my company). There have been times where customers have come to me with an absolute valid urgency to talk to a specific higher-up, and the higher-up is not there. Is there an implied suggestion that I should neglect the 30 other customers in my office and drive around the company park to find the higher-up? In my experience, the best thing to do in the situation where the higher-up is MIA is to: be honest about the higher-up being unavailable, take down the customer's information, give the customer the higher-up's information, and offer to follow up with the customer when the higher-up arrives. I have done this countless numbers of times for a specific higher-up, and I've never seen such happy people afterwards.
What do you propose as a solution that doesn't involve the customer getting screwed?
Perhaps go to Japan? Seriously, the Japanese are known to hold customer service as one of the highest tenets in the corporate culture. I believe there's a book that discusses Japanese customer service in detail. But, one of my hypotheses on why customer service is great out there is probably due to the fact that how you do in school and what your family does has a huge effect on your profession. I would think they're dealing with something like an implicit caste system, but I'm not sure. Also, respect for people is related to karma out there -- here in the US, we throw our family into a day care home.
Since we're not in Japan, what would I propose? That's a hard one, since manners in the world have gone out the window. For starters, I'd communicate with the higher-ups and establish a visible chain of command by outlining who is
I honestly can't determine if you're being serious or sarcastic, so I'm going to take you seriously.
Sure, anyone may have decided to become a part of a company/department, but that in no way implies that the individual subscribes to the same policies and practices of the company/department. (For example, does anyone at AOL really want to work selling AOL subscriptions, or wants to be on the receiving end of the next Vincent Ferrari with an AOL cancellation?) Not all of us have the luxury of immediately moving on to another company/department, especially when many IT companies/departments are either the same or worse. Or, if companies don't see (insert 5 of the new hotnesses in programming/markup languages) on your resume they won't even consider you, even if you're well-qualified otherwise.
You also mention directing the customer to the appropriate person to complain (very reasonable), but what about those times when the people who should be hearing the complaints seem to never be around to hear them? It puts people like me (who do as much as reasonably possible while still trying to be as polite as possible) in a precarious situation where I get accused of not helping the situation (even after I try every contact method I know of for a person). If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them (it'd make my job easier too)!!
In short, there are some good people in the IT world. And yep, they're hard to find. We like to be treated nicely, too.
As for me, I'm learning two programming languages and a query language bits at a time when I'm not at work so to improve my marketability.
People are so trigger... er... sue-happy nowadays that we'll need a patent to make money in the future. At the rate people continue to sue over coffee they spilled on themselves while driving, we'll eventually need a patent to save the human race - imagine what would happen if patents were granted to sex positions [maybe that's a good thing... stop stupid people from (accidentally) reproducing?] Anyway...
Since when was any innovation a result of pure thought unrelated/not based on any previously existing item/concept? Every patent infringes on previous ones... the kicker is that the legal pardon comes in the form of "references" just below each patent's abstract.
Sooo... does the concept of the patent hold water anymore? Not sure::goes into deep thought::
FTA: "The Senate approved the measure by a 100-0 vote Tuesday.... The measure requires states to start issuing more uniform driver's licenses and verify the citizenship or legal status of people getting them.... The House had included most of the provisions in its version of the bill. The Senate did not but agreed during negotiations to go along with the House."
Funny how there's no mention of RealID anywhere. Is society really becoming nothing but a flock of sheep being led to somewhat imminent slaughter? I wonder if our elected Congressional members got paid on the side/politically "prodded"/blackmailed/etc. Or was it that the bill was simply Iraq-related and they simply had to.
Sigh... I hate it when I don't finish a sentence in my post...
"Question it? Do a search for Google (yes, the company name), and you'll find..."... not only Google Inc, but other Google subsidiaries it set up and registed in CA. I think Yahoo! is another CA entity, so check it there if you feel inclined!
First - oddly enough, SeaCode is a REAL CA corporation, and is currently active.
According to the Official California Business Search Online hosted by the CA State Government, SeaCode Inc. was incorporated on August 5, 2004. In fact, you can even get their CA Corporate Number. As mentioned in another post (which I can't locate at the moment), David R. Cook is listed as the "Agent of Service for Process". Question it? Do a search for Google (yes, the company name), and you'll find
Secondly - Does this filing really prove that SeaCode, Inc. really is what it's described as in the few articles floating around the 'Net?
Various other/. posts made after the parent post (Subject: Baloney), speculate whether or not the boat would be located just outside of LA County or San Diego. Again referencing the information from the Online resource, the company's mainland address is in San Diego. So, it's possible that the boat is anchored somewhere between US and Mexican Waters... in International Waters.
Sounds realistic and legit, no? Oh, but read on.
Thirdly - Here's another article on the SeaCode, Inc mystique. Another/. reader posted the quote "I heard it at a party last night here at the Gartner conference, then did a quick interview with them" - this article is the source. And, I agree with that/.-er, how can you trust someone who heard something at a party?
I agree with dpud1234 - if the Forbes article doesn't exist, then how do we know the deal is real? I can't seem to find any WSJ or AP-affiliated news on SeaCode Inc, not to mention a corporate website (anyone have any ideas?). Yahoo, MSN, NYT, nothing turns up.
Finally - It's somewhat inconclusive.
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert in nautical law and barely have a general understanding of how the waters are charted. Heck, I don't quite understand many things. All I am is the over-analyzing citizen who likes to learn more... and is probably taking this one too far.
Preliminary: IANAL, simply an over-analyzing citizen. (:>)
Thoughts: Interesting. And I agree, AOL is pretty lucky that they have such a huge loyal following... lest it be immediately canned.
I'm curious to see where the misinterpretation occurred, as I am not understanding what you understood. I read the ToS and came to a similar conclusion as that of the editors (and yes, I only look for the facts).
What parts of the ToS assure you that AOL and all related sub-entities really can't/won't/? keep copies of any IM conversations that occur between User A and User B? And if "assure" is not the word best describing your sentiment, feel free to insert your own.
You think computers are hard? Try watching someone give birth! It freaks me out, and I'm female. Anyway...
Aside from that, I'm an IT female in a 95%-guys work environment, and I hardly bat an eye at these so-called complexities - I welcome the intellectual challenge. It's true that most girls in their early years didn't run around taking apart and reconstructing computers much to people's chagrin like I did, but they do exist.
Sure, I might not be familiar with what languages are members of the 16 Computer Language Families, but I can tell you that I'm not afraid of figuring that out. Besides, and I think a lot of people here would agree, making the intangible tangible simply through code is a pretty sweet feat.
Officer: Your SmartHolograph badge expired a month ago.
Person: Really? Oh gosh::faking stupidity::, I didn't know this had an expiration date.
If this badge has the capability to tattle, wouldn't the drinkers in the audience most likely 'conveniently' forget to get a new badge - and these are the drinking-driving folks that this item was meant to stop in the first place?
I would probably be a little less skeptical if there was another element to the badge than simply reading it... though I should probably go RTA again before I put my foot in my mouth:).
Your argument definitely makes sense... though, in the case of determining whether someone has a high BAC, I'd rather have the police officer et al still know what are the characteristics.
Even though it's a hologram, I still think the concept is analogous to the scratch-and-sniff sticker; after a few hundred scratches, all you're left with is a sticker you can scratch. Holograms, whethre protected in a sheath of plastic, can still wear out. Put some element that'll really warp it next to it.
"A friend never allows her SS # to be used for anything. Not banks, not schools, not health insurance. They squawk and scream and threaten and she stands firm.... Massachusetts also allows one to use a generated code instead of SS # on drivers licenses."
I admire your friend, and I'm the same way.
From what I understand, Arizona is also the same way - you can have a randomly generated number for a DL#. Also, you can request a "private SSN" (it might be called something else) for your academic records - it's a 9-digit number that starts of with three 9's. Eg: 999111111. I'll be doing that when I have kids.
On a related note...
Some other thing you can do to protect your identity is to simply cross out the first 12 numbers of your credit card number on any receipts. All the merchant needs for their records is the last 4 numbers of your CC to confirm transaction at the end of the day. I'm so amazed that so many restaurants grocery stores and merchants print the whole 16-digit number on the receipt.
And, the doctor's office. All they really need is your name and where to mail the billing statement to (Read: mailing address, unattached to your home if you'd like). They DO NOT need your Driver's License Number or the name of your pet dog. I don't think they even need your Social... unless you're on Medicare or another government-authored plan.
There is a radar detector made by the Valentine One Company http://www.valentine1.com/ that tells you via an LED what kind of signal it's detecting AND from what general direction the signal is coming from: front, back, or sides. Wouldn't it be cool to have the Canary Wireless device do the same, so to indicate which coffee shop/restaurant has the signal so I can sit there, drink my java and work?
How about implementing computer-generated graphics in short films? Sure, film-making may sound more of a drama/performing arts project, though we do have neat companies like Pixar and those behind films like The Matrix, LOTR, and other graphic-intensive films. Focus could be in image rendering and in dealing with "green screens", lighting, building computers to deal with rendering such graphics, et cetera.
Also, I find that initially doing simple projects that produce immediate results (no matter how small), gets others' minds engaged and encourages them to say "Hey, I can do this! How about if I took this simple project to the next level?" Well, that's how I get started in fixing computers...
... Someone somewhere will have successfully copied that copyrighted/etc piece of software. As mentioned in the article: "Until you're sued and a judge makes up his mind about what is the idea and expression (at stake), no one knows."
Until then, enjoy using your favorite storage medium(s) of choice!
d. What if any average person on the Internet, with nothing to hide, makes comments online that are considered political or promoting racism when they really were making a totally different point? Would such comments, made purely in historical context, make the aforementioned average person a target and put them on some high-risk list?
In other words... what about _opinion_?
Perhaps extreme, but here's a real-life example I thought of:
Suppose UserXYZ is a great law-abiding citizen and free-lance historian-buff, cherishes Democracy, and enjoys socializing with all people everywhere regardless of race or creed. Suppose that UserXYZ also has a fascination with powerful/most influential people in history. Nothing wrong so far, right?
Well, what if in an online conversation about "influential people in history" UserXYZ makes a comment about the influence of Germany's famed leader prior to and during WWII? UserXYZ could go on to say that Adolf's influence was so powerful that Adolf was able to convince both his millions(?) of followers and then members of other countries to support his cause --> From what has been mentioned in various treatises on such topic (from Discovery, National Geographic, History Channel, etc), it appears that Adolf's agenda stemmed from his personal bias against certain groups of people.
IMHO, UserXYZ:
- Did NOT make comments promoting racism
- Was making a totally different point (perhaps more of an opinion), simply that Adolf was a very influential leader in his time for certain groups of people. That's it.
So... back to "Australian Police Given Power to Use Spyware || RE: A Good Thing?" Where will the Australian (or any) government draw the line between someone with genuinely malicious intent and someone who is just presenting a piece of information (eg: an OPINION)? Given the characteristics I mentioned earlier of UserXYZ, I don't think UserXYZ honestly meant to be malicious... though some countries might see it as so.
Of course, the example presented is rather specific and the topic is somewhat taboo. And, I could've been wrong in presenting some facts on Germany's leader, as I am not a historian.
Maybe this entry was indeed a bit daring, though I also worry about the government abusing it's powers.
Thoughts on determining that borderline between truly harmless opinion and genuine malicious intent, anyone?
For the record --> This user's intent - simply presenting a different cause of concern. An Opinion.::grin::
Slashdot Mirror
For Chrome at least, have you done some remote debugging, as outlined here in this article: https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/remote-debugging ? Doing this lets you use the built-in Chrome DevTools to track what JavaScript events fire, set breakpoints for your JavaScript, etc.
I did this out of curiosity, and found that m.slashdot.org gets "stuck" -- that is, when attempting to scroll, the page doesn't move. Upon inspecting events, it appears that something's attempting to recalculate the stying, and also firing off/detecting a whole bunch of "scroll", "touch", "touchstart" and "touchmove" events at once. Though, that "recalculate style" event occurs _every_time_ that scrolling gets "stuck". The pattern seems to be this: // single scroll // end single scroll
"Recalculate Style"
"Recalculate Style"
"Event(scroll)" (varying "scroll", "touch", "touchstart" and "touchmove", at least 10+ occurrences at once)
Do you have code somewhere that's trying to detect scroll-related events? Maybe there's a touch-related (module of an) API that you're using (unnecessarily)? I looked at events that occur while scrolling on coding.smashingmagazine.com, m.bbc.co.uk/news, and allthingsd.com. The last one also fires a series of scroll events, but they're all just "scroll" events and not the various "touch", "touchstart", and "touchmove" events m.slashdot.org is firing. And, the "recalculate style" event doesn't occur either.
One trigger of stuck scrolling appears to be an attempt to invoke a scroll by dragging your finger at a 45 degree angle. Actually, it appears to happen at most angles other than up-down/90 degrees (i.e., dragging your finger vertically, from the top of the screen toward the bottom). Interestingly, you should be able to scroll a page even with a 45 degree angled drag on most pages (it worked on m.bbc.co.uk and coding.smashingmagazine.com, but not on allthingsd.com).
Also, on that "scrolling being interpreted as clicks" issue, it appears there's something wrong with Zepto.js (at least, that was the comment at the beginning of the file). Specifically, the error that was thrown about the time that the issue occurred: "Uncaught TypeError: Cannot call method 'trigger' of undefined". DevTools points at line 5/the first line of actual code, but as it's minified it's very hard to say what code is the culprit. I haven't been able to duplicate this to verify, and I have no idea what I did to cause the issue to occur.
I'm using Chrome 18.0.1025469 on a Galaxy Nexus, running Android 4.1.1.
I third that. I don't understand why we need a dumbed down version of the site when my phone can display the full site just fine? I'v enever had a problem browsing the full site and prefer it.
My one annoyance with viewing the full site on a mobile browser is the comment slider doesn't work/can't be used -- that slider determines how many full/abbreviated comments I see (which, sometimes I want to modify). Using the slider requires a click+drag motion on the desktop, which isn't necessarily possible on mobile. On Chrome for Android, these two things happen: (1) tap+drag in a web browser means you scroll the page or navigate to the next tab; or (2) a long-tap+drag means you're selecting text.
For the longest time, I used a search engine to help me figure out some programming issues. Now, I tend to go directly to StackOverflow and its related sites because (1) there's (sample) code that I can look at to figure out whether I'm missing something; and (2) people tend to be interested in providing helpful info. The times I use a search engine are when (a) I have some specific error message (compiler, some program I'm using, etc.); or (b) I'm looking up a tag/method/etc. that's new to me.
I wouldn't consider StackOverflow et. al. to be a Facebook/Twitter/etc. kind of "social container" because I think it has two primary goals: (1) Ask questions specifically to get help, and (2) Answer questions specifically to help our your fellow StackOverflow user. I don't see Facebook/Twitter/etc. having those two goals as primary (e.g., anything goes). I do consider it a "forum", which is like a social container but more focused/purposeful.
Nope, I don't think you're imagining things. I didn't realize it myself until this article appeared and I came across your comment.
I've done some web design, and so here's my basic <theory> below, typed as a stream of consciousness. As for making something look "Japanese", I think it's a result of various things:
Rounded Corners:
I don't these are strictly Japanese (see Slashdot's header, Southwest Airlines, Expedia, BBC (UK), Virgin Group (UK)). Though, rounded corners have made websites nicer to look at (not rigid - don't round/curvy things make people generally happy? Interpret as you wish.)
Pastel color scheme presence:
This may be a Japanese thing - all the non-Japanese sites I mentioned above generally employ primary colors. Two interesting US-based website examples are: Sprinkles Cupcakes and Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt. Both sites use lighter, non-primary colors and those color shades and combinations give me a sense of "fun" instead of "corporate". Note, though, that the different color shades aren't necessarily pastel-like in my opinion. One US-based website that uses something very close to pastel colors is Martha Stewart Omnimedia. We'll have to bring in a color expert to state whether Martha's colors are truly pastel.
At any rate, I think that only certain companies can satisfactorily use pastels in the US, and that would be companies dealing with fun food (cupcakes, frozen yogurt, etc) and hobbyist home decor arts/crafts. I think this is part to how I (and maybe you) without a Japanese background/surrounding/etc interpret colors and, as part of our respective cultures, have an understanding of what those colors represent. See this Visual Color Symbolism Chart by Culture and Color Symbolism Chart by Culture for a basic review. As noted in these two charts, "Green" in the US can mean money and trees and other things, but in China green hats mean a man's wife is cheating on him. One color, vastly different meanings! More information on "green" as a color: http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/colorselection/p/green.htm.
High-Context (Japanese) v. Low-Context (N. American, German-Speaking, etc) Cultures:
I came across this article while looking up cultureal color perception in Japan: Elizabeth Würtz's 2005 analysis titled: "A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Websites from High-Context Cultures and Low-Context Cultures". In this study, she noted that Japan is a high-context (HC) culture, whereas North America (and German-speaking countries even moreso) are low-context (LC) cultures:
Face-to-face communication in HC cultures is thus characterized by an extensive use of non-verbal strategies for conveying meanings. These strategies usually take the shape of behavioral language, such as gestures, body language, silence, proximity and symbolic behavior, while conversation in LC cultures tends to be less physically animated, with the meaning depending on content and the spoken word.
What was interesting to read were two of her conclusions regarding animation and presentation of individuals+products on websites:
Animation:
Tendency in HC Cultures: High use of animation, especially in connection with images of moving people.
Tendency in LC Cultures: Lower use of
Interesting comparison. In addition to the color scheme choice you mention, the image usage is certainly different between the two versions and alludes to a difference in what English-speaking customers and Japanese-speaking customers perceive as a big business's formal/consumer website. To me, it looks like the English version has a significant "corporate" feel (no people in main image; if there were any, most of those people would be in business casual), whereas the Japanese version has emphasis on a personable feel (people in generally typical, common clothing). Of course, the target audience probably has a lot to do with how the sites are designed: JP - primary customer base and your everyday customer, EN - probably mostly corporations as customer.
Here is an example I found:
- Sony Japan homepage: http://www.sony.co.jp/
- Sony USA homepage: http://www.sony.com/
Sony USA presents an overall Flash-based primary website, complete with an intro/splash page, whereas Sony Japan appears to use Flash only for their interactive content on their own primary website. While Sony USA directs your attention to the product (and, for example, points out how you can save money if you're a student), Sony Japan has images that conjure up uses for products and interactivity with customers (e.g., Sony Japan's alternating banner at the top of site: camera for destination photos, Sony science program, 3D TV, Football fandom).
With these examples, I wonder if the Japanese style of website design isn't really to insist on cluttering, but instead on making their site as welcoming and personable as possible to their viewer. Perhaps this aim (if plausible) may explain the incorporation of emoticons and pastels and people in the website designs. And, if this is the case, I also wonder if this is based on the Japanese culture where politeness and respect is tantamount.*
* Not Japanese, never been to Japan. (Yet, anyway. I want to go!) Just presenting what I know from what I've deduced from Japanese dramas, and travel shows and books on Japan.
But most apps won't do anything except go to sleep, which means one of the classic tricks of multitasking, loading one task while you perform another, is not available unless the developer adds that function under a special task completion API. Some apps, such as Flickr, may take advantage of this feature for large file transfers, but others won't. Waiting for a YouTube video to buffer over a 3G connection? It won't go anywhere unless you're staring at the loading screen.
From the TechWorld iOS4 multitasking article in the summary:
Waiting for a YouTube video to buffer over a 3G connection? It won't go anywhere unless you're staring at the loading screen.
Honestly, doesn't this also happen by default with applications on other mobile OS'es like Android, unless the developer specifies otherwise in the app's code?
From what I understand about the Android application life cycle under normal circumstances, once an Activity (the app's presentation layer, what you interact with) is completely obscured, the application's host process becomes a "background" process. Meaning, the app's Activities aren't visible and there are no Services running, thereby making the app's host process one of the first processes to be killed off so to allocate resources. (Service example: a media player running in the background while you're actively using another app). For an app's host process to remain in an active state, the app must have a running Activity, Service or Broadcast Receiver. In my following the Android dev tutorials, I've seen that only the Activity is absolutely required - Services and Broadcast Receivers are added only when you need them for your app to fulfill it's intended purpose.
So, in the case of buffering the YouTube video, if I were writing an Android app to do just that, I'd have to have explicitly created a Service to keep buffering the video while I used another app. If I didn't create a Service to keep buffering when the app's Activity exited the active state, then my app would do just what the article says - the app does nothing until I explicitly return to the app.
Am I missing something?
Entities that want to ensure controversial legislation (or controversial anything) gets enacted will surely do everything they can to keep it quiet and will encourage this behavior with their child entities. A question: where did you hear that the specific major news companies you mentioned supported this legislation? From reading the article, it seems plausible that these news companies would like to keep their content from being illegally distributed by others, but there's no mention of who actually supports it (aside from the countries). Though, your post further reinforces the impression that our 'real' news appears even more pre-packaged to the respective entity's benefit.
I mean, it's great to have someone available to handle that sort of thing, but can you really sustain a job with this as your only skill?
I'd say yes, but mostly no. This is strictly regarding people with knowledge on only HTML and CSS, and a good eye to ensure a design is properly rendered and such graphical pieces are aligned properly.
"Yes". This is generally the case when your prospective clients are primarily technological, web-aware, and/or have been sued over their accessibility.
"Mostly No". This can be primarily the case in general.
An excerpt from Mr. Smith's article:
Mateusz Skutnik's Official Site: http://www.pastelstories.com/
JayIsGames.com Reviews: http://jayisgames.com/tag/mskutnik/
Hmm... Let's go through your recent post, one statement at a time.
The problem with your attitude is that nobody is responsible for problems caused by a company, department and so on.
I'm not certain what in my reply indicated such. Perhaps elaboration would help?
Personally, I think everyone in a deparment is responsible. In fact, I hold myself quite accountable for what I have control over. If I do not have control over something, I go talk to the person who does, AND I ensure the customer is involved. That way, there's clear communication amongst all. It no longer becomes a "he said, she said" event; it's more of direct discourse with ample opportunities to clarify statements. Moreover, at least 90% of a message's true meaning is lost in email -- people use facial cues, voice pitch and tone, physical gestures, etc. to determine whether someone is in a calm state or absolutely livid.
But, there's only so many things about which one can take responsibility. See, even if I do everything I possibly can to tell an administrator (for example), the burden is on that administrator to get the problem resolved, especially when that administrator absolutely refuses to give anyone the passwords to a server/knowledge of how to fix things in code/etc. Okay, your argument may be, "well, it's your (the customer support person) responsibility to ensure that the admin fixes my issue." That's not necessarily the case, because of a thing called free will --> that administrator has the complete free will to choose whether or not to work on your issue, depending on what other things are broken or whether they feel like working (seriously). This "free will" scenario applies to all people, in every field. Office Space, anyone?
If I understood this correctly, then yes typical rank and file people do make the aforementioned claim. Most people abhor being customer support, and many find out after they've taken a support job (because they thought it would be something easy).
I'm not the typical rank and file. I hate being, in your words, "screwed". And, I do all I can to ensure the customer gets their issue resolved (I'm referred to as the "problem solver" at my company). There have been times where customers have come to me with an absolute valid urgency to talk to a specific higher-up, and the higher-up is not there. Is there an implied suggestion that I should neglect the 30 other customers in my office and drive around the company park to find the higher-up? In my experience, the best thing to do in the situation where the higher-up is MIA is to: be honest about the higher-up being unavailable, take down the customer's information, give the customer the higher-up's information, and offer to follow up with the customer when the higher-up arrives. I have done this countless numbers of times for a specific higher-up, and I've never seen such happy people afterwards.
Perhaps go to Japan? Seriously, the Japanese are known to hold customer service as one of the highest tenets in the corporate culture. I believe there's a book that discusses Japanese customer service in detail. But, one of my hypotheses on why customer service is great out there is probably due to the fact that how you do in school and what your family does has a huge effect on your profession. I would think they're dealing with something like an implicit caste system, but I'm not sure. Also, respect for people is related to karma out there -- here in the US, we throw our family into a day care home.
Since we're not in Japan, what would I propose? That's a hard one, since manners in the world have gone out the window. For starters, I'd communicate with the higher-ups and establish a visible chain of command by outlining who is
I honestly can't determine if you're being serious or sarcastic, so I'm going to take you seriously.
Sure, anyone may have decided to become a part of a company/department, but that in no way implies that the individual subscribes to the same policies and practices of the company/department. (For example, does anyone at AOL really want to work selling AOL subscriptions, or wants to be on the receiving end of the next Vincent Ferrari with an AOL cancellation?) Not all of us have the luxury of immediately moving on to another company/department, especially when many IT companies/departments are either the same or worse. Or, if companies don't see (insert 5 of the new hotnesses in programming/markup languages) on your resume they won't even consider you, even if you're well-qualified otherwise.
You also mention directing the customer to the appropriate person to complain (very reasonable), but what about those times when the people who should be hearing the complaints seem to never be around to hear them? It puts people like me (who do as much as reasonably possible while still trying to be as polite as possible) in a precarious situation where I get accused of not helping the situation (even after I try every contact method I know of for a person). If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them (it'd make my job easier too)!!
In short, there are some good people in the IT world. And yep, they're hard to find. We like to be treated nicely, too.
As for me, I'm learning two programming languages and a query language bits at a time when I'm not at work so to improve my marketability.
People are so trigger... er... sue-happy nowadays that we'll need a patent to make money in the future. At the rate people continue to sue over coffee they spilled on themselves while driving, we'll eventually need a patent to save the human race - imagine what would happen if patents were granted to sex positions [maybe that's a good thing... stop stupid people from (accidentally) reproducing?] Anyway...
::goes into deep thought::
Since when was any innovation a result of pure thought unrelated/not based on any previously existing item/concept? Every patent infringes on previous ones... the kicker is that the legal pardon comes in the form of "references" just below each patent's abstract.
Sooo... does the concept of the patent hold water anymore? Not sure
Here's the latest:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050
Funny how there's no mention of RealID anywhere. Is society really becoming nothing but a flock of sheep being led to somewhat imminent slaughter? I wonder if our elected Congressional members got paid on the side/politically "prodded"/blackmailed/etc. Or was it that the bill was simply Iraq-related and they simply had to.
Sigh... I hate it when I don't finish a sentence in my post... "Question it? Do a search for Google (yes, the company name), and you'll find..." ... not only Google Inc, but other Google subsidiaries it set up and registed in CA. I think Yahoo! is another CA entity, so check it there if you feel inclined!
First - oddly enough, SeaCode is a REAL CA corporation, and is currently active.
/. posts made after the parent post (Subject: Baloney), speculate whether or not the boat would be located just outside of LA County or San Diego. Again referencing the information from the Online resource, the company's mainland address is in San Diego. So, it's possible that the boat is anchored somewhere between US and Mexican Waters... in International Waters.
/. reader posted the quote "I heard it at a party last night here at the Gartner conference, then did a quick interview with them" - this article is the source. And, I agree with that /.-er, how can you trust someone who heard something at a party?
According to the Official California Business Search Online hosted by the CA State Government, SeaCode Inc. was incorporated on August 5, 2004. In fact, you can even get their CA Corporate Number. As mentioned in another post (which I can't locate at the moment), David R. Cook is listed as the "Agent of Service for Process". Question it? Do a search for Google (yes, the company name), and you'll find
Secondly - Does this filing really prove that SeaCode, Inc. really is what it's described as in the few articles floating around the 'Net?
Various other
Sounds realistic and legit, no? Oh, but read on.
Thirdly - Here's another article on the SeaCode, Inc mystique. Another
I agree with dpud1234 - if the Forbes article doesn't exist, then how do we know the deal is real? I can't seem to find any WSJ or AP-affiliated news on SeaCode Inc, not to mention a corporate website (anyone have any ideas?). Yahoo, MSN, NYT, nothing turns up.
Finally - It's somewhat inconclusive.
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert in nautical law and barely have a general understanding of how the waters are charted. Heck, I don't quite understand many things. All I am is the over-analyzing citizen who likes to learn more... and is probably taking this one too far.
Preliminary:
IANAL, simply an over-analyzing citizen. (:>)
Thoughts:
Interesting. And I agree, AOL is pretty lucky that they have such a huge loyal following... lest it be immediately canned.
I'm curious to see where the misinterpretation occurred, as I am not understanding what you understood. I read the ToS and came to a similar conclusion as that of the editors (and yes, I only look for the facts).
What parts of the ToS assure you that AOL and all related sub-entities really can't/won't/? keep copies of any IM conversations that occur between User A and User B? And if "assure" is not the word best describing your sentiment, feel free to insert your own.
"Today, compters are WAY harder."
You think computers are hard? Try watching someone give birth! It freaks me out, and I'm female. Anyway...
Aside from that, I'm an IT female in a 95%-guys work environment, and I hardly bat an eye at these so-called complexities - I welcome the intellectual challenge. It's true that most girls in their early years didn't run around taking apart and reconstructing computers much to people's chagrin like I did, but they do exist.
Sure, I might not be familiar with what languages are members of the 16 Computer Language Families, but I can tell you that I'm not afraid of figuring that out. Besides, and I think a lot of people here would agree, making the intangible tangible simply through code is a pretty sweet feat.
True. Though I can just see the argument now...
::faking stupidity::, I didn't know this had an expiration date.
:).
Officer: Your SmartHolograph badge expired a month ago.
Person: Really? Oh gosh
If this badge has the capability to tattle, wouldn't the drinkers in the audience most likely 'conveniently' forget to get a new badge - and these are the drinking-driving folks that this item was meant to stop in the first place?
I would probably be a little less skeptical if there was another element to the badge than simply reading it... though I should probably go RTA again before I put my foot in my mouth
Your argument definitely makes sense... though, in the case of determining whether someone has a high BAC, I'd rather have the police officer et al still know what are the characteristics.
Even though it's a hologram, I still think the concept is analogous to the scratch-and-sniff sticker; after a few hundred scratches, all you're left with is a sticker you can scratch. Holograms, whethre protected in a sheath of plastic, can still wear out. Put some element that'll really warp it next to it.
"A friend never allows her SS # to be used for anything. Not banks, not schools, not health insurance. They squawk and scream and threaten and she stands firm. ... Massachusetts also allows one to use a generated code instead of SS # on drivers licenses."
I admire your friend, and I'm the same way.
From what I understand, Arizona is also the same way - you can have a randomly generated number for a DL#. Also, you can request a "private SSN" (it might be called something else) for your academic records - it's a 9-digit number that starts of with three 9's. Eg: 999111111. I'll be doing that when I have kids.
On a related note...
Some other thing you can do to protect your identity is to simply cross out the first 12 numbers of your credit card number on any receipts. All the merchant needs for their records is the last 4 numbers of your CC to confirm transaction at the end of the day. I'm so amazed that so many restaurants grocery stores and merchants print the whole 16-digit number on the receipt.
And, the doctor's office. All they really need is your name and where to mail the billing statement to (Read: mailing address, unattached to your home if you'd like). They DO NOT need your Driver's License Number or the name of your pet dog. I don't think they even need your Social... unless you're on Medicare or another government-authored plan.
There is a radar detector made by the Valentine One Company http://www.valentine1.com/ that tells you via an LED what kind of signal it's detecting AND from what general direction the signal is coming from: front, back, or sides. Wouldn't it be cool to have the Canary Wireless device do the same, so to indicate which coffee shop/restaurant has the signal so I can sit there, drink my java and work?
How about implementing computer-generated graphics in short films? Sure, film-making may sound more of a drama/performing arts project, though we do have neat companies like Pixar and those behind films like The Matrix, LOTR, and other graphic-intensive films. Focus could be in image rendering and in dealing with "green screens", lighting, building computers to deal with rendering such graphics, et cetera.
Also, I find that initially doing simple projects that produce immediate results (no matter how small), gets others' minds engaged and encourages them to say "Hey, I can do this! How about if I took this simple project to the next level?" Well, that's how I get started in fixing computers...
Best of luck!
... Someone somewhere will have successfully copied that copyrighted/etc piece of software. As mentioned in the article: "Until you're sued and a judge makes up his mind about what is the idea and expression (at stake), no one knows."
Until then, enjoy using your favorite storage medium(s) of choice!
Might I add to this list:
d. What if any average person on the Internet, with nothing to hide, makes comments online that are considered political or promoting racism when they really were making a totally different point? Would such comments, made purely in historical context, make the aforementioned average person a target and put them on some high-risk list?
In other words... what about _opinion_?
Perhaps extreme, but here's a real-life example I thought of: So... back to "Australian Police Given Power to Use Spyware || RE: A Good Thing?" Where will the Australian (or any) government draw the line between someone with genuinely malicious intent and someone who is just presenting a piece of information (eg: an OPINION)? Given the characteristics I mentioned earlier of UserXYZ, I don't think UserXYZ honestly meant to be malicious... though some countries might see it as so.
Of course, the example presented is rather specific and the topic is somewhat taboo. And, I could've been wrong in presenting some facts on Germany's leader, as I am not a historian.
Maybe this entry was indeed a bit daring, though I also worry about the government abusing it's powers.
Thoughts on determining that borderline between truly harmless opinion and genuine malicious intent, anyone?
For the record --> This user's intent - simply presenting a different cause of concern. An Opinion.