I wish I still had mod points to mod you up through the roof. You hit upon the heart of the struggle within this country today. I also feel that today America is having a set of values spun around us that center on those themes of fear, isolation, individualism, and release of control. Alas, it is done so well; it is done in a way that like the frog in the pot analogy, by the time we feel the heat, it is to late to get out.
I do feel that as those values are being defined, stated to the public there needs to be facts following that support or bolster the values. If we talk about the abundance in this country and how it can be used to help; we then need to back that statement up by showing where that abundance lies. When we talk about how valuing the environment and usign that value to set goals we also need to show what happens when we don't support a positive value. That is done with facts.
I was upset with NPR the other day because during an interview with Alberto Gonzalez he defended the warrant-less NSA actions by saying "we spoke with Congress", "We did this to protect *you*". never did NPR response with questions like "Who did you talk to in Congress?", How has this protected us. the AG spun a value, but NPR needed to dig to determine if the value had truth, or was a fabrication.
I am all for values first, but I feel a need to back those values up with facts, with truths that give credence to the values. Still in all, a great statement!
I swear to goodness, you want to means test, stress test, or otherwise find weak points in some techno gadget, post it on/. In short time you will find more opinions, suggestions, mods, and corrections then you ever would in a year of testing.
This is what I love about this site. Next time NASA wants to start project X, have them post the basics on slashdot. Built something but not sure how to improve it?/. it! In one day a poster will have found more holes, or more improvements then they could have in a life time of boring walkthroughs or brainstorm sessions. Now there could be IP ramifications "Hey, that was my idea you made millions on", but if it betters the world is that not the prize?
This is Open Thought in action and I really enjoy...and learn from it!
I was going to "Act Now". I even went to the web site url you posted. When I got there the very first question was "are you a BellSouth customer?". "Well of course" I thought getting ready to proceed when I paused. I'm a customer. If I write to complain about this rather open extortion fest they want to implement would I begin to notice *my* bandwidth getting degraded. my phone lines getting more disrupted with static, my general service going downhill?
Perhaps that thinking is close to tinfoil hat time, but I can't help but feel, if there are those within the dark recesses of Castle BS that can hatch this alarming idea of demanding payola, protection money from content providers why could not they also think, let's stop dissentients by effecting them where it hurts most, connectivity.
My analogy:
In my fantasy neighborhood there are stores that sell goods and there are people who can not get to those goods since they are house-ridden. A company starts up a service the provides delivery of goods to these homes on a monthly fee to the house. The house pays more for quick delivery, less if they want lower priority in scheduling. The company does well because they provide a good service to the neighborhood and finally everyone is using the service. At that point the company says to the suppliers, hey, our bikes, vans, and sneakers cost us money so you need to pay us for our efforts or we will start to put those who do not pay on the lower priority list.
What's a provider to do, not pay and begin to lose business to those who will pay? Complain to the government (and we know how long that may take). So in the end the supplier pays, they wrap the cost back to the customer who is already paying for the service, and the only winner is the delivery service that just extorted money.
Now, is it possible that if this is extortion/racketeering then providers(suppliers) can contact the FBI and report the delivery service company as such and have charges filed? Which one would have the courage to make such a move? Apple? Google? Yahoo? I doubt it. While I agree that I can tell my ISP BellSouth to go pound salt and get me a new ISP, Bellsouth is the physical data entry point into my home. Again, what stops them from effecting the switch from one DSL service to another. I could switch to Cable, but then they may start the same shenanigans.
This is a very cynical viewpoint, but these days, once a company like BellSouth begins to implement these types of business practices there is little effort to stop them. I would (and may) write to my US Rep, but he is so busy trying to scamper away from the latest D.C. scandal I am sure he would not be to concerned about the extortionist practices of one of his campaign contributors. Companies like BellSOuth see that they can initiate these ethically shady business models because the current government is pro-big business and will only interfere if an even bigger company steps into squash this before it takes hold. Best bet I see, write to Google or Microsoft and say "This practice sucks, this will cost you because BellSouth wants to charge you and if they do, and you charge me, I will not use your service any more. It is Government by the dollar and I think I am beginning to hear a fiddle playing off in the distance.
I'll get flamed, trolled or off-topic, but there is a couple thoughts to make before i step down from my box. I think it was the comment about Mother Teresa that gave me pause. Of course she is not around to confirm or deny, but I just feel that she would not put the words profit and God in the same sentence. Personally her actions were more an extention of loving acts that cannot be quantified or defined by market mentality. I read your statements and see some truth, but like a politician or skilled salesman, it is hard to see the depths and solidity of the meaning. While are are individuals, we are still all part of a greater collection called society. We act, interact, and react with others. I have a self interest at preservation, but not at the expense of others. for me, that is the essential problem with this term "free market". To turn the phrase it means that one is "free" to do what ever for preservation and growth. the example of the banana seller/buyer is quaint, but can be replaced by the slave trader, weapons dealer, polluting chemical manufacturer, or self-indulged evangelical preacher. Those business men may be helping themselves (and those who want their business), but they may be doing more harm to the society as a whole.
In your statement about the relationship between employee/employer you touched on the basic axiom that could transform much of the world if applied...Love as an action. it does not stop one from making money, of protecting ones self, but it does so respecting that there are others that are effected by our actions. Love as an action means we try to act less selfish, and act more to raise others up for in doing that, we raise ourselves. I just feel that Mother Teresa did what she did not to profit in the light of God, but to say that if she made even one life a little better, she made her life that much better.
So I've rambled way from the path. Vodka will do that. You have interesting viewpoints Dada21, which gives me food for thought and I thank you for that. I may disagree at times, but diversity is needed for learning.
I'm a free market guy -- I truly believe that everyone performs actions that help themselves first (and others, secondly, if they want to continue doing what they do).
Could that be said to those who volunteer their time to help others? Would Mother Teresa fall under this conjecture? I feel that there is a subtle issue with that perspective. Of course we are all in the business of self-preservation, but the problem with a free market is that is only self-serving without consideration for the greater society for which it operates in. I do not like the term "free-market" for there is nothing free about it. This market is not even free of basic rules or regulation that serve to limit the excess that can occur when 'haves' take from 'have nots'. Perhaps a better term is capitalistic market since the purpose of a market is to increase capital.
I believe we take jobs in order to pay our bills, and we do our jobs with the consideration of what will keep us employed, and what will give us bigger financial opportunities in the future
Perhaps I'm on the fringe, but I have always tended to think of work first as a way to extend my creativity, to learn, to be and feel productive in a positive way. I very much appreciate that I get a paycheck for the work I provide, but it is less the focus of my satifaction then whether I work for a good team, a competent boss, a cool project, or a decent company. I found my passion in computers early and was able to make a living at it. To take your statement literally then any job would do in order to pay the bills. I feel people first find work in something that gives them pleasure, satifaction, and compensation. It is only in critical moments when the "any thing to pay the bills" mentality takes over. I worked some odd jobs when I was downsized for two years, because I still needed to maintain my fiscal responsibilities. Those jobs did not make me want to grow in them since I never wanted a career in those fields. Given the choice today, I would rather start my own business in sailboat charters then work in the computer field. Not because I want to pay the bills, but that sailing is my deeper passion even more then computers and it would be great to sailm, show people the wonders of sailing and make money doing it*. As to 'bigger financial opportunities', having tried to create the best quality products and seeing mediocrity get moved up the ladder I can understand how easy it is for some to start to give up on doing their best. Though my heart still believes the adage "Work hard and you will be rewarded" the mind and the eyes see a different picture.
I believe that employers are the customers of employees, and that is how I judge employer-employee relations.
That is 100% spot on. It is a symbiotic relationship between the two and yet time and time again the Employer part shits on its self by shitting on the employee. There are sadly few examples today that show what happens when employers make an effort to provide a productive working environment for the employee. The results tend to be one where work quality increases, product quality increases, customer satifactions rises and even an increase in profit. The problem is that you need well trained managers, executive that can see beyond the next quarterly report, and a society mindset that refuses to accept the lowest goods and service.
I know my comments are off topic to human cloning, but your comments struck a cord with me.
* I have a Masters USCG Capt License, I did try, but backing is hard to come by compared to "safe" business start-ups like dot comms or Dunkin Donuts.
"We believe that this research will lead to much more drivable and intuitively controllable autos, especially for a generation of drivers raised on video games, and will cause fewer accidents on the road, due to the intuitive nature of the control mechanisms and the ingrained neurological psycho-response actuations which have developed from extensive game playing."
That's a heck of a statement. I would not not completely disagree, but I would question whether using a joystick type control or wheel would make any difference in the number of accidents on the road. The best most intuative system on the road will not replace judgement. if I press a pedal, or squeeze a trigger, going to fast will screw up my day either from a ticket or a hard object. What _may_ reeduce accidents is some enhanced computer control that can take over to avoid a potential accident, voice activated warnings (similar to airplane cockpit warnings) when conditions warrant, or better driving education.
Driving is *not* a game and just because one sits in front of a screen and gains good hand-eye coordinations does nothing to make him/her/it a better driver. Now, if your company designed a video game that taught good driving habits...no wait...that would be bbbooorrriiinnggg.
amazing how those ancient and not forgotten languages are still around whilst other fade to the back. reminds me of the story about the guy who went into cryogenic sleep and....ahhh...its and old story. Someday young bucks may say "Remember C, or was it D, what ever, it was a simple language to work with"
What terrorist needs GPS when they have mapquest, google map, and many other direction finding tools. A compass and a good topo map can get you where you need to be in the wilderness. Terrorists are not about accuracy, they are about terror and terror does not care if you are within a cm or 3 meters of the target.
What country with missle capability would even consider a guided missle using GPS against a US target. We invaded one country with a set of lies, the truth (we attacked the USA) might bring out the nukes. I feel the whole idea of degrading accuracy of GPS to be quite silly. Typically, the only ones who suffer are the civilians and unknowing bystanders because the people who will use this technology to kill other people will figure others ways around the problem. How about laser guided to name one. Get an operative clsoe enough to the target, light it up, fire off a non-GPS laser guided missile and boom. How nice it would be to have our goverments, milirtary, and intelligence working on ways to stop the people assets instead of trying to stop the bombs.
You are two years into an education, pick one and learn it. Better still, learn the basic concepts of programming. This way, it will not matter the langauge as you grow into a career. One day, you can join the opionated programing crowd with the triumphat shout "My is the best". I'll tell you a little secret though, they all suck, they are all great, they all serve a purpose. What is in today, may be out tomorrow, but if you hang your hat on just one with all your might then you better pray to God or the speghettti monster that it will stay around. My path? Ratfor>FORTRAN>RPG>COBOL>Transact>VB>ASP>What ever keeps me employed.
Do not be a die-hard anything, but embrace the options that surround you. beyond that, remember to live life first.
All hail the new magic! Every time we peel a layer off the knowledge onion, we have the potential to discover more magic, more ways to bring out the wonder.
I feel that because CGI has become so much a part of the movie experience our minds, our eyes demand that it become seamless to the visual effect of the movie. Evn though I watch the "how do they do it" bits I am still swept away when (suspending reasonable doubt ) I cannot tell if it is real or realistic graphics. LOTR blew me away with the blending of reality (if you can call the New Zealand locations real) and fantasy. The same for 2001/2010, and Jurassic Park. Opposite the good movies, SW 1-3 had me sitting flat and bored for not once could I get pulled into the fantasy. To much flash for too little substance.
Perhaps "We" are just setting the bar higher and higher in terms of magic because the best magicians keep raising the bar. I can imagine a time when a movie experience will be more then 3D, but 360 degree where you experience the story as if you truly were there. Sights, smells, sound come from all around and while you may not move the viewing point, you can look all around.
If the magic is hidden then the opportunity for new ideas, fresh views to enter the stage get reduced. To pull from another common discussion point here on/., Open source provides the best oppourtunity for innovation against proprietary systems. Knowing the magic just makes us demand even better from the magicians the next time they perform. Closed systems tend to choke and die eventually.
Personally, I attend every movie with an initial suspension of disbelief. If the director/actors/cgi artists etc got it right I stay that way. If the work is shoddy, stilted, or there are to many moments where I get pushed back to reality, then by the end of the movie I walk away dissapointed because I could not escape into the plot. That is why I I am there in the first place; to experience something other then my current life. It is not jsut the graphics, it is how the story weaves in and out, how the suspense is built, how much I feel for the characters. There is still magic, the real issue is are there still magicians around who can work the high arts well enough to keep us believing in fantasy, or like in music, it is all hail to the almighty dollar and damn the quality. I hope for the former.
Wow, no, cool....I got my first/. flame. its kind of lame...but not bad. You know, I almost didn't put XML in there, but then I thought about all the crap you can put in XML, SOAP comes to mind, and I left it in thinking, its more then a mark up language, it's less then a real programming language...its gruel disguised as fine cuisine.
Good point though. You got the "one of these things is not like the other" game. FTR, my latest language is.Net, and at times java script. Thanks for the smile!
Seems every time a news item about VB comes out, we get the usual I hate VB because, or VB is not a real language, or Real Programmers Sneer at VB, or you can't learn programming in VB.
Give it a break!
As an MCT I taught Visual Basic from 3.0 to 6.0 to employees at a software company. it was a fundamentals class that focused first and foremsot on *concepts of programming* (gasp). Conditions, itterations, statments, structure flow, variable scope all hammered in before we got to anything to do with Objects/controls. I used the ease of VB to make learning fun, but always was the focus on the foundations of programming.
Funny thing, my next class was Objects in VB and again we designed classes outside of the language before using the tool VB to help build a Class. Had I tried that in Java or c++ then the "basic" concepts would be lost in the detail of just getting programs to compile. VB may not be 100% OO, but it is a god platform to show the basics.
Just because something is easy to use does not make it a bad tool. A hammer is a simple tool that in the right hands can build a house.
For those who Hate VB, why? What has it done to you? Call your mother a name? date your sister? Do you hate Visual Basic, or Microsoft in general. hate is such a strong emotion against a language that has done nothing more then provide a means for some to learn, others to earn. I hate java....I hate C++...nope, I can't feel it. Can't even come close to hate of two languages that come to mind. I would most likley never code in either language, but mainly because I lack the skill, and the time to master. Such happens after 24 years of programming. I've written in VB, COBOL, RPG, FORTRAN, Pascal, and dabbled in RatFor, C, Java, and now XML. None I hate; not all I like. Now only two am I comfortable with, and yet, given a change (time mainly) I'd *love* to learn C#, or C++. or more of Java. Hate? If's a fine line between hate and love.
I've said this before, it's not the language, it's the programmer. If someone understands the basic fundamentals of programming then language *does not matter* for that person will apply their understanding of concepts to bring out the best in a language. The rest wil hack, patch, kludge, or slap strings of statements that resemble a program but in fact look like a Rube Goldberg monstrosity left for others to fix.
As a general rule, when I hear a so-called programmer utter the sentence " I hate ????? language" they either are not a good Programmer, they haven't tried to see the good in anything, or their brilliance limits their vision of other peoples lives.
(And/. posters complain about the editors who dups news items...)
From cnn "In August, President Bush endorsed teaching intelligent design alongside evolution."
The very top of this country's leadership advocates ID; so begins the slow spiral into a dark age of education and science. Other then voting most of this addle-brained out of office there will be little the plebian society can do to stop this onslaught of dark age metality.
This *is* a sad day. As one with a very young child soon to start in the school system, the moment any School board in my area begins this debate I will pull her out of public education, as well I will campaign to stop this spread of illogical thought. Maybe it is time to promote the damn Speghetti monster theory of evolution in Kansas since they have opened the door for any crack pot scheme.
God Save the children of Kansas for their parents surely are lost.
"The major problem with VB is that most VB programmers are NOT hackers, in the original sense. Most VB programmers are people who hopped over from Office when the old macro language or VBA wasn't quite good enough"
Based on what? This Programmer came to VB from a business development background in COBOL and RPG. I learned Programming on C, Ratfor, Pascal, and Fortran (in college), but my career path took me towards end user applications in house. I tend to agree that in the last few years a decent business tool/language was diluted by people who picked up a book on VB for Dummies to try and write some type of data entry process, but that should not take away from the capabilites of VB. Whether or not it is OO is a lame discussion point for it's weakness. By version 6 VB had many of the OO capabilities needed to created small to medium sized applications without over complication of the language (or code). Time is money and good VB developers saved/saves a company money..Net is more robust and the more I begin to work in it, the more I am bent towards the other strong OO languages like Java and C#. I would have been quite content writing, designing, and some day managing a VB enviroment, but times change and I need to change with them. That cool flashy languages of today may one day be viewed with the same attitude some programmers have towards VB. By then I pray very hard I will out of this industry and sailing on the carribean.
It's amazing to witness such boneheaded mentalities regarding programming languages. "Mine's the best" "No Mine is" "No listen to me, I write in the best language"
Is VB such a bad language that it elicits childish rants of run away, name calling, and boorish commentary? Seems so to some but to others, many others it is and has been a language that provides an income, supports companies development, and has introduced programming to many others.
This rant against a language seems so lame any more. When I started in this industry it was the assembly programs slamming COBOL programmers. "You don't work in a real language", like I would want to push and pop my way to a database report generator when I can get the job done more effectively using the better tool. I've worked in COBOL, RPG II, Fortran, and (gasp) VB. To many/.ers I may be a peasant for my lack of experience in C++, C, or even Java, but then my jobs have never required their use.
Programming is *NOT* about the language, but about the concepts, structures, and how they are applied. Though I have not written much in Java, I can spot crap code when I see it. I have seen amazing work done in VB, crap, and everything in between. I have seen developers try to use the language in a way it was not meant to be used and that is language independent.
More on topic, providing a VB (or.net) IDE system on Linux would expose a large number of professionals with a choice or a chance to work on both OS. Right now I would love to move over to Linux, but my hard earned pay comes from developing on windows in VB (along with ASP, HTML, Javascript blah blah blah). if there was the potential to develop on either system I would start to move over to Linux.
I certainly am never ashamed to say I work in VB. Those who insult VB programmers only serve to show the insecurity they feel inside themselves for what ever reason. Over time I plan to become more proficient in Java and C# and respect all Programmers who write old school, well formed code and any language.
It took a lot of commentary to get to the heart of this issue. Why would a *for profit* company choose to support OO? I am not against this move, but I suspect that google wants to turn this into step 3 somehow.
1 - Allow company programmers to work on free program 2 - ??? 3 - profit
Will the profit be ads in the application? More people using Google? Lets consider that google makes it bread and butter on advertizing, not selling software. I refrain from gmail because I don't want ads while I communicate with my friends. I use google almost exclusively for search and sometimes click on the suggested ad buttons for ideas when looking to spend dollars. Typing letters or crafting stories and getting ad on the right side of the screen is not my idea of word processing.
Overall I feel google is currently run by minds that see it is better (re: profit) to work good acts and have a good name then bludgeon one's way to the top. Their involvement with OO will be wait and see for me, but if it becomes a stable, ad free efficient application down the road, I may turn to greener, cheaper pastures then whore myself to company software gate keepers for the next release of MSO.
Slashdot Mirror
I wish I still had mod points to mod you up through the roof. You hit upon the heart of the struggle within this country today. I also feel that today America is having a set of values spun around us that center on those themes of fear, isolation, individualism, and release of control. Alas, it is done so well; it is done in a way that like the frog in the pot analogy, by the time we feel the heat, it is to late to get out. I do feel that as those values are being defined, stated to the public there needs to be facts following that support or bolster the values. If we talk about the abundance in this country and how it can be used to help; we then need to back that statement up by showing where that abundance lies. When we talk about how valuing the environment and usign that value to set goals we also need to show what happens when we don't support a positive value. That is done with facts. I was upset with NPR the other day because during an interview with Alberto Gonzalez he defended the warrant-less NSA actions by saying "we spoke with Congress", "We did this to protect *you*". never did NPR response with questions like "Who did you talk to in Congress?", How has this protected us. the AG spun a value, but NPR needed to dig to determine if the value had truth, or was a fabrication. I am all for values first, but I feel a need to back those values up with facts, with truths that give credence to the values. Still in all, a great statement!
I swear to goodness, you want to means test, stress test, or otherwise find weak points in some techno gadget, post it on /. In short time you will find more opinions, suggestions, mods, and corrections then you ever would in a year of testing.
/. it! In one day a poster will have found more holes, or more improvements then they could have in a life time of boring walkthroughs or brainstorm sessions. Now there could be IP ramifications "Hey, that was my idea you made millions on", but if it betters the world is that not the prize?
This is what I love about this site. Next time NASA wants to start project X, have them post the basics on slashdot. Built something but not sure how to improve it?
This is Open Thought in action and I really enjoy...and learn from it!
I was going to "Act Now". I even went to the web site url you posted. When I got there the very first question was "are you a BellSouth customer?". "Well of course" I thought getting ready to proceed when I paused. I'm a customer. If I write to complain about this rather open extortion fest they want to implement would I begin to notice *my* bandwidth getting degraded. my phone lines getting more disrupted with static, my general service going downhill?
Perhaps that thinking is close to tinfoil hat time, but I can't help but feel, if there are those within the dark recesses of Castle BS that can hatch this alarming idea of demanding payola, protection money from content providers why could not they also think, let's stop dissentients by effecting them where it hurts most, connectivity.
My analogy:
In my fantasy neighborhood there are stores that sell goods and there are people who can not get to those goods since they are house-ridden. A company starts up a service the provides delivery of goods to these homes on a monthly fee to the house. The house pays more for quick delivery, less if they want lower priority in scheduling. The company does well because they provide a good service to the neighborhood and finally everyone is using the service. At that point the company says to the suppliers, hey, our bikes, vans, and sneakers cost us money so you need to pay us for our efforts or we will start to put those who do not pay on the lower priority list.
What's a provider to do, not pay and begin to lose business to those who will pay? Complain to the government (and we know how long that may take). So in the end the supplier pays, they wrap the cost back to the customer who is already paying for the service, and the only winner is the delivery service that just extorted money.
Now, is it possible that if this is extortion/racketeering then providers(suppliers) can contact the FBI and report the delivery service company as such and have charges filed? Which one would have the courage to make such a move? Apple? Google? Yahoo? I doubt it. While I agree that I can tell my ISP BellSouth to go pound salt and get me a new ISP, Bellsouth is the physical data entry point into my home. Again, what stops them from effecting the switch from one DSL service to another. I could switch to Cable, but then they may start the same shenanigans.
This is a very cynical viewpoint, but these days, once a company like BellSouth begins to implement these types of business practices there is little effort to stop them. I would (and may) write to my US Rep, but he is so busy trying to scamper away from the latest D.C. scandal I am sure he would not be to concerned about the extortionist practices of one of his campaign contributors. Companies like BellSOuth see that they can initiate these ethically shady business models because the current government is pro-big business and will only interfere if an even bigger company steps into squash this before it takes hold. Best bet I see, write to Google or Microsoft and say "This practice sucks, this will cost you because BellSouth wants to charge you and if they do, and you charge me, I will not use your service any more. It is Government by the dollar and I think I am beginning to hear a fiddle playing off in the distance.
I'll get flamed, trolled or off-topic, but there is a couple thoughts to make before i step down from my box. I think it was the comment about Mother Teresa that gave me pause. Of course she is not around to confirm or deny, but I just feel that she would not put the words profit and God in the same sentence. Personally her actions were more an extention of loving acts that cannot be quantified or defined by market mentality. I read your statements and see some truth, but like a politician or skilled salesman, it is hard to see the depths and solidity of the meaning. While are are individuals, we are still all part of a greater collection called society. We act, interact, and react with others. I have a self interest at preservation, but not at the expense of others. for me, that is the essential problem with this term "free market". To turn the phrase it means that one is "free" to do what ever for preservation and growth. the example of the banana seller/buyer is quaint, but can be replaced by the slave trader, weapons dealer, polluting chemical manufacturer, or self-indulged evangelical preacher. Those business men may be helping themselves (and those who want their business), but they may be doing more harm to the society as a whole.
In your statement about the relationship between employee/employer you touched on the basic axiom that could transform much of the world if applied...Love as an action. it does not stop one from making money, of protecting ones self, but it does so respecting that there are others that are effected by our actions. Love as an action means we try to act less selfish, and act more to raise others up for in doing that, we raise ourselves. I just feel that Mother Teresa did what she did not to profit in the light of God, but to say that if she made even one life a little better, she made her life that much better.
So I've rambled way from the path. Vodka will do that. You have interesting viewpoints Dada21, which gives me food for thought and I thank you for that. I may disagree at times, but diversity is needed for learning.
I'm a free market guy -- I truly believe that everyone performs actions that help themselves first (and others, secondly, if they want to continue doing what they do).
Could that be said to those who volunteer their time to help others? Would Mother Teresa fall under this conjecture? I feel that there is a subtle issue with that perspective. Of course we are all in the business of self-preservation, but the problem with a free market is that is only self-serving without consideration for the greater society for which it operates in. I do not like the term "free-market" for there is nothing free about it. This market is not even free of basic rules or regulation that serve to limit the excess that can occur when 'haves' take from 'have nots'. Perhaps a better term is capitalistic market since the purpose of a market is to increase capital.
I believe we take jobs in order to pay our bills, and we do our jobs with the consideration of what will keep us employed, and what will give us bigger financial opportunities in the future
Perhaps I'm on the fringe, but I have always tended to think of work first as a way to extend my creativity, to learn, to be and feel productive in a positive way. I very much appreciate that I get a paycheck for the work I provide, but it is less the focus of my satifaction then whether I work for a good team, a competent boss, a cool project, or a decent company. I found my passion in computers early and was able to make a living at it. To take your statement literally then any job would do in order to pay the bills. I feel people first find work in something that gives them pleasure, satifaction, and compensation. It is only in critical moments when the "any thing to pay the bills" mentality takes over. I worked some odd jobs when I was downsized for two years, because I still needed to maintain my fiscal responsibilities. Those jobs did not make me want to grow in them since I never wanted a career in those fields. Given the choice today, I would rather start my own business in sailboat charters then work in the computer field. Not because I want to pay the bills, but that sailing is my deeper passion even more then computers and it would be great to sailm, show people the wonders of sailing and make money doing it*. As to 'bigger financial opportunities', having tried to create the best quality products and seeing mediocrity get moved up the ladder I can understand how easy it is for some to start to give up on doing their best. Though my heart still believes the adage "Work hard and you will be rewarded" the mind and the eyes see a different picture.
I believe that employers are the customers of employees, and that is how I judge employer-employee relations.
That is 100% spot on. It is a symbiotic relationship between the two and yet time and time again the Employer part shits on its self by shitting on the employee. There are sadly few examples today that show what happens when employers make an effort to provide a productive working environment for the employee. The results tend to be one where work quality increases, product quality increases, customer satifactions rises and even an increase in profit. The problem is that you need well trained managers, executive that can see beyond the next quarterly report, and a society mindset that refuses to accept the lowest goods and service.
I know my comments are off topic to human cloning, but your comments struck a cord with me.
* I have a Masters USCG Capt License, I did try, but backing is hard to come by compared to "safe" business start-ups like dot comms or Dunkin Donuts.
"We believe that this research will lead to much more drivable and intuitively controllable autos, especially for a generation of drivers raised on video games, and will cause fewer accidents on the road, due to the intuitive nature of the control mechanisms and the ingrained neurological psycho-response actuations which have developed from extensive game playing."
That's a heck of a statement. I would not not completely disagree, but I would question whether using a joystick type control or wheel would make any difference in the number of accidents on the road. The best most intuative system on the road will not replace judgement. if I press a pedal, or squeeze a trigger, going to fast will screw up my day either from a ticket or a hard object. What _may_ reeduce accidents is some enhanced computer control that can take over to avoid a potential accident, voice activated warnings (similar to airplane cockpit warnings) when conditions warrant, or better driving education.
Driving is *not* a game and just because one sits in front of a screen and gains good hand-eye coordinations does nothing to make him/her/it a better driver. Now, if your company designed a video game that taught good driving habits...no wait...that would be bbbooorrriiinnggg.
amazing how those ancient and not forgotten languages are still around whilst other fade to the back. reminds me of the story about the guy who went into cryogenic sleep and....ahhh...its and old story. Someday young bucks may say "Remember C, or was it D, what ever, it was a simple language to work with"
And this will only cost you 3$
i type=6776&icustompageid=10017
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or did you mean [Staples Centers] http://stores.staples-locator.com/staples/?
What terrorist needs GPS when they have mapquest, google map, and many other direction finding tools. A compass and a good topo map can get you where you need to be in the wilderness. Terrorists are not about accuracy, they are about terror and terror does not care if you are within a cm or 3 meters of the target.
What country with missle capability would even consider a guided missle using GPS against a US target. We invaded one country with a set of lies, the truth (we attacked the USA) might bring out the nukes. I feel the whole idea of degrading accuracy of GPS to be quite silly. Typically, the only ones who suffer are the civilians and unknowing bystanders because the people who will use this technology to kill other people will figure others ways around the problem. How about laser guided to name one. Get an operative clsoe enough to the target, light it up, fire off a non-GPS laser guided missile and boom. How nice it would be to have our goverments, milirtary, and intelligence working on ways to stop the people assets instead of trying to stop the bombs.
You are two years into an education, pick one and learn it. Better still, learn the basic concepts of programming. This way, it will not matter the langauge as you grow into a career. One day, you can join the opionated programing crowd with the triumphat shout "My is the best". I'll tell you a little secret though, they all suck, they are all great, they all serve a purpose. What is in today, may be out tomorrow, but if you hang your hat on just one with all your might then you better pray to God or the speghettti monster that it will stay around. My path? Ratfor>FORTRAN>RPG>COBOL>Transact>VB>ASP>What ever keeps me employed.
Do not be a die-hard anything, but embrace the options that surround you. beyond that, remember to live life first.
All hail the new magic! Every time we peel a layer off the knowledge onion, we have the potential to discover more magic, more ways to bring out the wonder.
/., Open source provides the best oppourtunity for innovation against proprietary systems. Knowing the magic just makes us demand even better from the magicians the next time they perform. Closed systems tend to choke and die eventually.
I feel that because CGI has become so much a part of the movie experience our minds, our eyes demand that it become seamless to the visual effect of the movie. Evn though I watch the "how do they do it" bits I am still swept away when (suspending reasonable doubt ) I cannot tell if it is real or realistic graphics. LOTR blew me away with the blending of reality (if you can call the New Zealand locations real) and fantasy. The same for 2001/2010, and Jurassic Park. Opposite the good movies, SW 1-3 had me sitting flat and bored for not once could I get pulled into the fantasy. To much flash for too little substance.
Perhaps "We" are just setting the bar higher and higher in terms of magic because the best magicians keep raising the bar. I can imagine a time when a movie experience will be more then 3D, but 360 degree where you experience the story as if you truly were there. Sights, smells, sound come from all around and while you may not move the viewing point, you can look all around.
If the magic is hidden then the opportunity for new ideas, fresh views to enter the stage get reduced. To pull from another common discussion point here on
Personally, I attend every movie with an initial suspension of disbelief. If the director/actors/cgi artists etc got it right I stay that way. If the work is shoddy, stilted, or there are to many moments where I get pushed back to reality, then by the end of the movie I walk away dissapointed because I could not escape into the plot. That is why I I am there in the first place; to experience something other then my current life. It is not jsut the graphics, it is how the story weaves in and out, how the suspense is built, how much I feel for the characters. There is still magic, the real issue is are there still magicians around who can work the high arts well enough to keep us believing in fantasy, or like in music, it is all hail to the almighty dollar and damn the quality. I hope for the former.
Wow, no, cool....I got my first /. flame. its kind of lame...but not bad. You know, I almost didn't put XML in there, but then I thought about all the crap you can put in XML, SOAP comes to mind, and I left it in thinking, its more then a mark up language, it's less then a real programming language...its gruel disguised as fine cuisine.
Good point though. You got the "one of these things is not like the other" game. FTR, my latest language is .Net, and at times java script. Thanks for the smile!
Seems every time a news item about VB comes out, we get the usual I hate VB because, or VB is not a real language, or Real Programmers Sneer at VB, or you can't learn programming in VB.
/. posters complain about the editors who dups news items...)
Give it a break!
As an MCT I taught Visual Basic from 3.0 to 6.0 to employees at a software company. it was a fundamentals class that focused first and foremsot on *concepts of programming* (gasp). Conditions, itterations, statments, structure flow, variable scope all hammered in before we got to anything to do with Objects/controls. I used the ease of VB to make learning fun, but always was the focus on the foundations of programming.
Funny thing, my next class was Objects in VB and again we designed classes outside of the language before using the tool VB to help build a Class. Had I tried that in Java or c++ then the "basic" concepts would be lost in the detail of just getting programs to compile. VB may not be 100% OO, but it is a god platform to show the basics.
Just because something is easy to use does not make it a bad tool. A hammer is a simple tool that in the right hands can build a house.
For those who Hate VB, why? What has it done to you? Call your mother a name? date your sister? Do you hate Visual Basic, or Microsoft in general. hate is such a strong emotion against a language that has done nothing more then provide a means for some to learn, others to earn. I hate java....I hate C++...nope, I can't feel it. Can't even come close to hate of two languages that come to mind. I would most likley never code in either language, but mainly because I lack the skill, and the time to master. Such happens after 24 years of programming. I've written in VB, COBOL, RPG, FORTRAN, Pascal, and dabbled in RatFor, C, Java, and now XML. None I hate; not all I like. Now only two am I comfortable with, and yet, given a change (time mainly) I'd *love* to learn C#, or C++. or more of Java. Hate? If's a fine line between hate and love.
I've said this before, it's not the language, it's the programmer. If someone understands the basic fundamentals of programming then language *does not matter* for that person will apply their understanding of concepts to bring out the best in a language. The rest wil hack, patch, kludge, or slap strings of statements that resemble a program but in fact look like a Rube Goldberg monstrosity left for others to fix.
As a general rule, when I hear a so-called programmer utter the sentence " I hate ????? language" they either are not a good Programmer, they haven't tried to see the good in anything, or their brilliance limits their vision of other peoples lives.
(And
Qu-Borg...I love it..(We are, or are not the Borg, choose to be assimilated) best laugh I had all week. Wish I could mod Up as Funny. Thanks!
From cnn "In August, President Bush endorsed teaching intelligent design alongside evolution."
The very top of this country's leadership advocates ID; so begins the slow spiral into a dark age of education and science. Other then voting most of this addle-brained out of office there will be little the plebian society can do to stop this onslaught of dark age metality.
This *is* a sad day. As one with a very young child soon to start in the school system, the moment any School board in my area begins this debate I will pull her out of public education, as well I will campaign to stop this spread of illogical thought. Maybe it is time to promote the damn Speghetti monster theory of evolution in Kansas since they have opened the door for any crack pot scheme.
God Save the children of Kansas for their parents surely are lost.
"The major problem with VB is that most VB programmers are NOT hackers, in the original sense. Most VB programmers are people who hopped over from Office when the old macro language or VBA wasn't quite good enough"
.Net is more robust and the more I begin to work in it, the more I am bent towards the other strong OO languages like Java and C#. I would have been quite content writing, designing, and some day managing a VB enviroment, but times change and I need to change with them. That cool flashy languages of today may one day be viewed with the same attitude some programmers have towards VB. By then I pray very hard I will out of this industry and sailing on the carribean.
Based on what? This Programmer came to VB from a business development background in COBOL and RPG. I learned Programming on C, Ratfor, Pascal, and Fortran (in college), but my career path took me towards end user applications in house. I tend to agree that in the last few years a decent business tool/language was diluted by people who picked up a book on VB for Dummies to try and write some type of data entry process, but that should not take away from the capabilites of VB. Whether or not it is OO is a lame discussion point for it's weakness. By version 6 VB had many of the OO capabilities needed to created small to medium sized applications without over complication of the language (or code). Time is money and good VB developers saved/saves a company money.
It's amazing to witness such boneheaded mentalities regarding programming languages. "Mine's the best"
/.ers I may be a peasant for my lack of experience in C++, C, or even Java, but then my jobs have never required their use.
.net) IDE system on Linux would expose a large number of professionals with a choice or a chance to work on both OS. Right now I would love to move over to Linux, but my hard earned pay comes from developing on windows in VB (along with ASP, HTML, Javascript blah blah blah). if there was the potential to develop on either system I would start to move over to Linux.
"No Mine is"
"No listen to me, I write in the best language"
Is VB such a bad language that it elicits childish rants of run away, name calling, and boorish commentary? Seems so to some but to others, many others it is and has been a language that provides an income, supports companies development, and has introduced programming to many others.
This rant against a language seems so lame any more. When I started in this industry it was the assembly programs slamming COBOL programmers. "You don't work in a real language", like I would want to push and pop my way to a database report generator when I can get the job done more effectively using the better tool. I've worked in COBOL, RPG II, Fortran, and (gasp) VB. To many
Programming is *NOT* about the language, but about the concepts, structures, and how they are applied. Though I have not written much in Java, I can spot crap code when I see it. I have seen amazing work done in VB, crap, and everything in between. I have seen developers try to use the language in a way it was not meant to be used and that is language independent.
More on topic, providing a VB (or
I certainly am never ashamed to say I work in VB. Those who insult VB programmers only serve to show the insecurity they feel inside themselves for what ever reason. Over time I plan to become more proficient in Java and C# and respect all Programmers who write old school, well formed code and any language.
It took a lot of commentary to get to the heart of this issue. Why would a *for profit* company choose to support OO? I am not against this move, but I suspect that google wants to turn this into step 3 somehow.
1 - Allow company programmers to work on free program
2 - ???
3 - profit
Will the profit be ads in the application? More people using Google? Lets consider that google makes it bread and butter on advertizing, not selling software. I refrain from gmail because I don't want ads while I communicate with my friends. I use google almost exclusively for search and sometimes click on the suggested ad buttons for ideas when looking to spend dollars. Typing letters or crafting stories and getting ad on the right side of the screen is not my idea of word processing.
Overall I feel google is currently run by minds that see it is better (re: profit) to work good acts and have a good name then bludgeon one's way to the top. Their involvement with OO will be wait and see for me, but if it becomes a stable, ad free efficient application down the road, I may turn to greener, cheaper pastures then whore myself to company software gate keepers for the next release of MSO.