CCTVs Don't Work in the UK I think the real question is, have they ever worked this way anywhere?
Sure, they work on homes or parking lots where the crook can just walk down the block to a non-camera lot but it's not like the crooks in the UK are going to boat over to the next island that doesn't have mass CCTV, is it?
The first time I saw the trailer for this movie, my jaw hit the floor. Nobody makes live action "Cartoons" that look like this. I guess that makes me believe there is no way the movie can be good. "No way?" Why on earth do you say that? I mean, the odds are high we have the equivalent of Fantastic Four, Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow or a Matrix sequel. You know, movies that have great or novel special effects but little else. On the other hand, you could have something like Brazil, Blade Runner or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Movies that had different or strange special effects with more supporting features than just that.
I don't think that's exactly fair. There is some way the movie could be good. The original Matrix had neat (maybe not original) effects but it also had a very sound core science fiction theme along with a lot of great drama and situations. The dialog wasn't the best but I thought the story was very very strong. My 50+ year old aunt and uncle watched it when it came out and the one thing they remember from it is the story. Not the special effects or dialog or who was in it but the possibility of this Man Vs Machine universe.
I'll admit when I saw the Speed Racer trailer, my brain didn't comprehend anything that happened. I couldn't tell who was what, what I was looking at or even what kind of conflict the movie centered on. I was utterly stupefied. I'm not afraid of admitting that, it was just confusing and I've never seen or read any Speed Racer material so I have no precursor or knowledge of what the theme is.
If this movie is relying 100% on its stunning visual effects, it's going to be a summer blockbuster and nothing more. It isn't going to age well and might go down as being a standard to watch on the latest plasma screen until next summer when a better movie comes out. There is, however, still a very likely possibility that one or more elements comes through to save the movie. Whether it be the directing, the acting, the story or even the music.
... many Linux contributors were originally UNIX developers... We have evidence System V is in Linux... When you go to the bookstore and look in the UNIX section, there's books on 'How to Program UNIX' but when you go to the Linux section and look for 'How to Program Linux' you're not gonna find it, because it doesn't exist. Linux is a copy of UNIX, there is no difference [between them]. This flies directly in the face of what SCO found in extensive investigations in 2002 and did not correspond with what SCO Senior Vice President Chrs Sontag just finished testifying earlier that day.
Writers will always sue the pants off each other and sometimes even other sources! Always have, always will. It just depends on how big of an orc... I mean ass they are. I think that Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" pointed out how, through one way or another, nearly everyone owes at least something to those who came before and the Monomyth. You want to write a good fiction story? Simply take Campbell's book and dump the Monomyth into some environment of today. If I may say so myself, Rowling is a few mousekateers short of a full Mickey Mouse group... uh, I mean she's a few rhymes short of a full Cat in the Hat... uh, I mean she's a few Knights Templar short of a full Da Vinci's Code... that is to say she's a few crystals short of a Jedi Lightsaber...
Aw, christ, I'll just put my lawyer on speed dial.
Software as a service style support. There's their pricing. They also have a merchandise store. This is just like RedHat's model, what's so surprising? Also, Shuttleworth chucked a ton of change at them initially if my memory serves correctly.
All too often on software projects, I see someone spend several days figuring out a neat thing to implement that they personally think is a great addition.
And when it comes time to remove it they defend it. They may even realize that they were wrong thinking everyone would love it. But they just don't want to give up that code that cost them so much time to figure out and write.
Coding for several days only to realize that you need to throw everything you wrote away is one of the hardest skills for a developer to learn...
I started using the Web in 1992 and it was demonstrated in public then. And in any case the Internet is more like 30 years. I should have clarified. From this more extensive article it points out that:
The World Wide Web has many birthdays.
March 1989, when Tim Berners-Lee handed his boss a short document entitled Information Management: a Proposal, is one.
Christmas of the following year, when the Web was up and running on two computers, is another.
But perhaps the most important Web anniversary of all is 30 April 1993.
That's the day that Cern put the web in the public domain, thereby ensuring that the world would have a single system for accessing the Internet, instead of a Microsoft Web, a Macintosh Web and who knows, perhaps even an Amstrad Web.
Today, it is hard to imagine a world without the web, yet well into the 1990s, internet access was the reserve of the privileged few, mainly academics.
Although the internet had been around since the 1970s, accessing documents on remote computers required the mastery of complex protocols. Scientists had been doing that for years, and at Cern, the European laboratory for particle physics in Geneva, they were particularly adept. So, it's the 15th anniversary today of when CERN handed over the code to the public domain (thank god they did!).
Slashdot was dying for several hours Like a heroin addict, I stumbled out of bed over to my desk and shook the mouse to wake up the monitor. Ah, the bathing goodness of #006666. I hit refresh only to find it taking an unusually long time. Was my internet connection down? No, Pidgin is still up... wait a second, Slashdot is down! SLASHDOT IS DOWN!
I started to shake uncontrollably and found breathing difficult. My roommate heard a strange moan and poked his head in through my door "Are you ok, dude?" I grabbed the closest thing to me, my Limited Edition Ceramic Invader Zim figurine and flung it at him. It shattered into a million pieces.
I wrenched the monitor to face the corner of my room and set the drinking bird to hit F5 repeatedly. I grabbed my torn and tattered copy of this quarter's 2600 and curled up in the fetus position sucking my thumb and sobbing quietly. I picked up my cell phone to call work, I would not be coming in today...
Going out and building my own business is the right thing to do. Sitting in a cubicle being all happy that I am not starving to death in Africa is absurd.
Oh, and btw, this attitude has saved more starving children in the poor part of the world than any other activity undertaken by any person or organization. US companies moving to Asia has lifted that region out of massive poverty, and has been the major contributor to the fact that the number of people starving to death in the world today is significantly lower than 30 years ago. Sadly this is being countered currently by our system of farm-subsidies, but that is another story.
BZZZZT! WRONG! If you can't find joy in your current job and you can't find a job with a comparable income, go out and make your own company, make it successful, hire lots of people and make the world a better place. By all means, don't listen to this poster.
Generations before you have worked in mills, textile plants, mines, slaughterhouses, etc.
Yes, and the reason these people are not still in mills and on farms and that they have an education and much better jobs, and the reason that less people suffer from starvation and malnutrition today than ever before is because some guy in a mill, or a mine, or on a farm, said "Fuck this shit, I'm outta here" and then he went on to make a better mill, a more efficient engine, a better light bulb or similar. The ones with your attitude stayed put and complained about management mistreatment. Remember everybody, to escape poverty, you just have to magically say "I'm outta here!" and just like that *poof* you're living the sweet life.
Your maxim of every single human on earth being able to have a magically successful business while everyone else is the poor consumer confuses me. But remember, I'm the communist for acknowledging that > 60% of the wealth lies in < 5% of the populace. Brother, that is never going to change, it is Pareto Law, the world over! You must be the American for thinking that everyone has an equal share of the wealth and ability to be the successful businessman.
You and I have some serious fundamental disagreements about how the world works. That is fine--I will be the first to admit that economic theory is voodoo to me. However, I have the feeling that if you try this magical get rich business plan you will find that Reality is waiting for you and when it finds you it will not be kind.
You make a good point. I have worked hard, physical jobs in the past, so I do appreciate the value of having a stable professional career.
That being said, I also appreciate the value of coming home after a long day of work feeling like I accomplished something, even if it was just bucking bales. I can put you in touch with one of my uncles that "bucked bales" for a good 30 years only to find out he was destroying his knees as he did it. Doc says he should look at driving truck and think about how he spends his money as it may be wheelchair time soon.
Or maybe you can talk to my other uncles and aunts who aren't into farming. A few of them tried it but you know there's these things called "corporate farms" that (at least when I was younger) had tax loopholes, subsidies and Republican style protection from taxes. They have been known to put together a failing business model, buy up land, get investors, flood the market with one product for three years while they operate in the red and then just, you know, file for bankruptcy. Since it was all under a corporation they just regroup and do it again next time.
What does all this excess in the market do to the family farm? Kills the income for that year. Family farms can't operate in the red for more than a year. And if you file for bankruptcy, that's your name.
So you basically have to be business smart and have lawyers to be a farmer these days. Just ain't worth it. Easier and more stable to be a Java monkey (look at me!).
Couple that with the tricks you have to pull to pass on the farm and machinery to the kids and you got an impossible sustaining source of income. Happened to the entire generation of farms before me, I'm out.
Sorry to go on a tandem there, but if you are seriously thinking about "working the land" and "accomplishing something" and feeling tired from good hard work at the end of the day, don't do it. It's a crap shoot these days.
Occasionally, I will get interested in some new technology, but for the most part I'm starting to find it all very tedious, repetitive, and boring and I'm no longer really interested in the hands-on aspect of the business. I spent the majority of my childhood until I was 18 picking rock and bailing hay on a farm. You think you're in a tedious, repetitive and boring job? The fact that you're posting on Slashdot during work hours tells me otherwise. I'll bet you have air conditioning.
I know this is a bad thing that Americans don't like to dwell on but you should be happy you have a solid source of income and work in comfortable environments. Most people outside of the industrialized world can't say that.
The only problem is that I have a wife and kid to support and my current job pays very well. If you can't find joy in your job and you can't find another job with comparable income, then find joy in your family. Generations before you have worked in mills, textile plants, mines, slaughterhouses, etc. all in the name of their wives, daughters & sons living a free life. Again, if I were you, I would opt to be thankful I can provide for my family under much better circumstances (and probably at much higher pay with inflation taken into account).
On the other hand, I recognize that the young idealist in us all strikes every now and then. But you've got a family and a paying job so I would recommend you focus on those aspects instead of risking them. I guess if you do decide to act on your instincts, ask them if they're willing to accept the risk for your happiness at work. They're now part of your life and depending on you so respect that and be responsible.
You know, as an incompetent Java developer, I will take the time to explain why none of my web applications suffered from this.
I use Hibernate. I use it with Java, although I know it's now available for.NET.
A feature of Hibernate (aside from some efficient connection pooling and resource management like caching) is that you have to actually call a delete method to delete a row. Something like HibernateSession.delete(myObject); would have to be done. And while this might sound annoying or ruin some tools that are used to generate SQL statements, it protects me time and time again. Now, you can use HQL which is a bastardized version of SQL to generate similar things but, again, I think that you can't drop/delete in it (could be wrong, rarely use it).
Try passing part of an SQL string into an object property and then merge/save it into the HibernateSession. Doesn't do the SQL injection stuff the bad guys want it to. Of course, I still use regular expression common utilities to validate the input, but assuming you didn't do that...
So why don't other people use Hibernate? Am I missing something about it that's bad?
Ignoring corporate spin-doctoring there seems to be plenty of blame to go around. Well, here's a quote directly from Bill Sisk of Microsoft (seems to be in line with this blogger):
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) on Friday found itself trying to clarify that it has nothing to do with the poor coding practices that have enabled a massive SQL injection attack to affect Web sites using Microsoft IIS Web Server and Microsoft SQL Server.
"The attacks are facilitated by SQL injection exploits and are not issues related to IIS 6.0, ASP, ASP.Net, or Microsoft SQL technologies," said Bill Sisk, a communications manager at Microsoft, in a blog post. "SQL injection attacks enable malicious users to execute commands in an application's database."
Sisk said that to defend against SQL injection attacks, developers should follow secure coding practices. So if you want Microsoft's side of the story, they can't help it that people use bad coding practices.
As a coder, I don't agree with that. You make a tool/language/framework for developers, you better make it idiot proof. Example: C is far from idiot proof (seg fault!) but it's fast. Stupid fast. Unfortunately for C, there are more stupid coders out there like me than genuis coders out there like... Donald Knuth. So you will see Java rise in popularity without ever being able to live up to speed of C.
Wow, for flaim retardant reasons, take the above paragraph as my meager opinion.
Would you buy a Metallica online album despite their former views? You've got to remember that they tried to stand up and speak for all musicians. Some of the other musicians had completely opposite views though. So in my eyes what they did was worse than giving the RIAA justification for suing the hell out of people, it was also misrepresentation.
I will never buy a Metallica album. I have never owned and never will own any Metallica song or album legally or illegally. The irony is that I've been in a few cover bands (in high school mostly) and can play "Enter Sandman" and all that crap. Like many artists, I'm not a big fan of their music. Unlike many artists, I do not agree with their views in regards to music distribution.
In 2002, Slashdot ran a story on what David Bowie saw in the future of music and the music industry. Now there's somebody who I both respect and love musically. His vision was no copyright, albums are free to download, very inexpensive to buy and the artists rake in mad cash through concerts and tours. Don't get me wrong, he used a tone that said it was going to be embraced by some artists and hated by others:
"I don't even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don't think it's going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it's not going to happen. I'm fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing."
"Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity. So it's like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left. It's terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn't matter if you think it's exciting or not; it's what's going to happen." If Metallica wants me to listen to their music, they need to change their attitude toward music distribution. On top of that, they need to try to undo what they did. They need to apologize, speak out against the RIAA from now on, seek new channels of distribution, promote new bands other than themselves that use these channels and help out people who are being sued by the RIAA by providing legal fees so those people stand a chance. Asking a lot, I know, but Metallica did a lot to set us back in what Bowie was talking about as the inevitable end state.
Metallica will not atone for their actions and I will do everything in my power to dissuade those around me from listening to them. If I could say one thing to the band, it would be "You've always been on board the RIAA ship and now you'll ride that ship down to the bottom of the ocean with your career."
So I recently was turned on to modern BBC programmes (I'll spell it their way) with much joy resulting from watching The Mighty Boosh... on YouTube. I realize that this is in all likelihood illegal which is unfortunate because I like to pay credit where credit is due.
I moseyed on over to the BBC website in hopes of a NBC, ABC or even Comedy Central style of ad based hosting. No luck. I couldn't download and install the iPlayer either. I realized that cost Brits a pretty pound to produce so no hard feelings there. But there wasn't a low quality flash version for me. None. Nothing. I cannot figure out how to enjoy this programme legally.
Their site has two questions in their FAQ in regard to this:
Can I download programmes from outside the UK?
The BBC uses Geo-IP technology to identify where your are based on the location of your internet service provider (ISP). This ensures that only internet users in the UK can enjoy programmes on BBC iPlayer.
If you download a programme to your laptop or a portable hard drive, you can watch this wherever you are in the world. However, you will only be able to download new programmes once you return to the UK. And
Can I use BBC iPlayer outside the UK?
Rights agreements mean that BBC iPlayer television programmes are only available to users to download or stream (Click to Play) in the UK. However, BBC Worldwide is working on an international version, which we will make available as soon as possible.
Do make sure you check for news on BBC iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/. I do hope that changes in the near future. In the meantime, does anyone know the best way to get ahold of episodes of new Dr. Who, The Mighty Boosh & (soon) Blake's 7?
Worst Summary Ever Thanks. I really appreciate the amount of respect and appreciation I get from this site.
Donald Knuth is not "playing hardball." Nobody needs to call the interview "raw and uncut," or "unplugged." Wow, where exactly did I (or CmdrTaco) use any of those phrases?
Calling something a "complete waste of time" is, in my book at least, "ripping" on something. I didn't "sully his good name," I posted what I found interesting. You should also point out he has prostate cancer and I left that out. God, what horrible spin I used! You'd think I was talking about someone whose life wasn't at risk, the way I spun that summary!
Knuth is a well-respected figure who makes moderate, thoughtful statements. I happen to disagree with his stances on multi-core chips and unit testing. I didn't find anything thoughtful about what he said and really wish he would have elaborated on why unit testing is a complete waste of time.
From the summary, you'd think he was a trash-talking pro-wrestler. Actually, after reading the article, I did find him to be a bit preachy. Apparently you and everyone else find him unquestionably correct in all his statements from that interview.
And also, people are claiming he said these things "in passing." Which I find to be a phrase used when you want to avoid owning up to something you said. If I call you a "whiney bitch in passing" that doesn't lessen it one bit. Knuth claims no one should listen to him. Why is he publishing books if no one should listen to him?
The guy said some inflammatory comments. If you read the following posts, you'll realize that I wasn't the only one that found them inflammatory or controversial.
Well, I guess I might as well try to defend myself.
Well, if you are testing your code 200 times a day, you are almost certainly wasting time. Lets run some numbers:
Assuming you work an 8 hour day, that means you are testing your code every 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Given that most of your tests will take this long to run (you've got a suite of them right?), that leaves you with zero time to actually do the work you are testing.
Frankly, if you are using Unit Tests you should be using them after major chunks of work, not in a trial and error fashion. Now if you were using them in a trial and error fashion - "lets change this, run the tests and see if they pass, no that didn't work, lets try this", etc, I could understand how you hit the 200 times per day mark. That is a completely respectable position to take. I used to work in this way during college. My several thousand unit tests do take 2-3 minutes to build. My estimate of 200 times was probably over shot and should be more like 50-75 times a day. I would also like to point out that I can continue developing while the tests run. I use Maven2 as a build tool and enjoy it immensely, it helps me do test driven development. Since you are obviously far superior to me, I will assume you know what this means but point it out to the rest of the idiots like myself. TDD is where you write your unit tests before you code. Then you satisfy your unit tests with code. When you need to change code, you change the tests and then you change the code to fix the tests. Crazy waste of time right?
If you are coding in a trial and error fashion and using unit tests that way, I'd advise getting some tuition or changing career. Thanks, I love you too.
But the thing is that my employer loves my work and my code rarely breaks. Now why is that? Perhaps because I'm regression testing at all times? Perhaps it's because I take the time to think about things before I do them and, as a result, I really begin to understand what it is that I'm writing.
An added benefit is that I've found I can look at my or others unit tests and really understand what was going through their mind when the first wrote the method that I am expanding. It's quite interesting, but I'm sure you are a supreme being like Knuth and don't bother with such trivialities.
I'm a highly productive individual... Congratulations, I'm glad that you view yourself in such light while being able to cut me down with a few keystrokes. I'm also glad I don't work with you. Really glad. I would sacrifice all productivity in the name of being able to come into work and not feel like shit.
Making the unit tests part of the build process is like requiring a roadworthiness test for you car every one mile you drive it. Sure the car is safe, but its not very productive at getting you from A to B, you could walk faster. I respect your decision to use a car analogy here although I find it flawed as I most often do.
Here's a question: how much time do you spend working out what happened when your code breaks? TDD is a trivial amount of time compared to that. I am concerned about my software in the present and future. I wish others were also.
What counts is that when you run the unit tests, they pass, and that they accurately test the conditions that need testing. I disagree with you. I run unit tests that fail all the time--on purpose.
I know it will most likely result in a swift abrasive response but I implore your highness to really spend some time understanding how unit tests can help the really stupid coders (like me).
They're missing a category for the "It's a Trap! Award" as I would like to nominate The Prince of Darkness for his work with OOXML 'community acceptance.'
As you see below, the mail program would only accept 320 addresses. The rest overflowed into the body of the message. When they found some recipients had not gotten it, they re-sent the message to the rest of the recipients. According to Thuerk, they were unaware of the "address file" function in the mail program that would have enabled a mailing list. Unfortunately, one thing that's changed is that spammers have become far more sophisticated and clever. Sometimes I analyze a piece of spam that gets caught and when it's at my office's Exchange Inbox, funny things happen. Like I show up as the sender, receiver and subject of the message! Only when I inspect the e-mail do I find that they are using some sort of Exchange exploit to make it appear this way while the actual subject is--you guessed it--viagra (and no, my name is not Viagra)!
In the spirit of the history of Spam, I think it also bears mentioning something I didn't see in the article: a Usenet phrase "Eternal September" which was September of 1993. An exponential growth of spam and gullible users ensured constant income for spammers and provided the initial hit of income for people like The Spam King (I won't even dignify him with printing his name). They've been chasing the dragon ever since at the expense of the hardware and software of the internet. And to think that if the spammers had missed that initial exposure of thousands of people willing to "increase what she prefers your size XXL no one will know you use works 100%" then we might not be in the situation we are today.
Judges today should force spammers to work with law enforcement and security companies to figure out how to stop others before they even start. If not for an initial hit of funding, I doubt any spammer would continue.
But did anyone else find Visual Basic rising two spots to #3 past PHP & C++ to be a sure sign of the apocalypse?
(Visual) Basic 11.699% +3.42% A Could someone reassure me that's a mistake before I go home to sit down with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a revolver with a single bullet in it?
For the article I am not sure it applies...
Where is the fly-me-to-the-outer-system-to-collect-dust-and-gas tag? Yeah but Frank Sinatra had a hard time working out the phrasing to "Fly Me to the Outer System to Collect Dust and Gas" so he had his writers rework it slightly. Although Count Basie liked the funky 10 syllables across four beats syncopation, Old Blue Eyes wouldn't bow to nobody...
Gracenote has been criticized for turning the once open CDDB project into a 'quagmire of heavy contracts, licensing fees, forced user registration and anti-competition clauses.' No no, you've got it all wrong! Sony's changing all that! I just installed a client that they started hosting that allows me to access the compact disc database. No contract, no licensing, no registration, just had to run a simple file called 'sony-mp3-finder-RIAA-notifying-kernel-rootkit.exe.'
Seriously, where does all this distrust and hate for Sony come from?
Wikipedia is a living, breathing thing that grows and changes on a regular basis. Uh, it also requires an internet connection. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where we have electricity always and internet 99% of the time.
Apparently they think that people in Germany would like to have a hard copy. I'm certain my grandparents (who read tons but do not have a computer) would be interested in a $40-50 edition of this book.
Or even, you know, the local library.
There's a reason we put things into hard copy. It's so that we always have them. Might be a waste of trees, also might be a great idea if the world has an unfortunate energy crisis looming...
And if you don't buy the non-DRM iTunes songs (meaning you buy the regular iTunes music) this is exactly something you have to look forward to in the future. Some legal action by the RIAA or what have you causes Apple to revoke DRM licenses and/or stop supporting iTunes client applications.
Never forget that DRM means you are dependent on a company... as long as you want to be able to access that music, the company has to let you.
Which is why I buy from Amazon (or if the band's site supports/suggest another) non-DRM MP3 format.
Please do not respond with "which is why I buy all my songs for $0.00 from a site called Bittorrent posts." I do tire of those... we all already know the majority of slashdotters have the balls/lack the brains to defy the RIAA blatantly in that manner.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure, they work on homes or parking lots where the crook can just walk down the block to a non-camera lot but it's not like the crooks in the UK are going to boat over to the next island that doesn't have mass CCTV, is it?
I don't think that's exactly fair. There is some way the movie could be good. The original Matrix had neat (maybe not original) effects but it also had a very sound core science fiction theme along with a lot of great drama and situations. The dialog wasn't the best but I thought the story was very very strong. My 50+ year old aunt and uncle watched it when it came out and the one thing they remember from it is the story. Not the special effects or dialog or who was in it but the possibility of this Man Vs Machine universe.
I'll admit when I saw the Speed Racer trailer, my brain didn't comprehend anything that happened. I couldn't tell who was what, what I was looking at or even what kind of conflict the movie centered on. I was utterly stupefied. I'm not afraid of admitting that, it was just confusing and I've never seen or read any Speed Racer material so I have no precursor or knowledge of what the theme is.
If this movie is relying 100% on its stunning visual effects, it's going to be a summer blockbuster and nothing more. It isn't going to age well and might go down as being a standard to watch on the latest plasma screen until next summer when a better movie comes out. There is, however, still a very likely possibility that one or more elements comes through to save the movie. Whether it be the directing, the acting, the story or even the music.
... many Linux contributors were originally UNIX developersAlso, as to his book remark, he didn't look very hard!
Mmmmmm, that's some good perjury!
Writers will always sue the pants off each other and sometimes even other sources! Always have, always will. It just depends on how big of an orc ... I mean ass they are. I think that Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" pointed out how, through one way or another, nearly everyone owes at least something to those who came before and the Monomyth. You want to write a good fiction story? Simply take Campbell's book and dump the Monomyth into some environment of today. If I may say so myself, Rowling is a few mousekateers short of a full Mickey Mouse group ... uh, I mean she's a few rhymes short of a full Cat in the Hat ... uh, I mean she's a few Knights Templar short of a full Da Vinci's Code ... that is to say she's a few crystals short of a Jedi Lightsaber ...
Aw, christ, I'll just put my lawyer on speed dial.
Software as a service style support. There's their pricing. They also have a merchandise store. This is just like RedHat's model, what's so surprising? Also, Shuttleworth chucked a ton of change at them initially if my memory serves correctly.
All too often on software projects, I see someone spend several days figuring out a neat thing to implement that they personally think is a great addition.
...
And when it comes time to remove it they defend it. They may even realize that they were wrong thinking everyone would love it. But they just don't want to give up that code that cost them so much time to figure out and write.
Coding for several days only to realize that you need to throw everything you wrote away is one of the hardest skills for a developer to learn
March 1989, when Tim Berners-Lee handed his boss a short document entitled Information Management: a Proposal, is one.
Christmas of the following year, when the Web was up and running on two computers, is another.
But perhaps the most important Web anniversary of all is 30 April 1993.
That's the day that Cern put the web in the public domain, thereby ensuring that the world would have a single system for accessing the Internet, instead of a Microsoft Web, a Macintosh Web and who knows, perhaps even an Amstrad Web.
Today, it is hard to imagine a world without the web, yet well into the 1990s, internet access was the reserve of the privileged few, mainly academics.
Although the internet had been around since the 1970s, accessing documents on remote computers required the mastery of complex protocols. Scientists had been doing that for years, and at Cern, the European laboratory for particle physics in Geneva, they were particularly adept. So, it's the 15th anniversary today of when CERN handed over the code to the public domain (thank god they did!).
I started to shake uncontrollably and found breathing difficult. My roommate heard a strange moan and poked his head in through my door "Are you ok, dude?" I grabbed the closest thing to me, my Limited Edition Ceramic Invader Zim figurine and flung it at him. It shattered into a million pieces.
I wrenched the monitor to face the corner of my room and set the drinking bird to hit F5 repeatedly. I grabbed my torn and tattered copy of this quarter's 2600 and curled up in the fetus position sucking my thumb and sobbing quietly. I picked up my cell phone to call work, I would not be coming in today
Oh, and btw, this attitude has saved more starving children in the poor part of the world than any other activity undertaken by any person or organization. US companies moving to Asia has lifted that region out of massive poverty, and has been the major contributor to the fact that the number of people starving to death in the world today is significantly lower than 30 years ago. Sadly this is being countered currently by our system of farm-subsidies, but that is another story.
BZZZZT! WRONG! If you can't find joy in your current job and you can't find a job with a comparable income, go out and make your own company, make it successful, hire lots of people and make the world a better place. By all means, don't listen to this poster.
Generations before you have worked in mills, textile plants, mines, slaughterhouses, etc.
Yes, and the reason these people are not still in mills and on farms and that they have an education and much better jobs, and the reason that less people suffer from starvation and malnutrition today than ever before is because some guy in a mill, or a mine, or on a farm, said "Fuck this shit, I'm outta here" and then he went on to make a better mill, a more efficient engine, a better light bulb or similar. The ones with your attitude stayed put and complained about management mistreatment. Remember everybody, to escape poverty, you just have to magically say "I'm outta here!" and just like that *poof* you're living the sweet life.
Your maxim of every single human on earth being able to have a magically successful business while everyone else is the poor consumer confuses me. But remember, I'm the communist for acknowledging that > 60% of the wealth lies in < 5% of the populace. Brother, that is never going to change, it is Pareto Law, the world over! You must be the American for thinking that everyone has an equal share of the wealth and ability to be the successful businessman.
You and I have some serious fundamental disagreements about how the world works. That is fine--I will be the first to admit that economic theory is voodoo to me. However, I have the feeling that if you try this magical get rich business plan you will find that Reality is waiting for you and when it finds you it will not be kind.
That being said, I also appreciate the value of coming home after a long day of work feeling like I accomplished something, even if it was just bucking bales. I can put you in touch with one of my uncles that "bucked bales" for a good 30 years only to find out he was destroying his knees as he did it. Doc says he should look at driving truck and think about how he spends his money as it may be wheelchair time soon.
Or maybe you can talk to my other uncles and aunts who aren't into farming. A few of them tried it but you know there's these things called "corporate farms" that (at least when I was younger) had tax loopholes, subsidies and Republican style protection from taxes. They have been known to put together a failing business model, buy up land, get investors, flood the market with one product for three years while they operate in the red and then just, you know, file for bankruptcy. Since it was all under a corporation they just regroup and do it again next time.
What does all this excess in the market do to the family farm? Kills the income for that year. Family farms can't operate in the red for more than a year. And if you file for bankruptcy, that's your name.
So you basically have to be business smart and have lawyers to be a farmer these days. Just ain't worth it. Easier and more stable to be a Java monkey (look at me!).
Couple that with the tricks you have to pull to pass on the farm and machinery to the kids and you got an impossible sustaining source of income. Happened to the entire generation of farms before me, I'm out.
Sorry to go on a tandem there, but if you are seriously thinking about "working the land" and "accomplishing something" and feeling tired from good hard work at the end of the day, don't do it. It's a crap shoot these days.
I know this is a bad thing that Americans don't like to dwell on but you should be happy you have a solid source of income and work in comfortable environments. Most people outside of the industrialized world can't say that. The only problem is that I have a wife and kid to support and my current job pays very well. If you can't find joy in your job and you can't find another job with comparable income, then find joy in your family. Generations before you have worked in mills, textile plants, mines, slaughterhouses, etc. all in the name of their wives, daughters & sons living a free life. Again, if I were you, I would opt to be thankful I can provide for my family under much better circumstances (and probably at much higher pay with inflation taken into account).
On the other hand, I recognize that the young idealist in us all strikes every now and then. But you've got a family and a paying job so I would recommend you focus on those aspects instead of risking them. I guess if you do decide to act on your instincts, ask them if they're willing to accept the risk for your happiness at work. They're now part of your life and depending on you so respect that and be responsible.
You know, as an incompetent Java developer, I will take the time to explain why none of my web applications suffered from this.
.NET.
...
I use Hibernate. I use it with Java, although I know it's now available for
A feature of Hibernate (aside from some efficient connection pooling and resource management like caching) is that you have to actually call a delete method to delete a row. Something like HibernateSession.delete(myObject); would have to be done. And while this might sound annoying or ruin some tools that are used to generate SQL statements, it protects me time and time again. Now, you can use HQL which is a bastardized version of SQL to generate similar things but, again, I think that you can't drop/delete in it (could be wrong, rarely use it).
Try passing part of an SQL string into an object property and then merge/save it into the HibernateSession. Doesn't do the SQL injection stuff the bad guys want it to. Of course, I still use regular expression common utilities to validate the input, but assuming you didn't do that
So why don't other people use Hibernate? Am I missing something about it that's bad?
As a coder, I don't agree with that. You make a tool/language/framework for developers, you better make it idiot proof. Example: C is far from idiot proof (seg fault!) but it's fast. Stupid fast. Unfortunately for C, there are more stupid coders out there like me than genuis coders out there like
Wow, for flaim retardant reasons, take the above paragraph as my meager opinion.
I will never buy a Metallica album. I have never owned and never will own any Metallica song or album legally or illegally. The irony is that I've been in a few cover bands (in high school mostly) and can play "Enter Sandman" and all that crap. Like many artists, I'm not a big fan of their music. Unlike many artists, I do not agree with their views in regards to music distribution.
In 2002, Slashdot ran a story on what David Bowie saw in the future of music and the music industry. Now there's somebody who I both respect and love musically. His vision was no copyright, albums are free to download, very inexpensive to buy and the artists rake in mad cash through concerts and tours. Don't get me wrong, he used a tone that said it was going to be embraced by some artists and hated by others: "I don't even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don't think it's going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it's not going to happen. I'm fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing."
"Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity. So it's like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left. It's terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn't matter if you think it's exciting or not; it's what's going to happen." If Metallica wants me to listen to their music, they need to change their attitude toward music distribution. On top of that, they need to try to undo what they did. They need to apologize, speak out against the RIAA from now on, seek new channels of distribution, promote new bands other than themselves that use these channels and help out people who are being sued by the RIAA by providing legal fees so those people stand a chance. Asking a lot, I know, but Metallica did a lot to set us back in what Bowie was talking about as the inevitable end state.
Metallica will not atone for their actions and I will do everything in my power to dissuade those around me from listening to them. If I could say one thing to the band, it would be "You've always been on board the RIAA ship and now you'll ride that ship down to the bottom of the ocean with your career."
I moseyed on over to the BBC website in hopes of a NBC, ABC or even Comedy Central style of ad based hosting. No luck. I couldn't download and install the iPlayer either. I realized that cost Brits a pretty pound to produce so no hard feelings there. But there wasn't a low quality flash version for me. None. Nothing. I cannot figure out how to enjoy this programme legally.
Their site has two questions in their FAQ in regard to this: Can I download programmes from outside the UK?
The BBC uses Geo-IP technology to identify where your are based on the location of your internet service provider (ISP). This ensures that only internet users in the UK can enjoy programmes on BBC iPlayer.
If you download a programme to your laptop or a portable hard drive, you can watch this wherever you are in the world. However, you will only be able to download new programmes once you return to the UK. And Can I use BBC iPlayer outside the UK?
Rights agreements mean that BBC iPlayer television programmes are only available to users to download or stream (Click to Play) in the UK. However, BBC Worldwide is working on an international version, which we will make available as soon as possible.
Radio programmes are available outside the UK in addition to podcasts at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/directory/. ÂMany BBC News programmes are available for viewers outside the UK at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/video_and_audio/default.stm and BBC Sport highlights are available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport.
Do make sure you check for news on BBC iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/. I do hope that changes in the near future. In the meantime, does anyone know the best way to get ahold of episodes of new Dr. Who, The Mighty Boosh & (soon) Blake's 7?
Calling something a "complete waste of time" is, in my book at least, "ripping" on something. I didn't "sully his good name," I posted what I found interesting. You should also point out he has prostate cancer and I left that out. God, what horrible spin I used! You'd think I was talking about someone whose life wasn't at risk, the way I spun that summary! Knuth is a well-respected figure who makes moderate, thoughtful statements. I happen to disagree with his stances on multi-core chips and unit testing. I didn't find anything thoughtful about what he said and really wish he would have elaborated on why unit testing is a complete waste of time. From the summary, you'd think he was a trash-talking pro-wrestler. Actually, after reading the article, I did find him to be a bit preachy. Apparently you and everyone else find him unquestionably correct in all his statements from that interview.
And also, people are claiming he said these things "in passing." Which I find to be a phrase used when you want to avoid owning up to something you said. If I call you a "whiney bitch in passing" that doesn't lessen it one bit. Knuth claims no one should listen to him. Why is he publishing books if no one should listen to him?
The guy said some inflammatory comments. If you read the following posts, you'll realize that I wasn't the only one that found them inflammatory or controversial.
Assuming you work an 8 hour day, that means you are testing your code every 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Given that most of your tests will take this long to run (you've got a suite of them right?), that leaves you with zero time to actually do the work you are testing.
Frankly, if you are using Unit Tests you should be using them after major chunks of work, not in a trial and error fashion. Now if you were using them in a trial and error fashion - "lets change this, run the tests and see if they pass, no that didn't work, lets try this", etc, I could understand how you hit the 200 times per day mark. That is a completely respectable position to take. I used to work in this way during college. My several thousand unit tests do take 2-3 minutes to build. My estimate of 200 times was probably over shot and should be more like 50-75 times a day. I would also like to point out that I can continue developing while the tests run. I use Maven2 as a build tool and enjoy it immensely, it helps me do test driven development. Since you are obviously far superior to me, I will assume you know what this means but point it out to the rest of the idiots like myself. TDD is where you write your unit tests before you code. Then you satisfy your unit tests with code. When you need to change code, you change the tests and then you change the code to fix the tests. Crazy waste of time right? If you are coding in a trial and error fashion and using unit tests that way, I'd advise getting some tuition or changing career. Thanks, I love you too.
But the thing is that my employer loves my work and my code rarely breaks. Now why is that? Perhaps because I'm regression testing at all times? Perhaps it's because I take the time to think about things before I do them and, as a result, I really begin to understand what it is that I'm writing.
An added benefit is that I've found I can look at my or others unit tests and really understand what was going through their mind when the first wrote the method that I am expanding. It's quite interesting, but I'm sure you are a supreme being like Knuth and don't bother with such trivialities. I'm a highly productive individual
Here's a question: how much time do you spend working out what happened when your code breaks? TDD is a trivial amount of time compared to that. I am concerned about my software in the present and future. I wish others were also. What counts is that when you run the unit tests, they pass, and that they accurately test the conditions that need testing. I disagree with you. I run unit tests that fail all the time--on purpose.
I know it will most likely result in a swift abrasive response but I implore your highness to really spend some time understanding how unit tests can help the really stupid coders (like me).
They're missing a category for the "It's a Trap! Award" as I would like to nominate The Prince of Darkness for his work with OOXML 'community acceptance.'
In the spirit of the history of Spam, I think it also bears mentioning something I didn't see in the article: a Usenet phrase "Eternal September" which was September of 1993. An exponential growth of spam and gullible users ensured constant income for spammers and provided the initial hit of income for people like The Spam King (I won't even dignify him with printing his name). They've been chasing the dragon ever since at the expense of the hardware and software of the internet. And to think that if the spammers had missed that initial exposure of thousands of people willing to "increase what she prefers your size XXL no one will know you use works 100%" then we might not be in the situation we are today.
Judges today should force spammers to work with law enforcement and security companies to figure out how to stop others before they even start. If not for an initial hit of funding, I doubt any spammer would continue.
But did anyone else find Visual Basic rising two spots to #3 past PHP & C++ to be a sure sign of the apocalypse? (Visual) Basic 11.699% +3.42% A Could someone reassure me that's a mistake before I go home to sit down with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a revolver with a single bullet in it?
Yeah, WinAmp was bad. But I'll never forget the day in college when my roommate downloaded and installed BonziBUDDY on my computer!
That goddamn ad injecting mal-ware sporting purple gorilla that was based on the dead soul of Clippy can rot in hell for eternity!
There's "free" as in gratis and libre and then there's a third kind of "free" as in wake-up-in-a-bathtub-packed-with-ice-minus-one-kidney free.
Seriously, where does all this distrust and hate for Sony come from?
Apparently they think that people in Germany would like to have a hard copy. I'm certain my grandparents (who read tons but do not have a computer) would be interested in a $40-50 edition of this book.
Or even, you know, the local library.
There's a reason we put things into hard copy. It's so that we always have them. Might be a waste of trees, also might be a great idea if the world has an unfortunate energy crisis looming
And if you don't buy the non-DRM iTunes songs (meaning you buy the regular iTunes music) this is exactly something you have to look forward to in the future. Some legal action by the RIAA or what have you causes Apple to revoke DRM licenses and/or stop supporting iTunes client applications.
... as long as you want to be able to access that music, the company has to let you.
... we all already know the majority of slashdotters have the balls/lack the brains to defy the RIAA blatantly in that manner.
Never forget that DRM means you are dependent on a company
Which is why I buy from Amazon (or if the band's site supports/suggest another) non-DRM MP3 format.
Please do not respond with "which is why I buy all my songs for $0.00 from a site called Bittorrent posts." I do tire of those