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User: AndroSyn

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  1. Re:Is that surprising? on Perl is the Most Hated Programming Language, Developers Say (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    It could be argued that C does not really have string handling. Hence what would suck at string handling is the coder, i.e. you.

    Oh I don't disagree with you at all here. I will say that C's "string handling" is probably one of the most common sources of vulnerabilities in C programs.

    With that said, C is still my favorite language. Even if my feet have long ago been blown off and I've managed to hang myself with the excessive amount of rope it gives me.

  2. Re:Is that surprising? on Perl is the Most Hated Programming Language, Developers Say (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    That's a feature, not a problem. Pointer arithmetic is probably both the best(and worst) feature of C.

  3. Re:Is that surprising? on Perl is the Most Hated Programming Language, Developers Say (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 2, Insightful

    C sucks at string handling. Thus perl.

  4. Re:Foobar2000 on What Happened To Winamp? (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    That's how it was packaged from Napster.

  5. RF jamming is a "cyber threat" and hacking? on Cyber Threats Prompt Return of Radio For Ship Navigation (reuters.com) · · Score: 2

    Since when does RF jamming have anything to do with hackers or "cyber threats". Clickbait headlines I guess.

    Also jamming GPS would require at least line of sight to the receiver if the jammer is on the surface of the earth. Microwave signals don't go over the horizon. If you are jamming a ship at sea, you are either a nation state or a sophisticated pirate(I mean the real ones).

    As far as LORAN-C goes, in many regards this is EASIER to jam since it is using LF bands, around 200kHz. Jamming at low frequencies can be a lot easier due to groundwave and skywave propagation, allowing the jammer to be much further away. That said, the antennas required to transmit LF frequencies are quite enormous in length.

  6. $10k was a pretty common price point for Workstations during the early 1990s, especially graphics workstations. Very comparable to the prices SGI was charging for their workstations.

    In short, people who needed real computing power that wasn't x86 garbage on Windows 3.1 were very much willing to pay. x86 PCs were considered toys compared to workstations.

  7. Re: PEP 394: /usr/bin/python should not be python on It Will Take Fedora More Releases To Switch Off Python 2 (phoronix.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's the size of an int again ?

    sizeof(int);

    The base types in C are implementation/platform defined. That is considered a feature as it allows decisions to be made that make the most sense for the platform. In general this means the int type is going to be the fastest type.

    In modern C practices though there are the u_intXX_t types that allow you to select a specific size integer, should you need that.

    The real flaw with C is the whole preprocessor mess. If you were going to attack C about something, that is what you aim at.

  8. Re:Unsightly? on Ask Slashdot: What Can You Do With Old Coaxial Cable? · · Score: 1

    You could reuse the coax for something like MoCA and use it for data purposes. The latest version of MoCA promises 2.5Gbit/s.

  9. Re:FIRST beer on Microbe New To Science Found In Self-Fermented Beer (sciencemag.org) · · Score: 1

    Three years is nothing compared to the centuries it took to discover yeast and why it was necessary to brew beer.

  10. Re:Are you implying... on Microbe New To Science Found In Self-Fermented Beer (sciencemag.org) · · Score: 4, Informative

    "professional" brewers do know exactly what's in their beer?

    There are several varieties of beer, (lambics come to mind in particular). that use "wild caught" yeast. This is instead of being inoculated with a standard yeast strain. It's pretty difficult to tell exactly what yeast and other microbes you've caught, so each batch often ends up different. Often the microbes in addition to yeast can add sour or fruity type flavors, but really, the brewer typically does not know exactly which microbes are in the brew.

  11. Re:But why? on How Rust Can Replace C In Python Libraries (infoworld.com) · · Score: 1

    Do you have an HDMI TV? Have you noticed that it takes many 10's of seconds to turn on?

    There was a brief period in history where TVs came on instantly, post-tube era, but pre-HDTV. So like..mid 1980s to late 90s-early 00s?

    Now we have TVs that take longer to come on than the old tube sets took to warm up. So much for digital making everything better :(

  12. Re:Surprisingly Distant on France Set To Ban Sale of Petrol and Diesel Vehicles By 2040 (bbc.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Distant. but a realistic date. First, it sends a signal to the auto industry that they better start planning for a petrol/diesel phase out. Second, it gives time to build the infrastructure to support whatever new fueling method ends up winning out.

    Now one thing to point out, they're not talking about eliminating ICEs. You very well could have an ICE running on methane, propane or alcohol for example and those would be allowed. So a interim mandate of hybrids or some particular technology is shortsighted too.

    I do admit though, this is a lot more hope than action.

  13. Re:Great guy on Linus Explains What Surprises Him After 25 Years Of Linux (linux.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    So instead we got the 640k barrier, config.sys, interrupt conflicts, extended/expanded memory, 8.3 filenames, segmented memory...

    640K barrier is IBMs fault for putting the BIOS at the top of the first 1MB instead of the bottom. Interrupt conflicts, I think you can blame this on IBM too. 8.3 filenames came from CP/M.

    EMS/XMS and memory segmentation are FAR more the fault of Intel given these are CPU architecture related.

    So...that leaves config.sys(which isn't that terrible really).

     

  14. Re:Oil changes on Oil Changes, Safety Recalls, and Software Patches (daemonology.net) · · Score: 1

    Exactly this. I've got a 2008 VW Jetta with 230,000 miles on it. The oil been changed at pretty much exactly 5000 miles as specified in the service manual.. I've pretty much have stuck with Mobil 1. Could I get a lot longer out of that oil, sure. One thing I don't think people think about is, how well does the oil filter hold up to high mileage.

    Since I'm doing the work myself, I'm usually looking at a $35-40 oil change. Just need to take the occasional trip to the waste transfer station to discard the old oil and filters. As a side note, those plastic bin that cat litter come in are great for storing your used oil.)

    It certainly doesn't hurt the car to change the oil frequently, your wallet maybe a bit.

  15. Re:"Non-profit" on Colleges Are Starting Varsity Programs For Video Games (theoutline.com) · · Score: 1

    The NFL *was* non-profit. That hasn't been the case for a few years:

    NFL no longer non-profit after giving up tax exempt status

  16. Re:API/ABI fixes on Linux Kernel 4.11 Officially Released (softpedia.com) · · Score: 1

    Providing common paravirtualization methods like KVM/HyperV hooks to the GUEST OS isn't the same as using the KVM code on the host/hypervisor. Virtualbox is it's own hypervisor.

  17. C coders are brain damaged on Stack Overflow Reveals Which Programming Languages Are Most Used At Night (stackoverflow.blog) · · Score: 3, Funny

    Once you get your head around crap like triple pointers, function pointers and all of the other head bashing elements of C, your brain is just..screwed. C is such a masochistic language that you REALLY must be in love with it to persist. Normal people just go FU and move on to something with more hand holding, not that there is anything wrong with that. So this is why C programmers stay up late, they simply cannot help themselves :(

       

  18. gcc used to accept -fwritable-strings to allow for writable strings as mentioned in the sample. Generally only really, really old code needed this I believe gcc 4.x removed this feature. I think this was always an implementation defined feature, one where the spec is silent on how to treat these strings.

    Most people these days will do something like the following to simulate:

    char s[] = "hello world";

    *s = 'H';

    The assignment will work this way, since the string literal is copied to the stack.

  19. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... on New Zealand To Bring Ultrafast Internet To 85 Percent Of Population (stuff.co.nz) · · Score: 1

    He should consider leaving his mom's basement too...

  20. Re: Darn typos making my post unreadable on Open Source Codec Encodes Voice Into Only 700 Bits Per Second (rowetel.com) · · Score: 1

    As a no-code general, thank you again for all of your hard work on getting that pushed through. I briefly ran into you in Dayton back in 2012 when you were handing out codec2 flyers. I sure wish there was further uptake of open codecs in the amateur radio world :(

  21. I don't think that word means what you think it means...

    They mean Open as in the 1980s-1990s version of "Open" like Common Open Software Environment or the Open Software Foundation. None of these have anything to do with Free Software(as in you get the source), but with open specifications. In that sense, Microsoft does have an "Open" platform, most of their protocol specs are available even if they are bastardized versions of standard protocols, same with most of their APIs, they tend to be fairly well documented.

  22. It could have bounced off the moon. Earth Moon Earth Communications

  23. Re:To secure your car... on Car Thieves Arrested After Using Laptop and Malware To Steal More Than 30 Jeeps (abc13.com) · · Score: 1

    Uhh have you ever heard of this thing called ignition coils on plug? Basically the ignition coil is on top of the spark plug itself, with low voltage wires going to the coil.

    I'm not sure there has been a car made with a mechanical distributor made in the past 25+ years?

    I will now remove myself from your lawn.

  24. Re:Took my son around to play it on Pokemon Go Leads to Reckless Driving, Injuries, and A Corpse (chicagotribune.com) · · Score: 1

    It was at least a year ago that the new portal submissions was disabled in the scanner. I think the portal submission queue was really a year or so backlogged. Mostly they've focused on new mission submissions lately I think. Those seem to be backlogged about 3 weeks to a month.

  25. Re:Took my son around to play it on Pokemon Go Leads to Reckless Driving, Injuries, and A Corpse (chicagotribune.com) · · Score: 1

    Ingress hasn't allowed new portal submissions in well over a year. btw. Initially Ingress was seeded with a lot of historical markers from HMDB.org. There are certainly a lot of silly portals, one that comes to mind is one of the big red concrete balls in front of a Target, with the portal being named "Big Red Ball of Peace" or something.