FidoNet. A Florida board called The Ark Tangent. (Hi, Wes!)
Nordevald Software, another Florida board. (Hi, Cassi!)
Meeting Wes, and later Cassi, and finding them nothing like I'd imagined them (appearance-wise, I mean).
A fairly stupid game called Tradewars, initially written (so they said) in Basic and translated in one long hacking run by a blind programmer into Turbo Pascal. It had a fixed universe of 200 nodes, which were fairly easy to map out in 2D on paper, and was a lot of fun to play.
Writing a Tradewars clone, 'cause the original code was such a steaming pile of crap. Writing a "universe generator" for it, and then writing something to verify that the 200 - 1000 random nodes were, in fact, fully connected, i.e. that you could get from any node to any other node. "Discovering" breadth-first search, and convincing myself that it worked, and really would find the shortest path between any two nodes in the network. Hearing several people who actually played the game insist to me that the random universes were four dimensional, when any idiot could see that they were only three. (But then, maybe they were only bitching about the relative difficulty of mapping the universes.) My "universe" was more complex, but I don't think my game was more fun to play. But I really enjoyed writing it.:)
"If you could have ended them differently"... what a stupid question. He wrote them. Of course he could have ended them differently. I could have ended this post differently, but as it stands, I'm pretty happy with it. I'm sure Neal feels the same way (about his books:). Do you mean "if he had ended them differently"? Why didn't you just ask "what other endings did you consider and discard, and why?"
When someone says "I want a programming language in which I need only
say what I wish done," give him a lollipop.
In other words, figuring out what you wish done is the hard part. Automating the requirments gathering process won't change that. Try to desribe in words a computer can understand how to peal a banana. Describe how to pick up the banana. Describe how much pressure to apply. Describe what to do if the banana is too squishy at the top for the peal to break open. Etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum.
That said, the objection to the "power point" line is at least a misinterpretation. Software should be as easy to edit as a PowerPoint presentation. Not as easily written, mind you, just as easily edited. I wouldn't object to a more powerful editor. But, will it work with Vim?;)
I consider cursive pretty, when done well. My mother has beautiful handwriting. I don't consider it useless, or difficult to read.
Much like you, though, I don't lament its passing, either... so maybe I do consider it useless, after all.:) I lament the passing of correct spelling and grammar. *sigh*
Well, tell you what. Find a successful shareware author (which I will arbitrarily define as "someone making their sole income from selling shareware that they develop") who will rebut each point, and perhaps I'll listen -- to them.
As for He should have called it, "Lazy and Ignorant Shareware Authors vs Motivated and Knowledgeable Shareware Authors.... Well, yes. The whole article deals with how to move from the former to the latter.
Not all amateurs are lazy and mercurial. Not all "professionals" are smart, savvy, and dedicated.
... Speaking of neither new nor particularly interesting...
I use a small cable company in Florida. When they installed my cable modem, the installer handed me an nth generation photocopy of their terms of service, and (sort of as a pre-emptive strike) told me that if I didn't want to sign it, just write "I will not sign this because I can not read it", and sign *that*. I did. I still, to this day, cannot find a single mention of terms of service on the company website. The local website routes to the parent company's website -- in Canada. That site has no mention whatsoever of Florida.
I run Opera 6.11 for Linux. I tried your second msdn link, and I got (visually, at least) exactly the same pages for all 5 ident strings O6.11 will emit. (Circa 7-Feb-2003, 9:30am EST.)
Computer science wouldn't exist without computers.
Sure it could. It just (probably) wouldn't do us a whole lot of good.:)
The science of computer science has little or no direct requirement of computers. One can analyze a quicksort algorithm quite in the absence of computers, and quite possibly implement it when sorting something by hand. One can analyze a binary tree, or a red-black tree, or a push-down stack, or a linked list, or whatever, without even touching a keyboard. One can consider the metaphor of "an object" without a computer.
The science of computer science involves estimating the efficiency, complexity, correctness, etc, of performing a task, regardless of whether a human or a machine performs that task.
I don't mind the difficulty. I don't want to reboot just to install this-that-or-the-other new software.
On the other hand, I code, surf, e-mail, and not much else, so I dunno that I'd qualify as a "power user". I only very rarely even play a CD -- I have a CD player for that.:)
I use Linux 'cause it has the tools I like[1] and tends not to crash as much as Windows machines I've used.[2]
[1] Most of which (Vim, Opera, Perl) Windows has, actually [2] I've used very few Windows machines since about 1996, though, so my experience probably doesn't apply any more.[3] [3] Just trying for a balanced approach, here.:)
The biometric data is collected in real-time with an instrument that is uncrackable enough to make it not practical to falsify it.
The key here is "not practical". Lots of criminals do lots of things once that'd be "impractical" to do lots of times. But just how many times do we need somebody to, say, steal the launch code information for a nuclear device, before we say, "Okay, that's too many times"?
History abounds with "uncrackable" devices... that somebody cracked.
I'm happy that so many people here at/. do get it.
So, you apparently missed or had your eyes shut during the myriad scenes where Jedi-types either just caught blaster fire or deflected it with their light sabers?
I want them dirt-cheap and mass-produced, like calculators.
I would not consider my HP48G+ dirt-cheap. Calculators, like PDAs, may actually take significant engineering to do what you want, as fast as you want. Imagine that.
On the other hand, my 48G+ cost about one-third as much as my Palm m505. (I don't remember exactly how much I paid for my 48G+ (several years ago), but a 48GX currently goes for $150 @ HP's website. I paid $450 for my m505.) $150 is closer to "dirt cheap" than $450, I think.:)
As well as the other fine suggestions, Opera can auto-Google with "g " in the address bar. It has other handy prefixes, too: l (ell) for Lycos, e for eBay, n for news, and several others.
And so the contest begins. I ordered mine November 30, 2000. (And got it last Friday.) Anyone else?:)
fwiw, I've read up to somewhere in chapter three. I'm glad to see he eventually branches off into random initial states -- so far he's only used single-cell initial states.
Also, while I'm here, the word, cybrpnk2, is "automaton", not "automation". Heck, pick one or the other (ideally, pick the correct one), but pick one, lest your readers think "automaton" and "automation" (in this context) mean different things, when the latter is merely a misspelling of the former.
Norvig & Pitman have a lot of good things to say about coding style and commenting style. They deal specifically with Lisp, but one can easily generalize the first several parts of the presentation to any language. A couple of my favorite points:
It's All About Communication
Expression + Understanding = Communication
Programs communicate with:
o Human readers
o Compilers
o Text editors (arglist, doc string, indent)
o Tools (trace, step, apropos, xref, manual)
o Users of the program (indirect communication)
Some things to notice:
o People's style changes over time.
o The same person at different times can seem like a different person.
o Sometimes that person is you.
Re:Just an observation...
on
Bitter Java
·
· Score: 1
It is again like cutting off both arms and legs and being expected to whip Jet Li's ass. Yah, right!
BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, oh, I see, running away then. You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!
;)
Re:Development Processes be damned..
on
Bitter Java
·
· Score: 1
Slashdot Mirror
I too have had good luck with Working Effectively With Legacy Code. Highly recommended.
"If you could have ended them differently" ... what a stupid question. He wrote them. Of course he could have ended them differently. I could have ended this post differently, but as it stands, I'm pretty happy with it. I'm sure Neal feels the same way (about his books :). Do you mean "if he had ended them differently"? Why didn't you just ask "what other endings did you consider and discard, and why?"
That said, the objection to the "power point" line is at least a misinterpretation. Software should be as easy to edit as a PowerPoint presentation. Not as easily written, mind you, just as easily edited. I wouldn't object to a more powerful editor. But, will it work with Vim?
If you want industrial-strength problem solving, check this out: clisp+maxima+zaurus. See also qplot.
if u want the extra performance boost for inline code, just declare a function final...
No. Please read Java theory and practice: Is that your final answer? for a discussion of this "urban performance legend".
Me Too!
Writing my wedding invitations, in cursive, was annoying.
Cursive is ugly, useless, and difficult to read.
... so maybe I do consider it useless, after all. :) I lament the passing of correct spelling and grammar. *sigh*
I consider cursive pretty, when done well. My mother has beautiful handwriting. I don't consider it useless, or difficult to read.
Much like you, though, I don't lament its passing, either
As for He should have called it, "Lazy and Ignorant Shareware Authors vs Motivated and Knowledgeable Shareware Authors.
... Speaking of neither new nor particularly interesting
Get a grip.
Apparently, I can do whatever I want. :)
I run Opera 6.11 for Linux. I tried your second msdn link, and I got (visually, at least) exactly the same pages for all 5 ident strings O6.11 will emit. (Circa 7-Feb-2003, 9:30am EST.)
- vnc server: I can type right into my Z from my laptop or desktop keyboard
- ssh server: I can log into it directly
- brigher screen
- bigger screen, and higher resolution
- faster cpu
- some apps better than Palm equivalents (that I've found, anyway), e.g. Hancom Word & Spreadsheet.
- cardflash and SD card ports
- Java, Perl, Python, Vim (and KVim eventually)
- trainable input mechanism
- builtin keyboard
- Linux
All these things contribute to me prefering my Z over my m505. If you prefer top-of-the-line PDA functionality, like DateBk5, stick with PalmOS.Computer science wouldn't exist without computers.
:)
Sure it could. It just (probably) wouldn't do us a whole lot of good.
The science of computer science has little or no direct requirement of computers. One can analyze a quicksort algorithm quite in the absence of computers, and quite possibly implement it when sorting something by hand. One can analyze a binary tree, or a red-black tree, or a push-down stack, or a linked list, or whatever, without even touching a keyboard. One can consider the metaphor of "an object" without a computer.
The science of computer science involves estimating the efficiency, complexity, correctness, etc, of performing a task, regardless of whether a human or a machine performs that task.
I don't mind the difficulty. I don't want to reboot just to install this-that-or-the-other new software.
:)
:)
On the other hand, I code, surf, e-mail, and not much else, so I dunno that I'd qualify as a "power user". I only very rarely even play a CD -- I have a CD player for that.
I use Linux 'cause it has the tools I like[1] and tends not to crash as much as Windows machines I've used.[2]
[1] Most of which (Vim, Opera, Perl) Windows has, actually
[2] I've used very few Windows machines since about 1996, though, so my experience probably doesn't apply any more.[3]
[3] Just trying for a balanced approach, here.
The biometric data is collected in real-time with an instrument that is uncrackable enough to make it not practical to falsify it.
... that somebody cracked.
/. do get it.
The key here is "not practical". Lots of criminals do lots of things once that'd be "impractical" to do lots of times. But just how many times do we need somebody to, say, steal the launch code information for a nuclear device, before we say, "Okay, that's too many times"?
History abounds with "uncrackable" devices
I'm happy that so many people here at
So, you apparently missed or had your eyes shut during the myriad scenes where Jedi-types either just caught blaster fire or deflected it with their light sabers?
I want them dirt-cheap and mass-produced, like calculators.
:)
I would not consider my HP48G+ dirt-cheap. Calculators, like PDAs, may actually take significant engineering to do what you want, as fast as you want. Imagine that.
On the other hand, my 48G+ cost about one-third as much as my Palm m505. (I don't remember exactly how much I paid for my 48G+ (several years ago), but a 48GX currently goes for $150 @ HP's website. I paid $450 for my m505.) $150 is closer to "dirt cheap" than $450, I think.
Link to SICP at Amazon, with a review by Paul Graham.
As well as the other fine suggestions, Opera can auto-Google with "g " in the address bar. It has other handy prefixes, too: l (ell) for Lycos, e for eBay, n for news, and several others.
fwiw, I've read up to somewhere in chapter three. I'm glad to see he eventually branches off into random initial states -- so far he's only used single-cell initial states.
Also, while I'm here, the word, cybrpnk2, is "automaton", not "automation". Heck, pick one or the other (ideally, pick the correct one), but pick one, lest your readers think "automaton" and "automation" (in this context) mean different things, when the latter is merely a misspelling of the former.
Norvig & Pitman have a lot of good things to say about coding style and commenting style. They deal specifically with Lisp, but one can easily generalize the first several parts of the presentation to any language. A couple of my favorite points:
It's All About Communication
Expression + Understanding = Communication
Programs communicate with:
o Human readers
o Compilers
o Text editors (arglist, doc string, indent)
o Tools (trace, step, apropos, xref, manual)
o Users of the program (indirect communication)
Some things to notice:
o People's style changes over time.
o The same person at different times can seem like a different person.
o Sometimes that person is you.
It is again like cutting off both arms and legs and being expected to whip Jet Li's ass. Yah, right!
;)
BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, oh, I see, running away then. You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!
Yeah, I don't like Scheme either. ;)