a lot of the time you have change your printer etc because the supplier won't update the drivers
Total nonsense. Unless you're still running 10 y/o kit, almost every device that's sold NOW is supported on Windows. That can't be said for more than a small sample of printers, webcams or anything else under Linux.
The reason I have a W8.1 box sitting next to my LMDE x64 machine is to support all my hardware. In fact, I find that I'm using Windows more and more these days...
Home users who only need a computer for Internet-based activities don't need ultra-specialized software that's only available on Windows
People still need to connect their printers, cameras, webcams and other bric-a-brac to their computers. If you think either that Linux / Ubuntu supports more than a small fraction of these (and an even smaller fraction of contemporary devices) -- or that people are willing to dump whatever they already own and run out to buy a special device merely for the pleasure of running it with "free" software (think of the cost saving!), you're deluded.
"A better understanding of criminal behavior will help us reduce opportunities for crime in our neighborhoods,"
And as soon as one form of crime is understood and deterrents introduced, won't the (successful) criminals simply move their attentions to another neighbourhood, modus operandi or equally illegal field of endeavour?
This initiative doesn't seem to address the basic issue of the number of criminals or their need to indulge in criminal (as opposed to legal) ways of making money.
Testing? what testing?
If it compiles, it works. Every hacker knows this.
I have to say, when I read that the spacecraft ran Linux and had died, I naturally assumed that someone had left the auto-update enabled and it was busy trying to apply about 50 million kernel patches.
The "story" is merely a leaked email that the project exists.
There is no information about what its remit is (past looking at the consequences of a BRexit). There is no information about the project's findings - as there haven't been any and there is nothing about what recommendations or actions would / could / should be taken.
In the end this is just a piece of sensationalism and I greatly resent the author of this/. piece hyping it up far beyond any factual basis.
When you read the story it comes down to one report from someone who suspected that someone was using a drone for this purpose. Everything else in the article is FUD, inaccuracy, scare-mongering and supposition (and possibly impressionable people watching too many crime / caper movies).
This is strikingly similar in tone to the stories circulating a few years ago that anyone taking photos of buildings in public places was (obviously!) a terrorist.
The reason IBM "lost its throne" is because it either didn't have the inclination to patent every single little aspect of the PC hardware (making clones impossible) or it had the foresight and wisdom to not go down that route.
With computerised, self-driving cars there will never be a standard that everyone across the industry adopts unless one manufacturer becomes dominant in the field (just be dint of numbers that would probably be a chinese company) or the auto makers take a similar stance and forgo patent protect and allow everyone to use the best available software, processes and hardware systems.
It isn't hard to write good documentation. It just takes time.
Good documentation IS hard. That's why there is so little of it.
The biggest problem is that so many FOSS coders can't think of anyone apart from themselves and only care about the fun part - not all the stuff that needs professionalism. They are unable to put themselves in the position of another human being, approaching their "baby" and they have no comprehension, whatsoever, of the assumptions they are making or what they tacitly expect the reader to already know.
As an example, there are many - maybe even the majority - of FOSS websites where the entry page has no explanation at all of what the program / app actually does. Instead of a simple description of: "FlungerMunger is a tool to help Mungers do their flunging", it contains news about what's changed in the new Beta version, or lists of bug-fixes and doesn't even bother mentioning what platforms the software runs on or who would possibly want to use it.
Far too many developers assume that once the source code is tossed over the wall to the user community, the job is done. In fact that is usually the simplest, most trivial part of producing successful software. The hard part which takes the self-discipline is beating that code into a usable state: a job that sometimes the FOSS distros will pick up - but mostly never gets done at all.
it [programming ability] is just a bunch of skills that can be learned
That is partly true. However to be a great programmer you need the right mindset, experience and maturity. A great programmer isn't one who knocks out the most lines of "code" in a day - any fool can do that or someone who writes mind-bogglingly complicated structures (all fools do that on a daily basis - and seem to take pride in it). No a great programmer is the one who can get to the nub of a programming problem and solve it in a robust and clear way and then describe succinctly why that is the best approach.
Sadly most of industry today subscribes to the "rock star" mentality - not just in code hackers, but in most walks.
since AC is the biggest consumer of residential power
This is a huge (and for the vast majority of the world: incorrect) assumption. Down here at 40N the peak winter solar incidence is 1 third of the summer peak (10 MJ/m/day cf. about 30 in June / July) but with decently built houses that are designed for the climate there is no need for cooling during the summer months.
it would be better to build, oh I don't know...a train line instead?
There is a 16,000 mile train link from China to Spain. It takes 4 months for goods to arrive and they are subject to extremes of weather that make a lot of shipments impractical. It's also slower and more expensive than sending goods by sea. Any fixed link is going to be subject to delays, breakdowns, politics and difficulty in "overtaking" slower vehicles ahead of you.
It sounds like a neat idea, but we've already got better solutions: depending on whether you want speed or low cost.
My pirated WinXP runs on a P3 box with only 256MB of RAM. Can I get a Microsoft upgrade for some hardware that is good enough to run W10. A 64-bit quad core with 16GB of ram and a 4TB disk would be nice.
the Brits have the final word on what is true and "proper" English
The "traditional" view was that proper English is the grammar, pronunciation and maybe even the dialect used by BBC newsreaders. This doesn't really stand anymore, as there are many more regional (british english) dialects on national TV than were encouraged in the past.
However I can see the confusion as the word for "American" in the american language is "English". That is the language that most of the world learns as english, not "british" english.
and anybody who's mining this site already knows everything I think
No. Everybody can access some pseudo-anonymous content that may be from one or more actual humans who have access to an account called "meta-monkey". Similarly, one, some or all of those humans could contribute to other pseudonyms and might post completely different views, opinions and personal information. We'd never know if there was a 1-to-1 relationship from a person to a "handle", a 1-to-many to other handles or a many-to-1 for a group contribution.
Even using a "real name" is meaningless. Last time I googled, there were over 35,000 people with my name just in my country. You need a helluva lot more information (and it must be true information) before you can create a high-quality link between a single individual and an online presence.
Free OS's are designed to be just that: free. They are intended to circumvent controls and limitations imposed upon their users.
Windows, on the other hand has, as the author says, For Windows many solutions claim to exist, usually in form of massive antivirus suites that provide the locked-down, restricted environment that parents often think will stop their children accessing material the parents don't want them to (ha!).
So if you want to feel as if your child is "protected" then that is the way forward. At least while they are in your house, using your systems. Obviously once they go to school, to friends' or get a device of their own then none of these controls is worth a dam' any more. But that's life!
be glad that they're invading when they should simply destroy the entire solar system instead
If these aliens were intent on destroying us, they'd simply drop something large, fast and nasty into the sun and cause some sort of X-Ray eruption. Since there is a massive nuclear reactor so close, it would be silly not to leverage that to your goals. No need for ships or an invading force.
So we can assume that if aliens did arrive here, our destruction would not be their goal. They might, for example, just be neighbours popping over to ask politely if we'd mind turning down our electromagnetic emissions: TV, radar, etc.
If domination / subjugation / removal of humans to make way for their own settlers was their intent, then there's no reason to expect it would have to be done quickly. It could be a centuries long process. And, again, climate control or sunlight restriction would be a straightforward approach that would cause little permanent damage and wouldn't involve their actual presence in our system.
many news organizations are removing the ability to comment
The difficulty there is that it also reduces the engagement with the readers and thus the number of times they will return to the page and therefore see the advertisements. There do appear to be many (previously respectable) newspaper websites that publish articles that are only there as click-bait.
The the UK The Guardian (a once respectable, semi-liberal, print publication) has taken that route to publishing inflammatory, poorly written and factually incorrect op-ed / opinion pieces on its website who's only value seems to be to draw comments and provoke arguments.
many readers, especially those who are less Internet-savvy, assume commenters 'know something about the subject, because otherwise they wouldn't be commenting on it.
I believe that people are more inclined to give credibility to comments that they already have some sympathy with - rather than ones which take an opposing view.
I've never seen any follow-up comments, anywhere, that say "yes, you're right. I used to think differently, but your arguments have persuaded me I was wrong". At best you get other like-minded people agreeing with you and at worst you get those who disagree making an extreme, offensive, insulting or threatening retorts.
It also seems likely that the "less internet-savvy" are soon cured of that particular shortcoming and soon join in the fray. While most will be well-balanced individuals, a few will go completely over the top - some permanently as they then get the attention (and pity) they crave, but most will quickly have an "OMG, what am I doing" moment and become ashamed of their excessive behaviour.
If all the gadgets you install in a house need explicit controls, they're still dumb: not smart.
A truly smart device would "know" what to do and when. How it attained that knowledge - though being taught, observation, or some sort of self-learning / evolution process doesn't matter. The point is that merely swapping one sort of switch or control for another (less convenient, more complicated and dependent on a whole slew of subsidiary technology) isn't a sign of "smart".
A really smart device would, like a good butler (so I'm told), just fade into the background. It would produce just the required item or action at just the right time without the need to ask and it would just work - including handling exceptions in a "smart" way.
Why not extend this so that after a period of inactivity (say: a year) the account is automatically wiped - leaving no trace of the user.
That would also allow individuals who wish to start over (say: when they grow up a little) to do so by simply starting a new account and leaving the old one to die off.
If the teacher doesn't know Python, they will have a difficult time teaching it and the quality of the lessons will be poor.
In practice, it probably doesn't matter what the language is. The key is that it will only be a student's first language - not the only one they will ever user. So it's far better to teach them well, in a language the teacher is competent in, rather than to have the teacher just a page or two ahead of the children in the class. Apart from anything else, that will give the kids a more positive impression of CS, rather than having a teacher who continually has to look stuff up or answer questions with "I don't know".
It's also important for assessments that the teacher is experienced in the language that coursework is written in. Otherwise the marking will be hit and miss and the teacher won't be able to properly distinguish well written work from stuff that works by chance rather than by design.
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a lot of the time you have change your printer etc because the supplier won't update the drivers
Total nonsense. Unless you're still running 10 y/o kit, almost every device that's sold NOW is supported on Windows. That can't be said for more than a small sample of printers, webcams or anything else under Linux.
The reason I have a W8.1 box sitting next to my LMDE x64 machine is to support all my hardware. In fact, I find that I'm using Windows more and more these days ...
Home users who only need a computer for Internet-based activities don't need ultra-specialized software that's only available on Windows
People still need to connect their printers, cameras, webcams and other bric-a-brac to their computers. If you think either that Linux / Ubuntu supports more than a small fraction of these (and an even smaller fraction of contemporary devices) -- or that people are willing to dump whatever they already own and run out to buy a special device merely for the pleasure of running it with "free" software (think of the cost saving!), you're deluded.
"A better understanding of criminal behavior will help us reduce opportunities for crime in our neighborhoods,"
And as soon as one form of crime is understood and deterrents introduced, won't the (successful) criminals simply move their attentions to another neighbourhood, modus operandi or equally illegal field of endeavour?
This initiative doesn't seem to address the basic issue of the number of criminals or their need to indulge in criminal (as opposed to legal) ways of making money.
when some bug like this makes it through testing
Testing? what testing? If it compiles, it works. Every hacker knows this.
I have to say, when I read that the spacecraft ran Linux and had died, I naturally assumed that someone had left the auto-update enabled and it was busy trying to apply about 50 million kernel patches.
"Do you wish to execute a suicide operation?"
So what's the state of their pension scheme and healthcare package?
There is no information about what its remit is (past looking at the consequences of a BRexit). There is no information about the project's findings - as there haven't been any and there is nothing about what recommendations or actions would / could / should be taken.
In the end this is just a piece of sensationalism and I greatly resent the author of this /. piece hyping it up far beyond any factual basis.
This is strikingly similar in tone to the stories circulating a few years ago that anyone taking photos of buildings in public places was (obviously!) a terrorist.
With computerised, self-driving cars there will never be a standard that everyone across the industry adopts unless one manufacturer becomes dominant in the field (just be dint of numbers that would probably be a chinese company) or the auto makers take a similar stance and forgo patent protect and allow everyone to use the best available software, processes and hardware systems.
It isn't hard to write good documentation. It just takes time.
Good documentation IS hard. That's why there is so little of it.
The biggest problem is that so many FOSS coders can't think of anyone apart from themselves and only care about the fun part - not all the stuff that needs professionalism. They are unable to put themselves in the position of another human being, approaching their "baby" and they have no comprehension, whatsoever, of the assumptions they are making or what they tacitly expect the reader to already know.
As an example, there are many - maybe even the majority - of FOSS websites where the entry page has no explanation at all of what the program / app actually does. Instead of a simple description of: "FlungerMunger is a tool to help Mungers do their flunging", it contains news about what's changed in the new Beta version, or lists of bug-fixes and doesn't even bother mentioning what platforms the software runs on or who would possibly want to use it.
Far too many developers assume that once the source code is tossed over the wall to the user community, the job is done. In fact that is usually the simplest, most trivial part of producing successful software. The hard part which takes the self-discipline is beating that code into a usable state: a job that sometimes the FOSS distros will pick up - but mostly never gets done at all.
Bullshit, in the picture he's wearing a tie.
I wear a tie, too. Although if I'm writing a particularly intricate piece of real-time code I may take my jacket off if it's a warm day.
it [programming ability] is just a bunch of skills that can be learned
That is partly true. However to be a great programmer you need the right mindset, experience and maturity. A great programmer isn't one who knocks out the most lines of "code" in a day - any fool can do that or someone who writes mind-bogglingly complicated structures (all fools do that on a daily basis - and seem to take pride in it). No a great programmer is the one who can get to the nub of a programming problem and solve it in a robust and clear way and then describe succinctly why that is the best approach.
Sadly most of industry today subscribes to the "rock star" mentality - not just in code hackers, but in most walks.
since AC is the biggest consumer of residential power
This is a huge (and for the vast majority of the world: incorrect) assumption. Down here at 40N the peak winter solar incidence is 1 third of the summer peak (10 MJ/m/day cf. about 30 in June / July) but with decently built houses that are designed for the climate there is no need for cooling during the summer months.
it would be better to build, oh I don't know...a train line instead?
There is a 16,000 mile train link from China to Spain. It takes 4 months for goods to arrive and they are subject to extremes of weather that make a lot of shipments impractical. It's also slower and more expensive than sending goods by sea. Any fixed link is going to be subject to delays, breakdowns, politics and difficulty in "overtaking" slower vehicles ahead of you.
It sounds like a neat idea, but we've already got better solutions: depending on whether you want speed or low cost.
My pirated WinXP runs on a P3 box with only 256MB of RAM. Can I get a Microsoft upgrade for some hardware that is good enough to run W10. A 64-bit quad core with 16GB of ram and a 4TB disk would be nice.
the Brits have the final word on what is true and "proper" English
The "traditional" view was that proper English is the grammar, pronunciation and maybe even the dialect used by BBC newsreaders. This doesn't really stand anymore, as there are many more regional (british english) dialects on national TV than were encouraged in the past.
However I can see the confusion as the word for "American" in the american language is "English". That is the language that most of the world learns as english, not "british" english.
and anybody who's mining this site already knows everything I think
No. Everybody can access some pseudo-anonymous content that may be from one or more actual humans who have access to an account called "meta-monkey". Similarly, one, some or all of those humans could contribute to other pseudonyms and might post completely different views, opinions and personal information. We'd never know if there was a 1-to-1 relationship from a person to a "handle", a 1-to-many to other handles or a many-to-1 for a group contribution.
Even using a "real name" is meaningless. Last time I googled, there were over 35,000 people with my name just in my country. You need a helluva lot more information (and it must be true information) before you can create a high-quality link between a single individual and an online presence.
strongly links a patient's performance on a treadmill to their risk of dying.
Sounds like the best way to prolong your life is to avoid treadmills
Windows, on the other hand has, as the author says, For Windows many solutions claim to exist, usually in form of massive antivirus suites that provide the locked-down, restricted environment that parents often think will stop their children accessing material the parents don't want them to (ha!).
So if you want to feel as if your child is "protected" then that is the way forward. At least while they are in your house, using your systems. Obviously once they go to school, to friends' or get a device of their own then none of these controls is worth a dam' any more. But that's life!
be glad that they're invading when they should simply destroy the entire solar system instead
If these aliens were intent on destroying us, they'd simply drop something large, fast and nasty into the sun and cause some sort of X-Ray eruption. Since there is a massive nuclear reactor so close, it would be silly not to leverage that to your goals. No need for ships or an invading force.
So we can assume that if aliens did arrive here, our destruction would not be their goal. They might, for example, just be neighbours popping over to ask politely if we'd mind turning down our electromagnetic emissions: TV, radar, etc.
If domination / subjugation / removal of humans to make way for their own settlers was their intent, then there's no reason to expect it would have to be done quickly. It could be a centuries long process. And, again, climate control or sunlight restriction would be a straightforward approach that would cause little permanent damage and wouldn't involve their actual presence in our system.
many news organizations are removing the ability to comment
The difficulty there is that it also reduces the engagement with the readers and thus the number of times they will return to the page and therefore see the advertisements. There do appear to be many (previously respectable) newspaper websites that publish articles that are only there as click-bait.
The the UK The Guardian (a once respectable, semi-liberal, print publication) has taken that route to publishing inflammatory, poorly written and factually incorrect op-ed / opinion pieces on its website who's only value seems to be to draw comments and provoke arguments.
many readers, especially those who are less Internet-savvy, assume commenters 'know something about the subject, because otherwise they wouldn't be commenting on it.
I believe that people are more inclined to give credibility to comments that they already have some sympathy with - rather than ones which take an opposing view.
I've never seen any follow-up comments, anywhere, that say "yes, you're right. I used to think differently, but your arguments have persuaded me I was wrong". At best you get other like-minded people agreeing with you and at worst you get those who disagree making an extreme, offensive, insulting or threatening retorts.
It also seems likely that the "less internet-savvy" are soon cured of that particular shortcoming and soon join in the fray. While most will be well-balanced individuals, a few will go completely over the top - some permanently as they then get the attention (and pity) they crave, but most will quickly have an "OMG, what am I doing" moment and become ashamed of their excessive behaviour.
If all the gadgets you install in a house need explicit controls, they're still dumb: not smart.
A truly smart device would "know" what to do and when. How it attained that knowledge - though being taught, observation, or some sort of self-learning / evolution process doesn't matter. The point is that merely swapping one sort of switch or control for another (less convenient, more complicated and dependent on a whole slew of subsidiary technology) isn't a sign of "smart".
A really smart device would, like a good butler (so I'm told), just fade into the background. It would produce just the required item or action at just the right time without the need to ask and it would just work - including handling exceptions in a "smart" way.
That would also allow individuals who wish to start over (say: when they grow up a little) to do so by simply starting a new account and leaving the old one to die off.
Why make things harder than they have to be?
If the teacher doesn't know Python, they will have a difficult time teaching it and the quality of the lessons will be poor.
In practice, it probably doesn't matter what the language is. The key is that it will only be a student's first language - not the only one they will ever user. So it's far better to teach them well, in a language the teacher is competent in, rather than to have the teacher just a page or two ahead of the children in the class. Apart from anything else, that will give the kids a more positive impression of CS, rather than having a teacher who continually has to look stuff up or answer questions with "I don't know".
It's also important for assessments that the teacher is experienced in the language that coursework is written in. Otherwise the marking will be hit and miss and the teacher won't be able to properly distinguish well written work from stuff that works by chance rather than by design.