Didn't read all the comments, but if noone here has already pointed it out, the original post is available here :
http://www.infoq.com/news/2009/02/web-based-ide
Please cite your sources newt time.
Here in Europe, at a 1 = $1.45 change rate, we are expected to pay 55 to 70, depending on the game and the bundle ("standart" vs "collector" versions). Furthermore, we get them later, often with crappy localization bugs.
And I don't mention US-only bonus content or preorders (special items for Guild wars only available through Walmart preorders, for example), or console packs (some types of PS3 hardware packs won't be available in Europe).
So I think you should be happy in the US...
Back to games... I only buy games that provide a high level of re-playability, such as GTA, Elder Scrolls, Halflife (thank to mods), Ouendan (on DS)... Spending 60 on one-shot 6-hours games is just plain stupid.
Try playing Adventures of Lolo on NES : hundreds of hours of brain-smashing puzzles. Try playing Zelda on a good'old gameboy. Get a Super Nes, Mariokart, Bomberman and invite 3 friends at home. THAT is gaming !
.doc ?
Do you mean, Office 95's.doc, Office 97's.doc, Office 2000's.doc, Office XP's.doc, or Office 12's.doc ?
Sending a random.doc to a random company means you have 99% chances that the company won't be able to properly display anything more complex than plain text, with perhaps some header styles. Tables will be broken, images will be floated randomly across text, complex styles will look weird...
I wouldn't take that risk when sending a resume...
I usually send plain.odt, and upon reply that "we can't read it", I send a PDF. No.doc. Ever.
...no Arena / Daggerfall ?
I think the RPG community owes Bethesda a huge deal for the Elder Scrolls series, just like Nintendo for Zelda on consoles !
These games were the first to offer such a huge world to live & fight in, with thousands of books to read, houses to buy, horses to mount, and even a boat !
(and buggy savegames... *ahem*)
Sales force *always* have the last word... Because "they generate revenue". And, obviously, as a mere "technician", you don't.
So when they say the product will be on the shelves on a given date, you just have to bend your head around it and work twice as hard to release on schedule.
When you complain about this, they come and tell you that they have to take into account thousands of parameters you "can't understand from your technical point of view", such as marketing pressure, being the first to release a product (well, at least *something*) on a given market, and so on.
If the product works... well, this is good marketing, good market analysis, etc.
If it fails... It must be that the product was not good enough, heh.
Once upon a time... computer science was a highly elitist science. People had to have a mathematics background, spend nights making holes on little plastic cards, wait for hours for the Computer to digest them and spit out some result. Those people were voodoo priests for the common man.
Now, everyone and his ape have a computer at home. Everyone thinks they are doing "computer science" when it is just "bureautics", "programming" when it's only recording a macro in Excel. They are used to use MS Office, Google, 3D Games with physics simulation... It's so ubiquitous now, that they don't see the magic in it anymore. They don't understand the complexity behind all of thoses products.
So three things happen :
1) executives don't believe it's hard, choke the budgets, shorten dev time.
2) they hire just anyone under 25 and think they can turn them into Java (or whatever) gurus in a few weeks. Anyone with, say, some geography master will do (seen that with my own eyes).
3) "computer science" is considered a whole. You know PHP ? good, go tune that Oracle database. Oh, when you're done, set up some backup scripts on that Solaris system, please. And after that, you'll be promoted "senior" Java developer, because, hey, after all, you've been in this company for two years, so it's time to get you a more shiny title on our resume...
For now, the US require passengers to give away personal details, bank accounts, etc.
This is outrageous enough, but who knows what will be asked next ?
My DNA sample ? AIDS test ? My last choice to the last national elections ? If I have non-"acceptable" friends or lectures ?
How far will the Privacy Right be crushed, just to satisfy the US paranoia ?
Concerning the "don't like the rules, don't come here" comments, how would YOU feel if you were asked such private questions by, say, any north-African airlines ?
And if I'm *required* to fly to the US for work, must I lose my job to keep my private life by refusing to comply ?
"Try before you buy" is my philosphy too, but that model relies only on one's intellectual honesty, that makes you actually buy the product after a short period of "trying". But most people just "try and never buy"...
Well, the truth is, 95% buy it : (1) with a new computer, and (2) to play games that game developers didn't bother to make win2k or winXP compatible...
Dont forget that the #1 reason people (not companies) upgrade their copy of Windows is GAMES. Have 50% of the new games run natively on Linux, and Windows market share in homes will decrease by 50% in years.
First, as far as web programming is concerned, the users are always slower than the slowest of all programming languages : they read the text, fill in the forms, etc.
Second, as Python is used in games to implement AI, so I guess it isn't THAT slow.
Third, "scripting language = slow" has been proven false for long now...
I once had a "CopyProtect"-ed audio CD that could barely be played on my hifi device : the music had parasite sounds, some laggy behaviour, and so on.
Put it in my Linux PC, fired up Grip, and make a clear, useable.ogg copy. At last I could listen to that damn music !
People that can't listen to their legally-bought CDs will stop buying them. They'll download them. So what/who are DRM good for ?
Coming soon : "Windows Vista for non-housewives"...
If even the best-intended, noob-oriented, linux-related book cannot help but still use "geek" in its title, how do you expect the common man to think of linux as anything other than a niche, tech-savvy, quasi-underground operating system ?
People won't use Linux because it's "non-geek". They will use it because it performs better on their everyday tasks ! Book authors should use "brighter", more appealing, everyday-task-oriented titles like "Linux for office work", "A media center in your livingroom with Linux !", "Surf the Internet securely with Linux"...
Instead of coding hardware-accelerated AND poor-man's code to ensure that the game will run on both AI-enabled and non-equipped computers, just bundle the AI card with the game ! It used to work with the SuperNES Starfox game...
Granted, the chip cost is significantly greater nowadays. But here's an idea, for MMORPGs :
One could imagine that some AI-card (or whatever-card) would be required to play the game. That would be a $120 (card) + $40(game) = $160 entrance ticket, but then, card owners would get a small refund each month on their monthly fee, with a maximal amount equals to the card price. As a result, gamers would be better equipped, the game itself would be more feature-rich thanks to the card, and that would be a good incentive for players to play longer (something game studios would sell their mother for...).
Microsoft has a long history of "proprietarizing" things... Remember HTML (iframes, activeX anyone?), CSS (buggy, and IE-only properties), the attempt to bloat the Java VM, etc... Now, when MS announces "improvements" to standart technologies, I feel more than a bit concerned. And I'll be very suspicious about their "next-gen tcp stack", as with their "RSS extensions", and pretty much everything that worked well before MS put their fingers in it.
Slashdot Mirror
Didn't read all the comments, but if noone here has already pointed it out, the original post is available here : http://www.infoq.com/news/2009/02/web-based-ide Please cite your sources newt time.
Here in Europe, at a 1 = $1.45 change rate, we are expected to pay 55 to 70, depending on the game and the bundle ("standart" vs "collector" versions). Furthermore, we get them later, often with crappy localization bugs.
And I don't mention US-only bonus content or preorders (special items for Guild wars only available through Walmart preorders, for example), or console packs (some types of PS3 hardware packs won't be available in Europe).
So I think you should be happy in the US...
Back to games... I only buy games that provide a high level of re-playability, such as GTA, Elder Scrolls, Halflife (thank to mods), Ouendan (on DS)... Spending 60 on one-shot 6-hours games is just plain stupid.
Try playing Adventures of Lolo on NES : hundreds of hours of brain-smashing puzzles. Try playing Zelda on a good'old gameboy. Get a Super Nes, Mariokart, Bomberman and invite 3 friends at home. THAT is gaming !
.doc ? .doc, Office 97's .doc, Office 2000's .doc, Office XP's .doc, or Office 12's .doc ?
.doc to a random company means you have 99% chances that the company won't be able to properly display anything more complex than plain text, with perhaps some header styles. Tables will be broken, images will be floated randomly across text, complex styles will look weird...
.odt, and upon reply that "we can't read it", I send a PDF. No .doc. Ever.
Do you mean, Office 95's
Sending a random
I wouldn't take that risk when sending a resume...
I usually send plain
If you have already mastered Valve's Portal, try this one : http://www.freegamesnews.com/en/games/Portal.html
Here's a video for the Swiss jetpack :
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/simulator+2004/video/xu5k0_jetman-lhomme-a-reaction_news
Can't understand why you here at /. spit at Windows everytime a mere new bug is found in it, when OpenBSD just doubled its known bugs list !
...no Arena / Daggerfall ?
I think the RPG community owes Bethesda a huge deal for the Elder Scrolls series, just like Nintendo for Zelda on consoles !
These games were the first to offer such a huge world to live & fight in, with thousands of books to read, houses to buy, horses to mount, and even a boat !
(and buggy savegames... *ahem*)
Sales force *always* have the last word... Because "they generate revenue". And, obviously, as a mere "technician", you don't.
So when they say the product will be on the shelves on a given date, you just have to bend your head around it and work twice as hard to release on schedule. When you complain about this, they come and tell you that they have to take into account thousands of parameters you "can't understand from your technical point of view", such as marketing pressure, being the first to release a product (well, at least *something*) on a given market, and so on.
If the product works... well, this is good marketing, good market analysis, etc.
If it fails... It must be that the product was not good enough, heh.
Once upon a time... computer science was a highly elitist science. People had to have a mathematics background, spend nights making holes on little plastic cards, wait for hours for the Computer to digest them and spit out some result. Those people were voodoo priests for the common man.
Now, everyone and his ape have a computer at home. Everyone thinks they are doing "computer science" when it is just "bureautics", "programming" when it's only recording a macro in Excel. They are used to use MS Office, Google, 3D Games with physics simulation... It's so ubiquitous now, that they don't see the magic in it anymore. They don't understand the complexity behind all of thoses products.
So three things happen :
1) executives don't believe it's hard, choke the budgets, shorten dev time.
2) they hire just anyone under 25 and think they can turn them into Java (or whatever) gurus in a few weeks. Anyone with, say, some geography master will do (seen that with my own eyes).
3) "computer science" is considered a whole. You know PHP ? good, go tune that Oracle database. Oh, when you're done, set up some backup scripts on that Solaris system, please. And after that, you'll be promoted "senior" Java developer, because, hey, after all, you've been in this company for two years, so it's time to get you a more shiny title on our resume...
Guess the result ?
Actually, he meant "voilà".
For now, the US require passengers to give away personal details, bank accounts, etc.
This is outrageous enough, but who knows what will be asked next ?
My DNA sample ? AIDS test ? My last choice to the last national elections ? If I have non-"acceptable" friends or lectures ?
How far will the Privacy Right be crushed, just to satisfy the US paranoia ?
Concerning the "don't like the rules, don't come here" comments, how would YOU feel if you were asked such private questions by, say, any north-African airlines ?
And if I'm *required* to fly to the US for work, must I lose my job to keep my private life by refusing to comply ?
C:\Users, heh ? /home, since they already have a /etc/host buried deeply in Windows/System32 ?
I wonder why they refrained from calling it plain old
You'll see one day they'll allow morons to be elected... hey, wait !
"Try before you buy" is my philosphy too, but that model relies only on one's intellectual honesty, that makes you actually buy the product after a short period of "trying". But most people just "try and never buy"...
Well, the truth is, 95% buy it : (1) with a new computer, and (2) to play games that game developers didn't bother to make win2k or winXP compatible... Dont forget that the #1 reason people (not companies) upgrade their copy of Windows is GAMES. Have 50% of the new games run natively on Linux, and Windows market share in homes will decrease by 50% in years.
Of course, I would expect this site to advertise "Optimized for Internet Explorer"...
...but the console was alledgedly stolen.
Who wants a Windows PC anyway...
.ogg copy. At last I could listen to that damn music !
I once had a "CopyProtect"-ed audio CD that could barely be played on my hifi device : the music had parasite sounds, some laggy behaviour, and so on. Put it in my Linux PC, fired up Grip, and make a clear, useable
People that can't listen to their legally-bought CDs will stop buying them. They'll download them. So what/who are DRM good for ?
Coming soon : "Windows Vista for non-housewives"... If even the best-intended, noob-oriented, linux-related book cannot help but still use "geek" in its title, how do you expect the common man to think of linux as anything other than a niche, tech-savvy, quasi-underground operating system ? People won't use Linux because it's "non-geek". They will use it because it performs better on their everyday tasks ! Book authors should use "brighter", more appealing, everyday-task-oriented titles like "Linux for office work", "A media center in your livingroom with Linux !", "Surf the Internet securely with Linux"...
Instead of coding hardware-accelerated AND poor-man's code to ensure that the game will run on both AI-enabled and non-equipped computers, just bundle the AI card with the game ! It used to work with the SuperNES Starfox game... Granted, the chip cost is significantly greater nowadays. But here's an idea, for MMORPGs : One could imagine that some AI-card (or whatever-card) would be required to play the game. That would be a $120 (card) + $40(game) = $160 entrance ticket, but then, card owners would get a small refund each month on their monthly fee, with a maximal amount equals to the card price. As a result, gamers would be better equipped, the game itself would be more feature-rich thanks to the card, and that would be a good incentive for players to play longer (something game studios would sell their mother for...).
Microsoft has a long history of "proprietarizing" things...
Remember HTML (iframes, activeX anyone?), CSS (buggy, and IE-only properties), the attempt to bloat the Java VM, etc...
Now, when MS announces "improvements" to standart technologies, I feel more than a bit concerned. And I'll be very suspicious about their "next-gen tcp stack", as with their "RSS extensions", and pretty much everything that worked well before MS put their fingers in it.
The recently built viaduc of Milllau, France, is bigger : 2 460 m !
See the impressive pics at http://www.leviaducdemillau.com/ .