While I disagree with the 'large percentage of firmware updates actually brick' bit, he's correct that it's pretty common practice not to update firmware unless there's a known bug that -is- affecting you.
However, that applies to non-mission-critical appliances like home routers and not to death machines like cars or any device that could cost someone a -lot- of money if it goes down.
And you should never do the firmware update on a 'live' system for the same reason. So if he's actually driving the car while he updates the firmware, that would be bad. Otherwise, it should be done.
At the time, I remember thinking how awesome it -could- be, but how limited it was at the moment.
Then I realized that it was the programmer in me talking... Having to type out written commands to make magic happen? That's the Linux command line and most non-techies are horribly afraid of that.
I can't see it happening... Some of the ideas may be used in a GUI medium instead, but the project as it was... Well, it was pretty much doomed from the start.
I've never understood why anyone 'trusts' any company that gives them something for free. Their main goal is -always- to earn as much money as possible. Most of the time, that means being ethical because if they aren't, -this- kind of things will happen and destroy them. But some companies aren't that smart. And the ones that are smarter get away with little lies constantly.
1) I didn't want anyone to think I was advertising and ignore my post because of that.
2) The game's community has gone to pot, and without that, the game isn't nearly as good. There's a lot of grind, and it used to be that the community was good enough to chat while you grind and still have a lot of fun. Now, though... Well, it's just not like that. (I haven't played in the last year, though, so it might have gotten better again, I guess.)
It's an older text-based MUD called DragonRealms. It's crazy expensive for a MUD, though. I left the last time they raised prices, and when I tried to come back, the community was dead. I assume the 2 are related, since I wasn't the only one disgusted with the price hike.
I've only yet seen 1 game where I thought looting and theft was done 'right'...
Theft - Have to practice your pickpocket skill to get better at it. The better you get, the higher level person you can steal from and the better stuff you can get from them, and from shops. Anti-Theft - Have to practice your 'perception' or/and pickpocket skills. The better you get, the harder you are to rob. In addition, if you see the theft but can't prevent it, you can report to the nearest guard and the town guards will be watching for them. Also, you can immediately attack the robber and killing them is perfectly legal.
Looting - Known as 'graverobbing' because when you die, you create a mini-grave on the spot. The looter has to dig up the grave (takes about a minute) and then can take whatever. The items are marked as being looted for about an hour. Logging off or hiding in a zone where find-magic doesn't work will see the items returned to their owner immediately. Anti-looting - Killing a graverobber is fair game. For anyone. Pick on a newbie player and you'll likely find the mob has pitchforks and torches. And they are very eager for some excitement.
What you end up with is a -lot- of petty theft that people generally only lightly protect against, with a few people that go totally nuts and fly into a rage about it. And just a little bit of looting, which everyone gets excited about and has fun with.
I'm sure it wasn't easy to come up with the above solution, and it takes a strong community to make it happen... But it's the only one I've seen do it right so far.
There is -nothing- to overcome because -none- of the current flash sites work on mobile devices. If they wanted them to work on those devices, they'd have to rewrite the site.
When you add flash support to those mobile devices, -some- of those sites will just work. The rest now have an option to rewrite their site in flash (again) or rewrite it without flash.
Yes, those sites now have a -choice- where they didn't before.
I was wondering if anyone would mention that. When I was in highschool, a junior came up with the plan to drop out, get a GED and then go right to college.
Sadly, she wasn't one of the brightest ones, and I don't think she did it... But it was definitely possible and made me consider the option as well.
My highschool had 'dual enrollment' with the college. That meant you took college classes while you were in high school for credit in each. Some classes were at the highschool, but some were at the college. They didn't let me start until my Junior year (I tried to go my freshman year), but guess what? I was 16.
On the other hand, after seeing how I breezed through it, and my sister had even better grades than I did, historically speaking, they let her go as a freshman.
So yeah, as a 14 year old, she was in college.
In my area, it was easy to find 16 yo's in college.
Re:might turn out to have been smart
on
Two Scoops of Buzz
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Actually, I think it -would- have. Have you seen the clamor for Google invites? Any time a new service comes out, even if it's going to be meh, people go nuts to get invites. Google Wave, for instance... Does anyone actually still use that? It was all the rage when nobody had invites.
Re:End of twitter? not likely...
on
Two Scoops of Buzz
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
No, Buzz has something better... Interoperability with -every- site out there. If the site has an RSS feed for your updates, you can bring them into Buzz really easily. If it doesn't, the site can choose to integrate more directly with Buzz.
The only thing I've found lacking in Buzz is the ability to find and follow random people. With twitter, when I'm learning Japanese, I can watch the live twitter global feed and find people posting interesting things in Japanese and follow them. Buzz doesn't have that... Yet.
Think of it as a chatroom on myst worlds. Because that's basically what it is.
You -can- solve the puzzles together, but after the first time, well, it's not like you forget the solution or anything.
Back when it first came out, solving the puzzles with a few online friends of mine was great fun. But obviously, as everyone is pointing out, it never changes after that, and there's not much point in going back.
And if my inbox is an indicator, Spammers are the only ones -not- using it.
Seriously. 1 inbox as a measure of success?
Now, for seriousness... HOW are the spammers hitting it? The article doesn't say, and I've never seen it myself. With twitter, you can target a person just like you can with email... Does Buzz do that? Or is there some way to force things into a user's feed?
Microsoft's definition of 'not reduced' is rather odd. Directly from the article:
"The desktop wallpaper will be switched to a plain desktop (all of the customer’s desktop icons, gadgets, or pinned applications stay in place). Periodic reminders and a persistent desktop watermark act as further alerts to the customer."
If the desktop wallpaper is not part of the OS functionality, why is it built into the OS? By disabling that feature, you're reduced the functionality.
Also, periodic popups are a MAJOR annoyance. That is also a reduction of functionality.
I understand that you are supposedly trying to help the poor folks that paid good money for a pirated copy of Windows. 1 single notice window would do that. An icon on the start menu that performed the check at will would do that.
And let's be clear: This will stop exactly zero pirates. They will hack through this like a hot knife through butter. It is utterly ridiculous.
I have never seen any scientific studies on it, but I use Unit Testing as a tool to help me code and debug better and it works a LOT better than anything I tried prior to that. And when I break some of my old code, I know exactly what's breaking with just a glance.
Also, I have occasionally be charged with massive changes to an existing system, and Unit Testing is the only thing I know of that lets me guarantee the code functions exactly the same before and after for existing uses.
tl;dr - I don't need a scientific study to tell me a tool is working well for me.
I question whether you really get Agile, either. Yes, the requirements for the entire project are not given up-front. But the requirements for each sprint are.
Working without requirements is crazy and is guaranteed to destroy your sanity. Without requirements, you cannot estimate anything and you never know when you are done.
Yes, requirements can change in Agile, but never in the middle of a sprint. If the boss wants to send it back because it's the wrong shade of blue (despite that being the shade they picked) they will know exactly what it will cost them to change the color, and they'll get to decide exactly what sprint you'll do it in.
I agree with Google's aim: Prevent orphaned works from disappearing.
I disagree with the way they are trying to do it because it tramples all over the law to do so, -and- guarantees a monopoly while it's doing it. I think the DOJ is saying the same.
From what I've read on this, Google devs are under NDA and can't just willy-nilly discuss the issues with the public. But they -do- have good reason for what they've done and they aren't just covering their ears and ignoring everyone.
I love how they blast Google for not being willing to meet halfway, but they're doing exactly the same thing.
Not that there's actually anything wrong with -either- side, but if you're going to redress someone for something, you should make sure you're not guilty of it yourself first.
I'm still trying to figure out the 'value' column and what it could possibly mean. It's not the average, since that's to the right already. It's not the mmph per dollar, since that would infinity for some of them... It's not even a personal opinion, considering that Eclipse/PDT and Zend got exactly the same value, even though 1 is free and the other is not.
I've been forced to come to the conclusion that it means 'we were paid to make this come out better.'
It's hilarious for them to throw the word Monopoly at the publisher when Amazon themselves has DRM'd their books to the hilt and they have a 'monopoly' over what reader(s) can read them.
Slashdot Mirror
While I disagree with the 'large percentage of firmware updates actually brick' bit, he's correct that it's pretty common practice not to update firmware unless there's a known bug that -is- affecting you.
However, that applies to non-mission-critical appliances like home routers and not to death machines like cars or any device that could cost someone a -lot- of money if it goes down.
And you should never do the firmware update on a 'live' system for the same reason. So if he's actually driving the car while he updates the firmware, that would be bad. Otherwise, it should be done.
Wow, self-referential AND accurate. Amazing!
At the time, I remember thinking how awesome it -could- be, but how limited it was at the moment.
Then I realized that it was the programmer in me talking... Having to type out written commands to make magic happen? That's the Linux command line and most non-techies are horribly afraid of that.
I can't see it happening... Some of the ideas may be used in a GUI medium instead, but the project as it was ... Well, it was pretty much doomed from the start.
I've never understood why anyone 'trusts' any company that gives them something for free. Their main goal is -always- to earn as much money as possible. Most of the time, that means being ethical because if they aren't, -this- kind of things will happen and destroy them. But some companies aren't that smart. And the ones that are smarter get away with little lies constantly.
Actually, I didn't mention it on purpose.
1) I didn't want anyone to think I was advertising and ignore my post because of that.
2) The game's community has gone to pot, and without that, the game isn't nearly as good. There's a lot of grind, and it used to be that the community was good enough to chat while you grind and still have a lot of fun. Now, though... Well, it's just not like that. (I haven't played in the last year, though, so it might have gotten better again, I guess.)
It's an older text-based MUD called DragonRealms. It's crazy expensive for a MUD, though. I left the last time they raised prices, and when I tried to come back, the community was dead. I assume the 2 are related, since I wasn't the only one disgusted with the price hike.
I've only yet seen 1 game where I thought looting and theft was done 'right'...
Theft - Have to practice your pickpocket skill to get better at it. The better you get, the higher level person you can steal from and the better stuff you can get from them, and from shops.
Anti-Theft - Have to practice your 'perception' or/and pickpocket skills. The better you get, the harder you are to rob. In addition, if you see the theft but can't prevent it, you can report to the nearest guard and the town guards will be watching for them. Also, you can immediately attack the robber and killing them is perfectly legal.
Looting - Known as 'graverobbing' because when you die, you create a mini-grave on the spot. The looter has to dig up the grave (takes about a minute) and then can take whatever. The items are marked as being looted for about an hour. Logging off or hiding in a zone where find-magic doesn't work will see the items returned to their owner immediately.
Anti-looting - Killing a graverobber is fair game. For anyone. Pick on a newbie player and you'll likely find the mob has pitchforks and torches. And they are very eager for some excitement.
What you end up with is a -lot- of petty theft that people generally only lightly protect against, with a few people that go totally nuts and fly into a rage about it. And just a little bit of looting, which everyone gets excited about and has fun with.
I'm sure it wasn't easy to come up with the above solution, and it takes a strong community to make it happen... But it's the only one I've seen do it right so far.
And you're missing the point, too.
There is -nothing- to overcome because -none- of the current flash sites work on mobile devices. If they wanted them to work on those devices, they'd have to rewrite the site.
When you add flash support to those mobile devices, -some- of those sites will just work. The rest now have an option to rewrite their site in flash (again) or rewrite it without flash.
Yes, those sites now have a -choice- where they didn't before.
I was wondering if anyone would mention that. When I was in highschool, a junior came up with the plan to drop out, get a GED and then go right to college.
Sadly, she wasn't one of the brightest ones, and I don't think she did it... But it was definitely possible and made me consider the option as well.
My highschool had 'dual enrollment' with the college. That meant you took college classes while you were in high school for credit in each. Some classes were at the highschool, but some were at the college. They didn't let me start until my Junior year (I tried to go my freshman year), but guess what? I was 16.
On the other hand, after seeing how I breezed through it, and my sister had even better grades than I did, historically speaking, they let her go as a freshman.
So yeah, as a 14 year old, she was in college.
In my area, it was easy to find 16 yo's in college.
Actually, I think it -would- have. Have you seen the clamor for Google invites? Any time a new service comes out, even if it's going to be meh, people go nuts to get invites. Google Wave, for instance... Does anyone actually still use that? It was all the rage when nobody had invites.
No, Buzz has something better... Interoperability with -every- site out there. If the site has an RSS feed for your updates, you can bring them into Buzz really easily. If it doesn't, the site can choose to integrate more directly with Buzz.
The only thing I've found lacking in Buzz is the ability to find and follow random people. With twitter, when I'm learning Japanese, I can watch the live twitter global feed and find people posting interesting things in Japanese and follow them. Buzz doesn't have that... Yet.
It has always only worked on Windows. Why would you expect that to change?
Think of it as a chatroom on myst worlds. Because that's basically what it is.
You -can- solve the puzzles together, but after the first time, well, it's not like you forget the solution or anything.
Back when it first came out, solving the puzzles with a few online friends of mine was great fun. But obviously, as everyone is pointing out, it never changes after that, and there's not much point in going back.
And if my inbox is an indicator, Spammers are the only ones -not- using it.
Seriously. 1 inbox as a measure of success?
Now, for seriousness... HOW are the spammers hitting it? The article doesn't say, and I've never seen it myself. With twitter, you can target a person just like you can with email... Does Buzz do that? Or is there some way to force things into a user's feed?
And it would do the same even without reducing the functionality. Again, the solution is crazy.
Microsoft's definition of 'not reduced' is rather odd. Directly from the article:
"The desktop wallpaper will be switched to a plain desktop (all of the customer’s desktop icons, gadgets, or pinned applications stay in place). Periodic reminders and a persistent desktop watermark act as further alerts to the customer."
If the desktop wallpaper is not part of the OS functionality, why is it built into the OS? By disabling that feature, you're reduced the functionality.
Also, periodic popups are a MAJOR annoyance. That is also a reduction of functionality.
I understand that you are supposedly trying to help the poor folks that paid good money for a pirated copy of Windows. 1 single notice window would do that. An icon on the start menu that performed the check at will would do that.
And let's be clear: This will stop exactly zero pirates. They will hack through this like a hot knife through butter. It is utterly ridiculous.
I have never seen any scientific studies on it, but I use Unit Testing as a tool to help me code and debug better and it works a LOT better than anything I tried prior to that. And when I break some of my old code, I know exactly what's breaking with just a glance.
Also, I have occasionally be charged with massive changes to an existing system, and Unit Testing is the only thing I know of that lets me guarantee the code functions exactly the same before and after for existing uses.
tl;dr - I don't need a scientific study to tell me a tool is working well for me.
I question whether you really get Agile, either. Yes, the requirements for the entire project are not given up-front. But the requirements for each sprint are.
Working without requirements is crazy and is guaranteed to destroy your sanity. Without requirements, you cannot estimate anything and you never know when you are done.
Yes, requirements can change in Agile, but never in the middle of a sprint. If the boss wants to send it back because it's the wrong shade of blue (despite that being the shade they picked) they will know exactly what it will cost them to change the color, and they'll get to decide exactly what sprint you'll do it in.
Boredom wouldn't be a 'symptom' of poor health. It would be an indicator. There's quite a large difference.
You seem to be confused. Organizations can have more than 1 goal at a time, and some will even be completely unrelated to money.
I agree with Google's aim: Prevent orphaned works from disappearing.
I disagree with the way they are trying to do it because it tramples all over the law to do so, -and- guarantees a monopoly while it's doing it. I think the DOJ is saying the same.
From what I've read on this, Google devs are under NDA and can't just willy-nilly discuss the issues with the public. But they -do- have good reason for what they've done and they aren't just covering their ears and ignoring everyone.
I love how they blast Google for not being willing to meet halfway, but they're doing exactly the same thing.
Not that there's actually anything wrong with -either- side, but if you're going to redress someone for something, you should make sure you're not guilty of it yourself first.
I'm still trying to figure out the 'value' column and what it could possibly mean. It's not the average, since that's to the right already. It's not the mmph per dollar, since that would infinity for some of them... It's not even a personal opinion, considering that Eclipse/PDT and Zend got exactly the same value, even though 1 is free and the other is not.
I've been forced to come to the conclusion that it means 'we were paid to make this come out better.'
It's hilarious for them to throw the word Monopoly at the publisher when Amazon themselves has DRM'd their books to the hilt and they have a 'monopoly' over what reader(s) can read them.
People in glass houses...