If you're logging for debugging purposes I suggest setting your application up so that you can change verbosity on the fly. Combine that with a good naming convention within log4j and you could increase the detail in an area of interest while filtering out the rest.
Some parts of your application might not need constant logging. Put the logging code in there anyway and use filtering to keep it from ending up in the log. If you ever run into problems just remove the filter.
If you are communicating with other systems figure out how to tap into that conversation. They might work fine now but sooner or later they'll break.
In the root of your application put a document labeled "HOW TO READ THE LOGS FOR TROUBLESHOOTING". Make sure the filename stands out from all the other files in there. Explain where and how to do the things mentioned above. It might be someone else than you that has to do the troubleshooting. Or you simply forgot how to.
I wish web forums could be read with a news reader. Forums like Slashdot and all those phpBB-forums out there.
You would just add http://slashdot.org/ to your news client and then read Slashdot in the news client instead of a web browser.
News clients are a simply better at managing threads and notifying you of new messages compared to web browsers.
I think he's right about LinuxHater and right that we should be thankful for that kind of criticism. Pointing out flaws in a more public manner and in a way that makes it accessible to a larger audience can help shape opinion and get the flaws fixed.
Sure, LinuxHater could try to fix the bugs himself but I think that would be a lot less effective than what he's doing right now.
Sticking to the theme (established above) of what happens when you type "sl" to get to Slashdot, the first suggestion for me is actually Slashdot, but the second suggestion is a porn page. This has been bothering me for weeks. A little known trick:
Pressing delete when the offending address is highlighted will remove it from the browsers' history.
it doesn't say what caused the reduction It's mentioned in the first paragraph of the article and then again in the second sentence of the Slashdot summary. Here it is again so you don't have to scroll all the way up to the top:
malicious software removal tools aimed at removing Storm infections were responsible for the sudden reduction in Storm-infected computers
Many of us have 10 years old, or even older, computers that would run just fine if we bothered to plug them in. Also it's a bit unfair to blame those Windows 98 games for poor compability with future operating systems and hardware. Since you have all those old consoles lying around, just add a PC with Windows 98 to your collection.
I suppose Cheese and the improved integration with Flash are nice but these features sound rather dull.
Maybe this should be viewed as a good sign? I think the Gnome desktop has matured to a point where there are no glaring defects and no major pieces missing.
1. Remove popup (immediate switch) when using right mouse-button & mouse wheel to switch tab. 2. Trails when performing mouse-gestures. 3. Beagle support http://beagle-project.org/. 4. Privacy-mode (No records are kept while enabled). 5. Strict-mode (While enabled pages have to be perfect to be displayed). 6. Native Look-And-Feel.
Sigh. Analyzing cellphone contents? How frickin' useless. Putting aside the fact that it's a violation of privacy - how often will they find incriminating messages on the phone? If drugs are rampant then start testing kids for drugs using standard drug-tests. Are they carrying weapons? Use metal detectors and pat-downs.
Analyzing cellphones must be the single most impotent method I've ever heard of to reduce violence and drug-use.
They're a great way to learn about best practices. Instead of having to read a book you get your own "teacher" that points out common misstakes in your own code. How great is that!? The misstakes it finds arn't always what I would consider trivial either. Some are very subtle and can only be found be being "burned" by an all-night debugging-session.
I've tried PMD and it only takes five minutes to set up and you'll learn more about the intricacies of Java immediately AND save time later on by avoiding bugs.
PS! Set it up as part of your automated build-process. Read the warnings as if they were compiler messages.
The nightclub isn't that great a comparison. Most nightclubs are required to verify their customers age. If a minor was allowed in, and the same thing happened, the parents would have a stronger case.
Perhaps if you replace "a nightclub" with "McDonalds" you'd get a better comparison. McDonalds isn't required to verify their customers age and like MySpace they have very deep pockets.
I see a lot of people complaining about video drivers, MP3-support, various missing video-codecs and wireless.
Frankly, an installation of Windows XP requires that I know what video card I have, where to get the drivers, and how to install them (without messing the system up with that vendors bundled software). Windows XP has MP3-support built-in but getting all the video-codecs to work properly was a nightmare before I tried VLC. Also, I bet that if you asked a lot of regular users you'd find that most of them had someone help them to get wireless working.
After I'm done with the Windows XP installer I'm usually left with the following tasks: Minor tweaking of the UI and then installation of Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, nVidia-drivers, Skype and Sun Java.
Installing those missing applications was very easy with EasyUbuntu. Also it installs Microsoft's fonts for you. It's almost perfect but if I could ask for two more features they would be:
1. Ability to download and double-click instead of having to resort to the command-line. 2. A Windows XP edition.
If you give someone a CD with Ubuntu and tell him/her about EasyUbuntu I'd say that installation is a draw compared with Windows XP.
My issues with Ubuntu:
1. About 1 in 10 times I have a working network when I login. The other 9 times I have to deactivate/activate eth1 using network-admin. Maybe DHCP doesn't get enough time to do its' thing during boot? This is on a wired network.
2. I chose Swedish during the installation (I used the live CD and double-clicked the Install-icon on the desktop). I only received partial Swedish. I had to use the language-support-thingie in the administration menu and select Swedish after installation was complete.
3. Without EasyUbuntu the ride wouldn't have been this smooth. There's something wrong when a lot of people need to download a third-party product to "complete" the installation.
Heralded as free computing it hasn't lived up to its' promise yet. You eventually spent so much time making it work that a license for a Microsoft operating system seemed like a steal. While proponents of Linux claimed Microsoft operating systems were insecure and fragile, Linux shipped broken out of the box.
Among other things Linux came with a friendly and knowledgable community which when you asked questions like "Why doesn't my mouse work?", or "What is vertical refresh rate?", you received helpful answers such as "It works for me!" and "RTFM".
After years and years of being "ready for the desktop" developers and disitributors finally came to an understanding that the average Joe would never use a CLI as his primary method to interact with a computer.
In recent times Linux has been copying succesful elements from more popular operating systems in an attempt to become less intimidating for new users. Unfortunately copying instead of innovating implies at best second place. Linux was dead last in implementing viable solutions for killer-features such as proper handling of removable media and wireless networking.
Frankly, the browser is optional and the default search can be changed. This is what Microsoft should have been doing all along.
The default search doesn't even have to be changed by the end-user. Google could reach an agreement with major suppliers such as Dell and ask them to change it. After all, the majority of customers prefer Google and I'm sure many suppliers would use Google as the default if they in return could put a Google-sticker on their boxes.
To all those who are going to mention the inevitable crack: I'm not going to do any online banking, shopping, or even read my private e-mail on a cracked operating system. I suggest you don't either. Who knows what the author of the crack will put in there?
I wish Microsoft would go all out and prevent software pirates from using Vista online at all. Much like the technology used in online games such as Battlefield and World of Warcraft. If a fraction of the software pirates converted into Linux-users maybe Linux would have enough users for hardware companies to support us.
... I wish these features would make it into Vista.
1. I'd like to update all my software in one place - even third-party applications. 2. I'd like hardware drivers to be present at such a place - even third party drivers. You know that cheap TV-tuner I bought? I'd like those drivers to be available there too. Before I buy new hardware I would like to be able to see if the drivers are available. 3. I'd like to adjust the deadzone of all my analogue input devices, including my Logitech joystick and my XBOX 360 controller for PC. It should be part of the calibration-process. 4. I'd like games to adhere to a common standard so that I don't have to reconfigure my joypad for every new game I buy. 5. I wish headsets would work better out of the box. For some reason using a microphone is always preceeded by an hour of troubleshooting. 6. I'd like chess to be one of the bundled games. 7. I'd like improved Bluetooth support. Support should be built-in for headsets, mice, joypads, keyboards joysticks and speakers. Without any need for third-party drivers. 8. I'd like the Device Manager to get its' own icon in the Control Panel. 9. I'd like to subscribe to NHL-games and watch them on my laptop/tablet on my way to work. 10. I'd like a search tool similar to Beagle with open APIs so third-party developers could define how data from their applications should be processed. 11. Just say no to.exe self-extractors. Software should come in a standard package format like MSI or be denied installation.
Damnit! That's eleven! If one has to go you can leave out chess.
Slashdot Mirror
If you're logging for debugging purposes I suggest setting your application up so that you can change verbosity on the fly. Combine that with a good naming convention within log4j and you could increase the detail in an area of interest while filtering out the rest.
Some parts of your application might not need constant logging. Put the logging code in there anyway and use filtering to keep it from ending up in the log. If you ever run into problems just remove the filter.
If you are communicating with other systems figure out how to tap into that conversation. They might work fine now but sooner or later they'll break.
In the root of your application put a document labeled "HOW TO READ THE LOGS FOR TROUBLESHOOTING". Make sure the filename stands out from all the other files in there. Explain where and how to do the things mentioned above. It might be someone else than you that has to do the troubleshooting. Or you simply forgot how to.
I wish web forums could be read with a news reader. Forums like Slashdot and all those phpBB-forums out there. You would just add http://slashdot.org/ to your news client and then read Slashdot in the news client instead of a web browser. News clients are a simply better at managing threads and notifying you of new messages compared to web browsers.
I think he's right about LinuxHater and right that we should be thankful for that kind of criticism. Pointing out flaws in a more public manner and in a way that makes it accessible to a larger audience can help shape opinion and get the flaws fixed.
Sure, LinuxHater could try to fix the bugs himself but I think that would be a lot less effective than what he's doing right now.
Many of us have 10 years old, or even older, computers that would run just fine if we bothered to plug them in. Also it's a bit unfair to blame those Windows 98 games for poor compability with future operating systems and hardware. Since you have all those old consoles lying around, just add a PC with Windows 98 to your collection.
I suppose Cheese and the improved integration with Flash are nice but these features sound rather dull.
Maybe this should be viewed as a good sign? I think the Gnome desktop has matured to a point where there are no glaring defects and no major pieces missing.
"Jordan was in the process of writing the twelfth and final book in the Wheel of Time series."
BWAAAaahahaha! The FINAL book in the series? I think we've all given up the idea that there would ever be a final book.
I still don't get it. I wouldn't enter my Yahoo credentials on any site but Yahoo. It seems like an excellent way to get your account hijacked.
1. Remove popup (immediate switch) when using right mouse-button & mouse wheel to switch tab.
2. Trails when performing mouse-gestures.
3. Beagle support http://beagle-project.org/.
4. Privacy-mode (No records are kept while enabled).
5. Strict-mode (While enabled pages have to be perfect to be displayed).
6. Native Look-And-Feel.
Sigh. Analyzing cellphone contents? How frickin' useless. Putting aside the fact that it's a violation of privacy - how often will they find incriminating messages on the phone? If drugs are rampant then start testing kids for drugs using standard drug-tests. Are they carrying weapons? Use metal detectors and pat-downs.
Analyzing cellphones must be the single most impotent method I've ever heard of to reduce violence and drug-use.
Yes.
They're a great way to learn about best practices. Instead of having to read a book you get your own "teacher" that points out common misstakes in your own code. How great is that!? The misstakes it finds arn't always what I would consider trivial either. Some are very subtle and can only be found be being "burned" by an all-night debugging-session.
I've tried PMD and it only takes five minutes to set up and you'll learn more about the intricacies of Java immediately AND save time later on by avoiding bugs.
PS! Set it up as part of your automated build-process. Read the warnings as if they were compiler messages.
The nightclub isn't that great a comparison. Most nightclubs are required to verify their customers age. If a minor was allowed in, and the same thing happened, the parents would have a stronger case.
Perhaps if you replace "a nightclub" with "McDonalds" you'd get a better comparison. McDonalds isn't required to verify their customers age and like MySpace they have very deep pockets.
I see a lot of people complaining about video drivers, MP3-support, various missing video-codecs and wireless.
Frankly, an installation of Windows XP requires that I know what video card I have, where to get the drivers, and how to install them (without messing the system up with that vendors bundled software). Windows XP has MP3-support built-in but getting all the video-codecs to work properly was a nightmare before I tried VLC. Also, I bet that if you asked a lot of regular users you'd find that most of them had someone help them to get wireless working.
After I'm done with the Windows XP installer I'm usually left with the following tasks: Minor tweaking of the UI and then installation of Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, nVidia-drivers, Skype and Sun Java.
Installing those missing applications was very easy with EasyUbuntu. Also it installs Microsoft's fonts for you. It's almost perfect but if I could ask for two more features they would be:
1. Ability to download and double-click instead of having to resort to the command-line.
2. A Windows XP edition.
If you give someone a CD with Ubuntu and tell him/her about EasyUbuntu I'd say that installation is a draw compared with Windows XP.
My issues with Ubuntu:
1. About 1 in 10 times I have a working network when I login. The other 9 times I have to deactivate/activate eth1 using network-admin. Maybe DHCP doesn't get enough time to do its' thing during boot? This is on a wired network.
2. I chose Swedish during the installation (I used the live CD and double-clicked the Install-icon on the desktop). I only received partial Swedish. I had to use the language-support-thingie in the administration menu and select Swedish after installation was complete.
3. Without EasyUbuntu the ride wouldn't have been this smooth. There's something wrong when a lot of people need to download a third-party product to "complete" the installation.
Ok, I'm going to go against the flow on this one.
Heralded as free computing it hasn't lived up to its' promise yet. You eventually spent so much time making it work that a license for a Microsoft operating system seemed like a steal. While proponents of Linux claimed Microsoft operating systems were insecure and fragile, Linux shipped broken out of the box.
Among other things Linux came with a friendly and knowledgable community which when you asked questions like "Why doesn't my mouse work?", or "What is vertical refresh rate?", you received helpful answers such as "It works for me!" and "RTFM".
After years and years of being "ready for the desktop" developers and disitributors finally came to an understanding that the average Joe would never use a CLI as his primary method to interact with a computer.
In recent times Linux has been copying succesful elements from more popular operating systems in an attempt to become less intimidating for new users. Unfortunately copying instead of innovating implies at best second place. Linux was dead last in implementing viable solutions for killer-features such as proper handling of removable media and wireless networking.
Frankly, the browser is optional and the default search can be changed. This is what Microsoft should have been doing all along.
The default search doesn't even have to be changed by the end-user. Google could reach an agreement with major suppliers such as Dell and ask them to change it. After all, the majority of customers prefer Google and I'm sure many suppliers would use Google as the default if they in return could put a Google-sticker on their boxes.
To all those who are going to mention the inevitable crack: I'm not going to do any online banking, shopping, or even read my private e-mail on a cracked operating system. I suggest you don't either. Who knows what the author of the crack will put in there?
I wish Microsoft would go all out and prevent software pirates from using Vista online at all. Much like the technology used in online games such as Battlefield and World of Warcraft. If a fraction of the software pirates converted into Linux-users maybe Linux would have enough users for hardware companies to support us.
350+ posts and no good links!?
... I wish these features would make it into Vista.
.exe self-extractors. Software should come in a standard package format like MSI or be denied installation.
1. I'd like to update all my software in one place - even third-party applications.
2. I'd like hardware drivers to be present at such a place - even third party drivers. You know that cheap TV-tuner I bought? I'd like those drivers to be available there too. Before I buy new hardware I would like to be able to see if the drivers are available.
3. I'd like to adjust the deadzone of all my analogue input devices, including my Logitech joystick and my XBOX 360 controller for PC. It should be part of the calibration-process.
4. I'd like games to adhere to a common standard so that I don't have to reconfigure my joypad for every new game I buy.
5. I wish headsets would work better out of the box. For some reason using a microphone is always preceeded by an hour of troubleshooting.
6. I'd like chess to be one of the bundled games.
7. I'd like improved Bluetooth support. Support should be built-in for headsets, mice, joypads, keyboards joysticks and speakers. Without any need for third-party drivers.
8. I'd like the Device Manager to get its' own icon in the Control Panel.
9. I'd like to subscribe to NHL-games and watch them on my laptop/tablet on my way to work.
10. I'd like a search tool similar to Beagle with open APIs so third-party developers could define how data from their applications should be processed.
11. Just say no to
Damnit! That's eleven! If one has to go you can leave out chess.