How much of the content will be stolen contrary to copyright laws? Wikipedia and CC is already there so what does Amazon bring to the party? Lesson plans they paid for? New material they paid for? Overview of material (you know how much bollocks is spread around as 'resources'. (Hi Jesus!) ) Editing to make sure material is suitable for a wide range of audiences...
S-F-Amazon of course
Being able to differentiate the role from the person.
Being able to identify a person's role
Being able to indicate status
Being able to clearly identify a process as recipient rather than a person. This might be a server that distributes mail to a committee.
IF you guys in the USA want the government 100% access to your gadgets, passwords, bank accounts and all other accounts and family settlements then why not set up some sort of constitutional amendment? HOW EASY WOULD THAT BE?
Of course you could continue as the USA and GB are doing and get the data anyway by hook or crook and fudge.
A tipping moment for you guys. Obviously going to the Supreme Court. (Watching with cynical interest.)
The barbarians are due here today.
Why isn't anything happening in the senate?
Why do the senators sit there without legislating?
Because the barbarians are coming today.
What laws can the senators make now?
Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating.
Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting at the city's main gate
on his throne, in state, wearing the crown?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader.
He has even prepared a scroll to give him,
replete with titles, with imposing names.
Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.
Why don't our distinguished orators come forward as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and they're bored by rhetoric and public speaking.
Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?
(How serious people's faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home so lost in thought?
Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.
And some who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.
And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians?
They were, those people, a kind of solution.
Constantine P. Cavafy
1863 – 1933
Translated from Greek
Suppose 10 people press 1-8-7-6 (say) to report a call as (say) robot or (say) fraudulent tech support and so on. Now the charge rate is doubled. Telco networks are superlative at charging. The more people complain the more the charge goes up. WIN-WIN. Simple.
You have a POLICY to make, not a one-of decision. Maintenance will be on-going. It's a people problem.
I would have a be-nice-to-good-people policy. Make them feel wanted and respected. That's down to your management. Then if you hire-in an outside company use an NDA (of course) and make it clear this is an ongoing relationship.
The rapidity with which a key can be repeated makes it quick and soon automatic. There's no time wasted hunting for a particular key. I take your point about the horribleness of laptops but that's a choice people make depending on what they perceive their priorities are.
This is a practically no-learn UI because the same key is used for everything. Want to turn '2' into 'squared' or 'P' into 'pawn' (for chess addicts) or do your French homework using a single key? Then have a look.
And the problem is I don't know how to make it more universal. Mac? Linux? Smartphones? I've no idea, but the feedback on the UI has been 100% so why not have a look and see if you can implement the really simple algorithm?
Whatever the exercise there must be something to physically take away, and perhaps titivate later.
'Draw a graph' might start with rows of stars bashed out on a teletype... which then needs !'s for the horizontal scale and +'s for the vertical scale... and then the scales may need to be scale to fit the data. Of course by now you're drawing symbols on a pixel map then converting it to a matrix printer. Then instead of a fixed X axis you move to X-Y (or scatter) on a virtual drawing surface that gets expressed on a laser printer.
(I put the teletype in there for fun, but there are plenty of tech limitations around today.)
I'm a bit worried about the 'go and research it' bit. I'm all for 'use the internet to help crack specific problems, steal code etc.' but it's your job to be right with them while they're trying to get their ideas together and then to work. When they're floundering you've got to show them the way so they can move on.
(1) Kindles and (much better) e-books don't do that. You might as well have asked for a flying pogo-stick.
(2) You may be confusing pop-up with box-out or even foot-note. If you want the 'less accomplished' to keep up then you can't do it with pop-ups[1] Instead write two books.
(3) An e-book reader is not a multi-media volcano of goodness. The opposite: A constrained text reader with occasional images and no character.
[Footnote 1] Note that a box-out remains in clear view forever. A pop-up vanishes after first use, so after being shown it isn't there for re-reference. A footnote a diversion for someone with a particular interest.
I wrote this paper nine years ago. Go to http://vulpeculox.net/ob/index... and follow the link to The future of collaborative software development
One of the key ideas is that a theatre company has all sorts of skills unrelated to acting or play-writing. A collaborative software project should be half a dozen people at a minimum. Once the group has 'done' one project it'll soon find something else to work on, whether extending the objectives, enhancing the deliverable or something completely different.
I have a dozen FOSS contributions on my web site but I just don't want to get into the hassle of Git or licensing or selling or even promotion. I'm an inventor not a financier or sales executive!
My sister's new Acer laptop came with a slew of bloatware. I want a program that will remove it all with a couple of clicks rather than lengthy add-remove-programs-reboot etc.
If the Govt. encouraged drone-flying then it would have a cadre of skilled operators who took their hobby seriously enough to want to see it well regulated and free from idiots. That way a basically unenforceable law costing millions to police would be mostly self-policed by people with decent civic values... As well as cutting edge skills and technology. Hey what's that you say Sooty? 'Nerds being sociable?' Yes, why not.
In the UK plane spotters were once seen as some sort of terror threat but then it was realised that the anoraks would be the best people to spot an unusual sort of person.
At the start of WW2 many 'radio hams' were available to become the core of rapidly expanding signals sections.
By all means have an unlicensed backyard toy category of no registration (though everyday laws of privacy, harassment etc still apply) (a bit like flying a kite.) and a 'big-boys' category but make it something people want to achieve, belong to, participate in, rather than endless form-filling and wallet opening.
The current UI can't be a disaster because new customers would be few and far between, which isn't what you're reporting. So the current UI might be 'old fashioned' but just the WISIWYG interface that appeals to customers who have to train staff to 'go through the steps' not 'guess what button to press'.
Especially when people do a repetitive job they don't need icons or 'are you sure' or touch-screen-goodness. They need Ctrl-A, Q then T to get them to the bit they want. Horribly 1980s, but it works a treat and doesn't need a single second reaching for a mouse.
If news leaks out before the event there will be Panic Buying which will turn a few hours of physical disruption with say a 10% overall infrastructure failures for a few days, into a maelstrom of stockpile madness. How will the repair trucks get their fuel when it's all been bought by consumers?
The telecoms used by telecoms repairers to order parts etc is a 'how does the snowplough driver get to work' problem.
Without the 'cyber' we have a 15-yo walks in through the front door of a major corporation, whistles a merry tune as he steps into 'PROTECTED AREA' where the customer records are floating about like confetti and walks out.
No.
Once upon a time the UK justice system had competent state-funded lawyers to protect lads like this.
Talk Talk still got shafted. Even if the wrong-un is convicted they were still shafted.
The number one problem is at the input interface: People will only use it if it's useful or there is someone standing over them with a cosh. So how do you do that? By finding applications they find useful for their knowledge or sharing knowledge. Progress report, interface specs, requests for changes or whatever the knowledge generators want. So it's a management problem.
Say to management, "I have this as a solution, I think it's the most flexible, can we give it a try? Look! I've piloted it on my latest project and see what it can do... Think how useful if..." When management champions it there is some chance of it working. Until then paddle your own canoe and offer to show people how clever you are.
It's a good overall question, but exactly the same issues apply to 'Enterprise'(whatever that is) and novelists trying to keep track of places, people, timelines, todos, feedback etc. Until you've really put any solution (I've tried all sorts over 35 years and keep coming back to a book of notes or a master notes document.) to the test by actual use you won't understand the practicalities. The human brain is a pretty good filter if you can do basic organisation and remember to make notes/put things in the right place.
If you have a valuable commodity then somebody will voluntarily support it. Wikipedia for example. Or you might find people want to buy what you have on offer.
When I see people without ad-blockers I'm amazed at their crap experience, but they don't seem to know any better.
If you want to see model this in print then buy Private Eye. Excellent Journalism worth paying for and ads at front and back which I skip over because I've got no money to spend, but presumably some people do because a lot are repeats.
It works.
It isn't sexy. Who cares?
You can write awful programs... Unlike any other language of course
It evolves slowly. To paraphrase Tolstoy: "Happy programmers are all alike; every language is unhappy in its own way." Most of us never come across edge-cases and PHP is still getting regularly fixed. But also the tectonic shifts are happening at tectonic speed as they should. So to my mind the repairs and resdesigns are suitably separated and yet both going on..
PHP is here to stay for the next 40 years. Personally I try to nibble with node as it's a completely different mindset, tool chain and opportunity but PHP is a workhorse.
We should be pleased to see v7 is emerging. None of us is going to bet on V 7.0.0 but by 7.1 or 7.2 we'll have jumped at our own comfortable pace.
Understanding what it's all about, including checking the reader is the target audience.
Achievement getting started on concepts or running a tweakable demo. Lots of little steps that each have a 'reward'. (A box-out try-yourself example is a good format in a discussion.)
Reference needs to be compact to search like a cheat-sheet but lead to the proper details like a proper reference tome. For example I knocked-up this http://vulpeculox.net/misc/jsj... for javascript.
Also
Include documentation in your production process.
Be consistent.
Be a human writer when you think the user will empathise. Anything to break up the boredom.
Slashdot Mirror
So the FBI can be clever and persistent. Good.
Of course there are some operatives who make them look like knobheads. Why don't law enforcers stick to being the good guys?
Power induces moral blindness and complete WTF
How much of the content will be stolen contrary to copyright laws? Wikipedia and CC is already there so what does Amazon bring to the party? Lesson plans they paid for? New material they paid for? Overview of material (you know how much bollocks is spread around as 'resources'. (Hi Jesus!) ) Editing to make sure material is suitable for a wide range of audiences... S-F-Amazon of course
Split by =
The 'mailbox' bit of the address can be split using the = character to add on
Also membership, semi-formal titles and indication that the recipient in the first instance is a machine.
This means you can send an email to =salesdept@... or Mary=salesmanager@... or Mary@...
Details at http://vulpeculox.net/ob/Email...
Benefits
How do we get these gorblimey posts?
I block em.
I've saved the advertiser a 'Fuck them'
Shouldn't everyone pay me
for saving bandwidth and honesty?
IF you guys in the USA want the government 100% access to your gadgets, passwords, bank accounts and all other accounts and family settlements then why not set up some sort of constitutional amendment? HOW EASY WOULD THAT BE?
Of course you could continue as the USA and GB are doing and get the data anyway by hook or crook and fudge.
A tipping moment for you guys. Obviously going to the Supreme Court. (Watching with cynical interest.)
Waiting For The Barbarians
What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are due here today.
Why isn't anything happening in the senate?
Why do the senators sit there without legislating?
Because the barbarians are coming today.
What laws can the senators make now?
Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating.
Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting at the city's main gate
on his throne, in state, wearing the crown?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader.
He has even prepared a scroll to give him,
replete with titles, with imposing names.
Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.
Why don't our distinguished orators come forward as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?
Because the barbarians are coming today
and they're bored by rhetoric and public speaking.
Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?
(How serious people's faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home so lost in thought?
Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.
And some who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.
And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians?
They were, those people, a kind of solution.
Constantine P. Cavafy
1863 – 1933
Translated from Greek
Suppose 10 people press 1-8-7-6 (say) to report a call as (say) robot or (say) fraudulent tech support and so on. Now the charge rate is doubled. Telco networks are superlative at charging. The more people complain the more the charge goes up. WIN-WIN. Simple.
You have a POLICY to make, not a one-of decision. Maintenance will be on-going. It's a people problem.
I would have a be-nice-to-good-people policy. Make them feel wanted and respected. That's down to your management. Then if you hire-in an outside company use an NDA (of course) and make it clear this is an ongoing relationship.
The rapidity with which a key can be repeated makes it quick and soon automatic. There's no time wasted hunting for a particular key. I take your point about the horribleness of laptops but that's a choice people make depending on what they perceive their priorities are.
Have a 'decoration key' that adds accents (etc) to undecorated symbols.
I've done this for Windows and Javascript with a really sweet UI
See http://vulpeculox.net/ax
This is a practically no-learn UI because the same key is used for everything. Want to turn '2' into 'squared' or 'P' into 'pawn' (for chess addicts) or do your French homework using a single key? Then have a look.
And the problem is I don't know how to make it more universal. Mac? Linux? Smartphones? I've no idea, but the feedback on the UI has been 100% so why not have a look and see if you can implement the really simple algorithm?
Whatever the exercise there must be something to physically take away, and perhaps titivate later.
'Draw a graph' might start with rows of stars bashed out on a teletype... which then needs !'s for the horizontal scale and +'s for the vertical scale... and then the scales may need to be scale to fit the data. Of course by now you're drawing symbols on a pixel map then converting it to a matrix printer. Then instead of a fixed X axis you move to X-Y (or scatter) on a virtual drawing surface that gets expressed on a laser printer.
(I put the teletype in there for fun, but there are plenty of tech limitations around today.)
I'm a bit worried about the 'go and research it' bit. I'm all for 'use the internet to help crack specific problems, steal code etc.' but it's your job to be right with them while they're trying to get their ideas together and then to work. When they're floundering you've got to show them the way so they can move on.
(1) Kindles and (much better) e-books don't do that. You might as well have asked for a flying pogo-stick.
(2) You may be confusing pop-up with box-out or even foot-note. If you want the 'less accomplished' to keep up then you can't do it with pop-ups[1] Instead write two books.
(3) An e-book reader is not a multi-media volcano of goodness. The opposite: A constrained text reader with occasional images and no character.
[Footnote 1] Note that a box-out remains in clear view forever. A pop-up vanishes after first use, so after being shown it isn't there for re-reference. A footnote a diversion for someone with a particular interest.
I wrote this paper nine years ago. Go to http://vulpeculox.net/ob/index... and follow the link to The future of collaborative software development
One of the key ideas is that a theatre company has all sorts of skills unrelated to acting or play-writing. A collaborative software project should be half a dozen people at a minimum. Once the group has 'done' one project it'll soon find something else to work on, whether extending the objectives, enhancing the deliverable or something completely different.
I have a dozen FOSS contributions on my web site but I just don't want to get into the hassle of Git or licensing or selling or even promotion. I'm an inventor not a financier or sales executive!
My sister's new Acer laptop came with a slew of bloatware. I want a program that will remove it all with a couple of clicks rather than lengthy add-remove-programs-reboot etc.
If the Govt. encouraged drone-flying then it would have a cadre of skilled operators who took their hobby seriously enough to want to see it well regulated and free from idiots. That way a basically unenforceable law costing millions to police would be mostly self-policed by people with decent civic values... As well as cutting edge skills and technology. Hey what's that you say Sooty? 'Nerds being sociable?' Yes, why not.
In the UK plane spotters were once seen as some sort of terror threat but then it was realised that the anoraks would be the best people to spot an unusual sort of person.
At the start of WW2 many 'radio hams' were available to become the core of rapidly expanding signals sections.
By all means have an unlicensed backyard toy category of no registration (though everyday laws of privacy, harassment etc still apply) (a bit like flying a kite.) and a 'big-boys' category but make it something people want to achieve, belong to, participate in, rather than endless form-filling and wallet opening.
The current UI can't be a disaster because new customers would be few and far between, which isn't what you're reporting. So the current UI might be 'old fashioned' but just the WISIWYG interface that appeals to customers who have to train staff to 'go through the steps' not 'guess what button to press'.
Especially when people do a repetitive job they don't need icons or 'are you sure' or touch-screen-goodness. They need Ctrl-A, Q then T to get them to the bit they want. Horribly 1980s, but it works a treat and doesn't need a single second reaching for a mouse.
If news leaks out before the event there will be Panic Buying which will turn a few hours of physical disruption with say a 10% overall infrastructure failures for a few days, into a maelstrom of stockpile madness. How will the repair trucks get their fuel when it's all been bought by consumers?
The telecoms used by telecoms repairers to order parts etc is a 'how does the snowplough driver get to work' problem.
Without the 'cyber' we have a 15-yo walks in through the front door of a major corporation, whistles a merry tune as he steps into 'PROTECTED AREA' where the customer records are floating about like confetti and walks out. No. Once upon a time the UK justice system had competent state-funded lawyers to protect lads like this. Talk Talk still got shafted. Even if the wrong-un is convicted they were still shafted.
The number one problem is at the input interface: People will only use it if it's useful or there is someone standing over them with a cosh. So how do you do that? By finding applications they find useful for their knowledge or sharing knowledge. Progress report, interface specs, requests for changes or whatever the knowledge generators want. So it's a management problem.
Say to management, "I have this as a solution, I think it's the most flexible, can we give it a try? Look! I've piloted it on my latest project and see what it can do... Think how useful if..." When management champions it there is some chance of it working. Until then paddle your own canoe and offer to show people how clever you are.
It's a good overall question, but exactly the same issues apply to 'Enterprise'(whatever that is) and novelists trying to keep track of places, people, timelines, todos, feedback etc. Until you've really put any solution (I've tried all sorts over 35 years and keep coming back to a book of notes or a master notes document.) to the test by actual use you won't understand the practicalities. The human brain is a pretty good filter if you can do basic organisation and remember to make notes/put things in the right place.
If you have a valuable commodity then somebody will voluntarily support it. Wikipedia for example. Or you might find people want to buy what you have on offer. When I see people without ad-blockers I'm amazed at their crap experience, but they don't seem to know any better. If you want to see model this in print then buy Private Eye. Excellent Journalism worth paying for and ads at front and back which I skip over because I've got no money to spend, but presumably some people do because a lot are repeats.
It works. It isn't sexy. Who cares? You can write awful programs... Unlike any other language of course It evolves slowly. To paraphrase Tolstoy: "Happy programmers are all alike; every language is unhappy in its own way." Most of us never come across edge-cases and PHP is still getting regularly fixed. But also the tectonic shifts are happening at tectonic speed as they should. So to my mind the repairs and resdesigns are suitably separated and yet both going on.. PHP is here to stay for the next 40 years. Personally I try to nibble with node as it's a completely different mindset, tool chain and opportunity but PHP is a workhorse. We should be pleased to see v7 is emerging. None of us is going to bet on V 7.0.0 but by 7.1 or 7.2 we'll have jumped at our own comfortable pace.
What riches, silk, gold, rubies.. fluff, zinc, gravel await the instant 'upgrader'?
Why do wankers like you pollute tech forums. Fuck-off now.