Is Adobe open sourcing the standard PDF fonts (Helvetica, Times, etc.)? Font embedding is possible in PDF, but produces larger files and is a PAIN to code.
Disclaimer: I know shit about driver writing and kernels in general.
Couldn't someone develop signed wrappers, if the interfaces are stable enough? Just install the wrappers and configure them to forward calls to DLL x or y?
If they didn't fix any bugs, it would be magic, not software:-) I have never rolled out a piece of software that didn't have any bugs. Sometimes it takes a long time to find out, but they're there for sure.
I only have knowledge on Javas's JDBC API, which allows it both ways. The interesting thing is that it's generally easier to use bind parameters than to build sql by hand, but I still see some people that do it. Not that many people code to JDBC these days, it's considered very low level in Javaland. We like levels and levels of frameworks above our JVM, which is already levels and levels above the SO, which is... you get the picture.
I guess that was not supposed to be modded as Funny... The voting machines work really fine and counting is extremely fast.
Deployment was incremental though. They started with small pilot deployments, then deployed in the largest cities, then finally to all the country. The hard part is not the machines themselves, but the "business process" around them - like any other deployment. There are contingency plans that include extra machines for replacement and traditional paper ballots if all else fails. This is probably easier to handle in Brazil because things are more centralized than in US, so the process is standard across the country.
These are just opinions. Whatever methodology they use, they can go on forever and never come to a conclusion. I have many friends from History and Linguistics and it's amazing how easy they can change opinions into "facts".
I really think the problem is on screen readers/browser interface. Can't they monitor DOM changes and read the new content, or signal that some part of the page changed and prompt the user if it should be read? I believe that there's enough technology to do that already. If there isn't, it should be built. Javascript and DHTML can be made accessible if screen readers learn how to handle them. I just don't think it's fair to non-disabled users that javascript/DHTML should not be used because screen readers can't read them.
I went through most of college without buying any textbooks. Professors used the same textbooks for a while (there haven't been any major news on basic calculus, physics and algebra, for instane). Our library had many copies of the most used textbooks, and we could loan them for long periods.
For some books, we used a wonderful device called "xerox copier":-) And the xerox guys on campus even collected copyright fees...
Anyway, that's my particular experience on a fairly good Brazilian public university. I'm not sure how it works on other schools, here or elsewhere.
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Is Adobe open sourcing the standard PDF fonts (Helvetica, Times, etc.)? Font embedding is possible in PDF, but produces larger files and is a PAIN to code.
Disclaimer: I know shit about driver writing and kernels in general.
Couldn't someone develop signed wrappers, if the interfaces are stable enough? Just install the wrappers and configure them to forward calls to DLL x or y?
If they didn't fix any bugs, it would be magic, not software :-) I have never rolled out a piece of software that didn't have any bugs. Sometimes it takes a long time to find out, but they're there for sure.
I only have knowledge on Javas's JDBC API, which allows it both ways. The interesting thing is that it's generally easier to use bind parameters than to build sql by hand, but I still see some people that do it. Not that many people code to JDBC these days, it's considered very low level in Javaland. We like levels and levels of frameworks above our JVM, which is already levels and levels above the SO, which is... you get the picture.
I guess that was not supposed to be modded as Funny... The voting machines work really fine and counting is extremely fast.
Deployment was incremental though. They started with small pilot deployments, then deployed in the largest cities, then finally to all the country. The hard part is not the machines themselves, but the "business process" around them - like any other deployment. There are contingency plans that include extra machines for replacement and traditional paper ballots if all else fails. This is probably easier to handle in Brazil because things are more centralized than in US, so the process is standard across the country.
These are just opinions. Whatever methodology they use, they can go on forever and never come to a conclusion. I have many friends from History and Linguistics and it's amazing how easy they can change opinions into "facts".
I really think the problem is on screen readers/browser interface. Can't they monitor DOM changes and read the new content, or signal that some part of the page changed and prompt the user if it should be read? I believe that there's enough technology to do that already. If there isn't, it should be built. Javascript and DHTML can be made accessible if screen readers learn how to handle them. I just don't think it's fair to non-disabled users that javascript/DHTML should not be used because screen readers can't read them.
I went through most of college without buying any textbooks. Professors used the same textbooks for a while (there haven't been any major news on basic calculus, physics and algebra, for instane). Our library had many copies of the most used textbooks, and we could loan them for long periods.
:-) And the xerox guys on campus even collected copyright fees...
For some books, we used a wonderful device called "xerox copier"
Anyway, that's my particular experience on a fairly good Brazilian public university. I'm not sure how it works on other schools, here or elsewhere.