How does this work in Hotels, Motels, B&Bs? The ones that offer internet access. Or are we going to find that visiting NZ means going offline for the trip? I've been to NZ, so I know that internet access at such locations is patchy at best, but it could get a lot worse.
Cloud isn't really cheap. It only gets competitive with rolling your own if your problems are very CPU bound (high Ahmdahl number). If you're I/O and storage intensive, Clound services are actually very expensive.
I actually think that IBM does have vision, and made the right move. The thing about IBM is that it does keep reinventing itself, and the PC was just a stage in its evolution.
This is not a technical or legal question. It is a question about relationships. I'll take a stab, but, seriously, it does not belong on Slashdot. It belongs on some advice column.
I thought Slashdot was an advice column. It certainly isn't one to ask legal advice. You might get a technical question answered here...
You're doing something nobody has done before, inventing it as you go, and people expect you to know in advance how much it's going to cost. There are always unforeseen things that crop up.
And then there is the whole complexity of getting it funded in the first place. And the smoke and mirrors that come with that. The most fun we had was getting funding for the hardware but not the software. The project is one year over schedule, the hardware is done, but the software...
Apple does not have a release schedule. At least not one they communicate and hold themselves rigorously to. That's why sites like Macrumors basically exist by virtue of speculation about when the next product update will happen. I also don't see a high release/patch frequency from Apple. If anything you could say they're slow with some things, especially if it needs to react to unplanned events like the DigiNotar issue.
I see two problems with that, both at the core of Linux. - Closed source driver support. - The Unix/X11 (and thus Linux) kernel model doesn't allow for a high enough level hardware abstraction. So the desktop environments and applications have to do a lot that should be in the core OS.
DigiNotar didn't tell anyone, when they found out. Given that the CA system is built on trust, it means they have lost everyone's trust.
Next to that, they don't seem to have a good audit trail, so can't tell what is and isn't affected.
Everyone knows computer security can't be 100%. The central issue is trust. DigiNotar is no longer trusted, Comodo is because of the different way they handled things when a breach occurred.
I agree. I have seen the coding style that lkcl touts the virtues of, but it only works for a few people. It requires a certain kind of person. These can then often produce great code. But I can't work like that and I don't know many who can.
I've seen C++ projects that exactly fit the description ultranova is making. I don't think it's unique to C++, but C++ does tend to encourage it more. Sometimes it has taken me more than a day to understand a single like of code. Not a method or a class, but just one line. This was that line: outptr[0]=0.0; This was one of my first encounters with this 2M+ lines library, where before I had only worked on projects of a few 100k lines. This project has given me both a feeling of awe at the beauty of some of the code, and at the same time a fear of ever changing it. It's like Lady Galadriel, beautiful and menacing at the same time.
It often goes hand in hand with a core of brilliant programmers who are responsible for most of the code, but who are so ingrained into the software that they either don't see why it's not easy to understand for the newbie, or have taken a defensive posture, afraid that the meddling newbie will foul their masterpiece and oblivious to it's flaws.
By the way: I consider the above line a bug, but according to those who maintain the library it's a Feature, because it's been in there for nearly 20 years. (The project is almost as old as C++ itself).
I think in the specific case of the USPS they are barred by Congress to enter a lot of markets. Just like they're not allowed to raise their prices by more than inflation. It means their hands are tied.
I don't want to buy a crappy one and I'm not willing to spend 500.
I see the iPad mostly as a media consumption device. I like to read my books in paper, and watch my movies at home. I don't have a lot of "on the go" time. For listening to music and mobile internet usage the iPhone is fine and I don't go to meetings all day, so I don't fall into the niche for which the iPad is meant.
I think touch typing is an important skill for those jobs where words/minute matters. But I think that in the world today, 95% of what people do with a computer is limited by how fast they can think, not how fast they can type. it's nice if you can type without having to look at the keyboard, but beyond that, in today's world speed is not a requirement.
Especially the case where there is a (hand)written text that needs to be copied is becoming very rare, which according to the article was the reason that touch typing was invented. Today most information goes from mind to keyboard, and is then copied electronically from then on. Rarely does a written text have to be re-typed. Of course there are some exceptions and some other cases where words/minute is still relevant.
Never mind crap like "Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country... yet"
That's exactly my problem. I would like paying for these things. But nothing is willing to sell it in my country. No iTunes Moves/Series, no Netflix, no Hulu, no Amazon.com movies, Google TV or anything. And I'm not living in some backwater. My country (The Netherlands) has the highest average broadband speed in Europe and 4th highest worldwide.*
I think the Dutch equivalent of the MAFIAA has something to do with it (BREIN and BUMA/STEMRA). I hope the European Commisioner or Digital Agenda Nelie Kroes will enforce that media needs to be available to all the countries in the common market under the same conditions.
I have seen several types of IT people in my experience. - At my first job the oldest guy was almost 50. But he hadn't learned anything new in the last 25 years, and was still operating like it was 1985. This guy would have a problem finding another job. - At my current job I have a colleague who's 68, near retirement, but just learned Python. He's an expert in certain fields, and keeps up-to-date on programming techniques. I highly respect him, and would rather work with him than the almost 50 year old from my first job. - Another guy of about 50 has basically moved out of programming and now is system admin as he couldn't keep up. - Another guy of about 60 is very skilled in C++ and moderately in Java and Python. His code is of very high quality, even baffles big name vendors (we do cooperate with some). - Some also have the skills to move to management positions, but not every programmer has the mindset for that.
So overall it's a mixed bag, but I find that those who are willing to keep learning and stay on top of their game, are valued employees. This is a two way process, the employer should also invest in their employees. But then an older programmer can be a vary valuable asset, given their experience. Especially because as long as you avoid RSI problems, they can stay highly productive well past the age of 70. (yes we have a officially retired guy here who still contributes).
Sure there are still a few places where they value a C, FORTRAN or COBOL programmer, but in most places it's C++, C# or Java, with some PHP, SQL and Python mixed in. If you keep updating your skill set, I think you can find employment even as an older programmer. Isaac Asimov told me to never stop learning new things. I think he was right.
The nice thing was that the first student to finish the exercises would get to use some kind of plotting device that would draw using the LOGO commands. It was pretty cool for the 10-11 year olds we were.
That backup shuttle launch you're talking about already flew. It was STS-135 Atlantis. Originally STS-134 was to be the last shuttle launch, with Atlantis as backup rescue vehicle. In the end they found the money to launch Atlantis (it was nearly ready to launch, otherwise it couldn't have been the backup). The problem was that it didn't have a backup, which they solved by flying a smaller crew, so they could be evacuated by soyuz if needed. As far as I know, it used the very last external fuel tank and also the very last of some other stuff. There are no spare parts anymore and production facilities have been dismantled.
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How does this work in Hotels, Motels, B&Bs? The ones that offer internet access. Or are we going to find that visiting NZ means going offline for the trip?
I've been to NZ, so I know that internet access at such locations is patchy at best, but it could get a lot worse.
But going where? What can it reach and what can it do there?
Cloud isn't really cheap. It only gets competitive with rolling your own if your problems are very CPU bound (high Ahmdahl number). If you're I/O and storage intensive, Clound services are actually very expensive.
I don't have much to add. I think this is sound advice and about what I was to write.
I actually think that IBM does have vision, and made the right move. The thing about IBM is that it does keep reinventing itself, and the PC was just a stage in its evolution.
HP now tries to mimic that, but it has no clue.
Then they'll try to rip out all of the best features of the phone, leaving them network-branded devices, with most of the uniqueness gone.
It's one of the reasons I bought an iPhone: No network-branded crap.
(I don't live in the US, but they do that here too if they can).
lol wut?
It could have been worse. The article could have been from APR 1, 2009.
This is not a technical or legal question. It is a question about relationships. I'll take a stab, but, seriously, it does not belong on Slashdot. It belongs on some advice column.
I thought Slashdot was an advice column. It certainly isn't one to ask legal advice. You might get a technical question answered here...
You're doing something nobody has done before, inventing it as you go, and people expect you to know in advance how much it's going to cost. There are always unforeseen things that crop up.
And then there is the whole complexity of getting it funded in the first place. And the smoke and mirrors that come with that. The most fun we had was getting funding for the hardware but not the software. The project is one year over schedule, the hardware is done, but the software...
Apple does not have a release schedule. At least not one they communicate and hold themselves rigorously to. That's why sites like Macrumors basically exist by virtue of speculation about when the next product update will happen.
I also don't see a high release/patch frequency from Apple. If anything you could say they're slow with some things, especially if it needs to react to unplanned events like the DigiNotar issue.
So I don't understand yout "Apple Too" comment.
I see two problems with that, both at the core of Linux.
- Closed source driver support.
- The Unix/X11 (and thus Linux) kernel model doesn't allow for a high enough level hardware abstraction. So the desktop environments and applications have to do a lot that should be in the core OS.
DigiNotar didn't tell anyone, when they found out. Given that the CA system is built on trust, it means they have lost everyone's trust.
Next to that, they don't seem to have a good audit trail, so can't tell what is and isn't affected.
Everyone knows computer security can't be 100%. The central issue is trust. DigiNotar is no longer trusted, Comodo is because of the different way they handled things when a breach occurred.
I agree. I have seen the coding style that lkcl touts the virtues of, but it only works for a few people. It requires a certain kind of person. These can then often produce great code. But I can't work like that and I don't know many who can.
I've seen C++ projects that exactly fit the description ultranova is making. I don't think it's unique to C++, but C++ does tend to encourage it more. Sometimes it has taken me more than a day to understand a single like of code. Not a method or a class, but just one line. This was that line: outptr[0]=0.0;
This was one of my first encounters with this 2M+ lines library, where before I had only worked on projects of a few 100k lines. This project has given me both a feeling of awe at the beauty of some of the code, and at the same time a fear of ever changing it. It's like Lady Galadriel, beautiful and menacing at the same time.
It often goes hand in hand with a core of brilliant programmers who are responsible for most of the code, but who are so ingrained into the software that they either don't see why it's not easy to understand for the newbie, or have taken a defensive posture, afraid that the meddling newbie will foul their masterpiece and oblivious to it's flaws.
By the way: I consider the above line a bug, but according to those who maintain the library it's a Feature, because it's been in there for nearly 20 years. (The project is almost as old as C++ itself).
I wish that were true, I know some in their early twenties. :-(
I think in the specific case of the USPS they are barred by Congress to enter a lot of markets. Just like they're not allowed to raise their prices by more than inflation.
It means their hands are tied.
So I don't buy a tablet.
I don't want to buy a crappy one and I'm not willing to spend 500.
I see the iPad mostly as a media consumption device. I like to read my books in paper, and watch my movies at home. I don't have a lot of "on the go" time. For listening to music and mobile internet usage the iPhone is fine and I don't go to meetings all day, so I don't fall into the niche for which the iPad is meant.
I think touch typing is an important skill for those jobs where words/minute matters. But I think that in the world today, 95% of what people do with a computer is limited by how fast they can think, not how fast they can type. it's nice if you can type without having to look at the keyboard, but beyond that, in today's world speed is not a requirement.
Especially the case where there is a (hand)written text that needs to be copied is becoming very rare, which according to the article was the reason that touch typing was invented. Today most information goes from mind to keyboard, and is then copied electronically from then on. Rarely does a written text have to be re-typed. Of course there are some exceptions and some other cases where words/minute is still relevant.
Never mind crap like "Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country... yet"
That's exactly my problem. I would like paying for these things. But nothing is willing to sell it in my country. No iTunes Moves/Series, no Netflix, no Hulu, no Amazon.com movies, Google TV or anything. And I'm not living in some backwater. My country (The Netherlands) has the highest average broadband speed in Europe and 4th highest worldwide.*
I think the Dutch equivalent of the MAFIAA has something to do with it (BREIN and BUMA/STEMRA). I hope the European Commisioner or Digital Agenda Nelie Kroes will enforce that media needs to be available to all the countries in the common market under the same conditions.
*) http://gigaom.com/broadband/state-of-the-internet-what-are-the-fastest-cities-in-the-world/
I have seen several types of IT people in my experience.
- At my first job the oldest guy was almost 50. But he hadn't learned anything new in the last 25 years, and was still operating like it was 1985. This guy would have a problem finding another job.
- At my current job I have a colleague who's 68, near retirement, but just learned Python. He's an expert in certain fields, and keeps up-to-date on programming techniques. I highly respect him, and would rather work with him than the almost 50 year old from my first job.
- Another guy of about 50 has basically moved out of programming and now is system admin as he couldn't keep up.
- Another guy of about 60 is very skilled in C++ and moderately in Java and Python. His code is of very high quality, even baffles big name vendors (we do cooperate with some).
- Some also have the skills to move to management positions, but not every programmer has the mindset for that.
So overall it's a mixed bag, but I find that those who are willing to keep learning and stay on top of their game, are valued employees. This is a two way process, the employer should also invest in their employees. But then an older programmer can be a vary valuable asset, given their experience. Especially because as long as you avoid RSI problems, they can stay highly productive well past the age of 70. (yes we have a officially retired guy here who still contributes).
Sure there are still a few places where they value a C, FORTRAN or COBOL programmer, but in most places it's C++, C# or Java, with some PHP, SQL and Python mixed in. If you keep updating your skill set, I think you can find employment even as an older programmer. Isaac Asimov told me to never stop learning new things. I think he was right.
Yeah, I started on LOGO as well.
The nice thing was that the first student to finish the exercises would get to use some kind of plotting device that would draw using the LOGO commands. It was pretty cool for the 10-11 year olds we were.
Just looking at the Apple Lisa article on Wikipedia, I find plenty examples of rounded corners in both the GUI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_Lisa_Office_System_3.1.png
And the design of the machine itself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_Lisa.jpg
Not any more.
That backup shuttle launch you're talking about already flew. It was STS-135 Atlantis. Originally STS-134 was to be the last shuttle launch, with Atlantis as backup rescue vehicle. In the end they found the money to launch Atlantis (it was nearly ready to launch, otherwise it couldn't have been the backup). The problem was that it didn't have a backup, which they solved by flying a smaller crew, so they could be evacuated by soyuz if needed.
As far as I know, it used the very last external fuel tank and also the very last of some other stuff. There are no spare parts anymore and production facilities have been dismantled.
We already have few women in tech, but on a list like this it's even harder for them to rank.