|
This book tells the story of how Cristobal Viedma and I created the platform that powers Viki: a video site focused on international content and community-driven subtitle translations. Our push to production proved to be an enlightening experience. I constantly found myself looking forward to the day's challenges while reflecting on the experiences and lessons I've accumulated in an otherwise unremarkable career. It was a strange but pleasant mix. A journey, I hope, which you'll find worth reading about. It was to be a rewrite. It had to be fast.... With a great deal of enthusiasm, we started to code.
|
|
|
|
|
My main concerns with flat UI - are that while it is gorgeous, its not familiar. We live in a world of multiple dimensions - and we get visual cues from those dimensions. Even a newspaper or magazine may have a flat UI for content - but have 3D UI for navigating between pages. I think that flat UI in it's current growth is mostly being mis-used, and overused. Designers must give more consideration to function over style. Just because something looks good, doesn't mean its easy to use, or useable at all.
|
|
|
|
|
Who says it looks good?
|
|
|
|
|
Making a game for a C64 and on PC is super simple and tons of fun! But Making a game on a real C64 is something else! One false move and BAH! your game is gone! There are no drives inside C64, everything that you are working on will die once you flip the power button. Moreover, there is no memory protection, so you can accidentally wipe out your code while it’s executing... Let's go to the tape... cassette tape.
|
|
|
|
|
Oh me goodness... I can actually understand this stuff... shoot me, I'm old
(yes|no|maybe)*
|
|
|
|
|
The idea is compelling, but it also grossly simplifies the flow of data inside the internet of things. For example, it assumes all sensor data must be processed in “real time.” It also assumes all the data must be processed. Both of these are untrue, especially in the early days of the internet of things. But IBM is looking ahead.... It’s the same exaflood of data that telephone companies were so fearful of a decade ago. And like the telephone companies, IBM is hoping to cash in on these fears — with its box. An Arduino can do this, but no one was ever fired for buying IBM.
|
|
|
|
|
Kids these days! Why, back when I was a kid we had to use, you know, our imaginations when playing with toys. Now, thanks to robotics, toys can spring to life and react intelligently to a child's input. The latest example of that is IXI-Play, an owl-like robot that can dance, make sounds, and interact with children.... So what's inside the IXI-Play, and what can it do? Based on the Android operating system, the IXI-Play will use a variety of apps to interact and play games. ...and, of course, it can be hacked. I can't wait.
|
|
|
|
|
The WorldWideWeb (W3) is a wide-area hypermedia information retrieval initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents. Everything there is online about W3 is linked directly or indirectly to this document, including an executive summary of the project, Mailing lists , Policy , November's W3 news , Frequently Asked Questions.... The first page on the web is back online.
|
|
|
|
|
Software as a service (SaaS) is one of the great innovations of Web 2.0. SaaS enables flexibility and customized solutions. It reduces costs — the cost of entry, the cost of overhead, and as a result, the cost of experimentation. In doing so, it’s been instrumental in spurring innovation. So, what if you were to apply the principles of SaaS to science? Perhaps we can facilitate scientific progress by streamlining the process. Science as a service (SciAAS?) will enable researchers to save time and money without compromising quality. Making specialized resources and institutional expertise available for hire gives researchers more flexibility. Core facilities that own equipment can rent it out during down time, helping to reduce their own costs. People worry about Facebook stealing photos, but research in the cloud is just fine?
|
|
|
|
|
BlackBerry (BBRY) Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said he sees a limited future for tablet computers, an indication he may shelve plans to build a follow- up to the smartphone maker’s ill-fated PlayBook device. “In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.” When all you've got is a PlayBook, everything looks like a, um...
|
|
|
|
|
So what’s the risk of a device connecting to the Pineapple (or any similar equipment – it’s not the only one) without knowing it? It means that every single byte of data that passes through that connection and is not encrypted can be read or changed by an attacker. Passwords, personal information, photos, videos and anything else not properly protected by the website can be intercepted. Links to secure login pages, documents, emails and even banking websites can be manipulated when that protection doesn’t exist. More Wifi Pineapple tricks... that could cause you a lot of trouble.
|
|
|
|
|
My job was to write the software in 6502 assembly. Unfortunately, there wasn't an assembler and the KIM-1 just had a hex keypad and small display. So, it meant writing the code by hand, hand assembling and typing it in. The code looked like this... Running code in your head is perhaps the most crucial of all skills for a software developer.
|
|
|
|
|
In 1985 I was learning Pascal on a PDP-11.
|
|
|
|
|
He should of course have been using a proper microprocessor, i.e. a Z80.
I was writing windowed graphics software in an advanced form of BASIC with a specialist keyboard that allowed coding faster than I've seen achieved since in 1985
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage."
Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
|
|
|
|
|
Sire, I think you should read the blog.
Reality is an illusion caused by a lack of alcohol
|
|
|
|
|
It's odd that he'd still be using a Kim-1 in '85, they were around in the mid-70s and he probably could have worked faster if he'd used an Apple II or any of the early 80s micros.
In '85 I was using a 6502 assembler but I wasn't forced to convert opcodes into hex. Although I do still remember some of them like A9 is LDA# immediate (literal value), 8d is STA absolute addr
By far the biggest kick I got out of it was exploiting the 6502 bugs.
Ahh.. happy days.
"It's true that hard work never killed anyone. But I figure, why take the chance." - Ronald Reagan
That's what machines are for.
Got a problem?
Sleep on it.
|
|
|
|
|
I remember those simpler times well.
|
|
|
|
|
This page is a collection of obscure C++ features, gathered over the years as I've explored different corners of the language. C++ is very big and I'm always learning more about it. Hopefully you'll learn something from this page even if you already know C++ pretty well. The features below are roughly ordered from least to most obscure. Are these really that obscure? What else should be on this list?
|
|
|
|
|
In the last few years, we see the advent of highly distributed systems. Systems that have clusters with lots of servers are no longer the sole realm of the googles’ and facebooks’ of the world and we begin to see multi-node and big data systems in enterprises.... So now that large(r) clusters are more prevalent, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the fallacies of distributed computing and how/if they are relevant; should they be changed. Mo' instances, mo' problems.
|
|
|
|
|
There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren’t able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time – and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers when it comes to recent software platforms. It's worth noting that, in this study, 37 is old. Get off my lawn.
|
|
|
|
|
When we released our very first game, Game Dev Tycoon yesterday, we did something unusual and as far as I know unique. We released a cracked version of the game ourselves, minutes after opening our Store.... The cracked version is nearly identical to the real thing except for one detail... Slowly their in-game funds dwindle, and new games they create have a high chance to be pirated until their virtual game development company goes bankrupt. Predictably, they complain.
|
|
|
|
|
It'll be less pirated; it'll be not played as much as would be, which will have an impact on sales. The net result will be less profit.
So far my prediction. Now we'll have to wait for the results
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
|
|
|
|
|
Considering the extensive media coverage the game gets bacause of this I expect the sales to skyrocket.
Otherwise you do raise some valid points, but that's really a grey area there...
|
|
|
|
|
szukuro wrote: Considering the extensive media coverage the game gets bacause of this I expect the sales to skyrocket. Media coverage never made me play a game.
It'll take a while before we get an answer though
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
|
|
|
|
|
won't the results be skewed now that a "PROPER" crack has been released?
(looking at the legit players vs pirates chart on the blog page)
how will they distinguish legit players, players that downloaded the "rigged" version and pirates that downloaded the cracked "legit" version?
|
|
|
|