|
Scientists face many obstacles on the path to greater knowledge. But new research suggests how to avoid one of the more common pitfalls: spilled coffee. Don't cry
|
|
|
|
|
Facebook will be valued between $60 billion and $75 billion, rather than the $100 billion that had been widely rumored. [ITworld]
|
|
|
|
|
What's that work out to? 10^4 x forward earnings?
"People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them." Eric Hoffer
"The failure mode of 'clever' is 'a**hole'" John Scalzi
"Only buzzards feed on their friends" Patrick Dorinson
|
|
|
|
|
Take a minute to contemplate that word "assembled." Those Chinese factory workers aren't making Apple products from scratch; they're putting them together from pre-existing components -- components that weren't built in the same factory, or even in the same country. Curious about how the family tree of a typically complex piece of computer equipment, I decided to try to track down the origins of the major components in that computer -- a mid-2010 13" MacBook Pro model. Where did it come from before it got to me? How many parents did it have? The journey travels over much of Asia, of course, but there are also components that come from right here in the U.S.A. [ITworld]
|
|
|
|
|
Yahoo is trying its best to brush off the controversy over CEO Scott Thompson's biography, which credits him with earning a B.S. in computer science from Stonehill College. He didn't. [ITworld]
|
|
|
|
|
Who cares if the CEO has an accounting degree instead of a CS Degree? Is he supposed to write code? Is he supposed to design the site? Or is he supposed to run the company? He did pretty well running Paypal, and actually seemed to have some ideas on how to restore some value to Yahoo. Too bad some shareholder that wants his man in as CEO had to make a big deal of this . That shareholder has probably screwed Yahoo for good, and shot himself in the foot in the process. I'm glad I own no Yahoo stock, as they seem to be the victims of one stupid shareholder block after another.
"People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them." Eric Hoffer
"The failure mode of 'clever' is 'a**hole'" John Scalzi
"Only buzzards feed on their friends" Patrick Dorinson
|
|
|
|
|
Lately I’ve been asked by more and more people inside Microsoft to help them really learn to do TDD. Sure, they’ve read the books, and probably some blog posts and articles, but they are struggling to figure it out. But with so many people talking about how good it is they are frustrated that when they try to apply it at work, in their day job, it just doesn’t seem to work out. Do a TDD kata every morning and call me in two weeks.
|
|
|
|
|
"Kata - The only way to learn TDD"
Is it? Is it really?
|
|
|
|
|
PIEBALDconsult wrote: Is it? Is it really?
Er, that would be an emphatic NO!!!
Pretentious git. Him, not you.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
|
|
|
|
|
TDD is mostly obsolete, but the original version used 5-bit Baudot code.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E.
Comport Computing
Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good one![^]
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E.
Comport Computing
Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
|
|
|
|
|
Visual Studio Express was never meant to be a free product. When the first version was released in 2005, the Express edition was intended to be an entry level product that cost approximately 100 USD. In order to build up a customer base for the product, and to promote .NET in general, Microsoft said that anyone registering the product within the first year would get it for free. I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a Visual Studio today.
|
|
|
|
|
That sounds about right; when I bought Visual C# Standard in 2003 it was about 100 USD.
On the other hand, why would you register it?
|
|
|
|
|
It would be a big mistake to charge for VSEE - it gets people using it, and used to it. So when they want to develop in a company, which IDE do they demand? VS Pro, or TE, or Ultimate.
Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water
|
|
|
|
|
How do computers actually work? We write code, but how do our inputs become outputs? As you know, there are a number of layers between the code that we write and the electrical impulses that race through our hardware. If we stick to the software end of things though, we're actually pretty close to the lowest levels. What I'm talking about, of course, is assembly. Assembly can quickly get complicated, but there's no reason we can't look at some basics.
|
|
|
|
|
Great, AT&T syntax. No wonder no one gets assembly when [foo + eax*4] looks like foo(%eax,4) .
|
|
|
|
|
Now that you're all hyped up about using node.js, it's time to convince your boss. Well, maybe. I have had the pleasure of consulting for different businesses on whether node.js is the right technology, and sometimes the answer is simply no. So this guide is my opinionated collection of advice for those of you that want to explore whether node.js makes sense for their business, and if so, how to convince the management. The good uses cases, the bad use cases, and the ugly reality of selling it to The Man.
|
|
|
|
|
|
There's an increasing variety of devices in use today. Even generally rectangular touch enabled devices vary hugely in their physical sizes, aspect ratios, pixel densities, etc. One thing that remains constant across these devices are their users. As a result, ergonomic considerations like touch target sizing, readable text and image size remain constant. Fingers will be fingers and eyes will be eyes! Our bodies are firmly rooted in the physical world, and the interfaces we create should reflect that. Touch too much (or too little?)
|
|
|
|
|
Back in the late 1970s you wouldn't have guessed that this shy young Cambridge maths student named Wilson would be the seed for what has now become the hottest-selling microprocessor in the world. Ninety-five per cent of today's smartphones are built around an ARM processor. The ARM began with Wilson. From Acorn grew a mighty ARM.
|
|
|
|
|
I've been blogging for almost a decade now (wow) and had used many blogging tools. Until that is WLW came out. Since I moved to WLW, I've never looked back. It just works. So you can see why I'm interested in hearing about its future, am an concern that nothing at all is being said about it. Please. Any idea, direction, indication, would be great. Please, let Windows Live Writer live and write its own future...
|
|
|
|
|
There is no smartphone war. iPhone won. As I've written many times, the war now is between Apple and Samsung. Here's where the battle will be fought and won. Android has clearly thrown Google off its game and left others to command the field.
|
|
|
|
|
Of course Android's dead. Oh wait, no it isn't as we now have Ubuntu for Android[^] and a good thing too.
|
|
|
|
|
I would say so too - if I had invested all the money in Apple devices.
Luckily I haven't...
|
|
|
|