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Why are we so woefully poor at estimating software projects? "Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so."
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The funny thing is that it is only really in IT that non-experts feel they can have any say in the estimation.
I recently had a dry stone wall rebuilt - the expert said it would take a week and it took a week. I didn't say to him "A week - really? it looks like a couple of days max. How long would it take if I get three 18 month old children to lend you a hand?"
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You did not change the specs during that week? That's not very agile, is it?
Estimations are easy when the basic building blocks are known. If there is an unknown you're not estimating but merely speculating. If your worker had to start without you knowing whether or not the foundation could hold the wall, how trustworthy would the estimate be?
We're good at estimating - we're just not allowed to be realistic.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: Estimations are easy when the basic building blocks are known.
Bingo. 
/ravi
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The bad news: There's not a lot you can do about it now. It's the responsibility of Internet companies to update their servers to deal with Heartbleed, and once they do, you can take action (see below). Do you have protection?
Updated April 10: After a couple of reports that Mashable page was infected with malware, we've updated the URL from the news item with one from another site. Apologies to everyone (it wasn't triggered by my antivirus, so I'm hoping it's just 'luck of the draw' with their advertisements).
modified 10-Apr-14 17:11pm.
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The genetic similarities between certain human populations and Neanderthals are striking. Indeed, many researchers think the Europeans and Asians inherited between 1 and 4 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals, yet scientists have struggled to demonstrate with a high degree of certainty that these genetic similarities are the result of interbreeding between these two species. I think that explains a few people at the last team meeting
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In other news, the sky is blue! 
.-.
|o,o|
,| _\=/_ .-""-.
||/_/_\_\ /[] _ _\
|_/|(_)|\\ _|_o_LII|_
\._. |\_/|"` |_| ==== |_|
|_|_| ||" || ||
|-|-| ||LI o ||
|_|_| ||'----'||
/_/ \_\ /__| |__\
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Why do so many humans prefer Neanderthals?
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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Judging from the comments in there, there are still some Neanderthal's about.
Watch user "Kangeroo" try to co-opt this into somehow verifying his conjecture that Noah really existed, and the biblical flood was literally true!
When bible literalists try to use science to make their arguments, the results are generally a sea of contradictions - maybe that was the flood!
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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Rob Grainger wrote: Watch user "Kangeroo" try to co-opt this into somehow verifying his conjecture that Noah really existed, and the biblical flood was literally true!
I just skimmed the first couple dozen posts... Wow... Just... Wow... That amount of trolling is almost impressive, seconded only by the amount of troll-baiting around it. Maybe Internet Trolls are descended from Neanderthals! 
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For now, large Glass deployments in the enterprise aren't the norm. But Google is hoping developers are ready to experiment and build up business use cases. OK glass, show me something to keep me awake during this meeting
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Finally, we can play Buzzword Bingo without anyone noticing!
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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With support for Windows XP ending today, an essay in the Michigan Law Review contends that Microsoft should make the code for the operating system available in such a way that third-party software companies could continue to patch security holes and provide ongoing support for the 12-year-old PC operating system. Good luck with that
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It is all about the money, so maybe MS could charge for further updates, if there is a market for it.
<sig notetoself="think of a better signature">
<first>Jim</first> <last>Meadors</last>
</sig>
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Jim Meadors wrote: maybe MS could charge for further updates, if there is a market for it.
That's what they are doing for big customers anyway. I assume in principle this offer is open to smaller customers but most can't afford it.
I gather that MS Security Essentials for XP will be patched for a year.
Kevin
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They already are. The U.K. and Dutch governments have already paid Microsoft millions apiece for continued support.
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No, they paid to get the "idea" of support - it merely exists on paper.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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People wanted the same for Windows 2000. Nowt chance of that. MS want people to buy Win 8.
I'm sure if MS extended XP support for another 2 years there would still be a double digits market share. At some point they have to stop.
But I thought the AV vendors had some special read-only access to the OS anyway? Or is that a myth?
Kevin
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Tutt wrote: Under the leading understanding of existing antitrust doctrine, if Windows XP were real property—a photocopier, for example—the law would obligate Microsoft to help other companies create an aftermarket for Windows XP support
Explain the man that "real" has nothing to do with it. And no, even if it were a real betamax, there would not be any obligation.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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We re-wrote the entire query execution engine to improve scalability, and took our first step in building a sophisticated query planner by introducing index intersection. We’ve made the codebase easier to maintain, and made it easier to implement new features. Now with performance? (Not a great marketing team there)
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Office for iPad has seen 12 million downloads to date, and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the decision to pull the trigger and release the suite, according to the company. Not sure why it's news - did people think it got approved and shipped in two months?
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Shortsighted for Microsoft to decide to release that info. They should have let Nadella have all the glory and kudos so he can build his position as leader.
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If you believed the rumor mill, MS's Apple software division had it working a few years ago; with only Balmer's refusal standing in the way of it shipping.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Kent Sharkey wrote: Not sure why it's news - did people think it got approved and shipped in two months?
The unwashed masses seem to believe that software can be written overnight. So the answer to your question is probably yes.
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I'll bet the source of the news was Steve Ballmer sitting in front on his laptop in a bathrobe sending an anonymous tip that hey, that Ballmer guy really wasn't so bad!
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