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It feels a bit ironic to be discussing, in 2014, if C++ is a viable, or more importantly, a great choice for multi-device, multi-platform app development. It’s ironic in the sense that despite the attention Objective-C, Java, and C# get for app development, most of the software we use on a daily basis is written in C/C++ and after all these years represents the largest community of developers. "In C++ it's harder to shoot yourself in the foot, but when you do, you blow off your whole leg."
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The Apollo missions had technology no more complicated than a pocket calculator … everybody knows that. But hardly anybody talks about the computer code that helped send astronauts to the moon and back, which was equally as simple. A lot. Fortunately.
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I think it's a mistake to minimize the efforts of the programmers who wrote that code. Their toolset was minimal and unbelievably primitive compared to what we're used to. The hardware was cramped, to say the least. They had very few resources when they found problems. I can only assume they had a premium support contract from IBM, which meant they might be able to call someone on the phone to help out.
All of that diminishes to insignificance when compared to the consequences if they made a mistake. Three lives, millions of dollars in hardware, and the dreams of a nation could die.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote: I think it's a mistake to minimize the efforts of the programmers who wrote that code.
Sorry if I did, that wasn't intent. I'm just glad we're not verbing the noun for a UI anymore. And I'm REALLY glad I don't have to code in the limits they were forced into.
TTFN - Kent
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have a read of this to get some idea of just how restricted the environment was.
The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and Operation (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)
You will develop a whole new respect for the caliber of the programmers
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I didn't think you were at fault, Kent - it was the article and the condescending tone of the opening paragraphs.
I was a kid in the 60's and grew up with the space program. With the pallid, slack-jawed, sunken-chested state of NASA these days, remarks about Apollo and what was accomplished are one of my hot buttons.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Downloading the software has changed a bit as well:
Software written by MIT programmers was woven into core rope memory by female workers in factories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_rope_memory[^]
no last minute bug fixes and definitely no 'Windows Update'.
Peter
"Until the invention of the computer, the machine gun was the device that enabled humans to make the most mistakes in the smallest amount of time."
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Link seems broken at present.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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Works from here.
Check your internet-connection 
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Kent Sharkey wrote: The Apollo missions had technology no more complicated than a pocket calculator … everybody knows that. But hardly anybody talks about the computer code that helped send astronauts to the moon and back, which was equally as simple.
I wrote a blog article about the AGC here[^] which acknowledges a few other aspects of this early software.
I'm retired. There's a nap for that...
- Harvey
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Researchers at Princeton have uncovered a new web-tracking method that's nearly impossible to block. It's called "canvas fingerprinting," and can potentially follow users between sites even if they've disabled more conventional methods like cookies and isn't logged into Facebook. "No matter where you go. There you are."
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... 
One of the comments cracked me up:
I can’t imagine how this works. How can this webpages print some figure on your finger through the mouse? If someone understands, please explain it to me, because I find it hard to understand. There are a couple very "helpful" suggestions. 
Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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Ouch. Now we know who's asking questions in Q&A.
TTFN - Kent
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"Just when I think I'm out, they keep pulling me back in."
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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Though the app stores continue to fill up with ever more mobile applications, the reality is that most of these are not sustainable businesses. According to a new report out this morning, half (50%) of iOS developers and even more (64%) Android developers are operating below the “app poverty line” of $500 per app per month. "Don't mess around, don't give me no switch, c'monn baby, eat the rich"
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Cisco has unveiled DevNet, its online portal for developers looking to work with Cisco products. In a blog entry discussing a software-intense future, Susie Wee, Cisco’s vice president and CTO of networked experience, wrote that Cisco would be making resources available to developers worldwide through the DevNet site. Cisco does software?
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Hey, if you saw the thing I posted about believing every item in lounge was marked as spam, I figured out why I thought that. Check out this image and notice the red flag that shows up in Chrome, but in Opera as very faded out.
http://newtonsaber.com/images/spamflag.png[^]
Please take a look. It's quite interesting.
See how bold the spam flag is in chrome? It makes it look like everything has been marked.
I'm not crazy. i'm not crazy.. w00t! w00t! not crazy, not crazy at all...
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You are right. Agh!! How did that happen?
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UPVOTE!
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If that bothers you try visiting the site on a Linux distro, the Logo is a full pixel below the rest of the banner
Clickety[^]
My eyes, it burrns!
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Don't forget to turn left at Albuquerque.
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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Myce managed to get 2 new Windows Threshold screenshots, one shows the new start menu, the other shows the windowed apps. Looks like someone slapped the Start page on a menu and went home for the day
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No, they spent three weeks on it. 2 weeks, four days, 7 hours and 58 minutes spent playing COD, and then two minutes uncommenting the line that shows the menu in a window.
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