|
FAIL 
|
|
|
|
|
Many people who currently own Windows Phone 8 smartphones have been worried that when Windows Phone 8.1 comes out, their handsets won't be upgraded to the new OS. This week, Microsoft confirmed that won't be the case. You'd think this wouldn't be news, but with their track record...
|
|
|
|
|
Argh, the title implies that we can do this now, got my hopes up!
|
|
|
|
|
IBM will invest more than $1 billion in a new business unit for Watson
What is...Skynet? (This is only the beginning...)
|
|
|
|
|
Reuters wrote: IBM said it has shrunk Watson to the size of three stacked pizza boxes from its original size of a master bedroom.
three stacked pizza boxes for automated google searching... that's still a lot.
Seulement, dans certains cas, n'est-ce pas, on n'entend guère que ce qu'on désire entendre et ce qui vous arrange le mieux... [^]
Joe never complained of anything but ever did his duty in his way of life, with a strong hand, a quiet tongue, and a gentle heart [^]
|
|
|
|
|
Papandriopoulos created the app by rewriting how JPEG images are compressed on the smartphone. In doing so it seems he bested Apple’s own engineers,... Say, "cheese".
"As beings of finite lifespan, our contributions to the sum of human knowledge is one of the greatest endeavors we can undertake and one of the defining characteristics of humanity itself"
|
|
|
|
|
Well, I am not surprised to see this. I have always feel apple's camera app is mediocre.
Believe Yourself™
|
|
|
|
|
FPS, to me is beyond irrelevant.
what all cellphone cameras need is exposure control. i don't care how many blurry, over or under exposed i can take per second. i want an app that can capture exactly what i see in the viewfinder. i know the CCD can capture that image, now make a camera app that can record it.
|
|
|
|
|
One Web site claims the spring update to Windows 8.1 won't just be a traditional service pack. "Looks more like a sycamore to me."
|
|
|
|
|
OK, I'll bite. What's the difference in this non-traditional update to 8.1? Same tiles, same this-is-not-the-start-button-you're -looking-for, same LaunchPad style spread of app icons...
|
|
|
|
|
buuuuut, it's not a Service Pack, it's an Update. Tooooooootally different.
I guess all the good stuff is still coming with 8.2/8.5/8.1 ME/9.0/whatever they call it with a start button.
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
Says russian Site WZOR, which has totally exclusive screenshots!
|
|
|
|
|
"...the images show the same internal version number currently found in Windows 8.1 Pro (version 6.3.9600) but the full build number is intentionally blanked out..."
and
"...although Wzor's screenshots don't reveal anything different from the current version..."
So why exactly are we supposed to believe they're doing anything other than taking screen shots of the current release version and claiming they're from something new to get boost ad revenue from traffic by suckers?
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
|
|
|
|
|
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
|
|
|
|
|
Design patterns can be seen as such a set of spells—apt to be promoted as a way to ensure that software systems will work and that someone who understands the concepts can expect to be able to maintain the systems effectively. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
|
|
|
|
|
A slavish adherence to the fool's gold that can be design patterns may lead you down the path of over-engineered solutions that are hard to maintain and build upon. Whilst patterns, in a generalized way, are good for thinking about how to address a known or recurring problem they are not a one-size-fits-all solution to whatever you are trying to model or solve. They have a place and a part to play, just don't let them become the raison d'être of your solution. I say that because I've seen it. Experience trumps exuberance.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
Those who seek perfection will only find imperfection
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
|
|
|
|
|
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
My feelings exactly (and sadly/happily I lost out on a job because I expressed those feelings in a recent interview)
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
Kent Sharkey wrote: I lost out on a job because I expressed those feelings in a recent interview
You need to learn about the bite-your-tongue pattern. 
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
Those who seek perfection will only find imperfection
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
|
|
|
|
|
mark merrens wrote: You need to learn about the bite-your-tongue pattern.
Yeah, that's a tough one. Is it in Fowler?
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
You wouldn't have liked that job.
One place I interviewed at some years back asked me to take a look at some code and suggest a fix. Everything was a Singleton! I'm glad I didn't get the job. I took a job doing VB.net instead.
|
|
|
|
|
If one does not refrain from using common sense as regards programming in general and specifically design patterns, then said one shall be thrown under the bus, burned at the stake, drawn and quartered, eviscerated, and hung by their own entrails until dead or until such time as said one learns to keep their mouth shut and accept all ideas from their betters (i.e. the political elite) as the most awesome ideas to ever see the light of day.
True story, personal experience; but I'm not bitter.
Comments from work:- "Why can't you just do it like everybody else?"
- "Well, we haven't had any complaints yet."
- "I just want to get it into production."
- "It only matters if it’s important to someone who matters."
|
|
|
|
|
The article at InfoQ in the first post contains:
Indeed, this enthusiasm for pattern mining has tended to obscure some key questions that remain largely unanswered, such as
the design process question: Do patterns form an effective way of exchanging design knowledge? and
the design product question: Do patterns help us to create designs that are easier to understand and maintain?
Neither question seems to have received much consideration from design pattern enthusiasts.
A lot of the newer patterns I've read about since "Design Patterns" was written were extracted from a specific solution instead of being gleaned from a plethora of existing designs, as was done for the patterns in the book. These "new" patterns are generally not useful to me.
Some other "new" patterns I've read about are minor variations, or specializations, of patterns listed in the book. In most cases, the author of these new patterns seem unaware of the original pattern. (This seems most common for the Strategy pattern and the Observer pattern. If you put an instance in a subclass in a list, a dictionary, or make it on the fly, if the instance represents a "state", then the "Strategy" pattern is being used, and renaming for some special implementation probably will create more confusion than it will help designers).
The patterns in "Design Patterns" are extremely common. A great many designs created before the book used at least one pattern in the book. For one example from the book, most (all?) modern word processing programs that allow changing fonts and font-attributes in the world uses the Flyweight pattern. That they all use the same pattern as a specific solution is a testament to that using the pattern is good design - for that specific problem. Of course, it's not good design to use the Flyweight pattern anywhere it could be used.
The book "Design Patterns" not only names and describes patterns, but it also lists the advantages and disadvantages of a pattern. This is also missing from many new patterns I've encountered.
I think the author of that article is onto something when pointing out that those questions often aren't mentioned in the context of newer patterns, but I think the more fundamental reason that new patterns would fail to satisfy the proper answer to these questions is because the concept of "creating" patterns is likely to be flawed to begin with. Patterns should generally be "discovered" after gaining familiarity with many software solutions.
modified 8-Jan-14 22:13pm.
|
|
|
|
|
Alan Kay, as usual, had something relevant to say here:
Quote: The most disastrous thing about programming — to pick one of the 10 most disastrous things about programming — there's a very popular movement based on pattern languages. When Christopher Alexander first did that in architecture, he was looking at 2,000 years of ways that humans have made themselves comfortable. So there was actually something to it, because he was dealing with a genome that hasn't changed that much. I think he got a few hundred valuable patterns out of it. But the bug in trying to do that in computing is the assumption that we know anything at all about programming. So extracting patterns from today's programming practices ennobles them in a way they don't deserve. It actually gives them more cachet.
The GoF book, for example includes the Singleton pattern, which should really be an Anti-Patterns book, as it introduces static dependencies and complicates testing (a global variable by any other name).
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
|
|
|
|
|
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
|
|
|
|
|
I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling that way.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
