adamtj

31 ms·

181.
by adamtj 16y ago
Putting the space plane under the rocket instead of on top seems like a really good idea. Using a first-stage turbojet/scramjet combo to take advantage of the readily available oxidizers in the lower atmosphere seems like it could be a h
182.
by adamtj 16y ago
Exceptions are control flow and nothing more. Any try/catch block could be rewritten with if/else checks on various error flags, assuming such flags are exposed. See C. Exceptions are just a clean way to write error handling and stack un
183.
by adamtj 16y ago
When I say nobody, I mean no normal people. By posting here, you automatically exclude yourself from that group. Your mom doesn't know how OS X works.
184.
by adamtj 16y ago
Whether it's intentional or coincidence, it's interesting how it parallels their products. There are approximately three people who work for Apple. They are the shiny, slick interface. Everything else is an implementation detail. Jonatha
185.
by adamtj 16y ago
You can't always give developers a list of features and wait until they think it's done. Management should give developers a feature/bug list, developers should then estimate the items on that list. Then management can pick a subset of it
186.
by adamtj 16y ago
Smart engineers and scientists have a tendency to think they can fix things. This is exactly what he was talking about.
187.
by adamtj 16y ago
When you are one of two or three people in an open ended back-and-forth conversation, often a 15 minute phone call can save a dozen three paragraph emails (plus the dozen interruptions) over the course of several hours. You get your answer
188.
by adamtj 16y ago
Basing the downvote karma cap on fraction of alltime high seems slightly wrong. There is too much history in that number. Five years from now, that number will have five more years of increasing, making it that much harder for smart new m
189.
by adamtj 16y ago
If and only if you make the obvious assumptions, there is a really nice answer, easy to explain in a newspaper article. Otherwise, you'd need to spend three pages clarifying a three sentence question. Some people have two wives. Sometimes
190.
by adamtj 16y ago
I've got an SSD in my dev machine. It's an earlier intel drive and I'm using WinXP. It has really fast read performance, making otherwise slow svn operations on my working copy effectively instant. The write performance is atrocious. Wh
191.
by adamtj 16y ago
Do you like what you do? You said you have passion, but that isn't always the same. Programming can be very hard if you aren't actually interested in the work you're doing.
192.
by adamtj 16y ago
But then you don't get sub-pixel anti-aliasing, and on the very monitor where you do most of your reading.
193.
by adamtj 16y ago
I've got 1920x1200 + 2*1600x1200 pixels. Maximizing even on one of my "small" monitors would be a waste. Also, wide layouts are hard to read. I'm also always doing several things at once, so I'll tend to fill up one browser window with ta
194.
by adamtj 16y ago
Everybody knows payday loan providers are predatory sharks preying on the poor and helpless. The problem is, how do you distinguish them from the saintly providers of short-term emergency loans? Short-term emergency loans can make dramati
195.
by adamtj 16y ago
There are lots of people like that. It's very common and normal. Regardless of what people are willing to state, many will simply not consider unequivocal evidence of new phenomena if it contradicts their beliefs. They may recognize that
196.
by adamtj 16y ago
When was the last time he tried to contribute code and how was it embarrassing? Actually, you'll need more than one example. You may well be right, but until you provide evidence, your assertions are baseless ad-hominem and I think less o
197.
by adamtj 16y ago
The problem with ORMs is that life is complicated, and data describes life, so data is complicated. And abundant. SQL queries are a relatively elegant way to encode the often complicated manner in which data answers a particular question.
198.
by adamtj 16y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if this works, because I've done something similarly drastic that worked for me. Here's my story: Last year I read something by Giles Bowkett about how he lost weight and got healthy. I've read about many fad diets
199.
by adamtj 16y ago
How are software patents different than non-software patents? It seems to me we should encourage the USPTO to stop issuing silly patents, software or otherwise. Or we should resist all patents. But, if a patent system is a worthwhile thi
200.
by adamtj 16y ago
Degrees in law and medicine are relatively easy to get. It's basically memorization and pattern recognition, with a little bit of reasoning. An overclocked monkey could do it. Unforced introspection, self-criticism, and change in the fac
201.
by adamtj 16y ago
It's the converse that tends to be true, but many people have trouble distinguishing between converse and contrapositive. Rich people tend to be smart. There are lots of bright ideas. The few that turn into successful companies are the on
202.
by adamtj 16y ago
Physical exertion equals power. You can't have the same power with less physical exertion. It's a trade-off between aerobic capacity and anaerobic capacity. You can pedal in a high gear, using more strength, or you can pedal faster in a
203.
by adamtj 16y ago
It's my understanding that the pros don't use this. If you don't have enough torque, you're probably doing it wrong, and would soon be out of gas even with more mechanical advantage. Shift down, pedal faster.
204.
by adamtj 16y ago
Why run a marathon? Because if you try to climb a mountain, you'll get distracted by your novel, which you won't finish because of the symphony you've got in mind. At some point, you just have to pick something and do it. Do it until you
205.
by adamtj 16y ago
You can either experience fear of the unknown, or the pain of finding out. They both hurt, but fear diminishes you, while knowledge makes you powerful. You can wake up the morning of your local 5k Turkey Trot with a gut full of fear, or y
206.
by adamtj 16y ago
I usually hate it when newspapers waste most of their space poorly defining terms, leaving no room for the actual interesting bits. (This is especially true in science articles.) This article, however, would do very well to mention what F
207.
by adamtj 16y ago
Any good business seeks to extract the maximum amount people are willing to pay. A single price for all buyers works against that. (I forget the economics term for it.) It's why coupons and discounts for senior citizens exist. Senior ci
208.
by adamtj 16y ago
This was about as entertaining as a formulaic television sitcom: it's got one person who refuses to understand the other and who escalates the confrontation any time he gets an answer he don't expect, which is every time. And the other per
209.
by adamtj 16y ago
I write software, but I consider myself, in a way, a professional scientist. I use the scientific method every day. I'm sure I work differently than pure researchers, but the gist of it is the same. Assume nothing, trust-but-verify means
210.
by adamtj 16y ago
What does "free" even mean? Does it mean free from any outside interference? So, no laws and anything goes? Then is it still free if a company uses that freedom to restrict the actions of others with "uncompetitive" strategies? Or does

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