bmj

58 ms·

571.
by bmj 14y ago
It's been almost 15 years since my linguistics courses, but I'm pretty sure the spoken word (along with the grammars that bounded it) existed long before writing. I also believe you drawing correlations between human languages and computer
572.
by bmj 14y ago
I just re-read Mr. Atwood's post, and I'm not sure that's what I get out of it. He talks about people learning to code to do it for a living, not just doing it as a hobby/learning experience. Though he starts by saying code is just one sk
573.
by bmj 14y ago
I believe the concern is that without ECMA/ISO standardization, there's nothing to stop MS from suing Xamarin/Mono should they decide to back away from an open language specification.
574.
by bmj 15y ago
Is this typical for, say, the software industry there? I wonder if it's the equivalent of non-competes and intellectual property agreements here: ubiquitous enough that most people don't even blink when they are part of an employment contr
575.
by bmj 15y ago
Yes, this. There are plenty of great environments to do what you love, and do it "safely." And there are plenty of poisonous environments where your love of your work will be used to abuse you. I highly recommend doing a stint in old sch
576.
by bmj 15y ago
You're right (I'm probably in the gradient somewhere), but I don't think that bit of the manifesto is the crux. There are lots of people in many vocations who contribute to their field without given up massive amounts of their spare time.
577.
by bmj 15y ago
Yeah, the balance aspect is pretty key on both sides. I generally put in 7-8 hours in the office, plus perhaps an hour or so in the morning before the rest of my family is awake (though I may not always work this hour). I've been with the
578.
by bmj 15y ago
I thought his comment was insightful, too, until I read the last line. Then it just sounded like arrogance. I suppose I read a positive spin on that comment--something like "well, most people just haven't discovered the facts about how gr
579.
by bmj 15y ago
Well, people wanting to know is a fairly new thing, and I think quite a few people still prefer not to know. I reckon that most people who truly care how their food is produced don't allow their kids to eat school lunches. That said, I agr
580.
by bmj 15y ago
The issue is that people really don't want to know how their food is produced (remember the ol' adage about sausages and laws?). As soon as they learn what industrial-scale food production looks like, they begin to turn their noses. Did t
581.
by bmj 15y ago
I think we're a bit spoiled these days. Five or ten years ago, we didn't have Ruby (or at least a mature RoR), Django, Clojure, or Scala (to name a few), so PHP was a pretty decent option for someone trying to get something out there effic
582.
by bmj 15y ago
It's more than freedom of the mind--it the freedom to use and modify tools to do as you see fit. Software isn't the only industry that necessarily harmed by "closed" tools--Ivan Illich started making this point in the 1970s. If workers co
583.
by bmj 15y ago
Isn't this the way petitions work? I mean, if a group brings a petition to a city council, what good is it if it's full of names? Simply saying "15,000 people support this" without enumerating those supporters doesn't seem very effective.
584.
by bmj 15y ago
I had the same reaction (though I can sympathetic to some of rms' opinions). It's a false dichotomy to say "do you hate Facebook more than you care about $fixing_some_big_global_problem? I reckon if your cause really, really wants to recr
585.
by bmj 15y ago
Also allows you to look up the definition of a highlighted word.
586.
by bmj 15y ago
We have tons of later models (E2s, Tungstens, plus older models) floating around the office, and we still support a fair number of Palms still in use in the field (we do data collection diaries for drug trials). Some of our clients really
587.
by bmj 15y ago
Another consideration is that if you do succeed, you can partner with MS, which provides some cost savings with MSDN licenses. At my last start-up, we authored several white papers about our solution and how it meshed with MS's toolset, an
588.
by bmj 15y ago
I wonder how Apple did this math? I look at this way: Microsoft pushed tier-1 support, at least, to the resellers, right? I buy a Windows laptop and do Bad Things via the admin account, what do I do? Go back to where I bought it, or I ca
589.
by bmj 15y ago
But for it to work you need an environment where you have rapid feedback, regular integration of changes, etc. If those times are measured in days, weeks or - deity forbid - months then you're heading for trouble. This is a big caveat for
590.
by bmj 15y ago
And even further...I bet many in this situation do some sort of Skype lesson during holiday visits. Granted, I agree with the grandparent here: ultimately, browser-based software would be easier, but you have an entrenched user base who are
591.
by bmj 15y ago
Grandparents probably don't note this difference. Skype is decidedly most popular by faraway folks keeping touch, particularly those that aren't terribly computer-savvy.
592.
by bmj 15y ago
I work in C# quite a few days a week, and I share your pair regarding the simplest thing. We have a couple of astronaut architects on the team (both of whom are actually good programmers, but they tend to get starry-eyed about MS framework
593.
by bmj 15y ago
It's not just about "handing over information"--the original question applies: what, exactly, am I signing up for? It just says "ask people questions." Granted, there are "About" and "Privacy" links at the bottom of the page, but a few mor
594.
The Test: Civilization at a Crossroads(whattofix.com)
35 points by bmj 15y ago|36 comments
595.
by bmj 15y ago
I started to reply to the grandparent, then came across this and realized you've summed up my thoughts nicely. The key here is that living in a society, there is some level of civility (respect, really) that you should try to attain. I'm
596.
by bmj 15y ago
My employer does this sort of thing, but it isn't mandatory. A sign-up sheet goes up in the kitchen, and there's never a lack of participation. From what I've seen, folks seem to genuinely enjoy doing this sort of thing, so more power to
597.
by bmj 15y ago
Yes, but it is part of your identity. That said, while I enjoy my job, and take some satisfaction from it, it isn't the whole of my being. My family, faith, and hobbies define who am I more than what I do.
598.
by bmj 15y ago
I'll add an additional question to this one: are there any good sources of small, "real world" app examples available? I realize I could look at, say, the HN codebase, but I'm curious if there are smaller examples available, too.
599.
by bmj 15y ago
I agree with the grandparent, but I'm skeptical of the numbers quoted, too. Slavery, along with child and sex trafficking, is certainly still a huge problem, but because it happens in the shadows, most people don't know about it.
600.
by bmj 15y ago
My experience is that many, many contracts for programmer-types include a clause about intellectual property. In my direct experience, no employer has ever collected on this. I suspect if an employer did exercise it, it would be for IP di

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