jbarham

51 ms·

511.
by jbarham 16y ago
Where are you located? In the US you can only view online a small fraction of Netflix's DVD inventory.
512.
by jbarham 16y ago
> C is a perfectly good language with just the most basic standard library. Unless you want to write cross-platform networking code. But in that case C is an excellent language for writing networking libraries for your favorite scripti
513.
by jbarham 16y ago
For all this talk of SSDs, it's worth pointing out that you can pick up the 2.5" 500GB Seagate Momentus XT hybrid SSD/platter drive for $130 on Amazon. Best upgrade I made to my Thinkpad, and one that is not available for the Air...
514.
by jbarham 16y ago
> Optical media is growing more irrelevant every day for most of us. The vast majority of people have neither the inclination nor the technical wherewithal to rip DVDs to disk. Until every DVD that Netflix stocks has a "Play" button nex
515.
by jbarham 16y ago
Even when I studied CS in the mid-90's at the University of Toronto, taking a course in C programming was optional, either as part of a survey of languages course, or in the upper level OS courses where C is still the obvious choice. Otherw
516.
by jbarham 16y ago
The problem domain you're working in is also important. For example, if you're doing heavy duty number crunching for finance or image processing, Python has NumPy, for which AFAIK there is no equivalent for Ruby. Then again at very large s
517.
by jbarham 16y ago
I use a standalone ThinkPad keyboard (complete w/ pointer nub) and find it very comfortable. It's also nice and compact since it doesn't include a number pad.
518.
by jbarham 16y ago
WebGL w/ HTML5 canvas will let you build Cover Flow. As to burning CD's, I did say that it would only get you "most of the way" there!
519.
by jbarham 16y ago
It's worth pointing out that even 15 years after the Netscape IPO, it's not possible to write cross-platform networking code for Windows and Unix using C or C++ without using a 3rd party library ! On top of basic socket support, you then h
520.
by jbarham 16y ago
> if you are spending most of your time on PHP or a web-only-language, you will never see the beauty of asynchronous I/O... FYI, JavaScript programmers use asynchronous I/O all the time. That's what the 'A' in AJAX stands for...
521.
by jbarham 16y ago
Longer term JavaScript + HTML5 will get you most of the way there.
522.
by jbarham 16y ago
No, Google is being sued because it doesn't implement the JVM . Instead Google created a completely independent VM for Android called Dalvik, and, crucially, a JVM to Dalvik bytecode compiler. Thus Google can leverage all the standard Ja
523.
by jbarham 16y ago
"4GB RAM ought to be enough for anybody." ARMS's Achilles' heel is that it's only 32-bit, and I don't think anyone wants to go back to a segmented address space any time soon.
524.
by jbarham 16y ago
For those who don't know, "Ken" is Ken Thompson himself.
525.
by jbarham 16y ago
Yes, the AMD64 Go compiler (6g) is the most mature.
526.
by jbarham 16y ago
I especially like "short variable declarations" (aka type inference, http://golang.org/doc/go_spec.html#Short_variable_declaratio... ). Just type one more character than you would in Python for assignments, but you get static typing.
527.
by jbarham 16y ago
Core Python Programming (2nd Edition) by Wesley Chun ( http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/ ) is very good. It's somewhat dated now, but is very readable. Once you've learned the language, David Beazley's Python Essential Reference (4th Edi
528.
by jbarham 16y ago
This claim is absurd. In the last few years Microsoft has done more to advance the state-of-the-art in programming languages for practicing developers than any other organization. In terms of industrial languages, C# and the .NET framework
529.
by jbarham 16y ago
I have to concur that MacBook screens are very nice (modulo your take on the glossiness). I bought a Thinkpad T410 w/ a high-res screen and I must say that I'm disappointed w/ the poor viewing angles compared to the MacBook screens. Longe
530.
by jbarham 16y ago
> However, there has always been a huge gap in the netbook market for a premium netbook line. Which has been filled quite nicely by the Thinkpad X series.
531.
by jbarham 16y ago
FWIW the X301 has since been discontinued, w/ the T410s being the closest equivalent.
532.
by jbarham 16y ago
> Or people will just stop using planes. Unfortunate and ironic from a safety POV since driving is much more dangerous than flying on commercial flights.
533.
by jbarham 16y ago
FedEx also gives you the option of paying for expedited service. It doesn't make them, or the US Passport Office, corrupt. The point is that the choice whether or not to pay for faster service is left entirely up to the customer , not th
534.
by jbarham 16y ago
IIRC Lua ( http://www.lua.org ) was developed in part because of Brazil's protectionist policies.
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by jbarham 16y ago
> I do not know of any open source operating system certified... Certification costs money which is most likely the real reason why open source OS's have not been "certified" as secure, not because they're intrinsically insecure. OpenB
536.
by jbarham 16y ago
Yeah, it looks a bit pricey considering the cheapest paid plan is $99/month for 6 servers.
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by jbarham 16y ago
Here's a list of installed 3rd party packages: http://godashboard.appspot.com/package A lot of 3rd party packages are also listed at http://go-lang.cat-v.org/ . The goinstall command ( http://golang.org/cmd/goinstall/ ) can automatically
538.
by jbarham 16y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft
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by jbarham 16y ago
And Russ Cox ( http://swtch.com/~rsc/ ) is the creator of Plan 9 from User Space ( http://swtch.com/plan9port/ ).
540.
by jbarham 16y ago
Contradictory advice: * Move to San Diego * The suburbs are doomed, especially those E.T., California-style suburbs Conclusion: Move to San Diego because it's doomed.

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