Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Still depends on what the video is of (Score 1) 194

sites that were built by the lowest bidder who often only work on Windows and only works on IE

All supported Windows desktop operating systems can run IE 9 or later. Besides, whether and why government employees on government equipment and government time would be watching your video still depends on what the video is of. It might be better in a specific case to download the video to watch in a native, non-web application, or to have the IT department authorize installation of a second browser for "general interest" web sites.

Comment Making a living; devkit suppliers (Score 1) 372

If you want to create something fun with simple tools THEN FREAKING DO IT! There is nothing in this world holding you back unless all you are willing to work on is what someone is paying you to do.

Then how does one "create something fun with simple tools" and still eat? Besides, even if you have an unrelated day job, how does one "create something fun with simple tools" if the tools have to interoperate with other tools that are made available only to established companies, as in the case of developing games and other applications that run on devices commonly connected to TVs?

Comment DOS had libraries too (Score 2) 372

In DOS I had to manually draw every UI element.

Only in your first couple projects. By your third DOS project, you probably would have built up your own UI library.

But the big thing that DOS did better than Windows back in the early to mid 1990s was using all the features of the VGA. DOS applications could run in low definition (Mode 13h, Mode Y, and Mode X, with resolution of 320x200 to 320x240). This allowed updating the whole screen before Windows finished updating half of a 640x480 standard-definition screen. DOS could also use hardware scrolling to pan over a large virtual area without having to do the bit shifting bullcrap that plagued standard VGA mode back then. Both of these became less relevant, however, as CPU speeds and bus speeds rose and especially as graphics cards began to incorporate 3D rasterizers.

Comment Re:Who is stopping him? (Score 1) 372

Most tools have their own APIs and many have their own DSLs. You either must learn a new sub-language or you have to program them. In every direction, complexity is an insistent reality poised to take you away from the core development activity: coding.

Here you might say that your little coding projects and hacks need to be linked properly to these various systems and that can be a pain in the ass. But again... why are you doing that manually? Write a program or a script that automatically creates the links.

The problem here is that once "a program or a script" reaches some level of generality, configuring it becomes almost as hard as just creating the links yourself. Hence the reference to application programming interfaces (APIs) and domain-specific languages (DSLs) in the article.

Comment If you can get a devkit, that is (Score 1) 372

If you can't find a place that suits you, start your own.

And watch suppliers decline to do business with your startup company because they don't like your lack of experience or they don't like where its office is located. For example, some makers of computing platforms lock down who's allowed to have a devkit, and they have a history of reserving devkits for the most experienced companies with traditional offices.

Comment Re:learn2English (Score 1) 175

If you don't like Google apps, buy a phone that doesn't bundle them

with a phone, when you buy it from a carrier, they put on all these extra apps that you don't need

You can start with your own post, where you will see the whining. Then read what I wrote, where you'll see the simple fix.

In some North American markets, especially those served by CDMA2000 carriers, it's either buy your phone from the carrier or get 0 bars. These carriers tend not to sell any devices that allow viewing web pages and loading user-made apps without Apple's walled garden or Google's alleged spyware. Is your "simple fix" doing without?

Comment Early lack of Google Checkout (Score 1) 175

The difference between iOS and Android in this respect was that during the Android 1.x days, manufacturers and carriers sold Android phones in countries where Google hadn't yet opened Google Checkout. This meant that in order to get an app into Android Market in any of those countries, the developer had to make the app available without charge. The common way to do that involved selling advertising space. This set price expectations on Android lower than they are on iOS, where Apple has made sure to open the iTunes Store in a country before selling iPod, iPhone, or iPad products there.

Comment Re:What? (Score 1) 175

No but it does tell you that the app will transfer data.

It's hard to find apps whose manifest doesn't request the INTERNET permission. Is there some sort of control within Google Play Store that would let the user filter apps by permissions?

If you're that worried about the amount of data transferred then use the application for a minute or two

Which would require first buying the app, after which point my ISP already has my money for the bandwidth used for downloading it, and Google already has my money for buying it.

Comment Emigrating isn't always practical (Score 1) 194

Transcoding isn't fun or fast. I'd rather have my files in such a format that I can actually use instead of some format that I would need to convert before being able to play.

If you archive a 4K video, you need to scale it down anyway before it'll play efficiently on a handheld device, no matter what codecs that device accepts. Besides, if you produced video, you may want to archive the source footage in its original format and a non-destructive edit decision list.

Also, my country does not have software patents, so h.264 is (legally) free to me.

But does it have anticircumvention legislation (DMCA, EUCD, etc.)? Besides, the process of finding a country with acceptable living conditions and visa requirements, finding an employer to sponsor a work visa, and finally moving one's family isn't practical for everyone, I understand.

Comment Licensed encoder for video editor (Score 1) 194

If you have a camcorder, the license to create h.264 is present as part of the camcorder. This includes phones and everything else people submit to YouTube, for example.

It doesn't include video game footage or anything else that's edited because as I understand it, the video editing software needs to have its own licensed encoder.

Slashdot Top Deals

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

Working...