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Comment Re:GM producers are shooting themselves in the foo (Score 1) 514

If I buy ice cream and it has peanuts in it, the label has to have peanuts included in the ingredient list

Yes, but those peanuts don't say that peanuts are allotetraploids, or say if they have genes from wild Arachis species in it, for example like the TxAG- 7 line's descendants do as a result of some complex and clever 'conventional breeding', and I don't see you demanding that they do so.

You picked a poor choice of example.

You may want to read up on what "reductio ad absurdum" actually means...

Comment Re:Author is canvassing support on Wikipedia (Score 1) 7

I cannot speak for the integrity or review process of Slashdot or its editors, as I don't have any facts or documentation on the entire process. Unless you are willing to claim firsthand knowledge on said process, and supply facts/documentation, your assertions aren't very reliable. Reliable sources have been reporting news, events, etc. in much quicker time than this review has been accepted, for well over a decade... its a sign of the times and technology available. Moreover, is it that difficult to concede that perhaps my review might be noteworthy to some, even if *you* don't think so? The overwhelming consensus based on replies to the published version, at the moment, is yes... it is noteworthy. It won't cure cancer, AIDS or any other large scale issues... but it is at least noteworthy, and therefore *notable*.

Comment Re:Author is canvassing support on Wikipedia (Score 1) 7

Based on your reactions at Wikipedia regarding this particular situation and the people involved, you seem like you are seeing "red" now. In short, whether you realize it or not, you have lost your objectiveness of the situation at hand. Again, I wrote this review independently of the need to "save" the Wikipedia article. If it happens to "save" it, then fine. If not, that's just as fine. However, posting here to Slashdot is in itself a worthy endeavor... I've often come to this place to find interesting tech stories. PS: The day I bribe someone to do something out of character, instead of informing them of something they may be interested in, is when you can justifiably attack my character.
Programming

x86 Assembler JWASM Hits Stable Release 209

Odoital writes "January 2010 is an exciting month for x86 assembly language developers. Software developer Andreas Grech, better known to the x86 assembly language community and the rest of the world by his handle "japheth," has released another version of JWASM — a steadily growing fork of the Open Watcom (WASM) assembler. The main benefit of JWASM, arguably, is the nearly full support of Microsoft's Macro Assembler (MASM) syntax. As those in the assembly language community may already know, Microsoft's desire to continually support the development of MASM has been dwindling over the years — if only measurable by a decreasing lack of interest, updates and bug fixes — and thus the future of MASM remains uncertain. While Intel-style syntax x86 assemblers such as NASM have been around for a while, JWASM opens up a new possibility to those familiar with MASM-style syntax to develop in the domains (i.e. other than Windows) in which assemblers such as NASM currently thrive. JWASM is a welcomed tool that supplements the entire x86 assembly language community and will hopefully, in time, generate new low-level interests and solutions."

Comment Re:Author is canvassing support on Wikipedia (Score 1) 7

"Gamed support" is rather a foolish and insulting notion. The request was that anyone truly interested in JWASM (including usage) post a reply here. No one was asked to spam this place. If JWASM is notable, it will be in its own right and reporting it to Slashdot is just another means of measuring the current level of notability/interest. My effort to write this review is a result of an AfD situation that occurred at Wikipedia, yes, but my desire to do so is for the sake of the tool itself, i.e. personal interest. I am an assembly language developer and I am always evaluating different tools whenever I get the time. So, as you can see Unitanode, your shortsightedness in assuming bad faith is not warranted or appreciated. Also, it would be much appreciated if you keep from dragging Wikipedia issues (and seemingly personal vendettas) over to Slashdot, such slander is unprofessional at best. I would appreciate responses about JWASM (positive and negative) from anyone wiling to be objective about this article/story. Thanks.
Software

Submission + - Introducing JWASM - MASM's unofficial successor??? 7

Odoital writes: January 2010 is an exciting month for x86 assembly language developers. Software developer Andreas Grech, better known to the x86 assembly language community and the rest of the world by his handle "japheth," has released another version of JWASM — a steadily growing fork of the Open Watcom (WASM) assembler.

JWASM is a 16/32/64-bit x86 macro assembler that is written in portable C and can build/run on multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and DOS. JWASM also supports assembling to popular object formats such as 32/64-bit ELF, 32/64-bit MS COFF, Intel OMF, BIN (flat binary) and even DOS MZ files. The current version at the time of writing this article, JWASM 2.02, can also compile under Mac OS 10.6 using the latest version of XCode, after a bit of error placating with GCC and LD that is.

Since JWASM doesn't currently support Mach-O object output, I went an alternate route and decided to assemble a variation of the "FreeBSD 32 Hello world" example, found on the author's site, to ELF and use Agner Fog's OBJCONV utility to convert the ELF object to Macho-O for linking with LD. As a result, while running JWASM on Mac OS X, it failed to produce valid ELF object files, something the compiled Windows counterpart did with flying colors, indicating that there is some work ahead in providing JWASM as a more mature, consistent and reliable cross-platform assembler.

Despite the current limitations in Mac OS X support, JWASM still packs a punch. The main benefit of JWASM, arguably, is the nearly full support of Microsoft's Macro Assembler (MASM) syntax. As those in the assembly language community may already know, Microsoft's desire to continually support the development of MASM has been dwindling over the years — if only measurable by a decreasing lack of interest, updates and bug fixes — and thus the future of MASM remains uncertain.

Furthermore, JWASM does not have the "non open-source" and "Windows-centric" development restrictions that the MASM license entails. JWASM allows for unrestricted MASM-style operating system and embedded development, as well as development on/for other platforms, e.g. Linux. With all of that in mind, and as it matures, the choice of utilizing JWASM for software development, within toolchains, etc... is becoming more of a serious consideration for software developers.

While Intel-style syntax x86 assemblers such as NASM have been around for a while, JWASM opens up a new possibility to those familiar with MASM-style syntax to develop in the domains (i.e. other than Windows) in which assemblers such as NASM currently thrive. JWASM is a welcomed tool that supplements the entire x86 assembly language community and will hopefully, in time, generate new low-level interests and solutions.

JWASM binaries, source, documentation, license information and examples can be found at http://www.japheth.de/JWasm.html

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