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Comment: Re:users? (Score -1) 311

by bonch (#42928767) Attached to: NetBSD To Support Kernel Development In Lua Scripting

I don't know; Lua's treatment of both as the same type of data leads to unexpected behavior:

local a = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }
a[3] = nil -- "Remove" an element
-- Now a is { [1] = 1, [2] = 2, [4] = 4, [5] = 5 }

On a similar note, Lua's "everything undefined is nil" behavior can lead to subtle bugs. For example:

local a = { alpha, betaa, delta, gamma }

Assuming those are previously defined, the misspelled "beta" will evaluate to nil and create an array hole, which will screw up the value returned by the length operator. It also means you can't do things like reliably get the count of { f() } if f() returns nil.

Android

+ - Google Under Fire For Sharing Google Wallet Information->

Submitted by bonch
bonch writes "Google is being criticzed for sharing user information with third parties through Google Wallet. Unlike Apple's system in which iTunes is the merchant, Google's third-party developers are the merchants and receive user information, to the surprise of developers like Dan Nolan, who wrote a blog post about being sent email addresses, mailing address, and sometimes full names. Critics charge that consumers are mostly unaware of the sharing. In a statement, Google noted that the behavior was outlined in the Google Wallet Privacy Policy."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Porting to Windows RT (Score 1) 308

by bonch (#42217019) Attached to: Hit Game Makes £52 In First Week On Windows RT

I was excited about WinRT (not to be confused with Windows RT...yeah, I know) during Windows 8's development and was considering porting a project, but after evaluating Windows 8, the lack of features in the APIs, annoying interface decisions, and confusing hardware fragmentation made it an easy decision not to bother. Microsoft's alleged refusal to promote ARM-only apps, when it needs all the apps it can get, re-affirms that decision. Windows 8 is a non-starter as a development platform.

Comment: Re:Stallman bitches, film at eleven (Score 2, Insightful) 597

by bonch (#42216619) Attached to: RMS Speaks Out Against Ubuntu

It's one thing to have some Larry Wall style eccentricities, but Stallman hurts any movement he attaches his name to because of his extremist views. He believes, for example, that programmers should not expect to be paid for their work and that it's more important that non-free software disappear than it is for someone's children to be fed (he also believes nobody should have children). He's also made vile statements about what he calls "voluntary pedophilia", claiming that it should be legalized.

The annoying part is that in nearly every Stallman discussion, people will say things like, "You may not agree with everything he says, but we sure need someone like him who always sticks to their guns!" No, we don't. He's hurting the movement.

GNU was an interesting philosophy when it was started, but it's not as if it was the only open source ideology or that other open source movements wouldn't have taken hold. This isn't to diminish GNU so much as it is to diminish Stallman's glorified role in history among computer geeks and lessen the movement's reliance on a crazy person.

Comment: Doesn't help (Score 1, Insightful) 308

by bonch (#42197985) Attached to: MPAA: the Impact of Megaupload's Shutdown Was 'Massive'

I don't take issue with the shutdown since Megaupload was being used as a gigantic, unregulated store for pirated content, and that does take money away from content creators. Instead, I go out of my way to purchase independent content to support artists outside of the mainstream system, and any mainstream content I do want gets purchased digitally, which ultimately contributes to a lessening of relevance for the traditional distributors represented by the MPAA. Home film releases come out out sooner and sooner after their theater runs, and streaming services like Netflix are so popular on living room devices that Microsoft claims video streaming surpasses game-playing in terms of hours of usage on the Xbox 360. Whatever traditional structure the MPAA is protecting has already been supplanted by legal mediums.

In other words, Megaupload isn't necessary--the fate of the traditional movie industry has already been sealed by companies who embraced the internet.

Comment: Re:Like who again? (Score -1) 446

by bonch (#41393343) Attached to: Motorola Seeks Ban On Macs, iPads, and iPhones

How is this countersuing or fighting back? This is an outright offensive move. The only "consensus" otherwise is among Slashdot posters who are STILL trying to portray Google's acquisition of Motorola as purely defensive. For some reason, Google can absolutely do no wrong here, whatsoever, at all, ever. Why? Because they use Linux?

Technology

+ - Nuclear Fusion Nears Break-Even Point For Efficiency->

Submitted by bonch
bonch writes "Nuclear fusion is close to emitting nearly as much energy as expended. Using a combination of magnetic fields and pre-heated lasers, special tubes called liners successfully fused nuclear fuels under test conditions. Computer simulations predict the possibility of high-gain fusion conditions, in which the fuel's energy output exceeds what was put in by more than a thousand times."
Link to Original Source
Google

+ - Motorola Seeks Ban On Macs, iPads, And iPhones->

Submitted by bonch
bonch writes "Google-owned Motorola is asking the International Trade Commission to ban every Apple device that uses iMessage, based on a patent issues in 2006 for "a system for providing continuity between messaging clients". Motorola also claims that banning Macs and iPhones won't have an impact on U.S. consumers. The ITC has yet to make a decision."
Link to Original Source
IOS

+ - iOS 6 review: Refining the world's most refined mobile OS->

Submitted by zacharye
zacharye writes "Like OS X Mountain Lion is to Lion, iOS 6 is a refinement of a mobile operating system that Apple had in place in iOS 5, with a few new changes that might raise your brow. Available for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, new iPad (third-generation) and iPod touch (fourth-generation), the changes Apple made in iOS 6 are subtle, but add to Apple’s endless pursuit of iOS perfection. It’s an update chock-full of features, as has been the case with every other major iOS update, and best of all: it’s free for all devices. iOS 6 will become available to the public in about an hour so in the meantime, let’s take a look at all of the most important new features Apple’s latest OS has to offer..."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:FB and Google are NOT in the same situation. (Score -1, Redundant) 215

by bonch (#40115391) Attached to: Dark Days Ahead For Facebook and Google?

One is the designer and developer of the most popular smartphone + tablet OS.

Huh? The most popular tablet operating system is iOS. Android has very little presence in the tablet market. Having smartphone market share won't mean much if Google doesn't make money from Android, according to their own quarterlies.

Comment: That is cool, but... (Score 4, Insightful) 194

by bonch (#40096809) Attached to: Axis, Yahoo's New Browser

That search result display is actually really cool. I'd love to see that in other browsers (including desktop browsers). The problem is Yahoo's track record is poor when it comes to updating their products. For instance, Yahoo Mail is embarrassingly behind other web mail services. If Yahoo treats this like they treat their other products, I can't help wondering if it will just become another obsolete Yahoo thing.

+ - RIAA Claims Losses In Excess Of World's Wealth-> 6

Submitted by bonch
bonch writes "Prior to setting with Limewire earlier this month, the RIAA had pressed for a $72 trillion verdict, greater than the $60 trillion of combined wealth on Earth. The RIAA arrived at the figure by multiplying $150,000 for each download of 11,000 songs, a figure federal Judge Kimba Wood called "absurd". No word on how much of the money would have gone back to the artists."
Link to Original Source

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