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Comment firefighting app (Score 1) 630

I agree that software needs more focus, though it's harder to paint a quick picture in people's minds unless you say something like "make more apps."

I was actually very pleased that he used the example of firefighters downloading building plans on their way to a fire on their "PDA", since that's an app I actually built a few years ago (and current client ... http://getblazemark.com/

Focus depends on ease and effectiveness of narrative. If you can't get a hit in 10 seconds, it won't give the punch.

Comment Re:Do No Evil (Score 1) 224

There's two opposing groups to reckon with here: the employees and the shareholders. The latter wants the highest profit.

So as a "good" corporate manager, which group are you kind to? The only real answer for the shareholder side is ... maximize profits until morale/turnover sinks to the point where product (and profits) suffer. Any further spending for the employees is a negative for the shareholders.

Or you can sway the balance to treating your employees better for other than profit motives ... good PR, good retention, higher creativity/productivity. Again, unless these translate into better revenues, it's taking away from the shareholders.

UNLESS ... the shareholders, as a group, also want to "do good" and treat employees better than the bottom dollar.

It's about the shareholders, not the managers.

Comment Java EE 6 (Score 1) 519

Having just finished a non-trivial project using Java EE 6, I'm very pleasantly surprised at how far things have progressed in the Java world.

I used:

* Glassfish (app server)
* JPA 2 (EclipseLink)
* JSF 2 (Mojarra)
* EJB 3.1
* PrimeFaces (excellent JSF toolkit)
* Selenium/JUnit/Maven, etc.
* Java 6+

Java EE 6 completes the job started in Java EE 5, which is essentially ... re-do everything using the best practices developed in the last 10 years, learning from everyone's new ideas and jettison'ing the old. Convention over configuration, annotations, streamlining ... all decent throughout.

Standard Java EE is now very robust, speeds development, assures safety, and aids test-driven development.

I also think this particular stack will hang around for a good number of years, if not decades. They finally got it right.

Submission + - A backyard rocketship treehouse -- that works (youtube.com)

jelson writes: "Rarely does building a treehouse require welding, grinding, painting, riveting, bending, crimping, plumbing, brazing, laser cutting, sound design, printed circuit board fabrication, thousands of lines of C code, distributed network protocols, sewing and embroidery.

Ours did.

The RULAV is a hexagonal capsule, 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) high, atop a tripod 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) high, for an overall height of about 15 feet (4.6 meters). It is about 6.5 feet (2 meters) across at its widest point. The frame is welded mild steel with riveted aluminum siding. It contains nearly 800 LEDs forming dozens of numeric displays spread across 14 control panels, each with an acrylic face laser-cut and etched with labels such as "Lunar Distance" and "Hydraulic Pressure". The pilot controls the rocket using a joystick and panels full of working switches, knobs and buttons. Underneath the capsule are three "thrusters" that shoot plumes of water and compressed air under the control of the pilot's joystick, simulating real positioning thrusters. Takeoff and docking sequences are augmented by a paint-shaker that simulates the vibration of a rocket engine. Sound effects complete the illusion, with a powered subwoofer that gives the rocket a satisfying rumble.

Behind the scenes, rocket operations are controlled by three Atmega328 microprocessors on custom-fabricated printed circuit boards, running a small operating system, RULOS, that we built just for this project. The processors communicate using an in-rocket TWI network and will eventually talk back to the house over a serial port. A trench running from the house to the rocket carries 12VDC power for the lighting and electronics, water for the thrusters, compressed air, and several data signals."

Math

Submission + - Do large jackpots make lottery tickets rational? (circlemud.org)

An anonymous reader writes: Last week's Mega Millions multi-state lottery jackpot reached $380 million, and $1 tickets had a 1 in 175.7 million chance of winning. Was it economically rational to buy tickets? The answer was surprising. Either way, over 200 million tickets were purchased!

Comment Re:Now to be fair (Score 1) 10

From what I understand the reason people get offended is that M$ implies there is something evil about making $$$.

I just get offended by people saying 'M$' because it paints the Linux community as a bunch of pimply-faced teenage dorks that think that calling Microsoft 'M$' is like the greatest insult in the world. I use Linux at work. It's a great developer platform. I use it t home for my server. Great at that, too. Just have a windows box for games. So you can call me a Linux geek... but I hate two things about the linux community:
Those that insult proprietary companies like a kid would
Those that insult others trying to learn Linux (if someone was to say "RTFM" to a newbie in real life, I'd kick him in the nards)

Comment Pull Out? (Score 1) 57

Really? 401k is a retirement, long-term investment. The market goes up and down, so unless you plan on cashing out your 401k TODAY or next year, I say now is the time to put MORE into the 401k. It's the stock market! When it's low, put in more money, when it's high sell off!

Never ever ever react to a sudden change in the stock market on a long term investment, unless it's something like enron...

Comment Re:I'm in the crackberry camp (Score 1) 19

I'm in the iPhone camp and have both of these apps on my iPhone.

The only reason I'd flip to android is that I can write java apps to the android... if you want to write an app to your iPhone, its objective-C, which I know you probably prefer, Barbie, but I'm a java guy ;)
Another advantage of iPhone is maturity. The androids are still level 1.0. I like to wait for the next gen (which is why I have an iPhone 3G, and never had the original iPhone).

Comment Re:Is your boss related to your landlord? (Score 1) 36

LOL! Love the subject, johndiii :D

As with everyone, I'm surprised you lasted this long. A threat to pay is a last resort, company will fall out from under you if you leave, kind of threat, or a threat to someone you want to quit so you don't have to go through any company policy severance...

If you are looking for a job in the states, let me know. My company always appreciates a good developer, and we do placement jobs if you don't want consulting.

Comment Re:Spiders (Score 1) 4

Yup... spiders kill the bugs that can carry disease and stuff. As long as they are like up in the ceiling or out of the way areas making webs, I let'm go...

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