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Comment And guess what Fortran is making a comeback (Score 1) 641

I have worked in process control and high energy physics for the last 30 years. When the PAW (physics analysis workstations) were converted from Fortran to C++ it was a total disaster, a bloated piece of crapware emerged that took more resources, ran at half speed if it didnt crash with a memory leak first. I have stood on the bank of the river and watched the corpses floating by, the latest fads in languages back then, remember Pascal, Modula, Algol68 .... During that time Linux hackers were perfectly happy to write their C code with vi and make, perhaps with cscope and get reliable binaries that are maintanable. The point about C is its a SIL (Systems Implementation Language), no one in their right mind would think about writing a kernel in C++, its an abomination. For those of us who need OO then C# and Java are great, look at Android. The old languages that have survived the test of time have done so because they work for the niche they were intended for. C is brilliant at describing and using hardware interfaces and writing beautiful fast kernel code, and yes macros are great "ContainerOf" and "WaitEvent" are two that come to mind. So cheers to C, Fortran (making a strong comeback), Lisp and Python. May C++ rot in hell as soon as possible with the rest of the crap, if I want OO I will use Java.
Science

LHC To Narrow Search For Higgs Boson 99

New submitter mraudigy sends this quote from Physorg: "CERN scientists say their data from two main experiments using CERN's $10-billion Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border will be made public next Tuesday, but any firm discovery will have to wait until next year. They say the data helps narrow the region of the search because it excludes some of the higher energy ranges where the Higgs boson might be found, and shows some intriguing possibilities involving a small number of 'events' at the lower energy ranges."
Government

Submit Your Comments About ACTA 124

alex_guy_CA Notes that the US Trade Representative — who has been negotiating the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement without input from the American people or Congress — is seeking public submissions on how to conduct US foreign copyright policy. This means that Americans can file comments with the USTR asking for ACTA to be made public. Public Knowledge explains the process: "Under the Special 301 process the USTR seeks input from US copyright, trademark, and patent owners about whether policies and practices in foreign countries deny them adequate IP protection. The process has generally been used by IP holders to complain not only about lax enforcement in other countries, but also about limitations and exceptions in their laws that are beneficial to libraries, to education, to innovation, and to the public interest generally. The ability to comment in the Special 301 process is not limited to IP owners only. Any member of the public is free to file comments. If you believe in the importance of balanced copyright policies, file comments with the USTR and make your voice heard. Comments can be filed electronically via http://www.regulations.gov/ docket number USTR-2010-0003. You have to include the term '2010 Special 301 Review' in the 'Type Comment and Upload File' field. ... Deadline for filing is February 16 by 5 pm."

Comment Re:Forced to buy MS windows (Score 1) 336

Problem is that the good hardware top range netbooks are not available without MS-crap on them. I am sure the only reason MS is popular is because there is no/(very litttle) choice in your average computer shop. The only good thing about windows I guess is that it stinks so much it keeps the flies off the rest of us. However I don't enjoy paying that price just because I want a netbooks with 9Hrs battery life etc.

Comment Forced to buy MS windows (Score 2, Insightful) 336

Speaking as a consumer of netbooks, I am fed up paying the Microsoft tax, having them puke windows Vista all over my hard drive and vandalizing it with nasty plastic stickers on it. I format the drive, pull off the stickers and install Ubuntu. I hope Google wins and wipes MS out. Hardly fair when you cant choose not to have windows and are forced to pay for something you dont want.

Comment Re:your flame hurts too (Score 1) 235

You are confusing the word "computer" with the garbage spewed out by Microsoft. I will admit that no one understands XP, and that there is very little science behind it. I do understand computers, just not what passes for an operating system from Bill's lot.

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