Comment Headquartered in Cleveland (Score 1) 162
Jones Day is actually headquartered in Cleveland, though they have many law offices around the world, including Chicago.
Twitter Not Rocket Science, but Still a Work in Progress 111
While it may not be rocket science, the Twitter team has been making a concerted effort to effect better communication with their community at large. Recently they were set-upon by a barrage of technical and related questions and the resulting answers are actually somewhat interesting. "Before we share our answers, it's important to note one very big piece of information: We are currently taking a new approach to the way Twitter functions technically with the help of a recently enhanced staff of amazing systems engineers formerly of Google, IBM, and other high-profile technology companies added to our core team. Our answers below refer to how Twitter has worked historically--we know it is not correct and we're changing that."
"Understanding" Search Engine Enters Public Beta 192
religious freak sends word of the public beta of Powerset, a closely watched San Francisco startup that promises an "understanding engine" to revolutionize Web search. An article in SearchEngineLand points out that Powerset is reaching higher than for mere "natural language." Techcrunch has more details and analysis. For the beta, Powerset makes available all of Wikipedia to search — not all the Web. It's said that their understanding engine required a month to grok Wikipedia's 2.5M articles. The Web is currently at least 8,000 times as large.
EU Plans to Require Biometrics for Visitors 238
bushwhacker2000 writes to tell us that the EU may soon be requiring travelers to provide biometric data before crossing into Europe. They are trying to soften the blow by offering "streamlined" services for frequent travelers but the end result seems the same. "The proposals, contained in draft documents examined by the International Herald Tribune and scheduled to go to the European Commission on Wednesday, were designed to bring the EU visa regime into line with a new era in which passports include biometric data. The commission, the EU executive, argues that migratory pressure, organized crime and terrorism are obvious challenges to the Union and that the bloc's border and visa policy needs to be brought up to date."
Best Laptop for Going Around the World? 479
mitbeaver writes "I'm planning a round-the-world trip. 6+ months in developing countries, including Everest base camps 1 & 2, the deserts of Namibia and lots of places in between. I want to bring something to write (blogs or the Great American Novel) and burn DVD photo backups to mail home. I don't really need much in the way of power, but I do need it to survive the altitude, dust, moisture of tropical locations, and being hauled around non-stop for the better part of a year. I will be carrying my life in my backpack, so every pound counts. It looks like some 'semi-rugged' ultraportables exist, but the truly 'rugged' are all pretty heavy. These are pricey, and the risk of theft is non trivial. A smaller laptop is easier to keep on my person more often, which is safer (in most countries) than leaving it in the hostel/hotel. Still, the rugged guys are 2x the price — almost worth buying a cheap one and planning an on the road replacement purchase. I know we've talked about gadgets to carry around the world before, but any advice would be greatly appreciated." We also discussed laptop travel cases a little more than a year ago.
The Symantec Guide To Home Internet Security 139
r3lody writes "There are many households that have high-speed Internet connections, yet most people are simply not doing enough to protect themselves from the many exploits that exist. The Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security by Andrew Conry-Murray and Vincent Weafer was written to speak to those people. Symantec Press is the publisher, yet it remains reasonably vendor-neutral. This book is for non-technical people. Its ten chapters cover a relatively slim 240 pages, so it should not intimidate someone who is not a computer professional. Also, you do not really have to read the book front-to-back, but you can focus in on the chapter or chapters that interest you and have fairly complete information." Read on for the rest of Ray's review.
GM Says Driverless Cars Will Be Ready By 2018 646
Gregor Stipicic writes "Cars that drive themselves — even parking at their destination — could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say. 'This is not science fiction,' Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research and development, said in a recent interview. GM plans to use an inexpensive computer chip and an antenna to link vehicles equipped with driverless technologies. The first use likely would be on highways; people would have the option to choose a driverless mode while they still would control the vehicle on local streets, Burns said. He said the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road around 2018."
Comment Re:Maybe it's just me... (Score 3, Insightful) 258
Then you know nothing about real programming. Seeing to the heart of a problem and figuring out the twist that solves it is one of the most creative things there is. It is crafting not static works, like books, but dynamic, responsive, living words -- programming is to writing what composing is to playing music. Each layer of abstraction requires less technique and rote and more creativity, and programming is one of the most abstract media that people have ever worked in.
If you program by brute force or mathematical proofs and use no creativity, then you are no more a programmer than someone transcribing data is an author.
If you program by brute force or mathematical proofs and use no creativity, then you are no more a programmer than someone transcribing data is an author.
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Getting the job done is no excuse for not following the rules. Corollary: Following the rules will not get the job done.
