Yes. I find this to be the case too (I was a programmer in the seventies and eighties, and have been in programming management ever since).

So it begs the question "can one write code that one won't think is sub-optimal five years from now?". I've begun to suspect that one can't -- so just learn to accept it and move on.

What I try to get programmers to do is write code that is A) clear and simple and B) balanced in terms of development vs. maintenance time. I don't want programmers wasting time perfecting code that's not going even be looked at for years to come, nor do I want code that takes days to get into when attempting small fixes.

It's like building a house: if you follow the building standards, it's quick, safe, and any plumber or other trade can walk in later and quickly fix or modify things. If you do a bodge job it all has to be torn out and redone properly, or, if you create custom installations, it gets very expensive to create and especially to maintain.

Sorry, I realize it's 35 years ago. You can blame it on senility.

"... but the fact itself that someone is making decisions for me regarding things like that makes me feel somewhat displeased. C++ doesn't restrict programmers regarding what they can or cannot use."

That's exactly what I said about C vs. 360/Assembler 25 or more years ago. And I still prefer to code in Assembler.

Check out the Hands Up app

http://www.handsuptheapp.com/

- Two automotive GPSs
- Six current family smartphones
- At least five older smartphones in drawers
- One of these: http://www.bendixking.com/AV8O...
- No doubt a few others I've forgotten

PS: this doesn't count the tracker in the Community Car Pool vehicle we sometimes have custody of (we consider it "ours" as it's home base is only about 100M away).

The "Hands Up" app ( http://www.handsuptheapp.com/ ) has just been released and is designed to deal with these issues. It's quite clever and records the your interaction with the police as usual, but also:
- Turns the screen blank but keeps recording;
- Automatically uploads geotagged video segments to Dropbox every few seconds, preserving the recording even if it's erased or the phone is destroyed; and,
- Sends a text message to your emergency contact notifying them of the recording's existence.

I invoke the insensitive clod clause.

Here we go off for a litre -- you can go and enjoy your 2.11338 pints of fizzy beverage (and btw, was that Imperial or US pints?). Also, discuss base 10 maths if you must, but base 16 may be more interesting and useful around here.

Also, this way we get more beer.

Yes. Here they call it Bureau en Gros, of course, but it's all very much of a muchness. My point is that whatever the sector, it turns out that there are several apparent retailers, but closer examination reveals that what's on offer is the same stuff, at nearly identical prices, and in fact has the same owners.

For that matter, many of the people here probably have (at least indirectly) small amounts of most of these companies in their 401Ks / IRAs / RRSPs / whatever.

True, but the monopoly happened in 2001 when Best Buy bought Future Shop to begin with. Since then, they've been taking advantage of a public that was given the mistaken impression that there was some competition, when in fact there was none.

So perhaps this will ultimately be good for competition, as customers pissed off with one won't cross the street and go into the other. Instead, they can go down the block to Office Depot...

Also, a big dam is a huge local environmental change, but that happens only once, and eventually wildlife and vegetation re-establish themselves in a new pattern. But thereafter, the dam keeps producing electricity for decades or centuries.

Quebec, for example, built the James Bay project (which covers an area the size of the state of New York) in the 1970s, and it continues to provide Quebec and much of New England with some of the cheapest power in the world. FWIW, Quebec has generated 99.8% of its power from renewables for decades -- the remainder comes from a few small diesel facilities to back up wind farms in remote regions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J...