I think it's Apple nowadays. And they deserve it.
We realized we actually need Windows in order to have backdoors.

Meh..
Some people summed up my feelings about this site so perfectly well that I don't even have to say anything else or append anything.
BR
N

There's no attack like a bee attack..

It seems that Manutius is still in operation!

"Notifications are only for things which you can safely ignore or miss out on." Fred explains well -- do not display anything that nobody needs to see.

The best portion of this proposal is everything using Mark's API can be safely disabled completely. The bad is wasting effort on something completely useless. The worst result is splitting the interface for applications communicating with people. This interface does not allow actions, therefore any communications requiring actions must use a different interface so using this project requires multiple interfaces for communicating with people.

Programmers were (and most are still) not trained about usability. A good interface for a messaging system would have been easy if dialog boxes with standardized buttons had not become common. Windowing systems also kept the modal model from the single-thread paradigm. Multi-threading has been used for performance rather than interfacing with people.

Specifications: Only the front-end application can force message window to front. Applications can check whether a message was answered and receive the answer, preferably asynchronously, but people can switch applications freezing the current application if the response was mandatory and urgent. System may limit frequency of additions and checks by applications to prevent overloading. Every message appears in list interface and log(s). Reactivating a message moves to the top of list. List remembers first time, last time, and number of appearances. People can remove messages from list without using application-defined actions (to prevent fear that application dialog box's close action has other consequences.)

The new API is simple. Only the first string is required in each function. Answers are the text of the parameter (so changing the order has no other effect.)
Synchronous (application waits for answer, gaining focus automatically reopens message):
action = ask_wait("Question", "Action1", "Action2", "Action3");
Asynchronous (application can continue):
ask_log("Question"); - Add to list without move messaging to front, and continue.
id = ask_new("Question", "Action1", "Action2", "Action3"); - Add question, move to front, and continue.
ask_again(id); - Move question to top of list and move messaging to front.
action = ask_get(id); - Empty string if no answer.

Should be easy to create library for use with Gnome, KDE, and Win32. Simplification includes:
- Window title cannot be specified.
- One standard font without decorations. This avoids Gnome's practice of using bold for the first line so the critical question at the end is less visible.
- No images. Some systems add icons to indicate type of dialog. These types are unnecessary. People only care if they need to choose an answer.
- Text is required for actions, hopefully ending the reign of OK|Yes|No|Cancel dialogs.

Future possibilities include:
- Filter/sort list by application and whether actions exist.
- Incorporate the messaging system as a status bar in applications.

An early version of this text was posted on the original article. The comment either will not appear until moderated or failed moderation. My website contains an expanded version.

People do not change until a reason exists.

I support five PCs with 512MB RAM and ~2Ghz CPU built 1999-2002 running Windows 98SE. These PCs will be used until the hardware fails. Windows XP is very slow on this hardware and still has critical security holes seven years after release. The users have not been happy with my attempts to convert them to Linux. The users are happy with the current (old) software so the lack of upgrades is not a problem.

The default Internet Explorer 6 was designed to ease virus distribution; alternate browsers such as Firefox 2 are critical to keeping these PCs secure. Firefox 3 refuses to install on Windows 98, probably more to reduce support than any technical requirement. Vendors encouraging upgrades by disabling features or refusing to install just causes these users to stop updating software. These users already abjure iTunes, Vonage, and ZoneAlarm.

My story might help the OP.

Background: Playing with computers since very young. Started an information publishing business before the Internet was ready (wrong partner.) Used the experience to consult buiding database applications. Almost took a job programming C++, but returned to college (wrong move.) Dropped out for finances (poor loans and grants advice and policies.)

No degree; want job in IT.

1995: Joined cattle call for Windows 95 call center. Over 200 people; very few with computer experience. I bothered the best technician with questions. The current best technician would leave for a non-support job about every two weeks. Repeated until I was the best technician.

1996: Used that reputation to land job as "Lotus Notes Administrator" answering support calls. Learned administration. Also learned LotusScript and the rest of Lotus Notes. The development group would call me for help when they could not read their own code. Several of the developers were consultants from one company.

1997: Joined the consulting company. Would try me as a developer, but threatened a long-term administration position if I did not produce. I produced. Became certified as both administrator and developer. Built reputation for completing the impossible in very little time.

2000: A large consulting company recruited me for contract work. That company has provided about half my work since. Also working for other consulting companies and on my own startup.

2006: Decided to try being an employee. Gained position that required Masters degree; I was the only applicant with the required experience. Need a degree to be promoted and a B.S. before a Masters so college while working full-time.
2007: Left company just before completing B.S. Management. Returned to consulting.

The first goal is to enter the field. Support centers always need people. Do not work phone support more than one year. Use the experience to learn everything and make friends to land the next job. Since the OP's goal is to be an administrator, the next job will likely be a junior administrator. Get promoted if possible, otherwise wait a year and move to an administrator position.

Learn everything you can in each position. In the last two years, I have completed projects using Java, Lotus Notes/Domino, Microsoft, and SAP on MSWindows and Unix/Linux, also programming in other languages: Bash, C#, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, SQL (MS SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL), and XSL/XPath. (I am certainly forgetting some.) As an administrator, you will not need quite as much variety, but the more you know, the more jobs you can handle. A good administrator should know Bash, MSDOS, Perl, and VBS.

Actually, the trick is knowing that you _aren't_ a great programmer (honestly what are the odds that you are a great programmer?), and thus choosing to reuse code from better (and hopefully great) programmers.

There's no such thing as a "great programmer" in the sense that one individual excels in every aspect of software development.

1. Being a great programmer is overrated. Producing more than 10 times faster does not result in earning 10 times faster. The pay rate for the great programmer is rarely double the rate for the normal programmer. The benefits of using a great programmer are reluctantly taken by customers. Projects budgeted for one year costing over $100,000 are completed in one month for $20,000, are better aligned with the business, provide more functionality, and are easier to maintain; customers still complain about the higher rate.

2. Great programmers could excel in every aspect of software development. That stated, we are humans with personalities including individual preferences. In the late 1980s, I thought about creating a Unix-like OS, but decided I would dislike creating and maintaining the project. Luckily, others with different preferences had similar plans resulting in Linux and the BSDs. My preference is application platforms, one level below building applications. My chosen specialty requires being expert at building applications and integrating with many systems (operating systems, databases, and clients e.g. browsers.) Does anybody think that RMS or Torvalds would have difficulty programming games? Their specialties derive from personal preferences, not abilities.

3. Great programmers will join existing projects. Using a popular project removes the work of creating and marketing early versions. A great programmer focuses on fixing problems with the software, including redesigning and rewriting whatever is needed to make the project do what the great programmer wants.

4. The OP has discovered that new specifications are difficult with the chosen framework. A normal programmer starts looking for a new framework. A great programmer has more choices:
- Work around the problems without discarding the current framework.
- Fix the current framework to handle the new requirements.
The former is possible because the great programmer does not accept the limitations of the framework. The latter is possible because the great programmer can quickly rewrite the framework without adding much to the project's budget. Normal programmers are more accepting of limitations, less likely to design workarounds, and cannot rewrite the framework in a reasonable timeframe.

5. Almost nobody builds "from scratch." Even if the OP discards the current framework, he will still use existing Java Web servers and operating systems. The choice is not whether to use others' code, just how much.

6. Solutions include:
- Building a new framework.
CONS: High maintenance, less expertise, future requirements may still exceed the capabilities.
- Switching frameworks.
CONS: Future requirements may still exceed current capabilities.
- Fixing the current framework.
CONS: Need to have improvements accepted by framework project to avoid upgrade issues.
- Redesign application to workaround framework.
CONS: Project is less maintainable as different functions use different methods.

No good recommendation is possible without knowing more about the OP's resources and problems.
- Can Hibernate be fixed to handle the new requirements?
- Is the Hibernate team already working to add these abilities?
- Can new functionality use JDBC directly without interfering with the existing code?
I would not discard the proven working code until the new methods have been proven stable and maintaining two systems requires more effort than replacing one.

I see the fat-ass,know-it-all, selfish, lazy, arrogant, Americans are posting today.
Get a life!

"5. Most aussies don't winge about problems. They sort them."

You obviously haven't read about your league boys recently, even winning they're winging :-)

Initial Disclaimer: IANAL but I am a law student who will practice copyright / technology law

With all due respect, I disagree strongly with your comment.

You said...

and what I say in class is my intellectual property

Repeat after me: copyright is not an absolute right.

Go ahead, repeat it: copyright is not an absolute right.

There is something called Fair Use. I should know, as I rely upon it when creating my podcast, [shameless plug] Life of a Law Student. In LoaLS I build upon my notes from the lectures I took part in at law school to create audio episodes explaining the cases and the law. I then make these episodes available, for free, to anyone who wants to listen and/or download. They are licensed as CC-Attribution and GNU FDL to enable others to build upon them freely.

Out of respect, I informed my profs and the administration what I was planning on doing before I started. Most thought it was a great idea or at least would not stand in my way. Unfortunately, I had one of my professors tell me that he only gave permission for his students to take notes for their own personal use, and so he wouldn't allow me to do LoaLS off of his class. I politely told him I wasn't seeking his permission because my Use was a Fair one and thanked him for his time.

Fair Use has four articulated prongs (although there are potentially more factors to balance).

1. First, what is the nature of the new work? Is it transformative or merely derivative; is it educational and noncommercial or commercial?
   
   
2. Second, what is the amount of the old work re-used?
   
   
3. Third, is the old work largely creative or largely fact-based?
   
   
4. Fourth, what is the impact by the new work on the market for the old work? The first and fourth prongs are given considerably more weight than the second and third prongs.

Let's consider a student setting up a tape recorder and simply recording your lectures. (We'll set aside any Honor Code violations that explicitly give you the right to ban taping; we'll only deal with your "intellectual property" right.)

1. First, if the students aren't selling the recordings and using the recordings to help themselves and others learn, prong one cuts in their favor. Also, they're transforming your ephemeral audio into more durable format, so prong one further cuts in their favor under the transformative question.
   
   
2. Secondly, although they may be taping the whole old work and prong two cuts against a finding of Fair Use, this is only one prong and a less important one at that.
   
   
3. Third, your lecture is likely primarily fact-driven, so the third prong cuts in favor of finding Fair Use.
   
   
4. Finally, you're most likely not selling your existing lectures in a recorded format. You may be selling your lectures via tuition at the University, but so long as these tapes are not serving as a substitute for the University experience and/or degree, you're not being harmed. (On the contrary, I've had many people tell me they decided to go to law school because of LoaLS, because it de-mystified what law school was. In this way I'm helping the market for my law school professors, and so your hypothetical recording students could be helping the market for your copyrighted works.)

In summary, a student would likely have a legal right to record your lectures under Fair Use because three of the four prongs (and both of the important ones) would cut in their favor. If you would like make your lectures available for sale or distribution that might change the analysis. But the key thing is to disabuse yourself of this notion that your "intellectual property" is an absolute. Fair Use is explicitly codified in the Copyright Act because it is recognized that oftentimes the incumbent copyright holders won't be willing to innovate in ways that will benefit society. And the entire Constitutional purpose of copyright is to "promote the progress of the useful arts and sciences."

Not to give you an absolute property right.

- Neil Wehneman

P.S. To Slashdot at large: I am looking for people with PHP, audio, or general tech experience to help me grow LoaLS. I have nearly the entire first year of law school in audio right now, and have picked up a few other law students to record with me. Right now I need help managing all of this content and finding new ways to make it available to as many people as possible. I have a dedicated server and unlimited bandwidth donated to the project, so let me know ([neil] [at] [lifeofalawstudent] [dot] [com]) if anyone is interested in coming on board.