Journal tomhudson's Journal: The Sh*t List - keeping score 18
Since it's SO hard to keep track of who we're supposed to think is evil and who we're supposed to root for every month, here's this month's Sh*t List.
Who's evil this month and should roast in Hell
- Oracle, Java
- Apple
Who's simmering on the back burner this month
- Microsoft, Steve Balmer
Who's neutral this month
(this is slashdot - there is no neutral!)
Who's good this month
- Adobe (pdfs haven't killed my machine in a long time - I can actually use them now, go figure!).
Who's awesome
- c,c++ (always have been, always will be - everything else except asm is second-rate or worse)
- linux - "it just works"
- groklaw -SCO is circling the bowl and it's fun to watch
- the journal circle on slashdot, of course
- last week's BOfH - like the voicemail option at the end
Thanks to the lawsuit, Google moves to +1 Good, Oracle gets -5 evil, and Java stays at -2 evil, trending downward because even long-time Java developers are now posting about how it's become the canonical definition of bloat over the last decade, Microsoft just sits on the backburner at -2, and my favorable experience with cross-platform game development moves Adobe to the good guys at +2.
POLL
Which causes more brain damage?
BASIC
Java?
XML
Meh (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That's one of the reasons that Adobe was on the sh*t list for a decade - pdfs would kill a machine, and only flash blockers saved the Innert00bs.
But it pays to be good. Ethical funds out-perform regular funds, and if a large portion of the population hadn't gone evil/greedy, we wouldn't have had the housing bubble.
Being amoral (amoral doesn't mean evil - it means "without regards to morals" - not the same thing at all) only works as a decision-making strategy if only a small minority of the population
Re: (Score:2)
Good point. Even with FF being a lot better at it, I still have a ~1% chance of my browser hanging when encountering pdfs.
As for the Scotch, no. Cheap beer makes me sick, Guinness just makes me happy. It's still about what works
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I'm way more of a Scotch fan than beer. In fact I've only found one beer that I actually like. I'll drink Porter's and Stouts and they're, meh. But Laurelwood's Space Stout is the first one that I actually really liked. I have no idea if you can find it where you are, but I'd recommend it. There's also Young's Double Choclate Stout which I have heard of and seen but not yet tried. Probably will soon though on my trip to CA coming up. [laurelwoodbrewpub.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Trick poll (Score:3, Funny)
Using Java is the result of brain damage, not the cause.
Re: (Score:2)
The worst part is I *want* to like Java, I really do - but every time I look at it, the situation is even worse ...
But yes, it's a trick poll :-) They're ALL CowboyNeal options.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd argue that BASIC has a place in quick and dirty programming (eg BASICStamp microcontrollers, which aren't amazingly cheap or efficient but are great for rapid development in one-off applications), but trying to use it for modern APIs seems like trying to build a SR-71 with a flint hammer. And I have to admit that I like XML's readability (makes fiddling around with Macs* a breeze), though that alone doesn't make it universally appropriate.
By comparison, while Java is a good idea in principle, it doesn't
Poll (Score:3, Informative)
Some (Score:2, Insightful)
just some random, better off nuked from orbit just to be sure:
Goldman Sachs, BP, Xe, Government Motors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the "Federal" Reserve, Haliburton..aww shoot, could go on for awhile....
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Scumbag mercenaries who used to go by Blackwater. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Worldwide [wikipedia.org]
Also see : dyncorp, another outfit of security contractor "heroes". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyncorp [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
pretty much (Score:1)
dyncorp got busted for freaking *slavery* and the doofus government still uses them.
This is also interesting, and has a blackwater connection. Basically, blackwater is so despised in iraq for all the abuse there even the pro US Iraqi government doesn't want them there (but we insist they stay in some form). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallujah,_The_Hidden_Massacre [wikipedia.org]
BASIC (Score:2)
By enabling people to get a lot of complex stuff done in a procedural fashion rather than a modular fashion, BASIC permits people to think linearly; a skill they don't understand that they have to unlearn when they are introduced to object oriented programming.
Java can be abused, but it can also be used well. It may be complex and bloated, but that's not a failing that will injure the brain.
XML is an interesting item on the list. http is missing that domain specific languages are actually very useful. An
Adobe (Score:2)
Oh, a comment about Adobe. I saw the release of Blitzableiter at Blackhat. It stops Flash-based malware dead. The author simply wrote a parser that validates Flash to ensure it is well formed, fixes it when it can, and blocks it when it can't. It's available as an extension to the awesome NoScript add-in for Firefox.
He says it's stopped 100% of the malware he could find.
So I don't know that I'd praise Adobe. Their software should be responsible for validating their input, but it obviously isn't. And wi
Thoughts (Score:2)
I would put Adobe in the neutral area (yeah, I know, very un-Slashdot-like, but I don't care) because of their continued insistence on charging exorbitant prices for their Creative Suites, even more so outside of the USA.
I would also put Microsoft in neutral, purely because of the amazing non-suckiness of Windows 7.
-MT.
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft has a LONG history to overcome to get off the sh*t list. In theory, it's possible. Then again, in theory, theory and practice are the same - in practice, they're not. They won't make the decisions they have to make.
The price of Adobe products, as you point out, depends in part on the local distributor. Cheaper is always better, but price is only a part of the value equation. If it lets you make money ...