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Comment: Re:The more simple you make it the less complex it (Score 1) 876

by Decker-Mage (#46192697) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Why Are We Still Writing Text-Based Code?
Been there, done that, burned the stupid T-shirt. The main difference being that I used C. The component library was based on Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming." And given my background in engineering (a dozen fields) it actually was decent especially as I've been using structured (and object-oriented) constrained designs since the mid-70's. However, I could see the handwriting on the wall so I didn't take it to release.

There are GUI tools that you can use for the design side that actually provide nice code out the other end (Embarcadero is good for database design) especially if you have a lot of constraints. It's just not a generic tool and given how diffuse the target (coders are NOT generics), it will never happen. Sad since over in EEE we have shelves full of component catalogs while over on the software side we resort to cutting&pasting and then trying to refactor our was into a solution. Blech!

Comment: Re:Just install it? (Score 1) 158

Sorry, but if there's nothing executing in the background, SQL Server Enterprise will see a 3% hit every three seconds on a dual-core Core 2. Even with largish loads it still doesn't spend much time, or effort, just 'hanging-out.' It's when you put it under strain (heavy transactional loads) that it can chew up your resources. And I sure as heck wouldn't be doing load testing on a dual-core Pentium. Load testing should always be done on the target. Anything else just doesn't make sense. In Real Life engineering.

Comment: Re:yes! (Score 1) 137

Quite literally, freedom of the press meant the right to own and operate a printing press. There was also a separation in the treatment of libel and slander by printing press owners as opposed to speech. Which is why you still see distinctions in their treatment by law today. And for today, everyone pretty much has a printing press (as I, or at least Slashdot and their hosting company) at hand. Nearly everywhere you want to be (that's a joke).

Comment: Re:Units sold or already out? (Score 1, Interesting) 511

by Decker-Mage (#45973867) Attached to: Apple Devices To Reach Parity With Windows PCs In 2014

I'm not sure why we're discussing Apple in this context at all. I guess we just like also-rans here...

Apple is to Betamax as Android is to VHS. [Unlikely I'm the first to posit that historical correlation.] As to the Android tablet vs. Windows Desktop, well that's small 'a' apples to oranges. The price may be comparable, the performance is nowhere the same. Yet. [And never will be which is why I'm trying all sorts of techniques to come up with seamless integration and dynamic loading across the platforms. Pipe dream, but still fun. For certain definitions of fun.]

Comment: Re:cloud based world wide web (Score 2) 64

by Decker-Mage (#45973145) Attached to: Robots Test Their Own World Wide Web
I thought tying smart meters into the internet was an idiotic idea from the beginning as it would be my first hack should I ever work with gangs/drug-users/ordinary-criminals (pick one or several). Given how competent the existing security on the grid already is, well....

On the bright side, now I can think up lovely hacks of the robot internet (stuff the cloud nonsense) which would be even more fun(??)! Picture a worm giving the robotic version of enemas....

Comment: Re:Team Viewer (Score 1) 165

by Decker-Mage (#45863815) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Best App For Android For Remote Access To Mac Or PC?

I'm intreged by the idea of parenting in the same political philosophy that you would apply to governments. Libertarian children would be interesting. I'd love to see an infant earn his wage, rather than just sucking off his parents teets like a litte socialist rat.

It worked out rather well in my case. I was expected to do the chores (cooking, cleaning) from age 6 on with my younger brothers picking up chores as they became capable. [I should also add that I was learning electronic engineering at that age, taught by my mother to my Dad and myself. Lissitude patterns are fun.] Then again, the very first book my mother handed me when I figured out how to read, age 3, was Robert A. Heinlein's "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel."

Further it should be no surprise that I grew up a Libertarian, able to independently function with or without society, and entered the military for a first career. Funny how standards change. In any rational society, your children are inherent labor force for the family unit. Draw your own conclusions from that.
