Posts by David Heffernan

Stroustrup on next-gen C++: I didn't want to let go of my baby

Re: C++ put me off programming

Plenty of other languages have pointers and are easier to learn and use than C++/

Google morphs Chrome OS into netbook thin client

Lame

As far as I can tell Chrome OS is a project to build a really lame useless computer. It looks like they are well on the way to huge success meeting this goal.

Symantec Y2.01K bug still stymies customers

Errors in article

2009 is less than 2010 under string compare since in position 3 you have 0 which is less than all other digits. I presume the string compare was working on 9 and 10 in which case the latter is less than the former.

Nokia N900 Linux smartphone

Ceded to iPhone, really?

In what sense has Nokia "ceded its dominance of the smartphone market with the arrival of the iPhone"?

They are still, by a distance, the biggest supplier of smartphones by volume. I think RIM are second with Apple languishing in third place.

Google Chrome update fills in parsing bug

Bodes well for Google Chrome OS

From the official announcement of Chrome OS (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html):

"And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

Why isn't there an English word for Schadenfraude?

Google patents (2004) home page

28?!

28 my arse, I can count 40 on my google.co.uk page!

Google applies patch to nasty Chrome vulns

Security is safe in Google's hands

I'm confused. When Google announced Chrome OS on their official blog they said:

"And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

Merchants and punters cry foul over Verified by Visa

I got stung by this today!

This afternoon I got an e-mail from Natwest Secure (aka Mastercard SecureCode) telling me I had changed my password. I hadn't. So I rang them and cancelled my card. My card gets cancelled around twice a year. Last time this happened it took me a very long time to persuade them that the transaction made was fraudulent. Apparently since it had been authenticated by SecureCode it must have been me.

As far as I can tell the banks just do this to try to put the blame for fraud elsewhere. Banks don't have to pay for fraud. It's the credit card owners and the merchants. If they had to pay then they might have some incentive to make the system work!

Agile development - can’t scale, won’t scale?

Your agile and my agile may not be the same thing

It all depends on what you call Agile. IBM claim to have gone agile but their version of agile appears nothing like my vision of agile (from the perspective of a 5 person team). I wet myself with laughter every time I hear one of these IBM guys talk about how agile they are!

Cnet blogger squadron discovers long lines at Apple retail stores

Envy

El Reg is posting too many of these "some other hacks are worse than us" stories these days. Basically you're just hacked off (pun intended) because the CNET hacks get more bunce than you!

Why don't you just quit bitching and report the news?!

Google evaporates Docs and Spreadsheets cloud

Time to upgrade to a real office suite

There are a few around

IBM 'advises' staff to opt for a Microsoft Office-free world

IBM leads the way with Open Standards

“I know a smart business decision when I see one – choosing open standards is a very smart business decision indeed,” said Kroes. “No citizen or company should be forced or encouraged to choose a closed technology over an open one.”

I guess that means IBM will no longer encourage people to use: AIX, Rational, DB2, Notes/Domino, WebSphere etc.

Canonical rejiggers Ubuntu for laptots

laptot

What's a laptot? A laptop for small children? A very young laptop?

BT 'security upgrade' causes email headaches

Simple solution

Why not just use the mail provider's authenticated SMTP server. For example my e-mail is hosted by 1&1 and my broadband is from BT. 1&1 provide an authenticated SMTP server so there is no need for any of this nonsense.

Stroustrup and Sutter: C++ to run and run

Stroustrup books

At the sessions Herb Sutter was handing out copies of his and Stroustroup's books for particularly noteworthy contributions from the audience. Everyone chose Herb's books until there were a pile of unwanted Bjarne tomes left.

I was there at SD west

I was actually at these sessions at SD West. I think what a lot of you are missing is that a lot of design decisions in the development of C++ were to support legacy code. For example the support for plain C, C++0x changes are careful not to break old stuff.

Whilst this will keep C++ popular and thriving for a while I feel that, like every language in history, eventually it won't be able to both adapt to new demands and meet legacy compatibility concerns. At that point something else will take over in its space (portable code for high performance large systems).

I think you should all bear that in mind before you toss brickbats. I personally never write in C++ (don't like it), but you've got to respect a language that has been so successful and proven adept to coping with change,

Binary interfaces in component development

C++ wasn't designed to do this.....

....so it bloody well serves you right!

You should stick to a real language in future.

Ballmer: All open source dev should happen on Windows

All open source dev should happen on Windows?

What he actually said, according yo your article at least was "I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows" which is completely different from the article title "Ballmer: All open source dev should happen on Windows".

Or are you just stirring again?!