Just wanted to thank everybody for the discussion here. I was stuck on a project for a while now and avoided working on it, because I had a good excuse (learning math).
I've had been cleaning up a mess of code that I've ported from a book whilst changing parts to fit my needs. I've got stuck on the process of cleaning up and now I'm going to reread the book and try to understand the concepts fully to then write my own code based on my understandings.
Even though I already considered doing that I still felt completely demotivated. The discussion here and the quote from the zen-book made me reconsider my options and think about what the correct next step would be.
Please define "properly", at least regarding Linux.
There is a performance hit under Linux, sure, but beyond that?
I'm using Linux myself full-time, but for flash games I might even consider Linux irrelevant if there is no way of getting good performance.
The by far biggest part of the audience still uses windows and that probably won't change for quite a while.
Flash is installed outside the package management system (particularly on distros emphasizing Free Software: Debian, Ubuntu, etc.). This has improved through packaged installers (the plug-in's still fetched from outside of repos), but only in very recent times.
Flash content fails to load at all. I actually have this problem on several platforms, presumably because I limit JavaScript execution, and many sites now rely on third-party scripts for content generation (hello, Gawker, yes, you).
The player is very resource-heavy. I'll browse with several score tabs open. On a sufficiently beefy box, that's tenable, but with flash, memory and CPU utilization go through the roof.
The browser plug-in crashes, frequently requiring a browser restart to restore it. Given that Flash is virtually always at best ancillary to my browsing session (where I use it it's almost exclusively as a video player), my preference would be to have an external video player (I have several excellent free ones at my disposal). The crashes are addressed in Chrome as tabs and plug-ins run as separate threads/processes, but this still affects Firefox/Iceweasel.
There are numerous security and privacy issues with Flash, for which we're wholly dependent on Adobe to please, eventually, maybe address these.
64 bit Linux support was a long, long, long time in coming (and IIRC it's still weak). Until Linux itself got 32/64 bit library support sorted (again, only in recent years), this was a significant PITA.
Given Nielsen's criticisms (which address Flash as a website UI element, not such things as Flash video and games), yes, Flash is at least 99% bad. Most use is still advertising (yuk) and idiotic slideshows (infuriating). Its valid uses (videos, maybe games) would still be better addressed through standalone utilities rather than in-browser plug-ins, IMO. I use my browser for work and information, not entertainment. I keep a lot of state in my browser sessions, and they tend to live for days if not weeks.
All in all, as a Linux user, up until 2008/2009, Flash was sufficiently a pain in the ass that I'd generally just not bother installing it. I install it now (it's gotten easy enough) but block the hell out of it, with my rare use-case being YouTube videos and the very occasional informational graphic which makes valid use of Flash.
I'm wondering this because I might be using the keyboard and touchpad in a different way than others, but naturally for me, as in: the path of least resistance.
For scrolling, my right forearm points at the touchpad in a 45 degree angle, my middle finger touches the pad and I move my whole hand at the wrist to scroll. So all the middle finger does is touch the pad and raise again.
I use my right index finger for pointing. To move the cursor up & down I do the same as for scrolling, only with my index finger. For left & right I do what would look like pushing a marble to move the cursor left and the reverse to move it to the right. So my index finger really points (mostly) to the left side (depending on forearm position) and expands in it's natural path.
Regarding heavy keyboard use you often hear about the emacs pinky when somebody over years strenuously used their pinky to hold the control key down.
Well, I've noticed that I press control with the finger nail of my pinky and alt with the nail of my thumb. I'm sure it's unusual and it looks a bit funny, but it's completely natural to me and not strenuous at all.
I suppose it's people being tired by the whole "hacker" hoopla, especially when people use the term to compare their e-peen, but also when the media confuses hackers with crackers.
To me, the hacker/cracker thing is just a lost battle and thus a big waste of time.
That being said, I'd only use "hacker" in the original sense, i.e. the hacker philosophy about exploring, learning and teaching. To me, a person with no clue about cars that learns to fix it themselves is by definition a hacker.
You all too often see people pulling the e-peen thing on the net, which I find sad, as it's also just another waste of time. The "correct" use of the term hacker is just a pretense imho.
In the same vein of whining and bitching: has there been another influx from reddit lately or is the cooling effect (or what it's called) only gradually noticeable?
I've noticed that I'm more disappointed with the content and comments on HN lately, even more so on reddit obviously.
If you're a mechanic, you don't brag about calling the AA to home-start your wheels. You would be pretty shocked to see a mechanic post a story about his home-start on a hobby enthusiasts news site and see the community there voting the story up.
Indeed, although I'd be sighing as in this case, not be shocked.
I wonder if it's just an illusion or if there really also is an influx in me-too submissions. Not that I'm judging any submission in particular, but there is clearly a difference in usefulness and novelty when you compare them.
To understand the importance of closures it might be interesting to look at this poster[1]. Look at the node in the top left that says "Functional programming". Every paradigm that descends from that node depends on closures. THAT's how important they are.
Late to the party here, but over at the other SICP-related thread that's on the frontpage right now I've linked to an updated version of SICP where an enthusiast has created a pdf with greatly improved legibility, formulas set with tex and figures drawn with vector graphics.
An enthusiast has created an improved version[1] of SICP, free
download available.
Description:
The typography has been modernized for better on-screen legibility
and comfort. All the mathematics is set in proper TEX, and figures
redrawn in vector graphics.
Maybe the CTM book might be something for you as well. See my other comment[1] to learn more about it. Norvig says[2] the following about it:
Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming (Van Roy
& Haridi) is seen by some as the modern-day successor to Abelson &
Sussman. It is a tour through the big ideas of programming,
covering a wider range than Abelson & Sussman while being perhaps
easier to read and follow. It uses a language, Oz, that is not
widely known but serves as a basis for learning other languages.
I've started reading "The Haskell Road to Logic, Maths and Programming", maybe that's something for you or some other lurker here that would like to improve on math.
There is a review [2] that gives an interesting impression on the book. The other ones at amazon might also be interesting.
The table of contents + first chapter is available as a postscript file[3]. This should give you an idea what to expect from the book.
I have this book as well has "How to Prove it." They cover virtually the same material, however I found the prose in "The Haskell Road" to be stilted and sometimes confusing. I got much more out of "How to Prove it."
Interesting; thank you for providing your perspective.
Both books indeed share most of the topics, although from glancing at both TOCs HR seems to add Polynomials and Corecursion.
I'll gladly keep this in mind should I get stuck with HR.
This isn't to say that HR is bad, on the contrary it's quite good. Be prepared to use Google though. How to Prove it is much more self-contained.
It is true that HR covers Polynomials and Corecursion. If I were you, I'd order both and use How to Prove it if you get stuck with The Haskell Road. They're both very inexpensive.
I've had been cleaning up a mess of code that I've ported from a book whilst changing parts to fit my needs. I've got stuck on the process of cleaning up and now I'm going to reread the book and try to understand the concepts fully to then write my own code based on my understandings.
Even though I already considered doing that I still felt completely demotivated. The discussion here and the quote from the zen-book made me reconsider my options and think about what the correct next step would be.
I'm feeling relieved.