Everybody was in the wrong here. The developer should've written better code. I'm a PHP developer and I've learned that if the input is that important, I need to cast it. I've used C++, C#, and Java and I like strict typing. If your application is that sensitive then maybe it should've casted the input to ensure the output is consistent.
As for Rasmus, I think he could've explained why it's a "won't fix" type bug in a slightly more diplomatic fashion, though I can't say I would've handled it any differently. He's completely right as to why the behavior shouldn't change. Finally, bjori's response was completely unnecessary, inflammatory, and downright rude.
This has shown me the worst of the PHP community. I'm not ashamed, just more wary.
I think it's an example of how not to interact in a community, from both angles. Also, I can't stand the notion that open source developers are "volunteering" their effort. All programming is voluntary in the sense that you are making a free choice to do it and most likely gaining capital (social or financial) in the process. I voluntarily build software and give or sell it to others all the time.
While I would normally agree with you, Blizzard games have always had polish. They do continue to balance the game for years afterwards but you rarely find bugs that would make you say it wasn't ready for prime time.
WoW had some glaring bugs when it came out. Of course, the start of the game is always better, because it has received a lot more attention (it's crucial to get players hooked in) and because it has received a lot more testing (how many testers are willing to go all the way to max level? Way less than the ones who just check out the first few). Starcraft II was better in that regard.
But I'm not targeting Blizzard specifically, just MMO companies in general. All the releases from the past few years all went the same way.
Ah, but there's one fatal flaw in your logic. The problem is that we're NOT the TSA's customers. The TSA answers only to the Department of Homeland Security, which answers to nobody. See, the TSA is meant to protect us but cannot be held accountable by the people it protects.
If they depended on us for their survival (like they claim we depend on them for ours) then you'd see them become much friendlier and much more effective. Really, that's why most (not necessarily all, but the majority) companies provide good customer service. They know how far a bad review or an outspoken customer can go. Speaking out against the TSA gets us nowhere on an individual basis because they lose nothing. We need to make sure our government officials set the TSA straight.
Having a customer service page is not synonymous with being accountable. The thing is, whether or not we are satisfied with them, we still have to deal with them until the government changes it. So they aren't held directly accountable. Instead, we have to effect change in the government in a way that will then effect change in the TSA. That extra layer makes things much harder.
You know, i totally agree...i just ask myself "would it hurt if they were friendly" and i don't see why not. They are citizen facing, treat others as you would like to be treated. It just feels like common sense to me.
I think I disagreed with just about every point on that post. Most of the issues the author describes can be fixed by using your brain and the tools at your disposal.
Your IDE adds metadata to your directory? SVN and git allow you to ignore files and directories.
It's not in the GUI menu so I can't do it! You're doing it wrong.
I can't pipe from my IDE to another program! What? My IDEs create files and these files and their output can be piped wherever. Maybe I'm in the minority but I've never felt the need to pipe directly from vi to anything else. I don't even know how or if that would work. I've piped the file I edited to something else before...which I can still do whether I use an IDE or not.
This is fatally flawed by virtue of the fact that it's a .com. The US government has already claimed it has jurisdiction over the com TLD. Should a judge agree that means the social network could be shut down just by appropriating the domain. Also, anonymous is supposed to be decentralized whereas this is anything but. I like some of what anonymous does, but I don't trust them at all.
The website is laughable. The claims made all end in nonsequiturs. Paybuyer is highly speculative and vastly overestimating its ability to disrupt Google Adwords, even with their proposed backing from Waterloo and RIM.
Furthermore I don't pity RIM in the least. They made their bed. They chose to keep their products "business oriented" and got left behind when it came to innovation and, in the end, productivity. Why should I chastise Google for opening their platform and offering services for free? Google's model was clearly a better one at drawing customers in, which in turn fuels their advertising through use of mobile advertising in free apps.
The website claims Adwords funds Android and that's why it's evil, because it creates a "moat" around Google that makes it nigh impossible to compete with Google. I disagree. I believe Adwords and Android are symbiotic. They fuel each other, and if your company can't compete with Google then DON'T TRY TO COMPETE WITH GOOGLE. Choosing to do so is a huge risk, though it may net huge rewards. By taking them on you accept your fate, be it failure or success. Don't ask us to intervene on your behalf. I gain nothing by backing Paybuyer.
The best thing I can tell you is to be consistent. The impression you first give the user will be what they will expect throughout your site, web-savvy or not. If you change how you input or display data in different parts of your site it will only serve to confuse the user.
For the older crowd that uses just email I would suggest not overloading them with information. Too much information on one screen can be a pain to sift through and usually the younger crowd doesn't mind it as much - mostly because they don't read so much as skim, though - but the older crowd will find it to be a chore.
Users understand the back and forward buttons on a browser. Try not to create a situation where the browser buttons would not function as expected. Too much AJAX or wanton use of a lightbox could be considered such situations.
Lastly, visually offsetting the content of your site versus the layout (menus, headers, footers, etc.) can go a long way to guiding usage of your application.
Agreed. I've been templating the site to maintain placement of information. This is the third iteration of this projects design, and it has been trimmed and slimmed in each version. I like the most recent one. It's not overwhelming, but it contains all the necessary information.
I do have to keep in mind browser back/forward links and how they will affect site usage. I know I'm part of my target demo, but I'm also more technically inclined. Plus, I'm close to the project so I need (and have) people with objective eyes to review it.
As for Rasmus, I think he could've explained why it's a "won't fix" type bug in a slightly more diplomatic fashion, though I can't say I would've handled it any differently. He's completely right as to why the behavior shouldn't change. Finally, bjori's response was completely unnecessary, inflammatory, and downright rude.
This has shown me the worst of the PHP community. I'm not ashamed, just more wary.