VBX controls were the thing that most closely fulfilled the promise of object-oriented programming: "off-the-shelf components that can be used to bolt an application together."
Then there was WordBasic, a Word-specific implementation of Visual Basic that really kicked ass. You could build full applications in the word processor, to do tons of things we take for granted today.
Yes, Alt-Tab is a HUGE improvement over Apple's implementation because it not only restores minimized apps as it should, but can also create a window for a running app that lacks one (with Finder being a critical example).
Hold option as you release cmd and it will behave as you describe (opening the default window for an app with no open windows, restoring minimized apps… it’s equivalent to clicking the Dock icon for that app)
Apple messed up its Alt-Tab implementation with one simple blunder: It doesn't restore minimized apps. I tab TO an application, but when I'm done I minimize it out of the way. But then you can't Command-Tab back to it, because Apple keeps it uselessly minimized.
The music industry (in collusion with Congress) killed DAT with this same specious argument, when everyone knew that "perfect digital copies" were the LEAST-likely vector of attack on their industry.
The obvious and dominant form of music copying was with double-cassette boom boxes in dorm rooms and bedrooms around the world.
And in the end, the media publishers' lies about "perfect digital copies" were proven to be just that, as profoundly IMperfect MP3s became the real threat.
The other problem is people not capitalizing abbreviations as they should. You see even major news organizations doing it. The entire nation of Great Britain appears to think there's a space agency called "Nasa." Ignorant AF.
I think I read somewhere that there’s a rule for abbreviations that if they’re “pronounceable” you shouldn’t use all caps. For example, you write IBM because you articulate the letters, it’s not “Ibbem”. Conversely you don’t say the letters in Nasa, but you do in NSA and so forth.
As a Swede I have unfortunately lost all my respect for the New Yorker as an authority on language since I learned about their usage of the letter ö, which I guess is what you're referring to.[1]
Having a native language where this letter is very much present and carries phonetic meaning, it completely trips me up. It annoys me almost as much as when people use the equivalent letter Ø instead of the actual ∅ for "empty set". I'd probably even choose ⦰ but of course all of these choices require some awareness that a character is "taken" as well as some measure of consideration for people other than yourself and those just like you.
Hahaha yes, that's what I was referring to and you're right to be infuriated by it. It's purely elitist horse-dust from The New Yorker to use ö rather than chucking a hyphen in there instead.
It's simply better suited for some types of images than others (e.g. the resulting size is sometimes bigger than expected). The main advantage is the very simple encoder and decoder with a specification that fits on a single page (and which still yields surprisingly good results for many image types):
I agree that it is quite easy to grasp the format in terms of implementation.
It seems basically like writing a image VM that accepts byte code. I think that could really be a way to specify many file formats more concicesly. If e.g. you chose the correct automata/transducer class one can easily e.g. specify some hedge grammar based XML file format and get a binary representation. Starting from grammars as a spec it is typically more difficult if you want to derive an implementation.
However I e.g. wonder from reading the concrete spec why you e.g. cannot differentially change the alpha channel leading me to the question what happens if images have different alpha levels.
"Everything" means two 32-bit integer values (width and height) in the header, that's hardly much of a downside ;)
Usually it's a good idea anyway to read file headers byte by byte instead of mapping a struct over it to avoid alignment, padding and endianness issues.
They just passed a similar (actually worse) couple of laws in California, allowing up to 10 units where a single-family house stood.
In a place like CA, this is a corrupt developer handout. It removes approval requirements for developers and targets already-residential neighborhoods. And this is in the midst of another epic drought. These properties will cover even more ground with concrete, worsening water loss and wiping out trees.
Meanwhile, massive former-anchor-tenant stores like Macy's sit boarded up in dying (or dead) malls. But did the California government target disused COMMERCIAL properties for redevelopment into high-density, walkable residences? NOPE. They didn't even try that before voting to destroy existing residential neighborhoods.
Then there was WordBasic, a Word-specific implementation of Visual Basic that really kicked ass. You could build full applications in the word processor, to do tons of things we take for granted today.