Monthly Archives: November 2013

Reader Mail – 11/17/2013 To 11/23/2013

DingDong commented on node.js Is VB6 - Does node.js Suck?.
Assuming this isn't some elaborate trolling operation you have running here, I hope I never have the misfortune of meeting you in person. I can't imagine the misery of having to work with someone who acts like you.
Chris commented on Piwik vs. Google Analytics, A Comparison.
I installed Piwik on my blog www.chrisreeves.co.nz and absolutely love it, nothing comes close (not that I tried a lot) but I have used awstats in the past.
FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE commented on Healcare "Reform" - "You Will Be Able To Keep Your Doctor" Is A Lie.
You are a fucking idiot. You can keep your doctor, you just can't see the same doctor with a new plan. Hell, you can keep going to your doctor and pay for everything yourself, if you like. There is no lie, it's just a dirty loophole.

Then again, you are probably too stupid to recognize that.

FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE commented on Healcare "Reform" - "You Will Be Able To Keep Your Doctor" Is A Lie.

You are a fucking idiot. You can keep your doctor, you just can’t see the same doctor with a new plan. Hell, you can keep going to your doctor and pay for everything yourself, if you like. There is no lie, it’s just a dirty loophole.

Then again, you are probably too stupid to recognize that.

Reader Mail – 11/10/2013 To 11/16/2013

vininparker commented on node.js Is VB6 - Does node.js Suck?.
OK, for the record, here are a couple of things missing from this, coming from a 30 yr-exp hands-on architect who has seen the entire evolution :

* The comment about arrogant self-absorbed hipsters was spot on. I shortened my resume as a quick test, and had twice the recruiters calling me from Mountain View.

Here's the technicals reason Javascript is a bad server-side language:

* Weakly-typed (errors caused by lack of typing)

* Late-bound (runtime errors instead of compile-time)

* Exception handling is not typed.

* Lexicon is not completely defined -- just try to change the order of chained event handlers.

* Exceptions in the parser and JITter and VM -- how they're handled is suspect.

* Callbacks in JavaScript pollute the global namespace.

* JavaScript is nearly OO, but not quite. There are more limitations, especially with collections of objects. There are no true virtual method, just pseudo workarounds.

* More abstraction layers that nullify the advantage from the event model.

* Memory usage is horrible. It's for business apps only. DOMs have always been memory hogs. That's just another restriction to add to the list.

However, here's why event models process more:

* Less context-switchingt

* Async threading leads to more throughput

So, in short, the model is good, the language is horrible. From an HR perspective, when I interview people, I'm lucky to find people that even know JavaScript. That's the cepstral source of the problem -- cheap labor from outsourced development that passes for acceptable. From experience, you should always treat as suspect non-american cultures where the mama dictates to the child what to study.

Node.js has a good use on phones for development. Phonegap is excellent.

I'm glad node.js is out there as a choice, it works in some specific situations. I'm hoping the Mono project gets us to a JavaScript.net implementation of node.js someday. That would be much more palatable.

pff commented on Only Idiots Use Java For High Frequency Trading.
Again, somebody that thinks his things are faster because are done in C++.

My processor does not process bytecode, and yours? LOL

Healcare “Reform” – “You Will Be Able To Keep Your Doctor” Is A Lie

Right now, I have 2 part-time jobs. I’m still on COBRA from my last full-time job. So, I’d be an “ideal” candidate for the health insurance exchange.

NY State has its own website. Unlike the Federal website disaster, the NY website works.

I looked at the plans on the NY health insurance exchange website. ALL THE PLANS ARE HMOs. There were *NO* PPO plans, only HMO plans. (In an HMO plan, you can only see doctors than are in-network. In a PPO plan, you can see doctors that are not in-network, albeit at a lower rate of reimbursement.)

I picked the Empire Platinum plan. Then, I went to the Empire website to see if my doctor is in their network. Their website said that the doctor list for the new health insurance exchange plans is not finalized yet!

One of the much-touted features of the law, “You will be able to keep your doctor!” may be a lie. First, all the plans on the NY exchange are HMO plans and not PPO plans. Second, the doctor list for the plan has not been published yet! How can I pick a plan if I don’t know if my doctor is in the plan or not?

There are some other interesting “features” of the law. There were some small health insurance cooperatives that are being driven out of business due to the new law. The cost of compliance with the new taxes and regulations is too high. The law is a huge subsidy to large insurance corporations, while driving smaller insurers/cooperatives out of business.