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The doctor considers obscenities inexcusable in professional work.
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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
D r . G i z m o
Obscene code from Microsoft, PDF questions and a blind date
March 24, 2004
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, The Post-Standard
I was surprised at the excitement your buddy was able to muster over obscenities in the Windows source code that were revealed a few weeks ago. I have a friend who has worked for a major software company for several years and he tells me that this is common practice, something that has just always been done. I can see where, in some ways, it's also useful. Communication between people, especially in writing and over time, is often best done with frank discussion but it is also helped along sometimes by self-deprecation, interjections, and expressions of frustration or disgust. -- B.F., via Dreamscape
The doctor considers obscenities inexcusable in professional work.
What does it matter how much obscenities there are in the source? Microsoft programmers have every right to swear in their source code if they feel it's fit. And 99% of the general public isn't going to be seeing it anyway. -- T.K., via tomchu.com.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, whether they are using obscene language or not, will there be a sound? The doc believes that language reflects who we are. Obscene comments from Microsoft programmers do not belong in the Windows code, even if only a few people see the foul language.
I once worked for a manufacturer that made electrical cords for things like Schick shavers and shop vacs. One of my short-term duties was to wrap up the completed cords, tie them off and put them in the shipping cartons. Occasionally I would draw a smiley face on the inside of a carton flap before sealing it up. When the foreman found out about that, I nearly got fired. If a small company took this minor breach of professionalism so seriously, I am more than surprised at the unprofessionalism shown by Microsoft. -- T.O., via Road Runner.
If a file is written in MS word on a PC, converted to PDF, then burned to a CD (with Roxio, for example) and "finalized" with an ISO file system, what do you need to do to view it on a Mac? -- B.P., via Yahoo.
The doctor views Adobe Portable Document Format files (PDFs, in other words) on his companion's OS X Macintosh by double-clicking on the file. That's all that is needed.
The OS X operating system is built on PDF. Everything that is displayed is actually a PDF document. So OS X is uniquely able to view and even create PDFs natively.
However, if the CD is not readable on another computer, whether Macintosh, Linux PC or under Windows, chances are the disk was not "closed" when it was recorded. (Not "finalized," as some experts say.) CDs that have not been closed cannot be read in many instances except by the software that created them.
Hi. We have a date set for later on. I hope you can join me. It should be fun. I can't wait to meet you. Talk soon. -- Blind-Date Fantasy, via Hotmail
The doctor can't wait either. But he's waiting for effective spam laws. The one passed in the U.S. Congress late last year has been a dud.
Dr. Gizmo tried to date his collection of old newspaper articles the other day, and discovered they were at least 40 years old. You can send old clippings or just a letter to the doctor or his pal at Technology, Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221. Or send e-mail to afasoldt@twcny.rr.com.
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