On Fri, 21 Jan 2000, Tony Robbins wrote:
> P.S.: Visual Basic - Object Oriented? Hmm.
...works almost as well as object oriented RISC assembly...
Really, I can't see why VB caught on for anything -- BASIC is basically
(heh) dead. Not as much as, say, PASCAL (why does Delphi live on?!) or
Logo or Al Gore, but I think computer scientists learned their lessons
about instructional languages from, at least, the first two. You don't
need high level, beginner languages like BASIC or PASCAL or Logo; high
level languages are useful for many things, but hiding the complexity of a
computer system for the tragically unlearned is not one of them. These
languages went the way of the fanny pack because people figured out a
simple truth: they're most useful when you want to do something that makes
no sense, like jog with too much crap to fit in your pockets, or when you
want to do something that no-one wants you to do, like jogging in overly
tight shorts without adequate pocket room. No-one needs to write a
mainstream program in a very high level language -- the very nature of
very high level languages are contrary to that, just the same as no-one
needs to carry three tapes, a pack of gum, and three-dollars and
twenty-four cents with them when they jog. And no-one wants to see a
mainstream program in a very high level language, just as no-one wants to
see what passes for your ass these days somehow rolled, squished, and
crammed into spandex.
So, perhaps there's something to be said for Microsoft, then. Nothing
good, mind you, but it's certainly a testament to their marketing prowess
and market domination that they can breathe life into BASIC with
atrocities like VB and VBscript. Dumbing down your users to gain their
support is the name of the game. But pushing BASIC on users again
exemplifies how much negative influence Microsoft can have on the world.
You'd think users wouldn't buy into it, would keep their heads well above
the flood waters of the on-rushing nonsense of BASIC adapted to be an
object oriented language. You'd think that, but you'd also watch in
horror as Microsoft crushed them with a tidal wave of "Visual Basic
enhanced/powered" programs and scream when each and every user bought into
it. Whatever satanic, machiavellian machinations went on in Redmond to
get users to swallow that jagged little pill are well beyond even
sacrificial rites.
That being said, I'm still waiting for MS Visual INTERCAL.
ObLicenseViolators:
Still looking into Mudgik: The Gathering of Heroes. Thus far I've
contacted (using my circlemud.org e-mail address, of course),
* The administrators of the game,
* Immortals on the game,
* The administrator Sylvian _again_ using a secondary e-mail
address, and
* Chris Hale of Mercia Internet Systems, Ltd.
and the only response I've ever gotten was from circlemud.org's mailer
daemon to inform me that conk.com wasn't delivering my message to the
'sylvian' mail box. Connections from circlemud.org are also being
dropped from the Mud, although I'm not sure if they've just banned us
for no reason or if they thought we'd actually believe the Mud was down.
Still one or two steps left to take before we consider less hospitable
routes.
-dak
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