asynk

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Choosing an API framework for Django by gthankin django

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago*

My one problem with both of those is that neither generates what I consider to be "good" schemas. I assume this is intentional, since the tastypie code cites the "REST worst practices" blog entry, which mentions:

It’s really tempting to have each resource have a different representation (i.e. schema if using XML), but I think that’s a bad idea — it makes consumption code really hard.

But that's fallacious thinking. I'd suggest that it's roughly analgous to saying that typing variables is bad because it makes handling variables hard. Yes, it's "easier" to have dynamic typing silently converting for you; but it's dangerous.

Having well-typed REST resources makes sense, as they represent objects. REpresentational State Transfer. There's a tendency in every python REST framework I've looked at so far on this list to treat XML as serialization rather than state transfer.

The thing is, good toolchains for dealing with REST XML (an example I'd use would be scalaxb generating case classes from XSDs) empower programmers to use APIs in a less error-prone way. That, coupled with good practices like correctly content-typing the objects (ie, sending an address with something like application/vnd.sitename.appname.objectType+xml) means a firm definition for content types. It also allows a much more robust use; for example, an object can contain links (often in 0..n lists) which reference by content-type.

What's interesting is, the "worst practices" article cited by tastypie docs actually sort of follows a similar philosophy for links; it's a good practice to link to actual resources rather than something opaque like a list of IDs, but it's better to do so with a content-type so the client can know what it is requesting before it asks. (It's a bad practice, in fact, to assume a client can handle every type; strong content-typing avoids that)

Real xs:schema schemas for tastypie resources would be a fabulous improvement in my book. (It's actually something I'm probably going to work in in the next couple months; amazingly, someone already did some generator code; I'm hoping to just port that so that I can replace the tastypie schema generator with one that generates real XSDs.)

There are other reasons to use real XSDs; for example, some people might want to manipulate them with a tool like oXygen, an amazingly robust tool for generating/manipulating schemas; but it doesn't understand the random "xml soup" currently generated by tastypie. There are also constructs that, in w3c terms, have really interesting and potentially graceful interactions with Django's model handling; ie, party tricks with <xs:extension> come to mind. It's hard to express something like <xs:extension> in xml soup. My only other real issue is I'd like to be able to stipulate what is an element and what is an attribute; xml-soup generators tend to want to make everything elements, but that's sort of silly. Elements shouldn't used for something like a name. To go with the simplest example:

<Widget>
  <name>Cheddar Cheese Widget</name>
</Widget>

is bad, compared to

<Widget name="Cheddar Cheese Widget" />

<xs:attribute> is good for... well, attributes. <xs:element> is good for collections (whether 1..n or 0..n or 0..x, etc). Partially this is because elements themselves can (and should where appropriate) have attributes. It's funny, because the REST worst practices blog entry (which I largely think is smartly written) mentions "Resource != Model". Entirely true, and it may well make sense to include elements that are actually (in Django terms) models.

For example:

<System href="http://example.com/system/45" status="running">
  <Tasks>
    <Task status="running" startTime="2012-05-12 12:12:12"
      type="application/vnd.sitename.automata.task+xml"
      href="http://example.com/task/80085" percentComplete="45" />
  </Tasks>
</System>

This is a simple representation of a system and some sort of automated task associated with it.

Anyhoo, I'm getting awfully long-winded here, but, suffice it to say, I'd like to see a REST-XML framework that did real rest schemas, instead of a tag-soup xml serialization.

I love it when games acknowledge my abilities. by HoFT013in gaming

[–]asynk 103 points104 points ago

There are other really smart things infamous does. For example, at the start of the game, it says, "Use the stick to look up at the helicopter". But it doesn't tell you which direction to PUSH the stick. So if you push down, it maps down on the stick to up; if you push up, then it maps up on the stick to up. Really clever in-game way of autoconfiguring that for a player.

And yes, this is a fabulous game. My favorite ending of any console game ever. Reminded me of KOTOR (although that on the pc for me).

Freebie Friday. Hope it gets better than this... by BubbaZeroin Cityofheroes

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

I have like 200 of those in my email box, so not that thrilling.

The PvE vs PvP debate. by Shpetznazin wow

[–]asynk 2 points3 points ago

This is not the comment that this thread deserves; this is the comment that this thread needs.

The PvE vs PvP debate. by Shpetznazin wow

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Regardless of which side I'd be inclined to back in this debate, that's a great analogy.

Wtf!? "Thanks", EA! by jacobtfin gaming

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Wtf!? "Thanks", EA! by jacobtfin gaming

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Thanks, Ted.

Wtf!? "Thanks", EA! by jacobtfin gaming

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

I wonder if it will still be listed on May 30th. May 31st. Jun 1st?

And of course: who gives a fuck? Any limited-term license on an app without a really, really big warning is bullshit.

Wtf!? "Thanks", EA! by jacobtfin gaming

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Heh, it actually does.

The term of your License shall commence on the date that you install or otherwise use the Application, and shall end on the earlier of the date that you dispose of - the Application; or EA's termination of this License

(emphasis mine)

This is just stupid now. by Wistuba17in gaming

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Same, but there's a reason for this, beyond the issue of the cost. There have been a bunch of games where the original DLC was some god-forsaken DRM nightmare, and the collected edition didn't have the same problem. ("Auth servers are down, you get nothing!")

Bioware and their NWN DLC, which is the first DLC I think I ever bought, comes to mind. They got hacked, took the servers down, and never brought them back up. They eventually tweaked it so there was a server that returned an "authorized" response to every client to fix it; not 100% sure. But what a mess. If you waited and bought the collected edition on disc, you paid less AND didn't get screwed by weird DRM issues.

This is just stupid now. by Wistuba17in gaming

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

I like how you slipped the Amazon affiliate link in, there. Well played.

This is just stupid now. by Wistuba17in gaming

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

I haven't preordered, but I'm already in the habit of only buying games after they've been out long enough to be done as a "collection" at a price. I remember when I used to buy shit as it came out.

How many of you recognize this? by likwitsnakein pics

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Rambaldi device that was known as a Mueller Device.

For those of you that tried D3 this weekend. How does it compare to Path of Exile? by TheMaytagManin pathofexile

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

Not really saying I expect it to be bad, per se. There's certainly room for both games to wildly succeed. I will say that I think someone who was a huge D2 fan and liked the game mechanics is probably more likely to enjoy PoE than D3, based on the limited amount of D3 I've played.

I'm getting so f***ing sick of this by bwebberin funny

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

additional:

Often when a degree and experience are both listed as bullet points for an entry level job, it is an "either/or" proposition.

For those of you that tried D3 this weekend. How does it compare to Path of Exile? by TheMaytagManin pathofexile

[–]asynk 3 points4 points ago

D3 will be more polished

Parts of it will be. It will have probably better, more varied sound. It will have cutscenes. The animations are really 11/10 from what I've seen.

PoE, on the other hand, appears to have the more polished vision and where PoE differs from D2, PoE is basically doing it better. Where D3 differs from D2, I remain skeptical so far. Just what PoE has done in terms of currency and "selling recipes" is quite impressive.

That, and it's really not even a fair comparison yet; PoE is still very much in a "playable beta". The d3 beta is literally a demo.

Certainly in terms of customizable characters, PoE is going to win. Blizzard has dumbed down D3 a lot, and if it turns out that people don't like a dumbed down game, then PoE is on its way to being a huge hit, because it's the opposite of "dumbed down". "Amped up" would be more like it.

Oh: atmosphere. I've obviously only played that tiny bit of act one, but while the art in D3 is "better", the atmosphere and art direction in PoE is clearly better. Creepy, from the guy who greets you and gets eaten by a zombie on the beach, to the light radius in the caves. And then there's gems like spiders crawling up the side as you go by a chasm, or apes dropping out of the trees.

I know it's way late, but our guild cleared current raid content for the first time ever last night (10N) by BlooQKazooin wow

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

It's really what you overcome and not what it means, I think. I was raiding with <Fusion> at the very start of Cataclysm, and we all poopsocked to 85, ran a handful of heroics, and headed into BWD on Friday night, 3 days after cata was out.

Literally 3/5 people in my raid group did not have the gear to queue up in the LFD tool for a heroic, and we downed Omnitron, Magmaw, and then went after Chimaeron.

I was more or less convinced that it was impossible to get the kill. Our gear was so terrible. We'd pulled the fight on beta, but that was in full 5-man heroic gear.

Anyhow, there came this amazing pull where things went well. Chimaeron was still absolutely demolishing us when he went into the enrage, but one of our rogues had this epic evasion tanking for like 15s+, and he fell over with just 2 people left alive. US #4. Even though it was "just normal" mode on a not-too-difficult boss in the first instance, it was such a thrill, just because for so much of the fight, it felt like there was zero chance of winning... and then as he got closer and closer to death with this streak of dodges, the tension built to such a crescendo. Man, were there some nerd screams.

One of my favorite kills of all time, even though it wasn't a noteworthy boss.

I know it's way late, but our guild cleared current raid content for the first time ever last night (10N) by BlooQKazooin wow

[–]asynk -1 points0 points ago

So we've been 8/8H for a while, but my question in this situation remains the same: Why the hell is Thrall so tall?

Kickstarter abuse: $20k for a game made for free in RPG Maker by eiejfeijfeijin gaming

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

You seem really mad over it.

  1. The game engine and tileset don't mean much compared to the story and other aspects of the game. If you look at the people (probably 100k+) who played Adam Miller's NWN modules, which were effectively a free expansion of incredibly high quality, it's roughly equivalent.

  2. $20k is a trivially small amount of money to make a game. Any game.

  3. Most of the things you're complaining aren't features are features.

Now, if it's not your style (I'm not exactly yearning for the return of Dragon Warrior, even though it was the love of my life 25 years ago), there's really no reason to shit on some kid's project. I think it's cool that he seems to have a niche he likes that other people like; hopefully he'll pull it off and deliver a fun game for those interested.

Am I the only one who thinks BG:EE is hamstringing itself by plans to release only on their own "STEAM/GOG/Origin" Alternative? by detenin baldursgate

[–]asynk 4 points5 points ago

I think you may be thinking about it the opposite direction they are. The answer may be yes, but they may be excited for BGEE/BG2EE specifically because it has the chance to bring 10s or 100s of thousands of new players to their beamdog platform. If this gets people to install their client...

Of course, this is what makes GOG so great:

  1. No DRM at all, which gives me 100% confidence that if I buy it, I own it; and
  2. A client for convenience but entirely optional. (I bought my first few gog games and did http download; then last black friday sale, I pretty much bought a copy of every neat old game I ever owned, just to have a fully patched, easy-to-install copy. I owned basically every one of them, but I was paying just for downloadability, lack of CD checks, etc. Literally not having to put a CD in the drive for BG was worth $5 to me.)

Anyhow, I think from Beamdog's perspective, though, this is their premier chance to pimp their platform. Which, to be fair, doesn't seem bad, looking at their faq: http://www.beamdog.com/about/faq

We do not limit the number of computers you can install your games on, we do however limit concurrent usage of those games. When you buy a game from us we grant a license to run only one copy at a given time. If you log into another Beamdog Client, we log you out of the previous session.

We are committed to thinking of our customers first, so if for some unforseen reason we are forced (yes, I say forced as we'll fight tooth and nail to keep the service going) to shut our service down we will remove all date based expiry in the system.

Of course, they will HAVE to use an alternative distribution method for the iOS devices - the App Store.

My bet would be that they release the pc version as a beamdog exclusive and eventually put it on gog and/or steam also. My argument to Trent would be that a Beamdog exclusive will mean lost sales (as people go looking and buy the older version rather than the EE version), as well as frustrated fans who may end up buying the wrong one and then needing to buy a 2nd.

Just completed Baldur's Gate 1 for the first time... by jacqueofalltradesin baldursgate

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

I think BG2 is generally the one considered the best RPG of all time. Not that BG1 isn't a great game, but BG2 takes 98% of what made it great, and cranks it up to 11.

TIL The MPAA Tried To Outlaw VCRs In 1982. by BryanWakein todayilearned

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

This is probably the most famous copyright case of all time.

Issue 23 Overview by Big_Damn_Heroin Cityofheroes

[–]asynk 0 points1 point ago

Mmmmm, delicious. Sounds like you can get Mez protection from hybrid, which would be a nice option for squishies who otherwise need Clarion, but would prefer something like Barrier or Ageless if they could.

HOLY SHIT?! $5?! For...6 GAMES!? BG + IWD + Planescape + ToEE?! Enjoy for those who missed GoG offer (like me) by spotlesslinein baldursgate

[–]asynk 1 point2 points ago

Holy crap that's an amazing deal. I paid $50+ for these ($30 for the xpaks), I think, and I can only remember it as one of the best deals I have ever had.

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