> Fortran is still evolving (albeit even more slowly than Java) and still used for new projects.
If it weren't for the fact that there is a huge trove of valuable legacy Fortran code, if Fortran were introduced today as a new language with no archive of existing Fortran programs, on its intrinsic merits it would be laughed off the stage. On that thought experiment's basis, Fortran continues to exist in order to support legacy code.
There are systems present in society of very high value that require Fortran to remain available, and some of them have famously undertaken to replace their Fortran code base at very high cost, and failed. So we have Fortran, and will continue to have Fortran, simply because of the very ambitious projects that were written in Fortran that we still need.
Yes, as somebody paying the bills mostly through Java, I can affirm that Java is the new COBOL.
While compensating for the excess of C++, too many good ideas went out the window, and we're left with something that extends COBOL by letting our copybooks, er, beans, have multiple instances, and letting out procedures, er, methods, have parameters, local variables and explicit return values.
There's a few other things Java does a bit better than COBOL, but it's used just like "COBOL with separate compilation" in standard "enterprise" practice.
Class invariant?
Closures?
Immutability?
Fuggedaboudit.
On the bright side, other languages are starting to highjack the JVM.
This does not necessarily conflict with the diminishing returns theory. If you are 4x as rich as your neighbours, you will probably want to move to a more affluent area. At which point you will have richer neighbours (i.e. stronger competition.) There's a good chance you will again be dissatisfied with your relative wealth and be motivated to increase it further.
Probably not in this case. Windows' RNG does not block when it runs low on entropy. AFAIK only Linux does that. And the task is a database query so probably does not use the RNG.
But yes, I have seen a similar case involving linux /dev/random - the user reported that outgoing emails were sometimes delayed for hours and that moving a mouse over a VNC window would sometimes speed it up. I did not believe that at first, but it was exim4 running out of entropy when generating TLS session keys. Worse, it was on a VPS with about 20 exim4 processes competing for the entropy.
It has always seemed strange to me that some people find hostile weather sounds calming - Wind, heavy rain, thunder... those can all potentially damage the building you are in. Fire too (I like the sound of a fire only if I can see it.) Leaves would be a good addition though. So would a waterfall (there is a significant difference between a waterfall and rain.)
To be honest it never even occurred to me to classify it as "hostile".
I think its fairly dependent on the climate you grew up in. e.g. I'm from a fairly warm/dry climate so "storm" sounds mean rain & relief from heat. Plus the local farmers are much happier (except when there is hail involved).
>damage the building you are in
Again - never occurred to me. Its just a non-issue here. Buildings are built to last & we don't get natural disasters here.
I associate these sounds with the act of sheltering from these elements, which prevents all kinds of physical activities and encourages passive, calm ones. A tendency towards hibernation and hot chocolate by a fireplace, a calm and pleasant association. Even if I focus on the negative aspects -- getting caught out in the rain and being cold and wet, I generally bundle up and conserve my energy rather than start jogging... not positive, but still calm.
Sufficiently strong weather and uncontrolled fires could put you at risk, but the extremely vast majority of my experience with these sounds has been with the safe varieties -- I don't think I'd find it as calming otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran#Fortran_2015