2006/02/25

Bill Clementson highlights Alan Kay quotes


This one made me smile :-)
Bill Clementson's Blog: The Most Important Idea in Computer Science: "'Java and C make you think that the new ideas are like the old ones. Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing since MS-DOS.'"

On the Java theme: Mak Guzdial: Report on OOPSLA97"Java is a great step forward. For the C Community."

Songbird


Looks like a good MP3 player built on Firefox, but don't you just hate sentences like this:Development | Songbirdnest.com: "We plan to keep the vast majority, if not all, of our source code available under a GPL license."

2006/02/24

international Development for the naive- open source radio


Open Source: "What does an EHM do for a living? He builds the American empire the way a dope dealer builds a network of dependency. The drugs an EHM sells are aid agency loans to developing countries Â? loans that bind the country to hiring American companies to build the highways or design the power plants. Most of the real benefits therefore stick with American contractors and corportions. The loans, by design, are also too big to repay on time so that the country effectively becomes a pawn the U.S. can use for military or political or economic convenience. And one more thing: these loans enrich a tiny minority in the debtor country (usually including a corrupt head of government) and impoverish the masses by increasing the national debt. Perkins says heÂ?s witnessed this cycle over and over again. He was part of what drives it. .....Does John Perkins’s argument ring true to you? What would you like to ask him? And who should mix it up with Perkins on the air?"

2006/02/21

I don't want to pay for this...


BBC NEWS | Health | Drug limits foetal alcohol damage: "A drug may be able to reduce the damage caused to babies whose mothers drink heavily during pregnancy."

Making it stick.: Don't Make Me Think: "Simple dynamic programming languages and simple dynamic coordination languages are winning. Vendors will have to differentiate themselves on something more than wizards that mask complexity."

Humo[u]r


Welcome to RejectionLine.com: "Someone won't leave you alone?

Give them 'your' number: 212-479-7990
The official New York Rejection Line!"

Anyone tried it?

2006/02/17

Oh come on it can't be that bad! Can it ? Err, help ?


Google Reader: "If you're an identity management supplier it is time to set up a UK office. If you're already here its time to hire more salesmen and lobbyists. No delays, no excuses. Jump in. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity - practically all upside, with little or no oversight."

Don't read it all unless you are interested in liberty, democracy, your taxes etc.

2006/02/16

What is a Web App?


Google Reader: "I never thought I’d see a web app suite that has more system requirements than a desktop app, but I guess I should never underestimate Microsoft."

2006/02/14

Skype limits itself


When Intel calls, Skype listens | CNET News.com: "The latest version of Skype's Internet-calling software can host up to 10 users on a conference call, but only if your PC has a dual-core processor from Intel, Skype and Intel announced Wednesday.

Intel's Core Duo and Pentium D processors have been designated the mass conference-calling processor of choice for Skype 2.0, launched last month. The limit will remain at five callers for PCs using single-core chips and Advanced Micro Devices' dual-core Athlon 64 chip, which some tests have shown outperforms Intel's dual-core chip."

What did Skype get from this deal?

Would they have done this deal before they became part of a lartge corporation?

2006/02/10

LWN: Putting Ubuntu to the Test

Make the Drake truly Dapper

Paul Graham's On Lisp in HTML


Onlisp:: "Onlisp"

Big media playing safe?


Gary Secondino's OPML blog: Friday, February 10, 2006: "Today was a big news day so I watched this evenings local and network news. What was the reported top story today? Bush's announcement of new details of a thwarted 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown L.A. skyscraper. WTF?"

Then read the list of interesting but unreported items

Chasing ghosts


PBS | I, Cringely . February 2, 2006 - The Walt Within: "'Your friend from the NSA was right, but it's worse than he suggests. It's not just that social network analysis casts a wide net. It's that without oversight by people who really grasp the mathematics and have some distance from the whole thing, they're going to see patterns where there aren't any.

"

Of course, if I were a cynic, I'd suggest that a system which seems to scientifically extract security data could be a useful weapon in the media war. Lucky that I am not a cynic.

Calendar Software: Airset


Joel on Software: "One online calendar I neglected to check out is Airset. Thanks to a couple of alert readers who emailed me, I tried it out tonight. It's much, much better than the proof-of-conceptware that people are hyperventilating about. In fact, it's the first online calendar I've found that seems like it might work for me."

I have taken a quick look ( yes, you do have to register) and it looks good. I need to see what it can do with my Pocket PC

2006/02/05

Software Factories - now it's practical!


Jack Greenfield's Blog : Software Factories Applied: "Keith Short, Mauro Regio and I have agreed to write a new book called Software Factories Applied. Our goal is to write a short book for practitioners that complements the theoretical foundation established in the original Software Factories book by showing how to build a software factory using currently available technologies, namely the DSL tools, the Guidance Automation Toolkit and Visual Studio 2005 Team System. "