To show my age, I can remember (just) the discussion of device drivers having to be in assembler as C was too inefficient, and then C for applications as OO languages were not efficient enough.
We are seeing the end of this argument re: Python and other languages.
Google has bought BlogSpot.
Dan Gilmours scoop
I'm sure this will help Blogger move forward
Hmm, this blog writing is not going well. Need a theme. Lot's of interesting Blogs around, so what is my angle ?
what am I interested in ?
Well, let's think about those and see what happens tomorrow.
I did the Atkins diet and lost 2 stone. I stopped and gained 2 stone; partly I gave up because my family were worried.
Now I can show them this:
What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? (NY Times Reg required)
Time to try again ?
So why can't we all work as a network of little guys ? Or at least small firms ?
I once heard it said that the UK had most people employed in large companies, Germany in medium size companies (5000 or so), whilst for Italy most were in small (20 or so) companies. Why is this? What are the figures for the USA ?
One factor has got to be the costs involved in running a business. For writing software you need a PC, maybe a modem and intelligence. To build an affordable car takes billions in plant, R&D etc.
So what about large software companies ? Why does this make sense ? When the power of the Brand is important, where the nature of the projects is such that you can spread the risk across a basket of them ( so a set of turn-key projects). What else ?
Back to work.......
Read an interesting book called The Quaker Book of Wisdom by Robert L Smith. I'm not a Quaker, but I must admit I found many of the topics rather appealling - so might others in these troubled times.
The chapter on Simplicity seemed particularly appropriate; can you watch all these cosmetic and fashion adverts without wincing ? All this vanity and waste when people are starving, lacking education etc. Don't get me wrong, some peole would always find a reason to be a terrorist, but there message of hate would die if there were no fertile soil in which it could grow. Let's work out how to reach out and make things better - don't just send money to charities (though that is a start), how can you use your skills and experience. How can you help closer to home as well ?
Back to the book - Chapter 1 discusses our need for silence, so we can hear the 'still small voice' within. Even if you are not religious, I still think we all have a need to regularly find piece and quiet to find something of ourselves and our real purpose. Don't just eat, work, buy .....
Other chapters deal with Concscience, Truth, Worhsip, Nonviolence ( also topical!), Service and Family.
If you are open to practical suggestions to improve your life, this is a great book whatever your religion.
Just started to play with Jogger - using Jabber to add comments to a blog.
Jabber is cool - it's Open Source, Open Standard ( look no patents!), can monitor AIM, ICQ, Yahoo and MSN, plus IRC etc. etc.
Lots of clients to choose from. And heaven for developers: add transports to other IM systems (Sametime anybody?) , write whole clients, add services to the server, run XML-RPC through firewals.
Recommended.
Definitely back in focus after Microsofts comments on its' viral nature.
Here is an interesting quote from:
The Emergence of E-Innovation: Insights from Open Source Software Development by Bruce Kogut and Anca Meitu
"Our claim is that there is ultimately a more radical revolution in the open source
movement than the murky and contentious issues surrounding property rights and proprietary
ownership of code. The success of open-source software, such as Linux and Apache, has
made credible the possibility to innovate in a distributed environment as opposed to
traditional approaches to software development. In this way, open-source software presents a
major demonstration of what the internet means for the future of work and innovation on a
global basis." (page 2)
I think there really are 2 aspects to this debate - the legalistic focus on ownership of intellectual property and then a 'business' decision on how best to move a piece of software forward.
