Click through for some unboxing photos.
]]>The first “object publishing” framework I ever used—and this was many, many moons ago—was called “bobo”, and was the hurried effort of Jim Fulton, a wielder of much Python magic. It soon got subsumed into Zope as the foundation of object publishing and disappeared from the interwebs. Now, it’s back, but this time it’s got a fresh coat of WSGI and decorators to give it that new framework smell.
Will have to take a peek and see where it fits in this day and age.
]]>The funny thing, to cite Paul Simon, is that the Kodachrome slides are stunning. The Ektachrome (E-2 processed) slides suck unbelievably.
]]>With today’s announcement of the new iPhone 3GS and the reduction of the iPhone 3G to $99 (effective immediately). Let me explain why the Palm Pre has a sisyphean task:
That is the iPhone/iPod ecosystem. That leaves out the thousands and thousands of accessories that are “Made for iPhone”. It’s a gigantic impediment to adoption, and more importantly a huge risk to consider for any developer. You don’t unseat the “best” while being only incrementally better. You have to change the game.
]]>Not a huge change, but it’s a refinement, and since you can get a very small compass, it won’t consume much space. More sensors is better than less.
]]>What I’ve got to manage to do, in 45-60 minutes is explain the basics of architectural decomposition (e.g,, business -> functional -> deployment architectures), as well as a brief introduction to UML with enough that they can make sense of existing models. As someone who thinks that many of the fiddly bits are needlessly confusing, I’ve got to figure out what to present and what not to present.
Fun ensues! I taught a draft today and it went over reasonably well, but I still feel the examples were too contrived.
]]>So how is it? Well, it’s still a tank of a keyboard, built better than today’s Mercedes-Benz, and with a feel that is incomparable. The Matias was the best of the modern keyboards for me, but it always had a slight metallic “twang” to every keypress that would get on my nerves. The IBM has no such annoyance, and simply works.
Now, if I could figure out where the key cap for the left arrow went.
]]>amd64 version of Ubuntu.
There’s a pretty easy trick, though. Go get getlibs, and run it against the visual application. This will analyze the ELF file, and download all necessary 32-bit libraries. Poof, you’re done.
Do make sure you download the 64-bit VM when you do it, though, so you can use either.
]]>I considered all three, but in the end, a new MacBook wouldn’t hold more than 6GB of RAM, and still would only have 2 cores. Instead, I found a good deal on a Core i7 machine from Dell. But I didn’t buy it. Instead, I built a machine of my own this time. Same price, a lot better components:
That should hold me for a while. I think. So now I will be using both, depending on the application, quite honestly. For portable use, the MacBook Pro can’t be beat.
]]>I could just not write the full code at all, let the thing break, and ponder the response in the debugger. While there, I can write the code based on what actually came back, and watch it work. Rinse, Repeat for each one of them
Yes, tests are useful. But, the debugger is not something to be feared. Rather, it’s a great tool to be used in order to have the computer do all the memory work for you. I can get a lot more done by working with decent tools like the Smalltalk debugger than I can by assuming the doc is good and writing tests that just help me a whole lot less than you might think.
Here’s the thing. For some value of “nothing”, Smalltalk’s debugger and a debugger for C or Java are nothing alike. Smalltalk’s debugger is like going to see the doctor. You can poke and prod and run tests and prescribe medicines to resolve issues all while monitoring the results. In fact, it’s better than a doctor, because generally no matter how weird the “fix” you try, you can rewind it and go backwards. It’s a doctor with a time-machine. The debugger in C and Java is post-mortem. I can maybe tell you why it died, but I can’t fix it.
This is where the deepest disconnect happens. It’s a language issue. The debugger in Smalltalk and the debugger in C and Java are not only different in capabilities by orders of magnitude, they simply are orthogonal intellectually.
]]>The original version had an amazing cast, and while it was a financial failure, has gone on to be a massive cult hit. Take a look at some of the members:
Where in the world, in this day and age, are you going to find a cast like that to work with? The movie itself was simply a framework for some brilliant comedic performers to work with. A projection screen for all their neurotic behavior and silliness.
Then again, maybe I’m biased; I’ve seen it hundreds of times.
]]>So here’s a few observations, from T+6h:
Overall, I’m quite happy with the purchase. The real test will be next week when I start commuting on mass transit again and have 30-35 minutes a day to read going in each direction. With the Kindle 2, Amazon really has refined the idea even further. It’s not as dramatic a shift as the original Kindle, but it is an improvement overall.
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Click through for some unboxing photos.
]]>Very yummy, and not too heavy.
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Weird, no? I’m quite excited. I had been eyeing the previous generation, but knew that it was time for them to be updated, and I think Amazon has done a great job of taking a good product and making it better. I’m looking forward to it arriving soon.
]]>Best lemon pound cake I’ve ever had, and just brilliant. Not too hard either. Maybe I should post the recipe?
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