Dealing with technological diversity | InfoWorld | Column | 2006-03-29 | By Jon Udell

Dealing with technological diversity, By Jon Udell:

It should learn my habits, adjust to my needs, and help me learn the habits and adjust to the needs of others. But that doesn't happen. The notion of "skinning" applications is ironically appropriate: software customization only goes skin deep.

Emphasis is mine. I just found that to be an amazing observation. There have been several occasions where I have thought to myself, now why can't software do that. Why do I have to manually do it.

I've noticed, if the task has to do with the command line, its much easier to have the system adjust by scripting the task. With the GUI its harder. But that might be my own limitation at least with OS X. Thats why I'm learning Applescript. Still, there is only so much you can script!

Tags: software

Slashdot | Help for an MMORPG Addict?

Slashdot | Help for an MMORPG Addict?

This hits close to home. I too have a friend who needs help. People don't realize this, but it can be a serious problem. Clinical even. Whatever the case, the addiction I, and the poster on slash-dot is talking about are not simple addictions like most people have. These are similar to actual addictions, and require counseling.

Of-course its not a chemical addiction, but its almost as bad.

openssh burns

This is so sad.

I'd say openssh was the most important tool that I use each and every day. It is the best solution for managing servers, and has provided reliable remote access for years. I wish someone would support them. I wonder if the osdl can help them?

Maybe the problem is that openssh is so closely linked to openbsd?

Tags: openssh, openbsd

Critical Security Flaw found in browsers of middle-earth.

Keeping Free Software Free

Keeping Free Software Free:

Defending freedom means thwarting DRM.

Tags: freedom, DRM

WoW-360

This is interesting. Looks like some kind of mod to run WoW on Xbox 360s game controller or something...

Game killer

BigKid : The Dangers of Monogamey

Or how world of warcraft is killing other titles!


Tags: worldofwarcraft

Tidbits

Rails 1.1 has been released.

A cool combination of web technologies.

ssl

Error handling in php.

video tutorial all about using XCode and Core Data.

Have fun! :)

GameSpot Forums - PC Games - reasons why it's worth to be PCgamer in 2006(56Kb=death)

GameSpot Forums - PC Games - reasons why it's worth to be PCgamer in 2006(56Kb=death)

Or a reason for Adnan to get a new alienware laptop! :)

Tags: pcgames, alienware

MAKE: Blog: The Future of Credit Cards - Earning virtual currency for spending in the real world & other world bridging

MAKE: Blog: The Future of Credit Cards - Earning virtual currency for spending in the real world & other world bridging

Sure make it easier for the addicted to spend all their money. That sure sounds like a good idea! Soon you're going to find a new breed of homeless, those who were too addicted to computer games. There will be a drunkard, a druggie, and right next to them, a guy with a laptop (you can always steal wifi/power).

Tags: mmorpg, virtualworld

The not equal to operator in vbscript is

"<>".

?!?

TUAW Tip: keyboard shortcuts during Mac OS X startup

TUAW Tip: keyboard shortcuts during Mac OS X startup:

X during startup - Force Mac OS X startup
option - (eventually) brings up a screen with startup volume choices
Option-Command-Shift-Delete - Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
C - Start up from a CD that has a system folder
N  - Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot)
T - Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode (very handy for plugging your Mac into another as an external hard drive)
Shift - start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extension files (Mac OS X 10.2 and later)
Command-V - Start up in Verbose mode.
Command-S - Start up in Single-User mode
cmd-opt-p-r - Zap PRAM. Hold down until second chime.
cmd-opt-n-v - Clear NV RAM. Similar to reset-all in Open Firmware.
cmd-opt-o-f - Boot into open firmware
hold mouse click - force eject a CD/DVD

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

I might need these for future reference. For instance, if you ever want to boot from a linux live cd/dvd or something.

Tags: boot, mac

Jobs dumps Apple stock

This is new. When I went to this story on digg.com, there is warning on top that says that the content in the article is under review, and that it might not be accurate. Is this an example of people fact checking the media?

What is up with all these reporters coming up with false stories. Recently there was this article that reported 60% of Windows Vista was to be re-written. Can we believe anything that comes out of the main stream press anymore?

And then this via Dave...

The Apple mighty mouse was not built to play warcraft 3.
Sometimes the right click is recognized as the primary click!

Slashdot | Dual-core Systems Necessary for Business Users?

I don't think dual core systems are necessary for common business use, if it means running Microsoft Office. However, if the worker is a mobile worker, who has to make use of apps such as skype or video conferencing, instant messaging and collaboration software and other such more advanced business applications together with Office, I do believe that a dual core processor might help.

Have you ever noticed how much system resources Skype takes when its running. Or Groove? Even RSS Bandit running under the .Net framework is quite intensive. At least it seemed to be on that 1.8 Ghz (AMD Turion I think) / 1 gig ram laptop I had for a few days.

It just depends on your usage. For some the $400 laptops from Dell will be enough power they will ever need. However as the usage of more powerful apps (audio/video conferencing...) becomes more pervasive so will the demand for more powerful laptops.

Wired 14.04: You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired!

Wired 14.04: You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired!:

But the usual critiques fail to recognize its potential for experiential learning. Unlike education acquired through textbooks, lectures, and classroom instruction, what takes place in massively multiplayer online games is what we call accidental learning. It's learning to be - a natural byproduct of adjusting to a new culture - as opposed to learning about.

Tags: wow, worldofwarcraft

A friend of mine, who is addicted to the game, and a read leader would have a hell of a lot of management skills. He keeps saying he is managing 40 peoples lives while leading a raid or whatever. I wonder if they would hire him? He has no other experience!

:D

Process Explorer:

I suppose that many sysops already know Sysinternals Process Explorer. Although I often meet system administrators who never used it. As it is one of my favorite tools, I'd like to introduce it now. Yesterday, I used the Process Explorer to find out which program used ntuser.dat.

Tags: sysinternals

If I ever get my hands on a windows computer, I am sure to install a whole suite of applications from sysinternals. They are amazing utilities, and being a sysadmin I need the most information I can get about the system I'm running. These tools can help you see what programs are running, what programs have tcp ports open, and so on. Process Explorer is just one of these amazing tools.

Jon Udell: Bookmarklets 101

Jon has four extremely useful bookmarklets that you can drag to your toolbar. I find bloglines citations and Delicious citations the most useful. A fifth can be found on this page. Its a Technorati Trackback bookmarklet. These are tools that can help you really enrich your browsing/blogging experience.

Tags: bookmarklets

I'm trying bring a significant change in the way I blog. There were three different kinds of posts I made. First a post with a simple link that I wanted to archive for later reference. Second had a link to an article and some commentry by me. The third was an entry completely written by me. I wanted another way of managing the first kind, the links. I had tried del.icio.us earlier, but my usage dropped. It wasn't that easy to manage the links, and they didn't show up on the blog. That changed over the past few days. First my favorite news reader, NetNewsWire added the ability to post to delicious. You could even specify what software to use (I use Cocoalicious). The second was the discussion by Jon Udell. Using his method, you can now see my recent links (del.icio.us) items on the top in the side bar. And third, the extensions for firefox to work with del.icio.us have also improved a lot. I have yet to integrate them into my work flow though.

BTW, you can subscribe to my del.icio.us rss feed if you want to see what articles I find interesting.

Microsoft Delays Consumer Windows Vista

Microsoft Delays Consumer Windows Vista:

icrosoft Corp just released a press release outlining the Windows Vista update schedule which confirms a delay consumer version of the Vista software by almost six months. The consumer launch of Windows Vista operating system was supposed to happen in the second half of 2006, but Microsoft will now ship this in January 2007.

(Via Om Malik's Broadband Blog.)

Tags: windowsvista, vista

ONLamp.com: Three-Tier Development with PHP 5

ONLamp.com: Three-Tier Development with PHP 5

Tags: php

Cocoa Text System

Cocoa Text System


Tags: cocoatext, macosx

Review of ten different PHP frameworks.


Tags: php

What Windows Vista will do for PC gaming

What Windows Vista will do for PC gaming:

The launch of Windows Vista will not only fatten the pockets of Gates' but it will also bring with it DirectX 10. "It will offer six to eight times the graphics performance of DirectX 9.0"

Tags: vista, pcgaming

WinXP and OSX dual boot in MacBook Pro: Nirlog.com

WinXP and OSX dual boot in MacBook Pro: Nirlog.com

And the link to the wiki in the article.

Tags: winxponmac, macbookpro

An overview of Newsreaders for the Mac, by Om Malik.

bin-utils type utilities such as ar, are present i...

bin-utils type utilities such as ar, are present in /usr/ccs/bin/ in solaris.

If you've installed the sunfreeware version of gcc, you have to go to usr/local/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.10/3.3.2/install-tools and run mkheaders. This will fix the problems with the sun headers that are installed.

When compiling Python 2.4.2 from source, there was an error:
Objects/complexobject.c: In function `complex_pow':
...

You can find the fix here.

REST based authentication

REST based authentication

I'll need this link as a reference for later.

The adventures of scaling, Stage 1

The adventures of scaling, Stage 1:

This series of articles is meant to serve more as a case study as opposed to a generic "How To Scale Your Rails Application" piece of writing, which may or may not be possible to write.

Tags: Rails, RoR

Slashdot | DDoS Attacks Via DNS Recursion

Slashdot | DDoS Attacks Via DNS Recursion

Tags: dns, DDOS

New virus holds your documents hostage:

The Trojan horse encrypts a user's documents and then directs the victim to pay US$300 into an e-gold account in return for the password that will unlock the files. It's not clear yet how the virus is spreading, but once installed on the user's PC, the program encrypts word processing documents, databases, and spreadsheets before deleting itself from the machine.

Tags: virus, trojan

nohup on solaris, linux, and osx

If you want to run a job, and you're not sure if it will complete by the time you have to logout of the server, you can issue the following command:

nohup command-to-run &

The output for the command will be sent to nohup.out.

Solaris 10

I installed Solaris 10 on an Intel x86 machine at home. I chose default partitioning, and it allocated a 100 MB or so for the /var partition. Now if I try to do anything, such as install the security patches it complains about disk space. Weird default partitioning scheme.

Not to mention the number of default services that are running on the machine. And they have a new services system. To view the services running on the system you can do:
svcs -a

To turn a service of, you can do:
svcadm disable servicename

To patch solaris 10:
smpatch update

mini-itx.com Shuttle's XPC mini X100

Tags: minipc

Firefox extension to easily automate all your browsing tasks:

Here is very cool firefox extension that will record and playback actions in a browser. It will also generate your script in Ruby code. The example gives you a scripts to automate eBay feedback.

(Via digg.)

Tags: automation, firefox

Javascript, AJAX, DHTML (Web 2.0) debugging tools...:

When developing anything that has to do with Javascript like AJAX or DHTML web pages (Web 2.0, if you prefer), it pays to have good debugging tools.

(Via Sun Bloggers.)

I had the opportunity to use the Venkman Javascript Debugger, and it is a really excellent tool for debugging. When I moved to Firefox 1.5, the Venkman debugger did not come along. I wonder if they have released a newer version. Will look later.

Tags: debug, javascript

I needed to find out what user was spawning of a p...

I needed to find out what user was spawning of a process in Solaris, and I was able to do that using ptree. ptree lists all hierarchy of a spawned process.

In Linux the equivalent would pstree.

If I find the OS X equivalent, I'll let you know.

Update: On OS X if you have fink installed:

fink install pstree

will install an OS X specific pstree.

Update: You can download/compile the source for pstree at:

ftp://ftp.thp.uni-duisburg.de/pub/source/
http://fresh.t-systems-sfr.com/unix/src/misc/

I was able to compile the source and run it natively on Tiger.

Thanks to Seth Theriault for the links.

Lemonodor: Lython

lython puts a lisp-like sexpr on top of Python.

Tags: lisp, Python

Windows XP on iMac: The video:

Proof of concept uploaded by Narf2006. Interesting partitioning scheme. Funny how they also hacked the apple boot screen :) At least this should end the legit/not legit controversy.

(Via digg.)

Tags: winxp, imac

Laptop hardware failure

Laptops failing all over the place. No not mine. But my friends. First the screen and power socket in a friends laptop. The laptop was a year and a half old, and my friend had home service. The day the rep was supposed to come in to replace the faulty hardware, the hard drive began to fail. The rep managed to replaced the hard drive. I had to help my friend migrate data and stuff of the failed hard drive. The laptop has been sitting on a desk, used for matlab/MSWord use. Similar settings for the following laptops. They are usually used as desktop replacements. So not much wear and tear.

Then a couple of days later, another friends DVD writer failed. This laptop was less than a year old.

Another friends two year old laptop failed.

It just so happens that all of these laptops were Dell. Don't know if that means something.

Another friend told me that his sister had a Compaq, which had problems with the DVD drive and such. It went in for repairs and it took three months to fix. The company gave her another laptop in the interim. But three months?!?

Is this what we are to expect now. Laptops with hardware failures in less than a year? If you're lucky than two years?

Maybe thats the failure rate for most hardware, but at least on the desktops you can replace hardware. If you're not lucky enough to have warranty for your laptop are you out of luck?

Zero to IPSec in 4 minutes

Zero to IPSec in 4 minutes

Tags:

• ipsec


• Security

Unconfirmed: Dell buys Alienware - Alpha Blog - alpha.cnet.com

Unconfirmed: Dell buys Alienware - Alpha Blog - alpha.cnet.com:

While no word has been officially released from either Dell or Alienware, we heard from a reliable source this morning that the purchase has indeed gone down.

Becoming a Lead, Pt. 3 - Delegating

Becoming a Lead, Pt. 3 - Delegating:

Delegating should be easy.  Just tell someone else to do something.  So, why is it that so many people struggle here?

(Via Steve Rowe's Blog.)

A SERIAL field is the equivalent of an auto_increment field of MySQL in PostgreSQL.

Slashdot | WinXP on a Mac, Hoax?

Slashdot | WinXP on a Mac, Hoax?

Interesting thread. One or two comments down there is a mention of Amit Singh from IBM who is also working on a system to boot Linux/Windows on the new EFI based Macs.

Amazon Grid Storage Web Services:Move over Google ...

Amazon Grid Storage Web Services:

Move over Google Drive, Amazon just stole your thunder (for now).

...

Pricing is cheaper than anything else I’ve seen: $0.15 per GB of storage per month, and $0.20 for each GB of data transferred up or downstream. This translates to $15 per month for 100 GB of storage, net of any transfer fees (to move that much data on to S3 would be a one time cost of $20). These prices are going to be significantly below the development and ongoing costs for small or medium sized storage projects - meaning a lot of the front end services I’ve previously profiled will be much better off moving their entire back end to S3.

Om on 802.11n:

The center of controversy is 802.11n, a new standard that proposes to dramatically boosts the speeds and reliability of the WiFi networks. On the opposing sides are two companies - Airgo Networks, tiny start-up, and Broadcom, which is only a few years removed from its own start-up phase.

Just give me the faster wifi! :)

Performancing Metrics is Here! | Performancing Site

Performancing Metrics is Here! | Performancing Site

I'm registering right now. I wonder if its better than sitemeter.com which is what I use currently.

Getting to Done: Pimp your Mac Mini - Lifehacker

Getting to Done: Pimp your Mac Mini - Lifehacker

MacBook Pro noises, LCD, touchpad, other problems

MacBook Pro noises, LCD, touchpad, other problems

Uhoh...

Everybody is in Everybody’s Business

Everybody is in Everybody’s Business:

Apple, for all its faults has that focus thing down pat. Okay maybe I am just being old-fashioned… hmmmmph!

(Via Om Malik's Broadband Blog.)

Linux Kernel Configuration Archive - Best Kernel .config reference ever.

Linux Kernel Configuration Archive - Best Kernel .config reference ever.:

Ever wondered what all those questions are when compiling your Kernel? I've been using this site for about a year. Just now on IRC I recommended it to some folks in #gentoo. Then I Google'd to see what sites link to it. Turns out... None.

(Via digg.com.)

Tyan brings supercomputing to the desktop

Tyan brings supercomputing to the desktop

phpPgAdmin :: Web Based PostgreSQL Administration Tool

phpPgAdmin :: Web Based PostgreSQL Administration Tool

For those of you who have to administer a PostgreSQL database, and are looking for a phpmyadmin type application.

Scripting News for 3/13/2006

Scripting News for 3/13/2006:

Blogging doesn’t need me anymore. It’ll go on just as well, maybe even better, with some new space opened up for some new things. But more important to me, there will be new space for me. Blogging not only takes a lot of time (which I don’t begrudge it, I love writing) but it also limits what I can do, because it’s made me a public figure. I want some privacy, I want to matter less, so I can retool, and matter more, in different ways. What those ways are, however, are things I won’t be talking about here. That’s the point. That’s the big reason why.

(Via Dave's Wordpress Blog.)

Oh boy. All good things must eventually come to an end. *Sigh*

If Dave stops bloggings its going to get really silent. I've been reading scripting news since 2000. Reading scripting news got me started in blogging.
I got my friend blogging, and he told me yesterday he showed how easy it is to blog to another mutual friend. Who started his own blog.

The Linux Virtual Server Project - Linux Server Cluster for Load Balancing

The Linux Virtual Server Project - Linux Server Cluster for Load Balancing

Gosling Didn't Get The Memo [@lesscode.org]:

Also, avoid the term dynamic language at all cost. It's important that the reader not be exposed to the concepts separating scripting languages like bash, MS-DOS batch, and perl-in-the-eighties from general purpose dynamic languages like Ruby, Python, Smalltalk, and Perl present day.

Also, the official bittorrent client is written in Python.
Also, the desktop wiki called wikipad.

How To Write Unmaintainable Code

How To Write Unmaintainable Code:

Ensure a job for life ;-)

My friend msged me this link. Nice ideas... :)

Firefox Excessive Memory Usage

Firefox Excessive Memory Usage:

This screenshot was taken after a few days of regular Firefox usage. That's over 900 megabytes of memory for a single, non-tabbed instance of Firefox.

(Via Coding Horror.)

I have a similar problem for Firefox on the Mac. I hope they fix memory leaks on v2.0.

MySpace Messenger Coming

MySpace Messenger Coming:

So this has been something which has been whispered for a while, but Pete Cashmore has discovered actual screen shots of MySpace Messenger.

(Via Om Malik's Broadband Blog.)

It will be interesting to see what happens with this new messenger service. The thing going for myspace here is that they already have a large number of users of their web site. And they are the kind of audience that is willing to experiment.

However, having another IM network to support now is just going to be a problem.

Upload Progress Meter

Upload Progress Meter

and...
php

I returned this today. Too much of a Mac person no...

I returned this today. Too much of a Mac person now!

I missed TextWrangler, Voodoopad, and Unison too much!

An apt-get primer.

20 Islamic inventors/inventions that changed the world.

The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.

Cool stuff!

Google in 20 years

How to setup Rails/Ecplise on Windows.

First version of Vista might not boot on Intel Macs with EFI.

Linspect Editor allows editing of remote files via ssh on windows.

WikidPad is a wiki-like notebook for storing your thoughts, ideas, todo lists, contacts, or anything else you can think of to write down.

I'm going to see if this works well as a Voodoopad replacement.

Second Life for Linux!

Superkaramba as far as I remember is a dashboard/konfabulator replacement for kde. I'll try it out when I'm in KDE later.

kde-look.org is a site for themes for kde.

Windows Tools list!

w.bloggar is a free blogging tool for windows.
rss bandit is a free news aggregator for windows.

A picture of the sky outside my work place. Testing hello. 

Scripting News for 3/9/2006

Scripting News for 3/9/2006:

Google acquired Writely, a browser-based word processor. 

(Via Dave's Wordpress Blog.)

Now this is interesting!

Now that I have the 64 bit version of Linux installed, I'm surprised to find their are many apps that cannot be installed, or are really hard to install. Flashplayer, Skype...

Phil Windley's Technometria | Jon Udell on Seeking Attention (ETech 2006)

Phil Windley's Technometria | Jon Udell on Seeking Attention (ETech 2006):

Jon Udell is the morning's opening keynote. We are all seekers of attention. We all have ideas we'd like to promote and agendas we'd like to publicize. So, we all make claims on other people's attention. The focus of his talk is how to reward those who give us attention. Jon sees for patterns.

Coding Horror: Web Forms: Death By a Thousand Textboxes

Coding Horror: Web Forms: Death By a Thousand Textboxes:

Forcing hundreds of users to do more work to make a single programmer's life slightly easier is a false economy.

The second advice would be harder to code for. I agree with the first advice though.

No New 'Battlestar Galactica' until October? Say it ain't so!

No New 'Battlestar Galactica' until October? Say it ain't so!:

The season finale this friday might be the last 'Fresh' episode of BSG we get to see until October as NBC might be moving it to their Network TV Channel

(Via digg.)

Great, if something is going well, a bigger company is going to swoop in, and spoil it for us. I hope thats not the case here.

Thought of the day

Thought of the day:

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
~ Beverly Sills

(Via Sun Bloggers.)

WoW: The Text Adventure

WoW: The Text Adventure:

[more]

(Via reddit: what's new online.)

New Windows Live releases - plus Onfolio acquisition

New Windows Live releases - plus Onfolio acquisition:

One thing of personal interest to me is that a former Read/WriteWeb sponsor, web research product Onfolio, has been acquired by Microsoft and integrated into the Windows Live Toolbar. Congrats Onfolio!

(Via Read/WriteWeb.)

BBEdit vs. TextMate

BBEdit vs. TextMate:

How else to explain his willingness to pen a review pitting BBEdit vs. Textmate. Furthermore, he does the impossible and says that neither of them wins the battle!

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

...

Dave says:

Ray Ozzie's new idea is a clipboard for the web.

I was wondering what the big deal was. Then I saw the screencasts.

I just bought this.

Java EE 5 learning Resources (Part 3 - Web Tier)

Java EE 5 learning Resources (Part 3 - Web Tier):

Previously I have listed some general learning resources for Java EE 5 as well as some specific java EE 5 Web Services resources. This post lists some more specific resources for the Web Tier.

(Via Sun Bloggers.)

Ferengi Rules of Acquisition 1.0

Ferengi Rules of Acquisition 1.0:

About Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
If your struggling with business the Ferengi just may have the answer!


(Via Mac OS X Downloads - Dashboard.)

Consuming RSS feeds with PHP

Consuming RSS feeds with PHP:

Learn how to parse RSS feeds in PHP using the built in event-driven parser.

(Via GoodPHPTutorials.com RSS Feed.)

Nice comparison of why Macs are really cheaper then PCs

Nice comparison of why Macs are really cheaper then PCs:

In April 2005, Apple introduced the OS X 10.4, also known as Tiger. In January, it announced MacTel computing. And now imagine desktop and laptop computers that don't crash for months at a time. Imagine PCs that are close to immune to the endless train wrecks caused by viruses and worms.

(Via digg.)

Configuring Tomcat5 and Apache2 with Virtual Hosts using mod_jk

Configuring Tomcat5 and Apache2 with Virtual Hosts using mod_jk:

This tutorial explains how to setup an Apache2 web server in order to support Java Server Pages (JSP) and Servlets using virtually hosted websites. Tomcat 5 is used as servlet container, and mod_jk as Tomcat connector.

(Via digg.)

Hak.5 episode 8 is out! :)

Hak.5 episode 8 is out! :)

It has good stuff on vidcasts. Mr. Tidbits should watch.

Virtual Karma: Stealth Submit Using AJAX | Rian's blog

Virtual Karma: Stealth Submit Using AJAX | Rian's blog:

Have you ever started filling a web form and halfway into it decide against submitting because suddenly you no longer trust the website enough? You closed the browser window and that was the end of story, right? Wrong! The website might still have your information. You think it%u2019s impossible? This article will show you how it can be done. I call the technique Stealth Submit.

The John Dvorakification of the blogosphere (I’m signing off of Memeorandum)

The John Dvorakification of the blogosphere (I’m signing off of Memeorandum):

I’m unsubscribing from Memeorandum.

(Via Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger.)

Hmm... maybe Scoble can just add tech.memeorandum.com as RSS feed. Then it becomes just another RSS feed. That way you can still read it, but it becomes just another RSS feed, and the world isn't about tech.memeorandum anymore. At least thats what I do.

The Aquarium: Java EE 5 learning Resources (Part 2 - Web Services)

Zend Developer Zone | PHP Patterns: Introduction:

Yet with increased support for objects in PHP 5, design patterns are set to become an essential tool for the PHP coder.

In this article I introduce patterns in the context of PHP 5.

Better networking with SCTP:

SCTP is a reliable, general-purpose transport layer protocol for use on IP networks. While the protocol was originally designed for telephony signaling (under the RFC 2960), SCTP provided an added bonus -- it solved some of the limitations of TCP while borrowing beneficial features of UDP. SCTP provides features for high availability, increased reliability, and improved security for socket initiation.

...

Failover can also be used to maintain network application connectivity. For example, consider a laptop that includes a wireless 802.11 interface and an Ethernet interface. When the laptop is in its docking station, the higher-speed Ethernet interface would be preferred (in SCTP, called the primary address); but upon loss of this connection (removal from the docking station), connections would be failed over to the wireless interface. Upon return to the docking station, the Ethernet connection would be detected and communication resumed over this interface. This is a powerful mechanism for providing high availability and increased reliability.

Build a Six-headed, Six-user Linux System LG #124

Build a Six-headed, Six-user Linux System LG #124

The Best of World of Warcraft Music Videos

The Best of World of Warcraft Music Videos:

I am truly amazed about how many music videos were produced from the World of Warcraft. People create their own videoclips, with music background and screens from the game. Virtual reality or virtual insanity?


(Via Sun Bloggers.)

New GCC Heavy on Optimization

New GCC Heavy on Optimization

My mouse died today, and I bought a might mouse. A...

My mouse died today, and I bought a mighty mouse. An interesting device. Larger than my previous mouse, it will take some getting used to. It has no buttons, but you can click the cover and it can tell whether its a primary click or a right click. It has buttons on the side, that bring up expose. Middle clicking brings up the dashboard. Its been fun so far.

decaffeinated archives :: DMG

decaffeinated archives :: DMG

YouTube - Space Balloon

YouTube - Space Balloon

A video of a water ballon being popped in zero gravity.

Amazing Buildings in Dubai

Amazing Buildings in Dubai:

Cool features showing the new spectacular buildings of Dubai. Including an underground hotel 66 feet under the sea.

(Via digg.)

link three 19" monitors for 3840x1024 display

link three 19" monitors for 3840x1024 display:

Matrox offers palm-sized box which enables most computers to use three 19” monitors with a combined resolution of up to 3840x1024 and an incredible 45” of total diagonal - even if those systems only support a single display output.

(Via digg.)

Zend Framework 1.0 released !

Zend Framework 1.0 released !:

We are glad to finally unveil the Zend Framework project. We have worked hard in the past few months with our partners and the community to get to this stage. We believe the Zend Framework can already be of great use to PHP developers, although we still have a lot of work ahead of us."

(Via digg.)

Wine 0.9.9 released!

Wine 0.9.9 released!:

he windows emulator (i know, Wine Is Not an Emulator... :P) comes one step closer to completion!

(Via digg.)

I didn't know Wine was this close to a 1.0 release.

In pursuit of simplicity

In pursuit of simplicity:

There's an interesting anecdote about Google's absolute focus on minimalism in Seth Godin's book Purple Cow:

(Via Coding Horror.)

Now thats an amazing story. Ever since I've signed up for a google account, the google page that shows up sometimes when I forget to sign out is the personalized page. And the personalized page isn't that useful either. Maybe I should get rid of it.

Negative 5750

Negative 5750:

Well, I got curious as to how I was doing on number of lines of code—and found that, at least so far, NetNewsWire 2.1 has 5750 fewer lines of code than NetNewsWire 2.0.1. (This includes the various frameworks I wrote that NetNewsWire uses.)

(Via inessential.com.)

Wow! Thats a lot of lines.

Building Online Stores with osCommerce

Building Online Stores with osCommerce:

Stephanie Brain writes "Have you ever considered building your own online store and entering into the booming e-commerce arena? If you have, you may have come across some of the many open-source software available for downloading from the Internet. One of the most popular of these is OsCommerce which has been developed since March 2000 and has a full team of staff dedicated to its development. It is overseen by the founder, Harald Ponce de Leon and today there are around 6000 live, registered OsCommerce sites and 70000 registered community members, many of whom are active on the OSC forum you can log on to. This forum can provide a wealth of information when you come up against any obstacle when developing your own OsCommerce website." Read the rest of Stephanie's review.

(Via Slashdot.)

BellSouth considers pay-per-byte broadband

BellSouth considers pay-per-byte broadband:

The telcos are eyeing pay-per-byte billing schemes, and infrastructure companies like Cisco are salivating at the prospect of the new round of infrastructure sales that it'll take to make the "tiered Internet" a reality.

(Via Ars Technica.)

bad bad bad.

Main Page - FreeMind - free mind mapping software

Main Page - FreeMind - free mind mapping software

Using Ajax from Perl

Using Ajax from Perl:

The recently rediscovered Ajax technique makes the client side of web programming much more useful and pleasant. However, it also means revising your existing web applications to take advantage of this new power. Dominic Mitchell shows how to use CGI::Ajax to give your Perl applications access to this new power.

(Via O'Reilly Network Articles.)

Ajax, Ajax, Ajax. Too much Ajax!

Where we are with NetNewsWire 2.1

Where we are with NetNewsWire 2.1:

You might wonder where we are with NetNewsWire 2.1...

(Via inessential.com.)

NetNewsWire is one of the few software programs that I've shelled out money to buy. But the feature lists in 2.1 are not too exciting. I might still use NewsGator Online, but the Universal binary doesn't interest me at all. I dont have an x86 Mac in sight for the next couple of months at least, if then.

I'm surprised though that they haven't released a Universal binary as yet. If I had an x86 Mac I would hate using applications that ran in Rosetta.

MacBook Pro: A great HD portable

MacBook Pro: A great HD portable:

"It can decode two HD videos at once and watch them in Expose, but not without dropping a few frames...The most impressive thing is how well it plays H.264 HD encoded material, the CPU never goes over 60% and is usualy closer to 50% and scrubs perfect."

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

DB2 and open source: Put yourself on the map with Google Maps API, DB2/Informix, and PHP on Linux

DB2 and open source: Put yourself on the map with Google Maps API, DB2/Informix, and PHP on Linux:

Google Maps API along with DB2, Informix, PHP, JavaScript, and XML let you create an easy-to-use map with your data on it. Pan to your zip code to see area-specific data. Use custom icons, change the map type, create a sidebar, and use event handlers.

(Via developerWorks : DB2 : Technical library : Articles.)

With Topdesk 1.4.1, You Don't Need Windows Vista

With Topdesk 1.4.1, You Don't Need Windows Vista:

The nicest feature (according to some) of upcoming Vista is the "Flip 3D" function, a cool graphical method for switching between windows. A bit like "Alt-Tab on Steroids". Topdesk 1.4.1 gives XP the same functionality, right now! Not a dupe guys, it's not Topdesk 1.4, but 1.4.1

(Via digg.)

Configuring WebDAV for cross-platform file sharing

Configuring WebDAV for cross-platform file sharing

MacDevCenter.com: Extending the Dashboard Virtual Earth Widget

MacDevCenter.com: Extending the Dashboard Virtual Earth Widget

Brendan's Roadmap Updates: Python and JavaScript

Brendan's Roadmap Updates: Python and JavaScript

Slashdot adds user tagging

Slashdot adds user tagging:

Nice!  Slashdot.org has added user tagging as a beta feature.

(Via Jeff Sandquist - Microsoft Evangelist.)

About time.

Yahoo follows Google's footsteps

Yahoo follows Google's footsteps:

Yahoo's playing copycat again - this time with instant messaging integration:

(Via Threadwatch.org - Marketing and Technology Discussed.)

Apple Updates Fixes 13 Security Flaws

Apple Updates Fixes 13 Security Flaws:

(Via Packet Storm Security Headlines.)

The Biggest Carnivore: Dinosaur History Rewritten

The Biggest Carnivore: Dinosaur History Rewritten:

Spinosaurus is now officially the biggest meat-eating dinosaur known to science. Just barely.

(Via digg.)

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro:

Apple's portables were stuck in a system bandwidth mire for years with the G4. Now the MacBook Pro is here. Was the wait worth it? Ars reviews Apple's latest laptop and compares it not only against a PowerBook G4, but a Dell Inspiron running Mac OS X.

(Via Ars Technica.)

Apple researching iTunes feature film movie service?

Apple researching iTunes feature film movie service?:

Exclusive: Apple Computer may be in the intermediate stages of developing an iTunes movie download

(Via AppleInsider.)

Introducing Scobleizer, Inc. in Second Life

Introducing Scobleizer, Inc. in Second Life:

For those of you who have never been to Second Life, it’s a virtual world. You can just come and visit, if you want, or you can sign up to own land, build things, trade with others. It’s an amazing place and very addicting.

(Via Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger.)

Paul Perry - Automated Collaborative Filtering in SQL

Paul Perry - Automated Collaborative Filtering in SQL

Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories: Make a Mess, Clean it Up!

Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories: Make a Mess, Clean it Up!:

I was beginning to see how Burrell could be so successful with everything he does. Like many high achievers, Burrell likes challenges so much that he actually seeks them out and consciously creates them. In the long run, this approach makes sense. He seems to aggressively set up challenging situations throughout his life. Then, when life throws him a curve ball, he'll swing hard, and knock it out of the park.

Want to upgrade your Vista? No need to buy another box, just do it online.

Want to upgrade your Vista? No need to buy another box, just do it online.:

"All three consumer versions - Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate - will be included on the same CD or DVD. You don’t need to go to the store and purchase a new shrink-wrapped box to upgrade; all you have to do is go to Control Panel and run the Windows Anytime Upgrade program."

(Via digg.)

Hiring Is Up in Silicon Valley for High-Skill Jobs

Hiring Is Up in Silicon Valley for High-Skill Jobs:

From the article: "Doug Henton, an economist and co-author of the report, says with the growth in these creative engineering jobs, a new face of Silicon Valley is emerging.

(Via Slashdot.)