I am used to seeing Google's beta release systems reasonably polished and almost always useful, so their video store is a real disappointment. But, wait 6 months and it might be awesome.
Sorry, but I have to call bullshit on this comment.
Fifth Element was a great movie for so many reasons: it was funny, the CG effects were great, the futuristic scenes of the floating Chineese restaurant were brilliant, Milla Jovovich was so hot that she sizzled, Gary Oldman's performance was great as usual, Bruce Willis was Bruce Willis, etc.
While your predictions are likely to come at least partially true in the next 5 or 10 years, I can't agree with predicting a dollar collapse occuring exactly in the next year.
My advice is to avoid debt at all costs and then sit back and watch the show. People with lots of consumer debt will turn into economic debt-serfs, and will likely never again have control over their own lives.
I remember using the internet in the 1980s to work on servers in Norway from my office in San Diego: a couple of satellite hops contributed to a couple second delay. Tricks like using the mouse to set the position of the emacs cursor, lots of local testing, etc. helped.
Land line fiber has eliminated much of the speed of light problems with satellite hops and I look forward to faster switches, etc. to reduce latency as much as possible.
I mostly write interactive web portals for a living and adding technologiess like asynchronous Javascript HTML updates, better networking, cheaper and faster servers, etc. all make my job more fun.
Wow - what a bogus premise: off course Rails based web applications are maintanable. I consider maintenance and modification costs to scale fairly linearly with code size and Rails applications are concise.
After heavy experimenting with Common Lisp, Python, and Smalltalk based frameworks I have decided to base my consulting business on just Ruby on Rails and a subset of the Java J2EE stack. I am a little prejudiced on language choice since I have written 5 Java books and I am working right now on a Ruby book for Manning; and on Monday I spent a half day creating the RubyPlanet.net news site. Still, I enjoy Lisp, Python, and Smalltalk and gave web frameworks written in those languages a good evaluation.
My wife and I moved from California to Sedona Arizona 7 years ago and we both feel that the greatly reduced income is OK given that the cost of living is less, the mountains are fine, hiking is great, etc.
I love working out of a home office and telecommuting for various customers. There are diversions like helping my wife with shopping and cooking, walking my dog on the national forest service trails behind my house, etc. However, I find myself only working when I am really in the groove (or in the flow) and find my professional life to be very fullfilling. I do have to work hard at giving customers the feeling that I am always there for them: not easy when I have more than one job going, or when my buddies talk me into a long hike.
I used to charge two remote consulting rates: high priority (no going off on hikes when working for these customers) and low priority (I will get stuff done as soon as I can, but expect occasional delays of a day or two). Anyway, I quit taking high priority work - again trading some money for an even better lifestyle. I am happy working 30+ hours a week, but working flexible hours is just *great*.
While offering more pricing options increases service costs, I think that pricing should be variable based on:
1. resolution: 320x240, 500x300, 640x480, 1200x1024, etc. resolutions should be priced differently both because of bandwidth cost differentials and also value of being able to view on larger displays for more people to comfortably watch.
2. DRM timeout period: I would expect to pay different amounts for a 24 hour, 2 day, 1 week, etc. viewing period.
And, the cost should be much lower than purchasing a DVD. A purchased DVD will likely to be viewable for many years, can be loaned to friends, etc..
I wrote a web blob on Sony early this week: I bought my wife a Sony MP3 player without doing sufficient pre-purchasing research: this device seems purposefully crippled for playing free MP3 files (specifically any that are not sampled at 44KHz). Sony needs to get a clue, and I am not even going to get into their root kit stupidity.
I use Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP and OS X - but for different things. I like OS X for video editing, Garage Band, and sometimes RoR development. I use Windows XP for watching DVD movies, enjoying OMN.net, and when I have to use a customer's VPN. I use Linux for Java development with IntelliJ and RoR development using Eclipse+RDT+RadRails. Now, I can do Java and RoR development on any platform, but Linux seems like a more professional working environment to me because it does not have all the not-needed crap that gets installed with Windows and all the fun and distracting stuff in OS X.
The real trick is keeping all code, build files, design artifacts, etc. under source code control - then using any OS platform is easy - just do a quick cvs update, and working on any OS is easy. It helps that using any build files, IntelliJ, and Eclipse is all portable across operating systems.
Anyway, I look at Windows XP and OS X as enhancements to having Linux - best tool for the job. If I *had* to just use one OS it would probably be OS X (and give up any work that required a Windows-only VPN), but given that I have all three platforms available, I boot Linux about 70% of the time.
I have a question: if I use the older JDBC connector (from June 2002) before the connector project was absorbed by MySQL and became GPLed, is it OK to use MySQL on a leased server with a Java web application that is not GPLed?
That is, if my web application links with the old LGPLed connector which uses a socket connection to the GPLed MySQL server, then that is fine license-wise, right?
This is a question for all the 'Slashdot lawyers':-)
Seriously, from reading the licenses, I believe that the scenario that I mentioned using the older LGPLed JDBC connector is OK, while using the newer GPLed JVBC connector(s) is not.
Also: I believe that this is not an issue with Ruby since the client MySQL connector is not GPLed.
The Ruby MySQL connector is licensed under the Ruby license - so, apparently (I think!!) there are no problems using the GPL version of MySQL with non-GPL licensed applications.
The situation is different with Java: the MM.MySQL connector (up to 2002) was LGPL licensed, but is now version 3.x of the MySQL GPL licensed connector. This is a good reason to keep a copy of the older connector around!
I *think* that the Python license is usable under either the GPL or the Python license.
This is a real pain - I would just switch over completely to PostgreSQL, except most reneted servers handle MySQL out-of-the-box, so MySQL is a little more convenient.
I am somewhat known as a Java guy (written 5 Java books, and try a web search for 'Java consultant' and check out the first non-paid for link:-) but I still get tired of Java developers who think that Java is the best tool for everything. Same goes for Python/Ruby/PHP/Lip/Smalltalk, etc.
For very simple sites, PHP is great (I have read through the code for a few great PHP driven sites - great functionality, but not best from a maintainability and architecture point of view). Ruby on Rails has some great features (I love the architecture of RoR, love the way model classes are mapped to.rhtml views, etc.) and RoR makes a lot of sense for some projects. Java on the server rocks, big time - for some projects.
I think that developers should look at themselves as problem solvers and craftsmen and as such try to use the best tools without preconceived biases.
... because Ruby is a dynamic language it is more difficult for IDEs to autocomplete, etc.
I do most of my development in Java, so I mostly use IntelliJ (best Java IDE, IMHO). However, I also really like Eclipse because in one IDE you can code in Java, C++, Ruby, Python, etc.
While there are disturbing trends (e.g., low math and science scores, more interest in education in developing nations, eventual decline of U.S. economy) I think that there is still a lot to be optimistic about.
For one thing, the standard of living is so high in the U.S., that a decline of luxuries is liveable -really what do you need but good friends, family food, and shelter - give me a break on the Polyana B.S. because I just got back from a good friend's wedding (where I was asked to play my didgeridoo:-). Really, it is relationships that matter in life, not material crap.
I still believe that the U.S. (along with a lot of other countries) still has a surfeit of talented creative people. Right now, innovative web applications is what is catching my interests - but there is a lot of great things happening in field of IT.
Sure the trends are a little disturbing, but people who love doing what they do will mostly still have good lives, even if things in the U.S. generally decline.
It was a small hassle: installed the zillion RPMs with "alien -s *.rpm" and then changed the ownership of/opt/openoffice.org1.9.125 to my user account and I had to set some execute permissions in/opt/openoffice.org1.9.125/programs. Not sure why everything was root with no permisions; maybe I missed an option on running alien. Nice though, runs well, and looks great.
I hope that the Ubuntu team packages the latest beta of OOo with the next Ubuntu release.
I have been running beta 1 when I need to run Windows for a long time.
... it seems like most expereinced Linux users prefer to get source distributions, right?
After migrating from Slackware -> Caldera -> SuSE, I am now a happy Ubuntu user.
Really, except for a few developer tools, just about everything that I need is in the main distribution, and can be trivially installed.
I actually have a small point here: for developers and experienced Linux users, running./configure ; make ; sudo make install is no problem, so the exact placement of deployed application files seems to not matter too much../configure gets that right for you.
For novice users, a good distribution like Ubuntu or SuSE is likely to have what people need with OOo, Firefox, a few games, etc.
Except for IntelliJ, it is difficult for me to imagine what other commercial software I would every want for Linux. I do buy programs for OS X and Windows, but I usually use Linux for getting work done, and for me not much is required except for development tools and a word processor. It would be interesting to hear from someone at JetBrains about how much effort it is packaging IntelliJ for various Linux distros.
I got a Xerox 1108 in 1983 - a superb development system.
At the present time, I would suggest flexibility. For me, this means having a server were all of my design artifacts, code, etc. are under source code control. Then, no matter if I need to use a Mac, Linux, or Windows box, I can get the environment that I need almost instantly.
If you do a lot of Java work, think about investing in IntelliJ - it is better IMO than Eclipse and NetBeans.
For Lisp, currently I like the Linux-SLIME-Emacs-SBCL combination (and free!), although if you want to deliver small fast executables, Lispworks is great.
VisualWorks Smalltalk has a good deal for small developers: for $500/year you get all their development tools (great web services support, etc.) and the $500/year is a prepayment on royalties. It is an awesome environment but I find Smalltalk a hard sell (everyone wants their stuff delivered in Java).
For Ruby, I think that Eclipse + the Ruby plugin is a pretty good combination.
I live about 100 feet from a trail head, leading to wilderness area: that is the best "add on" for my coding environment because I like to take lots of work breaks. For a physical trainer, I went top dollar: bought an Italian Greyhound puppy who lets me know when I have been working too much and not walking him enough. We also have a baby parrot who hangs out a lot with me (shoulder, back of chair, or top of flatsceen monitor) - he is very little trouble and adds something nice to my work environment.
I work out of a home office. My wife insisted that I get good office furniture (great orthopedic chair, nice teak desk, etc.)
Good food: I like to take a lot of food breaks while I work. My wife and I have a fine recipes web portal (CJsKitchen.com) and one of us is almost always making something tasty because that is our main hobby. Good nutrition and exercise are important for coding or any other intellectual activities!
I own Word licenses for OS X and Windows, but I just like OO.org better - seems simpler and stays out of my way when writing. I used OO.org for 2 of my last 3 books.
The OO.org 2.0 beta is especially good.
I have written a few blog entries on the massively huge advantages of open file formats - I won't repeat myself hereexcept to say that took me 5 minutes to write Java code to perfectly handle OO.org and AbiWord file formats. For my GPLed NLP project, I spent huge amounts of time trying to dea with Microsoft Office formats, and did no really do very well.
As a Microsoft stock owner, I wrote a letter to Microsoft compalining about their failure to also support OO.org file formats - I never received a response, which I think is rude behavior. After not receiving an answer since the 3 or 4 months that I wrote the letter, I am thinking of dumping their stock.
Why consider this? I don't know that much about the Itanium chip except that it was supposed to provide great FP performance (right?), and that it is (probably) a failure in the marketplace.
There are good reasons to stick with more standard hardware configurations.
Sorry for this obvious observation: why would any small country not want to use open source?
The only possible answer would be to be compatible with the world of all-things-Microsoft, but OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, etc. have good compatibility when you need it.
I am very much of a computer nerd so using Windows, Linux, and OS X all on a dayly basis does not bother me, but for 'normal people', multiple learning curves are too big of a hit on productivity.
Start kids off in grade school with a reasonable Linux distro like (for example) Ubuntu with OpenOffice.org (or a lighter weight word processor on limited computers), and save money and build up local infrastructure and capabilities.
For large companies in the US and Europe, I could (if I wanted to, which I don't:-) make arguments for my standardizing on Windows Desktops is a good idea - but, for developing countries open source IT infrastructure is the best.
Slashdot Mirror
Not to repeat myself: http://mark-watson.blogspot.com/
I am used to seeing Google's beta release systems reasonably polished and almost always useful, so their video store is a real disappointment. But, wait 6 months and it might be awesome.
Sorry, but I have to call bullshit on this comment.
Fifth Element was a great movie for so many reasons: it was funny, the CG effects were great, the futuristic scenes of the floating Chineese restaurant were brilliant, Milla Jovovich was so hot that she sizzled, Gary Oldman's performance was great as usual, Bruce Willis was Bruce Willis, etc.
Too bad that you did not enjoy the film.
While your predictions are likely to come at least partially true in the next 5 or 10 years, I can't agree with predicting a dollar collapse occuring exactly in the next year.
My advice is to avoid debt at all costs and then sit back and watch the show. People with lots of consumer debt will turn into economic debt-serfs, and will likely never again have control over their own lives.
I remember using the internet in the 1980s to work on servers in Norway from my office in San Diego: a couple of satellite hops contributed to a couple second delay. Tricks like using the mouse to set the position of the emacs cursor, lots of local testing, etc. helped.
Land line fiber has eliminated much of the speed of light problems with satellite hops and I look forward to faster switches, etc. to reduce latency as much as possible.
I mostly write interactive web portals for a living and adding technologiess like asynchronous Javascript HTML updates, better networking, cheaper and faster servers, etc. all make my job more fun.
Wow - what a bogus premise: off course Rails based web applications are maintanable. I consider maintenance and modification costs to scale fairly linearly with code size and Rails applications are concise.
After heavy experimenting with Common Lisp, Python, and Smalltalk based frameworks I have decided to base my consulting business on just Ruby on Rails and a subset of the Java J2EE stack. I am a little prejudiced on language choice since I have written 5 Java books and I am working right now on a Ruby book for Manning; and on Monday I spent a half day creating the RubyPlanet.net news site. Still, I enjoy Lisp, Python, and Smalltalk and gave web frameworks written in those languages a good evaluation.
My wife and I moved from California to Sedona Arizona 7 years ago and we both feel that the greatly reduced income is OK given that the cost of living is less, the mountains are fine, hiking is great, etc.
I love working out of a home office and telecommuting for various customers. There are diversions like helping my wife with shopping and cooking, walking my dog on the national forest service trails behind my house, etc. However, I find myself only working when I am really in the groove (or in the flow) and find my professional life to be very fullfilling. I do have to work hard at giving customers the feeling that I am always there for them: not easy when I have more than one job going, or when my buddies talk me into a long hike.
I used to charge two remote consulting rates: high priority (no going off on hikes when working for these customers) and low priority (I will get stuff done as soon as I can, but expect occasional delays of a day or two). Anyway, I quit taking high priority work - again trading some money for an even better lifestyle. I am happy working 30+ hours a week, but working flexible hours is just *great*.
While offering more pricing options increases service costs, I think that pricing should be variable based on:
1. resolution: 320x240, 500x300, 640x480, 1200x1024, etc. resolutions should be priced differently both because of bandwidth cost differentials and also value of being able to view on larger displays for more people to comfortably watch.
2. DRM timeout period: I would expect to pay different amounts for a 24 hour, 2 day, 1 week, etc. viewing period.
And, the cost should be much lower than purchasing a DVD. A purchased DVD will likely to be viewable for many years, can be loaned to friends, etc..
I wrote a web blob on Sony early this week: I bought my wife a Sony MP3 player without doing sufficient pre-purchasing research: this device seems purposefully crippled for playing free MP3 files (specifically any that are not sampled at 44KHz). Sony needs to get a clue, and I am not even going to get into their root kit stupidity.
I use Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP and OS X - but for different things. I like OS X for video editing, Garage Band, and sometimes RoR development. I use Windows XP for watching DVD movies, enjoying OMN.net, and when I have to use a customer's VPN. I use Linux for Java development with IntelliJ and RoR development using Eclipse+RDT+RadRails. Now, I can do Java and RoR development on any platform, but Linux seems like a more professional working environment to me because it does not have all the not-needed crap that gets installed with Windows and all the fun and distracting stuff in OS X.
The real trick is keeping all code, build files, design artifacts, etc. under source code control - then using any OS platform is easy - just do a quick cvs update, and working on any OS is easy. It helps that using any build files, IntelliJ, and Eclipse is all portable across operating systems.
Anyway, I look at Windows XP and OS X as enhancements to having Linux - best tool for the job. If I *had* to just use one OS it would probably be OS X (and give up any work that required a Windows-only VPN), but given that I have all three platforms available, I boot Linux about 70% of the time.
I have a question: if I use the older JDBC connector (from June 2002) before the connector project was absorbed by MySQL and became GPLed, is it OK to use MySQL on a leased server with a Java web application that is not GPLed?
:-)
That is, if my web application links with the old LGPLed connector which uses a socket connection to the GPLed MySQL server, then that is fine license-wise, right?
This is a question for all the 'Slashdot lawyers'
Seriously, from reading the licenses, I believe that the scenario that I mentioned using the older LGPLed JDBC connector is OK, while using the newer GPLed JVBC connector(s) is not.
Also: I believe that this is not an issue with Ruby since the client MySQL connector is not GPLed.
The Ruby MySQL connector is licensed under the Ruby license - so, apparently (I think!!) there are no problems using the GPL version of MySQL with non-GPL licensed applications.
The situation is different with Java: the MM.MySQL connector (up to 2002) was LGPL licensed, but is now version 3.x of the MySQL GPL licensed connector. This is a good reason to keep a copy of the older connector around!
I *think* that the Python license is usable under either the GPL or the Python license.
This is a real pain - I would just switch over completely to PostgreSQL, except most reneted servers handle MySQL out-of-the-box, so MySQL is a little more convenient.
I am somewhat known as a Java guy (written 5 Java books, and try a web search for 'Java consultant' and check out the first non-paid for link :-) but I still get tired of Java developers who think that Java is the best tool for everything. Same goes for Python/Ruby/PHP/Lip/Smalltalk, etc.
.rhtml views, etc.) and RoR makes a lot of sense for some projects. Java on the server rocks, big time - for some projects.
For very simple sites, PHP is great (I have read through the code for a few great PHP driven sites - great functionality, but not best from a maintainability and architecture point of view). Ruby on Rails has some great features (I love the architecture of RoR, love the way model classes are mapped to
I think that developers should look at themselves as problem solvers and craftsmen and as such try to use the best tools without preconceived biases.
-Mark
... because Ruby is a dynamic language it is more difficult for IDEs to autocomplete, etc.
I do most of my development in Java, so I mostly use IntelliJ (best Java IDE, IMHO). However, I also really like Eclipse because in one IDE you can code in Java, C++, Ruby, Python, etc.
While there are disturbing trends (e.g., low math and science scores, more interest in education in developing nations, eventual decline of U.S. economy) I think that there is still a lot to be optimistic about.
:-). Really, it is relationships that matter in life, not material crap.
For one thing, the standard of living is so high in the U.S., that a decline of luxuries is liveable -really what do you need but good friends, family food, and shelter - give me a break on the Polyana B.S. because I just got back from a good friend's wedding (where I was asked to play my didgeridoo
I still believe that the U.S. (along with a lot of other countries) still has a surfeit of talented creative people. Right now, innovative web applications is what is catching my interests - but there is a lot of great things happening in field of IT.
Sure the trends are a little disturbing, but people who love doing what they do will mostly still have good lives, even if things in the U.S. generally decline.
a type: should have been:
"alien -i *.rpm"
It was a small hassle: installed the zillion RPMs with "alien -s *.rpm" and then changed the ownership of /opt/openoffice.org1.9.125 to my user account and I had to set some execute permissions in /opt/openoffice.org1.9.125/programs. Not sure why everything was root with no permisions; maybe I missed an option on running alien. Nice though, runs well, and looks great.
I hope that the Ubuntu team packages the latest beta of OOo with the next Ubuntu release.
I have been running beta 1 when I need to run Windows for a long time.
* Healthier hacking: http://cjskitchen.com/
After migrating from Slackware -> Caldera -> SuSE, I am now a happy Ubuntu user.
Really, except for a few developer tools, just about everything that I need is in the main distribution, and can be trivially installed.
I actually have a small point here: for developers and experienced Linux users, running
For novice users, a good distribution like Ubuntu or SuSE is likely to have what people need with OOo, Firefox, a few games, etc.
Except for IntelliJ, it is difficult for me to imagine what other commercial software I would every want for Linux. I do buy programs for OS X and Windows, but I usually use Linux for getting work done, and for me not much is required except for development tools and a word processor. It would be interesting to hear from someone at JetBrains about how much effort it is packaging IntelliJ for various Linux distros.
** Healthier coding: http://cjskitchen.com/
Hello utnow,
:-) and I wrote two published books with OOo.
:-)
Only tried it for 5 minutes? That does not seem like long enough for a good evaluation.
I'm an author (nothing good on TV, so might as well write
Yes, I do own Office licences for Windows and OS X, but I find that OOo just stays out of my way so I can get my work done.
I also very much like the drawing program for technical figures.
Give it another try
-Mark
.. get a Hardware Lisp Machine.
:-)
I got a Xerox 1108 in 1983 - a superb development system.
At the present time, I would suggest flexibility. For me, this means having a server were all of my design artifacts, code, etc. are under source code control. Then, no matter if I need to use a Mac, Linux, or Windows box, I can get the environment that I need almost instantly.
If you do a lot of Java work, think about investing in IntelliJ - it is better IMO than Eclipse and NetBeans.
For Lisp, currently I like the Linux-SLIME-Emacs-SBCL combination (and free!), although if you want to deliver small fast executables, Lispworks is great.
VisualWorks Smalltalk has a good deal for small developers: for $500/year you get all their development tools (great web services support, etc.) and the $500/year is a prepayment on royalties. It is an awesome environment but I find Smalltalk a hard sell (everyone wants their stuff delivered in Java).
For Ruby, I think that Eclipse + the Ruby plugin is a pretty good combination.
I live about 100 feet from a trail head, leading to wilderness area: that is the best "add on" for my coding environment because I like to take lots of work breaks. For a physical trainer, I went top dollar: bought an Italian Greyhound puppy who lets me know when I have been working too much and not walking him enough. We also have a baby parrot who hangs out a lot with me (shoulder, back of chair, or top of flatsceen monitor) - he is very little trouble and adds something nice to my work environment.
I work out of a home office. My wife insisted that I get good office furniture (great orthopedic chair, nice teak desk, etc.)
Good food: I like to take a lot of food breaks while I work. My wife and I have a fine recipes web portal (CJsKitchen.com) and one of us is almost always making something tasty because that is our main hobby. Good nutrition and exercise are important for coding or any other intellectual activities!
My last bit of advice: enjoy coding
OK - I agree with you :-)
.. is that people sue you. I do wonder why Google did not try a little harder to settle after their problems with the lawsuit in Germany.
I have been using GMail for 18 months - I hope that they do not have to change the gmail.com domain name - that would be a nuisance.
People who knock Draw are probably Microsoft shills :-)
Draw is simple and effective, getting the job done and staying out of my way.
I own Word licenses for OS X and Windows, but I just like OO.org better - seems simpler and stays out of my way when writing. I used OO.org for 2 of my last 3 books.
The OO.org 2.0 beta is especially good.
I have written a few blog entries on the massively huge advantages of open file formats - I won't repeat myself hereexcept to say that took me 5 minutes to write Java code to perfectly handle OO.org and AbiWord file formats. For my GPLed NLP project, I spent huge amounts of time trying to dea with Microsoft Office formats, and did no really do very well.
As a Microsoft stock owner, I wrote a letter to Microsoft compalining about their failure to also support OO.org file formats - I never received a response, which I think is rude behavior. After not receiving an answer since the 3 or 4 months that I wrote the letter, I am thinking of dumping their stock.
Why consider this? I don't know that much about the Itanium chip except that it was supposed to provide great FP performance (right?), and that it is (probably) a failure in the marketplace.
There are good reasons to stick with more standard hardware configurations.
The story sounds like a bit of a troll.
Grind the beans fresh, and drink the coffee right away.
Also: green tea is even better than fresh ground coffee.
Sorry for this obvious observation: why would any small country not want to use open source?
:-) make arguments for my standardizing on Windows Desktops is a good idea - but, for developing countries open source IT infrastructure is the best.
The only possible answer would be to be compatible with the world of all-things-Microsoft, but OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, etc. have good compatibility when you need it.
I am very much of a computer nerd so using Windows, Linux, and OS X all on a dayly basis does not bother me, but for 'normal people', multiple learning curves are too big of a hit on productivity.
Start kids off in grade school with a reasonable Linux distro like (for example) Ubuntu with OpenOffice.org (or a lighter weight word processor on limited computers), and save money and build up local infrastructure and capabilities.
For large companies in the US and Europe, I could (if I wanted to, which I don't