But this is not primarily due to capriciousness on the part of the developers (if that was what you were implying), nor is COM a shining example of coherence - there are just too many COM variants (forgive pun): local/remote; VB/C++; dynamic/static; UUIDs/monikers/handles etc. for integration to be simple in many practical cases.
I believe the problem is actually that current distributed object models don't work well because the objects don't distribute. Having objects that stay still, or having to build your own propagation mechanism, or even having to decide upfront with RMI whether an object is pass-by-reference or pass-by-value, is massively awkward and constraining.
The only model that will support lightweight GUI-like models as well as heavyweight transaction-processing style models is one where distribution happens automatically and dynamically. Until such a platform is developed, convergence is just wishful thinking.
(And SOAP is if anything a step backwards in this regard)
Is Bush up to this? Blair is no Churchill, but he's put it better than the pseudo-journalistic waffle Bush has emitted so far (Colin Powell was OK though):
"I know that you would want to join with me in sending the deepest condolences to President Bush and to the American people on behalf of the British people at these terrible events. This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we the democracies of this world are going to have to come together to fight it together and eradicate this evil completely from our world."
Many direct observations (as opposed to predictions) *do* show change. Here's one recent paper based on exactly the kind of satellite data referred to.
Those of us in Europe currently able to live comfortably at 51 deg N depend completely on the Gulf Stream ocean current. Without it, we lose heat input equivalent to 27,000 power stations and suffer a 5-11 deg C drop in average temperature, effectively turning the British Isles and maritime continent into a piece of the arctic.
Unfortunately the Gulf Stream is highly sensitive to climate change and has *already* declined by 20% in the last 50 years according to this story.
Profound? Well, not exactly - the point is that by putting the naming authority (Newnet) explicitly into the name at the appropriate place - the top - the battle for 'highly desirable' names will be avoided provided ICANN avoids upsetting people by allocating TLDs which have general significance in the real world -.good,.holy,.cheap etc. itself. Instead, its only function would be to delegate to other authorities and let them allocate the 'desirable' subdomains if they want.
But why should ICANN worry about the policies associated with each TLD?
Why can't it delegate the policies to the domain owner along with the right to create sub-domains?
For example, it has been suggested that.eu (European Community) should take the opportunity to be more strict about what organizations could own.com.eu names etc. and so 'add value' over existing alternatives such as.uk or.com. I don't happen to agree with this suggestion for.eu, but is a perfectly reasonable requirement in the general case.
Perhaps the fact that such basic concept distinctions are still not being made - here, between authority for names and authority for other things - is a consequence of the lack of formal definitions underpinning documents such as RFC 2826? (Exercise for the reader: go through 2826 and figure out when they mean fully-qualified name vs. partial (domain) name).
There must be rigorous specifications around that could be used - I used to use The ANSA Naming Model some years ago, but there must be more recent equivalents - anyone got any pointers?
Speaking as a non-American, I don't think it's touchiness, just a concern for precision as befits/. (no, really) - if this was CNN I/we might not bother.
Far from simply failing to flatter 'us', the writer is storming into his piece on the back of the allegation that this important American freedom was a reaction against the situation prevailing in Britain. This is, as a number of not-exclusively-Euroweenies have pointed out, completely wrong.
Yep, let's just cruise past those unpatriotic facts about how English law established copyright and (relatively) free speech first.
Fortunately, the good guys in the DMCA case have more sense - check the DMCA Amicus Curiae brief - search down for "Statute of Anne" (1694) and note how the "our content forever" lobbyists were beaten off in 1774.
It *does* sound like a neat idea, particularly if you work for large distributed organizations such as banks.
I got an OSDN proposal to the European CTO of a large US investment bank just a few months ago - facilitating 'collaborative development' is a strong message, look at companies like WebGain diving into this space.
Those were the Colossus machines, the high-speed, electronic but not-quite-stored-program code-breaking devices that Turing helped develop at Bletchley Park. Churchill ordered that these (there were several) were to be broken up into pieces 'no larger than a man's fist'. The precise reason for vandalising these ugly but historic beasts has never been satisfactorily explained.
Hey, the generator shoes were Trevor's idea!
on
Hump Day Quickies
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· Score: 1
Trevor Baylis, the inventor guy that came up with the clockwork radio, and a not-too-distant neighbor of mine, is also working on this, as ZDNet reported in January.
If you've never heard of the radio (which works pretty well actually, probably better than the shoes ever will!), or the new flashlight, here's a trivial description, or there are several news items around, such as this one.
You should be able to track one down if you're interested - look out for the iMac-alike version. If desparate maybe start with this UK stockist.
Same boat as me, except my AWARD BIOS v4.5 doesn't like >33.8GB either (see IBM tech note). I did come across a fix for 2.2 somewhere which presumably has now been integrated as the previous poster says.
The big thing about Zope for me is the WebDAV support (which allows anyone in my organization to upload content) and the integrated database (which keeps a fully versioned history of documents and other objects - though you wouldn't want to use it for very volatile info).
We're using Weblogic too, but it would take a lot of work to add these features (no WebDAV yet, though database would probably be Versant).
Visigenic basically wrote the specification for IIOP (the Internet Inter-Orb Protocol) which is the vendor-vendor interoperability specification for CORBA over TCP/IP
Nope. They weren't even there, though Dave Curtis of Expersoft, who was, joined Inprise a year or so ago. They did contribute to the Java mapping, as did IBM and Iona.
Slashdot Mirror
But this is not primarily due to capriciousness on the part of the developers (if that was what you were implying), nor is COM a shining example of coherence - there are just too many COM variants (forgive pun): local/remote; VB/C++; dynamic/static; UUIDs/monikers/handles etc. for integration to be simple in many practical cases.
I believe the problem is actually that current distributed object models don't work well because the objects don't distribute. Having objects that stay still, or having to build your own propagation mechanism, or even having to decide upfront with RMI whether an object is pass-by-reference or pass-by-value, is massively awkward and constraining.
The only model that will support lightweight GUI-like models as well as heavyweight transaction-processing style models is one where distribution happens automatically and dynamically. Until such a platform is developed, convergence is just wishful thinking.
(And SOAP is if anything a step backwards in this regard)
"I know that you would want to join with me in sending the deepest condolences to President Bush and to the American people on behalf of the British people at these terrible events. This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we the democracies of this world are going to have to come together to fight it together and eradicate this evil completely from our world."
(Rest on the Number 10 site).
I hear on the radio that, of course, Queen Elizabeth has sent a straight-from-the-heart message too, can't find a link yet though.
BBC Satellite radiation report
Unfortunately the Gulf Stream is highly sensitive to climate change and has *already* declined by 20% in the last 50 years according to this story.
This is not a comforting thought.
catfood.pets.new.net
and
catfood.pets
it is (amazingly enough)
catfood.pets.new.
Profound? Well, not exactly - the point is that by putting the naming authority (Newnet) explicitly into the name at the appropriate place - the top - the battle for 'highly desirable' names will be avoided provided ICANN avoids upsetting people by allocating TLDs which have general significance in the real world - .good, .holy, .cheap etc. itself. Instead, its only function would be to delegate to other authorities and let them allocate the 'desirable' subdomains if they want.
Why can't it delegate the policies to the domain owner along with the right to create sub-domains?
For example, it has been suggested that .eu (European Community) should take the opportunity to be more strict about what organizations could own .com.eu names etc. and so 'add value' over existing alternatives such as .uk or .com. I don't happen to agree with this suggestion for .eu, but is a perfectly reasonable requirement in the general case.
Perhaps the fact that such basic concept distinctions are still not being made - here, between authority for names and authority for other things - is a consequence of the lack of formal definitions underpinning documents such as RFC 2826? (Exercise for the reader: go through 2826 and figure out when they mean fully-qualified name vs. partial (domain) name).
There must be rigorous specifications around that could be used - I used to use The ANSA Naming Model some years ago, but there must be more recent equivalents - anyone got any pointers?
cheers
alex
Far from simply failing to flatter 'us', the writer is storming into his piece on the back of the allegation that this important American freedom was a reaction against the situation prevailing in Britain. This is, as a number of not-exclusively-Euroweenies have pointed out, completely wrong.
cheers alex
Fortunately, the good guys in the DMCA case have more sense - check the DMCA Amicus Curiae brief - search down for "Statute of Anne" (1694) and note how the "our content forever" lobbyists were beaten off in 1774.
Anyway, Happy July 4!
alex
It *does* sound like a neat idea, particularly if you work for large distributed organizations such as banks.
I got an OSDN proposal to the European CTO of a large US investment bank just a few months ago - facilitating 'collaborative development' is a strong message, look at companies like WebGain diving into this space.
cheers
alex
Their area, also known as Eastern Turkmenistan, was grabbed by China last century, and the Chinese government is using rather nasty methods to keep the locals down, as Amnesty notes here: Gross human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
Those were the Colossus machines, the high-speed, electronic but not-quite-stored-program code-breaking devices that Turing helped develop at Bletchley Park. Churchill ordered that these (there were several) were to be broken up into pieces 'no larger than a man's fist'. The precise reason for vandalising these ugly but historic beasts has never been satisfactorily explained.
If you've never heard of the radio (which works pretty well actually, probably better than the shoes ever will!), or the new flashlight, here's a trivial description, or there are several news items around, such as this one.
You should be able to track one down if you're interested - look out for the iMac-alike version. If desparate maybe start with this UK stockist.
cheers
alex
Same boat as me, except my AWARD BIOS v4.5 doesn't like >33.8GB either (see IBM tech note).
I did come across a fix for 2.2 somewhere which presumably has now been integrated as the previous poster says.
cheers
alex
We're using Weblogic too, but it would take a lot of work to add these features (no WebDAV yet, though database would probably be Versant).
cheers
alex
Visigenic basically wrote the specification for IIOP (the Internet Inter-Orb Protocol) which is the vendor-vendor interoperability specification for CORBA over TCP/IP
Nope. They weren't even there, though Dave Curtis of Expersoft, who was, joined Inprise a year or so ago. They did contribute to the Java mapping, as did IBM and Iona.
cheers
alex
Also stuff happening this side of the pond - EPOC based machines will be emerging in a number of guises as announced at CeBIT.
CeBIT: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/special/ 19symbian.html
Ericsson R380: http://www.symbian.com/co rporate/news/1999/pr990318a.html
Ericsson MC218: http://5alive.psionking.com/Ar chives99/Mar19_185.htm
Personally I'm waiting for the Psion 5 with Java, but the phones are interesting.