What about us regular folk who have a domain? I don't want the world knowing where I live, especially if I'm somebody who runs a blog with unpopular political views.
substance over style
on
Podcasting Hacks
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· Score: 3, Insightful
What's still nice about podcasting, is that it's an audio/visual medium that doesn't have to dilute itself. Established media produces content aimed at the widest possible audience, and therefore ends up not being appealing to anyone at all. Whereas, I can create a podcast targeted toward the hardcore gamers, and it can find a loyal audience.
Furthermore, by using RSS as the delivery platform, basement hacks like me can go up against established media. For example, my friends and I do a gaming podcast that is beating out established entities like PC Gamer magazine's podcast (based on subscriber numbers from yahoo and odeo).
But numbers aside, it's fun. We don't make money off of it, nor do we think we ever will... but we do it for the love. How can established media beat people producing content out of love?!
I was recently looking at the java source code for its threading implementation. Unfortunately, the method that specifically maps Java thread priorities to native OS thread priorities is a JNI call. In the readme for J2SE is says that such native C code isn't being distributed. Has that changed, or is this nothing more than a new licence on the existing src bundle?
iPod and NOMAD both use a hard disk as its storage medium. Normally, I would imagine that it's therefore not safe to go jogging with one of these. However, are these two MP3 players ruggedized in some way? Does anybody have an horror stories about scratched platters from running with one of these players?
I've been hunting around FTP servers, trying to find one with Redhat 8.0 that's not bogged down. I've noticed that the ISO's are timestamped Sept 10th? Why so old? Anybody know if that is the date that RH freezed changes on pysche?
I take comfort in knowing that there is somebody else out there who is having the exact same life experience as I am.... I just hope yours turns out better. Regardless, here is my story, I hope you can gain at least some wisdom from it.
I graduated with a BS in CS in May 1999. I started my career immediately out of school hacking C++ for a fortune 500. I left after a few months to join a start-up embedded systems company. At the time, I felt that this was my ticket to fortune and glory (after all, when I joined this start up in the middle of 2000, the Dow had just hit it's all time high. It seemed every 20 year old with a CS degree moving to Mountain View or San Jose was becoming a paper millionaire). When I interviewed with them, the Engineering VP reassured me that I was going to become financially secure after the IPO from all of the stock options they were waving in my face. So in my naive enthusiasm I jumped at it (wouldn't you?).
6 months pass, I show up to work one brisk Monday morning in November of 2000, only to be told that I had been laid-off along with all the other engineers and marketing people. They weren't able to secure any more venture capital, and the seed money had dried up. When I started, I was employee number 12, during that 6 month period they ballooned up to 40-something (I lost count) just before the lay-offs.
(I'm almost to the point of the story) So my roommate was also hacking code for them (he was writing Linux device drives and such, he had much cooler tasks than I did) and laid off that same morning. So we headed back to our apartment, played some Counter-Strike to cool off, and tried to figure out where we go from here... That's when we had the idea to start our own software consulting company. We had both worked with consultants, and we both felt that we were as competent and experienced as any consultant we had worked with. So we got out selves a lawyer and an accountant and started Treknetix Software out of our apartment. Our plan was to just write anything for money, then as we get settled in, we would find a specialty to focus on. Well, it turned out, finding clients is at least ten times more difficult than actually engineering a software system. We ended up getting a few contracts, mostly web work. We did a lot of LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) sites. It was during this time that I migrated completely away from Windows and to Linux %100 of the time. But we just weren't getting enough work to pay for rent and lunch meat each month. Slowly, I started to dig into my savings to support myself. I kept telling myself that I'd just borrow from saving now, and everything will be all right after things start really picking up. Well, of course they never did.
With only $14 to my name, I moved back home with mom and dad at the end of 2001. I created a resume, and started applying for jobs like mad. When that didn't work, I went to professional recruitment firms... my college's career office.... local networking events.... nothing worked. I tried all the "best practices" for finding work, namely, treat it like a full time job. Spend at least 8 hours a day looking into positions and sending out resumes. My roommate went off to graduate school... I think I'm going to follow, there is just no work to be had.
Do I regret starting Treknetix? No way! I learned so much about working with non-engineering managers. I've really broken out of that "anti-social" programmer mold from my experience working with clients. This is a good thing. Now only if I could apply this somewhere else.... (bitter anyone?)
My advice to you. Try it. But, if you can, move somewhere you don't have to pay rent, or get married to a rich girl first. DON'T TRY TO LIVE OFF YOUR SAVINGS! I can't stress this enough. That's the only regret I have since graduating college. I should have moved home immediately after the layoff.
This has gone on longer than I would have liked. So to make a long story short: SOMEBODY HIRE ME!!
" The USA of 1776 is not the USA of 2002 in any form whatsoever."
And that is a very good things. In the 18th century, the US was actively participating in the genocide of native americans. And, of course, there was legalized slavery. I'd say, the US has come a long way toward putting into practice the virtues laid out in the constitution.
As an undergraduate I had a minor in mathematics. I've been out of school for a few years and was interested in taking the GRE. In order to prepare for the quantitative section of the GRE I enrolled in a 5 week summer evening math course at my local community college. The course was titled "college algebra", it was basically stuff you should already know coming out of high school. However, it was wonderful. A perfect refresher for somebody who hasn't writen a proof or solved a quadratic since college. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm enrolling in more classes this fall. I have found that community colleges are wonderful resources, but more importantly tuition is dirt cheap. $67.00 a credit hour here. I can't stress this enough, tuition doesn't get any cheaper than that anywhere in the US.
Going from MA to WA will take you through OH. Which gives you the perfect excuse to spend a day at the Cedar Point Amusement Park link. Many would say that Cedar Point is America's best park for roller coasters. Whatever roller coaster enthusiast web site you visit on the web, Ceder Point roller coasters are included in the top ten list. It's located 2 hours west of Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie.
If you pass through Cleveland on I-90, stop and catch a ball game at Jacob's Field then walk to the wharehouse district after the game for food, drink, dancing...
I'm against this notion that people want good software. As a software consultant, who has been involved one way or another in a varienty of fields, I can say with authority that companies want software *cheap* not *reliable*. When companies want reliable and secure they pay for reliable and secure. Companies have an absolutely unrealistic expectations of what can be done in a short and cheap development cycle, yet that's what they demand from their consultants. I have an client (a rather large health care provider) that still hasn't changed the default password to the publically available administration section of their system... which is more common than one would care to think. This is a testiment to how high companies consider security important.
I don't feel the "group think" is advocating the complete deconstruction of the patent system. Rather, we're calling for a responsible and competent patent office. For example, I dare you to defend (I wish I had bookmarked the link into the USTPO) a patent I just read over syntax highlighting in document editors. We are to believe that highlighting syntax in my C++ editor is so innovative that this one company can now bring litigation upon any programmer who might have implemented this feature in their application. I consider that gross negligence of the patent office (after all, I don't fault the patent submitter for taking advantage of the system... companies will always acted in an underhanded manner as long as they are allowed to).
While meeting with a fellow software consultant recently, I queried him on his plans to expand his business. Specifically, I was curious to know what information infrastruture he plans to grow around. He returned a puzzled look. I had asked if he had considered Linux as a possible server platform, to handle internal source code control, email, and file shares. I suddenly diminished in his eyes. He responded as if I had just asked him if he wanted to buy used Yugo. To him, Linux isn't business worthy... isn't a real stable, capable OS... and worse yet... a threat to the software industry!
Linux needs positive marketing. So my question is, what can you do to champion Linux with IBM's giant huge marketing machine? Not every IT person in the world reads Slashdot (I'd venture to say less than 1%), but a large number of IT people read MS marketing. So the perception most IT people have about Linux is through a Microsoft lens.
As an unemployed American programmer (with CS degree in hand), who is desperately trying to land anything from a small time contract work to entry level full-time work, I'd like to send a big "Fuck You" to your company.
Enjoy!
Can't wait to see how far this get's modded down!!
It's funny that you should say that it's romantic for the sun to set over large bodies of water. Here on the east side of Cleveland, the coast takes a northeast bent along lake erie. Therefore, in the evening, the sun sets over the lake for us. What takes the romance out of the sun gently falling into the slow rolling waves of lake erie is the fact that the lake is so polluted with heavy metals. State health advisories are constantly posted asking that the very old, very young, and pregnant should not eat lake erie fish. Our fish have the proud distinction of being riddled with tumors. It's really sad. When you take a boat trip out to the lake erie islands, and look down into the deeper parts of the lake, it looks so clear and beautiful, it's a shame that if you dive in for a swim, it's going to do you more harm than good.
On a more ontopic note, Cleveland had two 5 point earthquakes in my lifetime (the last one happened three years ago I think?) I must admit, neither were much to get excited about. My computer monitor shook like hell, but I just thought it was because the washer was acting up.
This sounds like a perfect way to transform area LUGs from a bunch of guys who hold "installfests" every once inawhile, into social minded voluteer organization that can really help the school districts in the US lower costs ( SAVE TAX DOLLARS ). Bush has asked us all to voluteer our time more, I think this is a good way for linux geeks to make a postive impact. I think you're on to something....
I do wish slashdot, as a community, wouldn't fawn over entertainment pieces such as this. These type of posts always seem kinda shallow for a "geek" community. Not that the entire world should be design patterns and aglorithm analysis... but what do I know....
Rumpelstiltskin backwards in a reversed alphabet.... do you know how many times that little dwarf on the big stairway stole items from me until I figured that out!!!!
No... we're aren't talking felony crime. That's an entirely different arena. Here we're talking anti-trust law. Therefore the focus should always be on the future of the marketplace. You're trying to compare apples to oranges.
The article states that the anti-trust case is currently in its "punishment" phase. And I know I'm arguing semantics here, but we shouldn't be seeking retribution for past behavior, rather, the focus of the states should be on how to restore competition in tomorrow's PC software market.
Marketing Manager: Ok team, we need to promote this new product.
Marketing Drone: What's our budget?
Marketing Manager: Nothing. Come'on team, think outside the box!
Marketing Drone: We could propose to do something so ridiculously profane that the media will pick up on it and do all our promotions for us.
Marketing Manager: Hmmm... that's good. Your on to something. But what would disgust people so much as to make a stir in popular media outlets?
Marketing Drone: We could rent space on Harry Knowles' tummy rolls.
Marketing Manager: *gag reflex* Good god no... Less horrific.
Marketing Drone: Ummm.. How about advertising on grave stones.
Marketing Manager: Ok. Leak it to the press.
Marketing Drone: On it. Maybe even slashdot will pick up on it. They are our target audience.
Marketing Manager: What's a slashdot?
This has little to do with Blizzard.....
on
EFF Takes Bnetd Case
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture...
This case will be about our rights as software engineers to reverse engineer a protocal. This is something we have all benefited from, something we all have to do in our jobs as software developers at one point or another. Let's change the players in this lawsuit. Would most of you change our opinions if this was let's say Microsoft sueing the SAMBA team? Please correct me if I'm off base here, but that's what this is the equivalent too. Just because Blizzard makes video games doesn't mean we as software developers shouldn't stick up for our right to fair use.
I had a client that was a realestate developer. They wanted a feature on their web site that would allow potential home buyers to browse the client's developments on a dynamic map, and get pop-up information about the houses. The original contractor on the job used javascript(javascript that was created by adobe dreamweaver) to create the dynamic map. Where the javascript solution came up short, was that the client wanted to make frequent changes to the map and the information it would display. The client also wanted this administrative feature to be completely "drag-and-drog" user-friendly. So I recreated the map in Flash, using ActionScript to pull housing information out of a MySQL database. I also created the admin system with Flash/ActionScript, that would let the realestate agent drag new homes onto a map, associate that home with information in the database, and click a "save" button in the flash movie. They loved it. Now they didn't have to bug me, the contractor, every time they wanted to update this map on there web site.
The Flash scripting language ActionScript is really nice. It has an XML parser to import XML data, and also has simpler methods that will let you pass information back and forth to a server side language such as PHP. I really had fun on that project. For a good book on Flash's ActionScript, I'd check out "ActionScript: The Definitive Guide" published by O'Reilly press. Furthmore, dynamic Flash such as the realestate map described here, doesn't only have to be generated by Macromedia's ActionScript. SWF is an open standard, and there are open scripting languages you can try. Visit www.openswf.org for more info on what free option you have. Flash is great, but a lot of people use it for needless bells-and-whistles stuff, when it can be used to create dynamic user-friedly software interfaces.
Slashdot Mirror
What about us regular folk who have a domain? I don't want the world knowing where I live, especially if I'm somebody who runs a blog with unpopular political views.
What's still nice about podcasting, is that it's an audio/visual medium that doesn't have to dilute itself. Established media produces content aimed at the widest possible audience, and therefore ends up not being appealing to anyone at all. Whereas, I can create a podcast targeted toward the hardcore gamers, and it can find a loyal audience.
Furthermore, by using RSS as the delivery platform, basement hacks like me can go up against established media. For example, my friends and I do a gaming podcast that is beating out established entities like PC Gamer magazine's podcast (based on subscriber numbers from yahoo and odeo).
But numbers aside, it's fun. We don't make money off of it, nor do we think we ever will... but we do it for the love. How can established media beat people producing content out of love?!
I was recently looking at the java source code for its threading implementation. Unfortunately, the method that specifically maps Java thread priorities to native OS thread priorities is a JNI call. In the readme for J2SE is says that such native C code isn't being distributed. Has that changed, or is this nothing more than a new licence on the existing src bundle?
If anyone wants more in-depth information about microfluid logic, they can read the research work from Toshinori Munakata at Cleveland State University with the Colorado School of Mines researchers: Flow resistance for microfluidic logic operations
iPod and NOMAD both use a hard disk as its storage medium. Normally, I would imagine that it's therefore not safe to go jogging with one of these. However, are these two MP3 players ruggedized in some way? Does anybody have an horror stories about scratched platters from running with one of these players?
I've been hunting around FTP servers, trying to find one with Redhat 8.0 that's not bogged down. I've noticed that the ISO's are timestamped Sept 10th? Why so old? Anybody know if that is the date that RH freezed changes on pysche?
I take comfort in knowing that there is somebody else out there who is having the exact same life experience as I am.... I just hope yours turns out better. Regardless, here is my story, I hope you can gain at least some wisdom from it.
I graduated with a BS in CS in May 1999. I started my career immediately out of school hacking C++ for a fortune 500. I left after a few months to join a start-up embedded systems company. At the time, I felt that this was my ticket to fortune and glory (after all, when I joined this start up in the middle of 2000, the Dow had just hit it's all time high. It seemed every 20 year old with a CS degree moving to Mountain View or San Jose was becoming a paper millionaire). When I interviewed with them, the Engineering VP reassured me that I was going to become financially secure after the IPO from all of the stock options they were waving in my face. So in my naive enthusiasm I jumped at it (wouldn't you?).
6 months pass, I show up to work one brisk Monday morning in November of 2000, only to be told that I had been laid-off along with all the other engineers and marketing people. They weren't able to secure any more venture capital, and the seed money had dried up. When I started, I was employee number 12, during that 6 month period they ballooned up to 40-something (I lost count) just before the lay-offs.
(I'm almost to the point of the story) So my roommate was also hacking code for them (he was writing Linux device drives and such, he had much cooler tasks than I did) and laid off that same morning. So we headed back to our apartment, played some Counter-Strike to cool off, and tried to figure out where we go from here... That's when we had the idea to start our own software consulting company. We had both worked with consultants, and we both felt that we were as competent and experienced as any consultant we had worked with. So we got out selves a lawyer and an accountant and started Treknetix Software out of our apartment. Our plan was to just write anything for money, then as we get settled in, we would find a specialty to focus on. Well, it turned out, finding clients is at least ten times more difficult than actually engineering a software system. We ended up getting a few contracts, mostly web work. We did a lot of LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) sites. It was during this time that I migrated completely away from Windows and to Linux %100 of the time. But we just weren't getting enough work to pay for rent and lunch meat each month. Slowly, I started to dig into my savings to support myself. I kept telling myself that I'd just borrow from saving now, and everything will be all right after things start really picking up. Well, of course they never did.
With only $14 to my name, I moved back home with mom and dad at the end of 2001. I created a resume, and started applying for jobs like mad. When that didn't work, I went to professional recruitment firms... my college's career office.... local networking events.... nothing worked. I tried all the "best practices" for finding work, namely, treat it like a full time job. Spend at least 8 hours a day looking into positions and sending out resumes. My roommate went off to graduate school... I think I'm going to follow, there is just no work to be had.
Do I regret starting Treknetix? No way! I learned so much about working with non-engineering managers. I've really broken out of that "anti-social" programmer mold from my experience working with clients. This is a good thing. Now only if I could apply this somewhere else.... (bitter anyone?)
My advice to you. Try it. But, if you can, move somewhere you don't have to pay rent, or get married to a rich girl first. DON'T TRY TO LIVE OFF YOUR SAVINGS! I can't stress this enough. That's the only regret I have since graduating college. I should have moved home immediately after the layoff.
This has gone on longer than I would have liked. So to make a long story short: SOMEBODY HIRE ME!!
http://resumes.dice.com/thomasmis
" The USA of 1776 is not the USA of 2002 in any form whatsoever."
And that is a very good things. In the 18th century, the US was actively participating in the genocide of native americans. And, of course, there was legalized slavery. I'd say, the US has come a long way toward putting into practice the virtues laid out in the constitution.
At 3AM you can still go to Presti's and get donuts... (although I didn't go to Case, I went to John Carroll down Cedar)
Get ready to mod this -1 redundant.
As an undergraduate I had a minor in mathematics. I've been out of school for a few years and was interested in taking the GRE. In order to prepare for the quantitative section of the GRE I enrolled in a 5 week summer evening math course at my local community college. The course was titled "college algebra", it was basically stuff you should already know coming out of high school. However, it was wonderful. A perfect refresher for somebody who hasn't writen a proof or solved a quadratic since college. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm enrolling in more classes this fall. I have found that community colleges are wonderful resources, but more importantly tuition is dirt cheap. $67.00 a credit hour here. I can't stress this enough, tuition doesn't get any cheaper than that anywhere in the US.
Going from MA to WA will take you through OH. Which gives you the perfect excuse to spend a day at the Cedar Point Amusement Park link. Many would say that Cedar Point is America's best park for roller coasters. Whatever roller coaster enthusiast web site you visit on the web, Ceder Point roller coasters are included in the top ten list. It's located 2 hours west of Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie.
If you pass through Cleveland on I-90, stop and catch a ball game at Jacob's Field then walk to the wharehouse district after the game for food, drink, dancing...
Most of all... have fun!
I'm against this notion that people want good software. As a software consultant, who has been involved one way or another in a varienty of fields, I can say with authority that companies want software *cheap* not *reliable*. When companies want reliable and secure they pay for reliable and secure. Companies have an absolutely unrealistic expectations of what can be done in a short and cheap development cycle, yet that's what they demand from their consultants. I have an client (a rather large health care provider) that still hasn't changed the default password to the publically available administration section of their system... which is more common than one would care to think. This is a testiment to how high companies consider security important.
I don't feel the "group think" is advocating the complete deconstruction of the patent system. Rather, we're calling for a responsible and competent patent office. For example, I dare you to defend (I wish I had bookmarked the link into the USTPO) a patent I just read over syntax highlighting in document editors. We are to believe that highlighting syntax in my C++ editor is so innovative that this one company can now bring litigation upon any programmer who might have implemented this feature in their application. I consider that gross negligence of the patent office (after all, I don't fault the patent submitter for taking advantage of the system... companies will always acted in an underhanded manner as long as they are allowed to).
While meeting with a fellow software consultant recently, I queried him on his plans to expand his business. Specifically, I was curious to know what information infrastruture he plans to grow around. He returned a puzzled look. I had asked if he had considered Linux as a possible server platform, to handle internal source code control, email, and file shares. I suddenly diminished in his eyes. He responded as if I had just asked him if he wanted to buy used Yugo. To him, Linux isn't business worthy... isn't a real stable, capable OS... and worse yet... a threat to the software industry!
Linux needs positive marketing. So my question is, what can you do to champion Linux with IBM's giant huge marketing machine? Not every IT person in the world reads Slashdot (I'd venture to say less than 1%), but a large number of IT people read MS marketing. So the perception most IT people have about Linux is through a Microsoft lens.
As an unemployed American programmer (with CS degree in hand), who is desperately trying to land anything from a small time contract work to entry level full-time work, I'd like to send a big "Fuck You" to your company.
Enjoy!
Can't wait to see how far this get's modded down!!
It's funny that you should say that it's romantic for the sun to set over large bodies of water. Here on the east side of Cleveland, the coast takes a northeast bent along lake erie. Therefore, in the evening, the sun sets over the lake for us. What takes the romance out of the sun gently falling into the slow rolling waves of lake erie is the fact that the lake is so polluted with heavy metals. State health advisories are constantly posted asking that the very old, very young, and pregnant should not eat lake erie fish. Our fish have the proud distinction of being riddled with tumors. It's really sad. When you take a boat trip out to the lake erie islands, and look down into the deeper parts of the lake, it looks so clear and beautiful, it's a shame that if you dive in for a swim, it's going to do you more harm than good.
On a more ontopic note, Cleveland had two 5 point earthquakes in my lifetime (the last one happened three years ago I think?) I must admit, neither were much to get excited about. My computer monitor shook like hell, but I just thought it was because the washer was acting up.
I was being tongue in cheek with that Bush comment. :)
This sounds like a perfect way to transform area LUGs from a bunch of guys who hold "installfests" every once inawhile, into social minded voluteer organization that can really help the school districts in the US lower costs ( SAVE TAX DOLLARS ). Bush has asked us all to voluteer our time more, I think this is a good way for linux geeks to make a postive impact. I think you're on to something....
if I had mod points right now....
I do wish slashdot, as a community, wouldn't fawn over entertainment pieces such as this. These type of posts always seem kinda shallow for a "geek" community. Not that the entire world should be design patterns and aglorithm analysis... but what do I know....
Rumpelstiltskin backwards in a reversed alphabet.... do you know how many times that little dwarf on the big stairway stole items from me until I figured that out!!!!
No... we're aren't talking felony crime. That's an entirely different arena. Here we're talking anti-trust law. Therefore the focus should always be on the future of the marketplace. You're trying to compare apples to oranges.
The article states that the anti-trust case is currently in its "punishment" phase. And I know I'm arguing semantics here, but we shouldn't be seeking retribution for past behavior, rather, the focus of the states should be on how to restore competition in tomorrow's PC software market.
Marketing Manager: Ok team, we need to promote this new product.
Marketing Drone: What's our budget?
Marketing Manager: Nothing. Come'on team, think outside the box!
Marketing Drone: We could propose to do something so ridiculously profane that the media will pick up on it and do all our promotions for us.
Marketing Manager: Hmmm... that's good. Your on to something. But what would disgust people so much as to make a stir in popular media outlets?
Marketing Drone: We could rent space on Harry Knowles' tummy rolls.
Marketing Manager: *gag reflex* Good god no... Less horrific.
Marketing Drone: Ummm.. How about advertising on grave stones.
Marketing Manager: Ok. Leak it to the press.
Marketing Drone: On it. Maybe even slashdot will pick up on it. They are our target audience.
Marketing Manager: What's a slashdot?
Step back for a moment and look at the bigger picture...
This case will be about our rights as software engineers to reverse engineer a protocal. This is something we have all benefited from, something we all have to do in our jobs as software developers at one point or another. Let's change the players in this lawsuit. Would most of you change our opinions if this was let's say Microsoft sueing the SAMBA team? Please correct me if I'm off base here, but that's what this is the equivalent too. Just because Blizzard makes video games doesn't mean we as software developers shouldn't stick up for our right to fair use.
I had a client that was a realestate developer. They wanted a feature on their web site that would allow potential home buyers to browse the client's developments on a dynamic map, and get pop-up information about the houses. The original contractor on the job used javascript(javascript that was created by adobe dreamweaver) to create the dynamic map. Where the javascript solution came up short, was that the client wanted to make frequent changes to the map and the information it would display. The client also wanted this administrative feature to be completely "drag-and-drog" user-friendly. So I recreated the map in Flash, using ActionScript to pull housing information out of a MySQL database. I also created the admin system with Flash/ActionScript, that would let the realestate agent drag new homes onto a map, associate that home with information in the database, and click a "save" button in the flash movie. They loved it. Now they didn't have to bug me, the contractor, every time they wanted to update this map on there web site.
The Flash scripting language ActionScript is really nice. It has an XML parser to import XML data, and also has simpler methods that will let you pass information back and forth to a server side language such as PHP. I really had fun on that project. For a good book on Flash's ActionScript, I'd check out "ActionScript: The Definitive Guide" published by O'Reilly press. Furthmore, dynamic Flash such as the realestate map described here, doesn't only have to be generated by Macromedia's ActionScript. SWF is an open standard, and there are open scripting languages you can try. Visit www.openswf.org for more info on what free option you have. Flash is great, but a lot of people use it for needless bells-and-whistles stuff, when it can be used to create dynamic user-friedly software interfaces.