To start the morning off my buddy Mike pointed by over to this link. Its a Windows-to-Linux road-map for migration. It looks like it will give offices not familiar with Linux a basic idea on how to implement a migration. Links to other articles and such.
Month: November 2003
We are the games we play
As if I didn’t already have enough things to waist my time on. May I present to you DHTML Arkanoid.
In addition to the above little gem, here is 10 things you didn’t know about google. Some really great stuff in there. Order a pizza, reverse phone number lookup. etc.. etc..
JavaScript Programming
SlashXB is an application environment that allows users to develop programs using HTML and JavaScript. A good tutorial on how to use SlashXB can be found here. Sense the applications are HTML and JS they can either be run locally (SlashXB applications are run within a GUI frame provided by Mozilla, without the need to actually start up a Mozilla and open the SlashXB file) or can be served over the web. Sounds like a good way to teach newbies how to program without turning them into worthless VB programmers.
That and there are a whole lot of people out there that can JavaScript but don’t know how to program in a conventional language.
All in a days work
Most people I know think they don’t make what they are worth. But this article lists the top 10 most overpaid jobs in the U.S. Hey, maybe I need to find a new line of work.
So that is why my wife married me
Ever wonder how much you would be worth if sold on the open market? Humans for Sale has a quick survey that lets you find out. For anyone who wonders I am worth $2,271,612.00 “exactly”. I never would have guessed an overweight, balding, ugly, computer programmer would do that well!
Oh, on a quick side note I have added a reading list function. I will try to do reviews on books that (for whatever reason) I want to reviewed. Also added is a “Reading List” link under the Vault Stuff grouping. Just in case you want to see the complete list of books I’ve read since its inception.
Building the better mouse
James Pattern is an MIT student working on physical object interfaces to computers. There is a small QuickTime video on the site that shows some of his current work.
Overall his studies look interesting, but they seem specifically aimed at CAD, CAM, design, and modeling. Why? Because the data entry technique most commonly employed by computer users (aka: the keyboard) is almost perfectly suited for human beings. Humans have 10 fingers, but only 2 hands. Thats why you will find that programmers almost universally prefer a good keyboard (with shortcuts for everything) to a mouse.
How many of you remember the UI from Minority Report. Sure it was cool, but it was almost worthless from a user interface standpoint. To access and search data you had to do full body movements that were a cross between a traffic officer and an aerobics instructor. You even had to put on gloves to use the system… real user friendly.
A hot issue
I have always had a problem with the theory of human catalyst global warming. Not that the Earth is or is not getting hotter but that humans play a significant role in that effect. The main problem I have is that the reason that the theory is dependent on is not available for public scrutiny. Personally I never trust the comments of someone who says, “I have proved XXX, but I am only going to allow professionals to view my work; the public has no need.”
Well a couple of articles are starting to bring to light some of these kind of questions. This USAToday article points to a couple of researchers who reviewed the Global Warming data and came up with the opposite conclusion. The main difference is that they are opening their research to public review. The other article points out that the sun is actually giving off more heat in the last 20+ years or so.
Whatever the outcome of Global Warming research (or any research for that matter), its fundamentally important the public review be made available before we make public policy decisions on it. I have little problem with emission control laws; but only if its based on sound (i.e. publicly review-able) data.
End of an era
In what could possibly be one of the most ignorant statements ever made by a software vendor CEO, Mr. Matthew Szulik is quoted in this ZDNet article as saying “Windows will remain the right platform for home users.” This is really a frustrating blow to those of us who have put our bets behind Redhat for Linux. My company is now reconsidering which Linux vendor we will be using now that Redhat has shown that it will a) stop supporting its entry level customers, and b) stabs them in the back when it decides it does not need them. I am not sure if I will continue to work toward my RHCE.
Many of us already use Linux successfully at home, but that is really not the point. The point is that this CEO has made a statement that makes my management question the validity of the remainder of their product line. What is even worse is that after years of ignoring and screwing the best home user desktop UI (in spite of their best efforts KDE was still the most preferred GUI for Linux on Redhat,) they are now choosing to toss in the towel and claim failure.
The truth is that Linux IS ready for most home users. If you use the right GUI and the right distro. Unfortunately I can no longer recommend Redhat as that distro; ES, AS, WS, or any other.