tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37318589241817295752024-03-14T01:21:28.513-07:00E-Nabled I Am(or am I? )Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-52744415692178910172009-01-05T23:15:00.000-08:002009-01-05T23:19:18.722-08:00Point Of View<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SWMF8eZJNBI/AAAAAAAABa0/5O8uLIDmZF4/s1600-h/Picture+184.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SWMF8eZJNBI/AAAAAAAABa0/5O8uLIDmZF4/s320/Picture+184.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288076923971908626" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-57575774669688287622009-01-04T02:53:00.000-08:002009-01-04T02:54:08.499-08:00Looking Out<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SWCVF_1m4LI/AAAAAAAABXE/g-UF_6TO5Uo/s1600-h/Picture+049.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 368px; HEIGHT: 232px" height="337" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SWCVF_1m4LI/AAAAAAAABXE/g-UF_6TO5Uo/s320/Picture+049.jpg" width="422" border="0" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-34946709566195733052008-12-19T04:07:00.000-08:002008-12-19T04:11:06.287-08:00Pretty flower<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SUuPQH3PVuI/AAAAAAAABVE/WSkH5vzApv4/s1600-h/Picture+093.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SUuPQH3PVuI/AAAAAAAABVE/WSkH5vzApv4/s320/Picture+093.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281472495173457634" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-70004157768423906602008-12-11T23:51:00.000-08:002008-12-11T23:53:17.318-08:00Sunset<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SUIYPqNdBdI/AAAAAAAABUk/S7nGM7NH0GI/s1600-h/IMG_3270.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SUIYPqNdBdI/AAAAAAAABUk/S7nGM7NH0GI/s320/IMG_3270.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278808370539464146" /></a>This one was taken at the end of my trip to Heraclion, Crete.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-80271132109127013132008-12-11T02:11:00.001-08:002008-12-11T02:13:15.599-08:00Lonely ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SUDngtgWltI/AAAAAAAABO0/fouAj3p-XYM/s1600-h/DSC_0149.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/SUDngtgWltI/AAAAAAAABO0/fouAj3p-XYM/s320/DSC_0149.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278473312435345106" border="0" /></a>This is another picture I've taken in Sibiu, Romania. It's a lonely, lonely street ...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-16053139997589112232008-12-10T03:24:00.000-08:002008-12-10T03:30:08.829-08:00Need for Speed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/ST-ncGVjzQI/AAAAAAAABOU/IKvuFU1Q7AU/s1600-h/DSC_0176.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 237px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_86QrqNk0GvM/ST-ncGVjzQI/AAAAAAAABOU/IKvuFU1Q7AU/s320/DSC_0176.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278121389480725762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the first from a (I hope to be long) line of posts with photographs that I'm trying to take....<br /><br />It's taken on the streets of Sibiu (Hermanstadt), Romania.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-45889061852299152312008-04-06T04:10:00.001-07:002008-04-06T04:10:11.790-07:00Blog Till You Drop<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?ex=1365220800&en=1dd2565b0f8cd0b1&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss'>This article</a> gives another great example of how some people will do almost anything for a few more readers / links / page impressions / ad clicks.<br/>That's impressive. I just hope that I will not turn into those people. <br/><br/>Now, that's just hilarious. I would have no chance to become like them. I'm not all that wired to the news and, what's more, I'm not that compelled to write about something I've just heard of.<br/><br/>And another good point is that I'm not that good of a writer. <br/><br/>So, my real hope would be that I would turn into a writer that my audience (if any) would like to read and comment on.<br/></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-35780897173630245422008-04-06T02:44:00.001-07:002008-04-06T02:44:39.023-07:00OS Modularity<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/modular-windows-will-suck.ars'>A 5 page ArsTechnica article</a> poses a good question for all computer users around the spectrum: "Are modular operating systems the wave of the future?".<br/><br/>My 2 cents on it are: I think that this business model would be nice AND not so nice. <br/><br/>Nice for: <ol><li>the consumers that want certain features and don't want to pay for "all the extras they don't really need".</li><li>MS because they would have a lot more revenue from each feature that they are billing for. </li><li>MS because they would have a great research base they would use to determine which features are "more interesting" to users. And, maybe, based on this research, they would even adjust the prices to match the market.</li></ol><br/>Not so nice for:<br/><ol><li>the businesses that want a lot of features and would<br />have to pay for each and every one of them separately (whereas, now,<br />they would pay for the lot).</li><li><br />the systems administrators that would have to keep logs<br />of everything that is installed within the enterprise realm. </li></ol><br /><br/></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-65197041056146487572008-04-05T08:08:00.001-07:002008-04-05T08:08:49.636-07:00Switching<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>It <a href='http://www.duvet-dayz.com/archives/2008/04/04/654/'>seems</a> that more and more government institutions around the world are taking their turns at switching to free (as in free-beer) operating systems.<br/><br/>I wonder what will happen in my country. Here, in Romania, many of the schools don't even have computers and the ones that have, have Windows. <br/>Wait. There's more. Much of the pre-college schools have a piece of software that the government bought for them. It seems that this software helps teachers teach and school administrators do their job.<br/><br/>I haven't had the chanse to see that software. I know it's written in Java. I hope that it runs on *nix systems. Otherwise, if, at any time, the government decides to switch to *nix, I really wouldn't know what would happen to the company that is doing the maintenance on the sofware.<br/></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-53357445313677888192008-04-05T07:49:00.001-07:002008-04-06T01:16:39.912-07:00Ubuntu + Sun = Love ?<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><a href='http://www.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9911332-16.html'>This article</a> makes me ask myself: <br/><br/>Is Sun aiming at becoming an open-source giant? And by "giant" I mean: you have databases (MySQL), you have office applications (OpenOffice.org), you have an operating system (Solaris), you have hardware to run all of those on... <br/><br/>Do you really need another operating system? I mean, it would be really great to have Sun support al sorts of software applications and hardware drivers for this great OS, but, do we really want to see the Sun logo on Ubuntu?<br/><br/>And how about the closing of the article:<br/><br/><blockquote><p>Well, except on Wall Street, which still expects the business to grow and be profitable. But I'm confident Jonathan and team are getting there.</p></blockquote>I really hope that Matt Asay didn't foresee the future: it's all about the profit.<br/></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-70047601247648997792008-04-05T07:29:00.001-07:002008-04-05T07:34:17.833-07:00Super-enthused<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Well, how about <a href='http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9911470-56.html'>that</a>?<br/>Vista SP1 isn't even really out the doors yet and they are thinking (and talking) about the next version of Windows.<br/>Is it me or are they "super-enthused" like they were when they were talking about what a big change would Vista be for the world of computing. <br/>Isn't it a bit early to think out-loud about next versions of Windows? Apparently, they don't think that.<br/>Apparently, with all the early releases they are putting on the market lately, they are trying to keep up with a market where open source initiative is getting more and more attention.<br/><br/></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-14426981262201863652008-03-05T00:43:00.000-08:002008-04-04T07:56:40.467-07:00From “nearly there” to “there” and beyond<a href="http://alistapart.com/articles/designisinthedetails">Design is in the Details</a> (from <a href="http://alistapart.com/">A List Apart</a>) is a great article for aspiring designers.<br />Anyone who hopes to be a good or a sought after designer should pay much attention to the details.<br /><br />But, I think that the statements above have much more meaning for the designers that work for companies that have a whole division of designers and where pitches for the clients are to be very carefully elaborated. These companies tend to have a very competitive design division, where designers have to work their butts off just to make it on a pitch. Most designers that wok for such companies have an acute sense of competitiveness and are indeed looking much more deeply at the details.<br />I wonder what kind of a personal life has such a designer. If one is to pay such kind of attention to the details, when is a design to be ready to go for a pitch? And, once a pitch is over, here comes another.. and another.. and another...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-37231469120066523402007-12-17T04:00:00.000-08:002007-12-17T04:18:54.022-08:00Good Web Design Principles<strong><a href="http://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/9-essential-principles-for-good-web-design">9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design</a></strong> is a pretty good article on how to design better web-sites / web applications.<br />What I find interesting about this article is that it enumerates all the reasons a few web-sites that I helped developed (as a web-developer) have failed to catch a bigger audience.<br /><br />1. <strong>Guide the eye</strong> - if your users don't really know what they are looking for, you should do all possible things to guide them to the thing you want (or, the thing that you think that they would)<br /><br />2. <strong>Spacing, Typography, Alignment, Clarity </strong>- I would have grouped these tag-lines under one big item: <strong>presentability</strong>. But the author has a good point in developing each of the items with separate explanations. It's a better reading. And, he follows the instructions described by the article. :D<br /><br />3. <strong>Consistency </strong>- if your web-site changes the look from one page to the other, the users will be confused. Confusion leads to the user leaving your site.<br /><br />4. <strong>Navigation and Usability </strong>- you should allways let your users know where they have been, where they are and where they can go from here. The path on a site (navigation menu, bread-crumbs or whatever method you choose) should be easely accesible and easy to understand. If not, your users will be confused again.<br /><br />Again, anyone that wants to better the user experience on their site, should read the article. If the article does not supply enough information, you should follow the <em>Further Reading </em>lists that end each one of the <em><a href="http://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/9-essential-principles-for-good-web-design"><strong>9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design</strong>.</a></em><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-85844253312725144842007-06-19T01:28:00.000-07:002007-06-19T01:35:26.543-07:00DDOI (as in Daily Dose Of Imagery)<a href="http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/07/06/19/">This</a> is a very interesting picture.<br /><br />Someone really put in a lot of effort to make the web look this realistic.<br />I wonder how the whole picture would look if it were to be taken from above. I bet it would look a lot like those ground spiders you see on the Discovery Channel.<br /><br />Anyway, the <a href="http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/">Daily Dose of Imagery</a> is a site that can make one's day. I, for one, have subscribed to their RSS long ago and I remember seeing some very interesting pictures.<br /><br />I wish I would have the time and skills to take pictures like them.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-48119976102276210352007-05-13T01:06:00.000-07:002008-04-06T01:17:36.172-07:00Google policeIs <a href="http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/05/driveby_malware.php">this</a> a good thing or a bad thing?<br />If Google is to regulate what's good and what's bad for us, maybe this would be called censorship.<br /><br /><blockquote><p>To address this problem and to protect users from being infected while browsing<br />the web, we have started an effort to identify all web pages on the Internet that could potentially be malicious. Google already crawls billions of web pages on the Internet. We apply simple heuristics to the crawled pages repository to determine which pages attempt to exploit web browsers. The heuristics reduce the number of URLs we subject to further processing significantly. The pages classified as potentially malicious are used as input to instrumented browser instances running under virtual machines. Our goal is to observe the malware behavior when visiting malicious URLs and discover if malware binaries are being downloaded as a result of visiting a URL. Web sites that have been identified as malicious, using our verification procedure, are labeled as potentially harmful when returned as a search result. Marking pages with a label allows users to avoid exposure to such sites and results in fewer users being infected.</p></blockquote><br />And what about this:<br /><br /><blockquote><p>The firewall is dead.</p></blockquote>I don't think that this would be true in a hundred years. As long as software (operating systems in particular) have wek spots, there will be a huge market for firewalls.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-65600816060412045902007-05-11T06:56:00.000-07:002007-05-12T11:49:31.628-07:00Writing productivityIt seems that there are "<a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/writing-productivity/7-ways-to-crank-out-articles/">7 ways to Crank Out Articles</a>"<br /><br />This should't be too bad. While I'm not really interested in cranking out articles, I think that I will try and follow at least some of the rules.<br /><br /><blockquote>"All writers grapple with procrastination: you know you should be writing<br />right now, but you find a million other things to do instead."<br /></blockquote>This applies to me. But I would re-write it as follows:<br /><br /><blockquote>All writers grapple with procrastination: you know you should be writing right<br />now, but you find a million things to write about at any one second.<br /></blockquote><p>This, for me, means that I would have to follow the last rule first:</p><blockquote><strong>"Crank, then revise.</strong> Write a shitty first draft, as fast as you can, and then go<br />back over it. But the key is just to get it out. Craft it lovingly afterwards,<br />not during. <strong>"</strong></blockquote><p>Or even the 3rd:</p><blockquote>"<strong>Brainstorm.</strong> If you’re facing a blank screen, it’s often hard to get started. Get<br />your fingers pumping and your brain moving by making a list — brainstorm some<br />ideas for the article, or do a bullet-point list with details to be filled out<br />later, or do an outline. Whatever it is, get your ideas down fast, and things<br />will start flowing. "</blockquote><p>Maybe I'll even improve my writing skills. I'm aware that it leaves much more to be desired. And I think that't the first thing that I wish to improve. Quality comes before quantity for me.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-58710954501366902642007-05-11T00:40:00.000-07:002007-05-11T00:45:10.060-07:00Do I run cheap?<a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/humour/top-ten-signs-you-may-be-charging-too-little/">This post</a> has an interesting view on pointers to a better life (or better pay).<br /><br />Personally, I like the number 12 the best.<br /><br /><blockquote>Companies have been calling from India wanting to outsource their work to you.</blockquote><br /><br />This would clearly be a sign that I charge too little. Even though I don't agree with the idea that every <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Indian</span> worker charges a few bucks for a job that he doesn't do well, I agree with the fact that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Indian</span> freelancers charge too low.<br />It's all about how you sell your skills. And <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Indians</span> seem to have found the holy grail when it comes to selling. ;)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-72041313746736786852007-05-10T07:37:00.001-07:002007-05-10T13:04:37.741-07:00Forget about it!I would have to agree with this point of view:<br /><br /><blockquote><p>"If whatever we do can be held against us years later, if all our impulsive<br />comments are preserved, they can easily be combined into a composite picture of<br />ourselves." ... "Afraid how our words and actions may be<br />perceived years later and taken out of context, the lack of forgetting may<br />prompt us to speak less freely and openly."<br /></p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>But, then again, what if we would forget anything older than our lifetime? Wouldn't that mean that we would forget our history? Wouldn't it mean that we would be repeating our history over and over again?</p><blockquote>In other words, it threatens to make us all politicians. </blockquote><p>Yes, it's a risk. It's a very high risk I wouldn't want to have to take. I would hate to see that, if a politician says something that can be held against him, would be forgotten after a period of time, and he'd be granted a clean slate.</p><p>On the other hand, the proposal he has, that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">any</span> piece of information be given a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">pre</span>-determined "shelf-live", <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">modifiable by a user. Thus, anything I would say at one time can be forgotten after, say, 1 year. That would be nice. But who would be the one to say: "this information or type of information has a default life-span of x years"? Would it be a commision of some sort? Or would it be an individual? If it's a person, who can guarrantie that his/her actions are correct?</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-23848717367021217062007-05-10T07:20:00.001-07:002007-05-10T12:42:00.743-07:00Star Wars - continuedNice...<br /><br />I'm a great fan of the Star Wars double-trilogy. It would be a great thing for all the fans in the world.<br /><br />But:<br /><blockquote><p>“But they won’t have members of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Skywalker</span> family as characters,” he<br />said. “They will be other people of that milieu.”<br /></p></blockquote><br /><br /><p>This would be a new thing. I've always thought of the movie as if the title was "The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Skywalker</span> Saga" as opposed to "Star Wars".</p><p>I can hardly wait to see what happens to Luke, even if the next episodes doesn't <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">actually</span> show the character.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-32475968499794087912007-05-10T05:59:00.001-07:002007-05-10T13:50:43.565-07:00RIP desktopHere's an interesting (and very true) assumption:<br /><br /><blockquote><p>to a user, the interface is the product<br /></p></blockquote><br /><p>I would emphasise this affirmation for each and every project that I've worked on. </p><p>I might add the following (if it's not ever been said, which I don't believe):</p><ul><li>If the user doesn't feel <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">comfortable</span> with the interface, he would not use the application.</li><li>If the user doesn't find what he's looking for with the help of just a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">few</span> mouse clicks or keyboard entries, he would not use the application.</li></ul><p>The application might do magic with the data provided by the user, but if the user can't manage to enter the information in a way that is both <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">comfortable</span> and easy to do, the application would have no data to do the magic with. </p><p>Providing input methods that are "user-centric" is a must nowadays. Why do you think that there's so much <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">hype</span> with AJAX, Flash (and Flex) and Rich Internet Applications? That's why. The users need to feel comfortable. Otherwise, it would be hard to get them to use (or buy) the software.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-20415765428462224752007-05-10T03:28:00.000-07:002007-05-10T03:39:28.885-07:00Life changing information exchangeLeo Babauta of <a href="http://www.lifehack.org">Lifehack</a> has a very interesting <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/digg-life-how-social-media-will-change-the-world.html">view</a> on how our lives changed since social networking came.<br />He is, oh so, right on that point.<br /><blockquote><p>But then social media came along, just within the last few years, and the<br />gates broke open.<br /></p></blockquote><br /><br /><p>Then again, when reading only the information that other deem as worthy the time it takes to read it, we are increasing our chanses of missing some information that really matters to us. One can see <a href="http://www.digg.com">Digg</a> as the main (or maybe, the sole) source of information for what one needs. This can turn out to be a very dangerous thing.</p><p>In order to see "the larger picture", one has to read the news from other sources too. I, for one, don't rely on Digg to serve the news "I need" to read. I have other source too. And (this is a bad thing from my part) I don't always share what seems interesting to me with the masses. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-80717547839756813622007-05-09T00:47:00.000-07:002007-05-09T00:57:29.003-07:00Silverlight on LinuxSo, the good folks over at the <a href="http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page">Mono Project</a> thought that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Silverlight</span> is a new technology that would make it to the market. And by "market" I mean that the clients of big software companies would pay for applications that use the technology.<br /><br />That's a great thing. I'm glad to see that Mono is trying to bring "software to the masses" from places that only "big software companies" are able to bring.<br /><br />Imagine if you're pitching an open source solution to a project with relatively low <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">budget as opposed to a Microsoft only solution to the same project. Not only that SOHO companies prefer to keep a tight leash on their budget, but big companies are beginning to see the benefits of using as much open source as possible. </span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected"></span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Keep up the good work.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-57850658870317740162007-03-02T04:57:00.001-08:002007-03-02T13:41:31.606-08:00Legacy softwareIn a <a href="http://www.theregister.com/2007/03/02/northdoor_4gl_reclamation/">nice article</a>, <a href="http://search.regdeveloper.co.uk/?author=David%20Norfolk">David Norfolk</a> talks about legacy software applications and what they can do to a company that is to maintain it.<br /><blockquote>"beware of transforming legacy without a good business reason, just because new technologies are more fashionable – the pointy haired boss may not realise this, but most developers can turn their hand to any language, given a little training and encouragement."<br /></blockquote>This is so true. In fact, these days, if you are not able to learn a new programming language in a fashionable manner, you cannot be called a good developer. If you "stay true to your first love" you will not be able to become agile in the long term.<br />But if someone decides to transform a legacy software without a good business reason, like improving performance or adding new and futuristic features, the new endeavour would have a pretty good chance at stalling.<br /><br /><blockquote>"the code tells you <em>what</em> the legacy does, but you need a domain expert (and, if you're lucky, the documentation) to tell you <em>why</em> it does it; and a technologist to make sure you get the best out of what you're moving to."</blockquote><br />This is also very true. You <span style="font-weight: bold;">CANNOT</span> port an application if there's nobody that can read between the thousands (if you're lucky) lines of code. The lines of code alone can't help you very much, and, if you believe otherwise, you will hit a concrete wall when you will realize that you were wrong (and you will, eventually).<br />Furthermore, you'll need a good technician that will leverage the advantages that the language you are porting the application to provides you with.<br /><br />God knows, in my "programming youth", I've written some code that even I would find hard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">to</span> read and understand. Given my experience now, I would know how to write the code, even if I don't <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">always</span> write it the way I would like to. But when I see "bad code" written by people I know have experience with such things, I get angry.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-18905421401030173542007-03-01T23:51:00.000-08:002007-03-02T13:56:53.847-08:00Are you bored?<a href="http://www.beseechfanclub.com/bored/">This guy</a> seems to have lots of spare time and absolutely nothing to do.<br />But hey, it seems that he does something that kindergarten kids haven't thought of. Using stuff that don't even resemble animal parts to impersonate animals is something that you have to tip your hats to.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3731858924181729575.post-33552544874933286512007-03-01T23:47:00.000-08:002007-03-02T00:41:31.942-08:003 tier learning centerHere's a new resource center for all of you that feel the need to learn something new:<br /><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner/">Beginner Developer Learning Center: Beginner Developer Learning Center Home</a> :<br /><br /><blockquote>a centralized learning environment specifically targeted to beginning programmers. Here you'll find a rich array of learning content that starts with the very basics, and guides you through step-by-step to becoming a fully-fledged developer!</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><br />It's a 3 tier (imagine that!) learning center that should bring you up to speed with .Net programming.<br /><br />Seems interesting.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## -->
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<!-- ####################### AdSense ########################## --></div>Goguhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633208745800770468noreply@blogger.com0