Testing Windows Live Writer

testing the yahoo mail integrated client

testing profile changes

and that is it . . .

Testing the wordpress iphone client

Test post from the new iPhone client

Getting Flat, Part 2 | Linux Journal

Getting Flat, Part 2 | Linux Journal: “What’s wrong here isn’t simply the focus on Microsoft in a country where open source is a huge phenomenon. It’s that both Tom and Microsoft continue to believe IQ tests are important ways to measure citizens in a flat world. Because if there’s one thing the world is flattening fast, it’s the old caste system we call The Bell Curve.”

(Via .)

Technology Review: The Problem with Programming

Technology Review: The Problem with Programming: “I think the real problem is that ‘we’ (that is, we software developers) are in a permanent state of emergency, grasping at straws to get our work done. We perform many minor miracles through trial and error, excessive use of brute force, and lots and lots of testing, but–so often–it’s not enough”

(Via .)

Testing vs. Reviews

Testing vs. Reviews: “My perception is that for an organization to be able to consume consulting, they must have that same attitude, but on a group scale. Maturity is when you don’t say ‘uh oh, here’s something that I don’t know, and maybe other people will discover that and think that I’m stupid.’ Instead, you have enough experience to know that you are competent and valuable, and yet ‘I know some things, but there is a ton of stuff I don’t know, and if I never ask the question I’ll never learn any more.’”

(Via .)

Why yes . . . .

Joel on Software

“Many older languages simply had no way to do this kind of stuff. Other languages let you do it, but it’s hard (for example, C has function pointers, but you have to declare and define the function somewhere else). Object-oriented programming languages aren’t completely convinced that you should be allowed to do anything with functions.”
. . . . mine can, and it is one of the granddaddies – c++

#include <algorithm>
#include <boost/lambda.hpp>
#include <boost/assign.hpp>

using namespace boost::lambda;
using namespace boost::assign;

vector<string> a = list_of(“hi”)(“there”);
for_each(a.begin(), a.end(), std::cout << _1 << ‘ ‘);

which starts to look awfully like a p language, hmmm . . .

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;

my @a = qw (hi there);
map { print $_.’ ‘; } @a;

check out boost::lambda, boost::assign and boost::function

And they say that C++ is verbose!

empathy and interface design

“Derek Story: My opinion is that you’re the best storyteller of the original engineering team. Part of the reason I believe this is because you have an uncanny ability to see things from others’ points of view. So there seems to be less judgment in your stories. Do you agree? And if so, is this a conscious effort that you make, or is it just the way you see the world?

Andy Hertzfeld: Actually, the “ability to see things from others’ points of view,” also known as empathy, is a crucial skill for creating great user interfaces, because you have to be able to see things through the eyes of the user; and not just one user but the whole crazy gamut of them, all with varying technical expertise and life experience. Understanding human nature is crucial in both UI design and storytelling, as well as lots of other spheres of endeavor. In a way, marketing is storytelling, too.”

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Empathic coding also leads to more flexible and general solutions. Care in naming, cohesion and clarity provide deeper insight into a problem and it’s possible solutions.

Is he serious?

Print Story: Bush pressured to call for Mideast truce on Yahoo! News

President Bush is pressing for a United Nations resolution linking a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon with a broader plan for peace in the Middle East

I believe he is. The unbelievable stupidity and cruelty of this position just shatters any remaining hope in this administration. After the quagmire in Iraq, even allowing – generously – that there was true confusion about the accuracy of WMD reports – can he be so foolish to think that he can hitch the solution to a 60 year + regional conflict to ceasefire talks in yet one more conflagration?

Let’s see . . . i’m nearly 40, at 6 weeks old I was living in Beirut; and guess what they were fighting then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War