Because of Futurama, everytime someone says Merry Christmas, i instantly reply with “I’ll be back when you least expect, NEXT XMAS” … classic.
To everyone who visits, have a wonderful christmas, and may your new year be full of growth and joy.
Cheers,
Stu
World of Warcraft Surpasses 5 Million Customers Worldwide.
That’s gotta be another notch in Blizzard’s belt.
I was trying to align other software in my mind to the Massive Multiplayer Online game. They are projects that use the internet as a conduit specifically. You can’t download and play on your own computer without an internet connection. It’s not like using QuickBooks, which is a standalone product. It’s not like using Windows, or Linux, because they’re OS’s. Different category.
Maybe they are a new category. Other software utilises the internet to allow certain functionality, but WoW and the others are totally reliant on having connection to the interweb.
Anyway, my initial thoughts were … Blizzard have to be getting into the upper eschelons of the Big Software Gurus … having a product that has 5 millions users.
I suppose IE and Firefox would have the largest amount of users … although my breadth of knowledge in this area is pretty small. They would definately be up there in terms of :: how many people use this piece of software?
So … maybe that would be a good piece of research …
How many people use this piece of internet-reliant software? We use the term “internet-reliant” to mean that you cannot operate the software without having an Internet connection.
But then, is that a connection to a nebulous group (file-sharing), or to specific servers (WoW), or just to the Internet (browsers).
Hmmm. Not sure. This deserves a little more thought.
It’s the end of the year, and most people I talk to are very excited about winding down for christmas and new years.
The first thought is that the problem for my brain is, once I take enough time off, and that might only be a couple of days, my brain starts forgetting things. This is bad, mostly, because when I come back to work, it’s a week or more to regain that ground.
The next thought is … when you have deadlines that don’t follow holiday patterns, you can’t really take holidays when everyone else does … and that’s cool. I aint got no gripes.
I guess that’s what it comes down to. After the fact, when the product is done, out, beta finished, and there aren’t massive heart-stopping bugs, a holiday will probably be well worth it.
…
To everyone who reads this blog … may your Christmas and New Years be awesome. And may you find true happiness, of the absolute kind. Which does exist. Absolute. Not relative. Ha ha.
Waiting for the little green man. Waiting for the cars to clear.
When you stand at the lights, what do you wait for? The little green man, or the cars to clear?
There’s a busy intersection near my work. It is either choc-a-block full of cars, or empty. So that you can generally walk across before the little man goes green. So that means watching the cars.
The other day I was at the lights, and this thought ocurred to me.
In Development, we are either waiting for the little green man, or we are watching the cars.
What the? Has insanity finally broken Stu’s brain apart? What is this?
It’s only the beginning of a thought at the moment, but I think it has merit.
There are set standards and rules in Development. We can follow them, and get by very well. It’s safe.
And you can think around outside and watch what is happening in the world itself, see how things are reacting within the environment that is set, and react to those events. You are not waiting to see the little green man, you are waiting until the road is clear of cars.
Now, I’m not going to take this analogy any further, because it falls apart pretty easily once you push it along. But it doesn’t have to go any further. It’s this little thought that sparks more.
So, is it the little green man? Or is it the clearing of cars?
I want to think around what is set and standard, and push within the world of development we live in. Push further. Look around at the reality (cars on the street) rather than the standards (red/green men on poles).
Where Computer Interfaces Are Going : 3D Beyond Games is a very cool little article about the future of Development. It’s been Slashdotted.
I’m reading this, and I’m thinking … this is pretty cool. Then the first reality check hits home. When would this be useful? Using 3d within a System. You’d have bits in 2d and 3d. Some would combine I’m sure.
But are we talking about Development or the end product? Maybe both. Imagine Developing … you write code in 2d, but then view the procedural structure in 3d. You’d move around the database in 3d, organising tables etc.
Then you have the actual System.
The problem with developing Systems in 3d is, noone really knows how it would work. Has anyone released an Accounting System that successfully amalgamates 2d and 3d interfaces? It hasn’t been done. It’s very, very early days.
But that isn’t going to stop me thinking about this. Maybe even experimenting. I’ve done some hard labour with DirectX … there’s plenty of open-source engines to use.
And then, at the end of the article, I find out that Tristan is working on something called …
It’s going to be a big hurdle to get over. The actual mindset of work vs play. The 3D engine is so caught up in Gaming, and transferring this technology across into the Business world will take something special. But I think it’s going to happen, it should happen.
Ruby on Rails version 1.0 has been released. This puppy is maturing, and I still get excited every time I watch a bit of one of the videos they’ve got for your viewing pleasure.
From their Screencasts page …
Putting Flickr on RailsRuby on Rails is not just for playing with your local database, it’s for taking on the web. So in 5 minutes, we create a web-based search engine for Flickr using their public API with all the fades and glamour of Ajax. How’s that for a low-tech alternative to something fancy like Flash.
Here’s the .mov. View away.
Google SideBar rox Windows! What the internet should be 
You get active alerts of what is popular and latest on the web from what you are into - useful AI! Immersive!
I have not got a lot of time but wanted to quickly share my review of the Goggle side bar, also known as GDS - Google Desktop Search. Useful and also cool!
WHY IS IT KILLER?
* Desktop Search - quickly find references on your computer amongst any email/files/web history/chats/other using Goggle’s indexing (far more useful than anything else).
* Plugins - like the winamp plugin explosion anyone can build activeX plug ins to be used by the sidebar.
* Keep up to date and learns - not only does it receive XML RSS feeds (ie new blog entries as they appear) it also has the current news the current hot sites on the web (most popular). If you turn on advanced features (which means GDS starts recording what you do with it - trust Goggle! but note you can turn this off and it is given as an explicit option on install) it will remember what you are interested in and show more of it.
* Integrates - automatically with Thunderbird and indexes all your email from all your accounts!
For most plugins a summary is shown which you can expand to view more - if that is not enough you can expand to the full web site or source of the content.
CRITIQUE
It is actually not as mature as I’d like, Google have kept it lean like GTalk but almost too lean and too kinda unfinished! For instance weather is only for the states, the TODO list has very little functionality, the expanding of photos doesn’t seem to work, photo sources I should be able to turn off/on with a tick box rather than be forced to remove them and then remember to add them back later, and the scratch pad says it saves everything but I don’t see how to review old messages you’ve cleared - there are quire a few of these little niggles. The policy here might be they can wait for users to write new plug ins that are far better (which has already started).
Another issue is you’ll probably need two monitors! The usual way to run GDS is always on top and as a sidebar is takes up some real estate and you are tempted to make it even wider. I have it on my second monitor and allow it to hide behind open windows so that while I’m idle on that monitor I can see my GDS but otherwise I can get on with work. GDS also does use some system resources and network traffic of course.
MY PLUGINS
To save some effort for others here is what I am using currently in my configured GDS, most plugins are simple .MSI microsoft install packages that are small and take 5 seconds to install and appear instantly in the GDS. As usual with plug ins the hard thing is working out the good ones!
* Calendar - minimised to just show time: this needs to be added and while playing CS in the main monitor is essential for keeping track of the time! Also allows primitive day notes.
* Email - expanded to show two most recent emails: comes with default GDS
* News - standard: for your news feeds
* Photos - comes standard (but improved plug ins that allow more image types are available): a slideshow of your photos on your hard drive and web sites you nominate, a nice to have feature.
* What’s Hot - comes standard: the most popular sites on the web right now, tends to update once each day which is cool as it gives you time to check them out. Clicking on it expands to full list of hot sites.
* Todo - comes standard: a bit limited.
* Web Clips - comes standard: XML RSS feeds from blogs and any other sites, quite handy and updates often (distracting!). Get Dev Dawn RSS or comment RSS!
* Quick View - comes standard: remembers your most recently viewed sites for quick look up (not all that useful surprisingly).
* Del.icio.us GDS plug in: This allows quick access to your current del.icio.us bookmarks (online storage of your bookmarks but web shareable and the database advantages that allows - popular tag clouds etc).
* Scratch Pad - comes standard: a quick place to save text in case you might need it later (handy actually but limited functionality).
* Word a Day - added from plugins: pick which-ever RSS wordaday feeds (that are compatible) to see each day. Comes with three RSS sites set up one of which advertises a book, just delete that one.
* System Monitor - not turned on by default, supplied by Google and monitors CPU, Memory, Disk and Network in either a summary or when clicked on shows more which includes physical and virtual memory and in and out network traffic. I have this open and active showing the summary at all times so I know why XP is screwing me at all times!
* GDS - default locked: finally the whole point, the Google Desktop Search bar that allows searching of desktop or web. In fact your desktop search results are now integrated inside Firefox anytime you use Google search anyway for easy access (it does on my personalised Google anyway, see below). Instead of the sidebar you can opt to just have only this search bar floating or in your windows task bar. There is a tray icon to control called Google Desktop to manage all of this.
ALSO OF NOTE…
GDS gdTunes plug in: Manage iTunes within GDS if you are on iTunes that is.
GDS AdSense Monitor plug in: Watch the bling as it comes in!
Gmail Manager: Not part of GDS but if you are like me you have 3 or 4 gmail accounts and this is a great tool to manage them on the web!
Mercora online MP3 DJ broadcasts: uses your gtalk logon - access thousands of peoples MP3 play lists! Radio style system = good but less control over songs and skip forward etc (like Radio), I have tried it.
Del.icio.us firefox plugin: Del.icio.us is only basically useful once you get this so you can add Del.icio.us bookmarks just as you would a normal bookmark. The problem with del.icio.us currently is a garage approach by its designers IMO (del.icio.us is down for emergency maintenance. we’ll be back as soon possible. and features turned off ie Import).
FireFox 1.5 hacks you must have: a WIRED report, I am using about half of these - almost all great. DownloadThemAll with some timeout issues though, Session remember = great, the del.icio.us extension mentioned above, you can control your own custom scripting if you like, Adblock = ok, Nuke Anything Enhanced = great, TabX = terrific!
Yes - get your google on now with Yahoo-like personalised logon!!!! When will it stop ? Firefox, thunderbird, Open Office, Google… all free all good no ads -> pretty sweet huh?
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CodeMonkey (Blog) - Review as of Dec 2005 on Windows XP using ADSL1
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!
Thus begins Rudyard Kipling’s “The Ballad of East and West”.
Recently, I have seen first hand what happens when you have two purposes trying to co-exist under the one banner.
If you’re a single developer, moving your own projects from Go to Woe … then perhaps Purpose Clarity is more appropriate. I know this for fact, from my own experience. It’s about a congealed mass of muddy half-thoughts that might have some direction. It’s about clearing those away, forging them into steel.
However, when you work as a team … then Rudyard comes into play.
I was at a presentation the other day, where two visions were shared. How did I know? I’m not sure … but I knew it as soon as the second was spoken. I’m not sure the person speaking understood that they were presenting a different vision from the first. A lot of people in the room might not have understood either. But it was there, hanging in the air.
And this then turns my mind to how people approach the nebulous concept that is “work”. In fact, more than that. How people approach problem-solving in general. In life itself. And it’s more than problem-solving. It involves the Ego/Self-Awareness talked about previously. It involves the above ability to approach problems. It involves management. Leadership. Submission. Purpose.
Purpose.
The Candidate
Most probably will come across as a pleasant individual, capable, in command. Doesn’t think a great deal about what is being said by others, because what’s important is their own purpose. When they do listen, it’s because there’s a definate move in a direction opposed to their vision.
The problem is that often The Candidate’s vision/purpose is muddy and confused. They have ideas, but they are misshapen and unformed.
The bigger problem is when The Candidate is at the top of the Management heap. This tends to obscure things further, given that they would take a fair amount of offence to being told that they were wrong.
By the way, just as an aside, we are assuming in this discussion that Purpose No. 1 is the correct one, as in highschool physics where you assume that friction doesn’t exist when working out momentum and other lovely measurements. So for this experiment, it’s absolute.
So you have the Candidate. I’m not sure how you would approach this. There would be a number of ways.
I’ve got three young kids, and I can tell you now that Number 1 is usually the best course of action, especially because as the Purpose/Vision of how we are going to raise our kids is a lot clearer in my mind than in my kids. They might want to boss their sibling around, and they do, but they know that it’s not in line with Dad and Mum’s purpose for them. How? Mainly through discipline. I’m not sure how much this analogy can be brought across … it’s almost not an analogy but a case-study. Same objects (People), same situation (Power Struggles/ Diverse Purposes).
Let me just say. I’ve been the Candidate. And it’s far better to stop and take a look. Break open the vial of Honesty Potion and swig it down. Start listening to what other people say, especially when you don’t understand. Make yourself understand, and think about where they are coming from. Think through their arguments. You still might not agree, but that’s okay. Becuase now, as they say, you understand your enemy. Although enemy might be a bit strong. Same idea. Understand what you don’t agree with, because then your own arguments come from a far stronger grounding. You will be validated, because you’re not stuttering over why you don’t agree.
I’ve rambled on enough for the moment. Sleep is calling.
Suffice to say, this is another step towards better development. Make sure you have a single purpose. Because if it gets before the Judgement Seat of the Almighty, then it’s far too late. Read up (plenty of articles, google around) on failed Development. There’s plenty of cases. Most of it happened, or began with, opposing purposes. Team ‘A’ and Team ‘1′ … that kind of thing.
‘Nuff Said.
There’s that line from Aladdin, where Genie Williams says, “Three wishes… and X, nay on wishing for more wishes! That’s it! Three! Uno, dos, tres. No substitutions, exchanges or refunds!”. Thanks Wiki.
I was reminded of the construct used in stories across all the medias we have available, when watching Fantastic Four, which I thought was a pretty cool movie, where there is some kind of object that breaks the rules of the universe.
In Fantastic Four, it was really obvious when Ben decided to become the Thing again. So he jumped back into the device Reed had made to simulate the bombarding radiation from space.
I enjoyed the movie, espeically because I can probably watch it soon with my kids, sooner than spidey or x-men. It was simple fun.
Wishing for more wishes breaks things. It was rife when playing Diablo 1 on battle.net … with the massive amount of hacking that went on. You introduce a weapon that is so ridiculously powerful that everything else becomes mundane.
I remember doing it with Baldur’s Gate. Getting a character hacker, and buffing up my chars.
Books, movies, games, comics, cartoons, other tv shows … it’s something that every story maker, particularly the fantastical mind, would have to deal with.
The classic example is Supes. Where would the world of Superman be without Kryptonite? It’s the one foil to his becoming a “Wishing for more Wishes” element.
So then this turned my mind to development. Are there any parallels?
I think so.
Imagine a technology is given a new face, a phrase is created, and suddenly, it’s the buzzword of the year. Hmmmm, perhaps … wait on …
Ajax has been foretold by some to be a Wishing for more Wishes construct. So has Ruby on Rails. Microsoft would like us to believe that .Net is going to take care of everything for us.
I don’t like the idea of having a product that does everything, AND gives me +50 to my damage magical creatures roll.
What I do like, is the idea that there will always be a number of different paths to a solution, and that getting the best solution will sometimes require utilising more than one tool. I don’t want a sword that doesn’t even have to be swung to waste the enemy. I want a story that is complete and uses it’s magic with subtlety.
Where am I heading? Perhaps we overpromise on our products … a side-effect of this thought process is that I can see a little more clearly that we have to be careful to maintain the focus on the core functionality.
But more than this … I never really want something that will do away with what I bring to the table. If it’s my sword skill and battle wits that bring me glory, then I never want a sword that will kill on sight.
I know, bizaro thoughts. But I’m clearing out what I started with, and stumbling towards some conscious single thought.
Don’t give away what makes development so much fun … your own creative ability. Your own sense of purpose and direction. Your coding skills. These things should be part of development for as long as we continue. There will be tools that ease the bad stuff, that’s what Clarion does so well … but they should never take over the core of development. The mind, the excitement, the fervour. Determination. Etc.
Not sure if I started or ended with a clear point … but there it is.
Okay. So our first poll, “What Should Peter Jackson do next?” accumulated a massive 8 votes. I know … but you gotta start somewhere.
The winner? … One of the first books I ever read as a child … The Hobbit.
So we’ve got a new poll, and this one is probably more in tune with the nature of the site (not that they will all be). Am still getting the hand of phrasing the right questions and coming up with appropriate answers.
So go vote on the new one.
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