Jan 31

Ode to the other Curl

Comic, Tech with tags: 1 Comment »

Ode to the other Curl

Richard Monson-Haefel has left Burton Group and joined Curl as VP of Developer Relations. He is now out of analyst land and back in the real world that doesn’t have charts with quadrants.

He also created a new blog without redirecting the old one :)

Jan 30

Rotating Java and JavaScript on the Server

Ajax, Comic, Java, JavaScript, Tech 24 Comments »

Rotating Java and JavaScript on the Server

I was chatting with someone about how, in 2008, you could build an application with GWT on the client side, and Rhino on Rails on the server side, and how that would mean flipping the roles of Java and JavaScript. Of course, this would be a flip BACK to the past:

Netscape LiveWire enables developers to create, modify, and maintain online sites and applications through a simple drag-and-drop, point-and-click environment. The environment uses the Java programming language and a Java-based scripting language to enable developers to create and execute Live Objects, or interactive multimedia content, within their applications.

Jan 29

My interview with Steve Yegge on Rhino on Rails

Google, JavaScript, Tech, Web Frameworks with tags: , , 17 Comments »

I have been a long time follower of Steve Yegge and his long blog entries that manage to keep your attention. He has the opposite style to me (I know how curt and bad my writing style is!), so I envy it a little.

Ever since he presented on the ‘Google Rails Clone’ at FooCamp and posted about the internal Google Rhino on Rails project, people have been curious to learn more.

  • What does it mean to port Rails to JavaScript?
  • What can’t you do since JavaScript doesn’t have the same meta programming facilities?
  • Rails = a group of Active*, so did you re-implement everything?
  • What do you gain out of having JavaScript all the way down?
  • Does it actually make sense to have jjs? Server side JavaScript generating client side JavaScript? Argh!
  • What is the state of Rhino?
  • Will Rhino support JavaScript 2?
  • How does the JVM help you out?
  • What are the ramifications of implementing ActiveRecord with Hibernate
  • Fun other languages to play with

And of course, the big questions:

When do I get to see it!

I happen to be in Seattle at the Google offices, so I was able to ask all of these questions and more. Steve was a fantastic host, and I really enjoyed chatting with him.

This is the kind of video I want to explore at Google. We have many great developers working on cool technology. I want to get them on camera, participating with the community when I can. Sometimes we can talk about products and APIs, but sometimes we will talk about fun ideas and projects that we are working on such as Rhino on Rails.

Anyway, give it a watch and let me know what you think:

Jan 29

Virgin Diggnation

Comic, TV / Movie, Tech with tags: , 3 Comments »

Virgin Diggnation

Diggnation, and other Revision3 content will be shown on select Virgin American flights.

I think this is great. I remember watching a show on technology awhile back. It was called “Something World” where Something was the guys last name. Apparently he made a mint from that show.

I am really glad to see Revision3 continue to grow. I got to see their studios and they are top notch. It was fun to see how they do their thing and use bleeding edge equipment. I have no doubt that they will continue to grow.

The cartoon itself was just a bit of fun, picturing your grandma turning on Diggnation :)

Jan 28

Mistakes in Twitter Land

Comic, Tech with tags: No Comments »

Mistakes in Twitter

I sometimes catch myself on the slippery slope of @foo and d foo. I also wish that it someone @dalmaer’s me, it showed me in a better way.

Types into Twitter.com

  • @myluva Oh snookie poos you will have me tomorrow miss you love you cheer
    up sweetsie doodles
  • Oh crap
  • I meant “d myluva”
  • Hears the sound of t-shirts being printed by “friends”
  • Not @myluva!
Jan 27

Valkommen and Good-ay to Jon Tirsen

Google, Tech with tags: 1 Comment »

But what if you’re tired of software development as a concept? What if you’ve had it with yet another programming language? What if you want to build apps that maybe even your grandmother would use (I have two very internet-savvy grandmothers)? What if you want to focus on what to build not on how to build it?

This is the reason that Jon has given for why he is leaving ThoughtWorks and joining Google.

I am really excited to see Jon join. I met him at an AOSD conference and we shared a train trip back from the middle of nowhere to London. I immediately liked him for so many reasons. Anyone who I can have a good laugh with is right by me, and he is smart to boot.

I hope that we get to work together in some way, allowing me to sneak to Down Under to meet up with him. See you in Mountain View shortly though mate!

Jan 25

Of Fonts and Men

Java, Tech with tags: , , , 2 Comments »

I am font overloaded.

First, I kick on a movie on type faces, Helvetica. Just imagine for a second this exchange with the wife:

Helvetica

It was actually interesting to see the designer types say exact opposite things about the font, the art of typography, and design:

Then, Ben goes and writes about Of Fonts and Java2D in which he picks apart pixels, as he is want to do.

He lists some of his favourites, starting with the Helvetica wannabe, Arial:

Good to see you blogging again Ben, and why wasn’t Helvetica on your favourites? :)

Jan 25

The Consultants: Mavenization

Comic, Java, Tech with tags: , , 7 Comments »

The Consultants: Mavenization

Jan 24

Build your own Reddit is cool, but I don’t want my own!

Tech with tags: , 4 Comments »

Reddit has launch a beta that allows you to build your own Reddit as a subreddit (a la programming.reddit.com).

The thing is, I don’t want to create dion.reddit.com. Instead, I want to narrow down the existing reddits to my circle of friends. When I look at a Digg or a Reddit, I want it to show me the “important” news of the day with me at the center of the bell curve. Use my friends of friends.

Jan 24

The Consultants: Inverting Your Control

Comic, Tech with tags: , 5 Comments »

Inverting Your Control Comic

Have any of you gone through some time “cleaning up your code” only to realize that it was actually easier to understand before hand?