Using TGZ Archives in Smalltalk: Video
Today's screencast looks at using TGZ archives files from Smalltalk.
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Technorati Tags: tgz
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The author of this blog, James Robertson, passed away in April 2014. This blog is being maintained by David Buck (david@simberon.com).
Today's screencast looks at using TGZ archives files from Smalltalk.
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Technorati Tags: tgz
Well, the laptop (2007 era Macbook Pro) updated to 10.6.3 just fine, but the iMac got itself into a bit of a block; it rebooted with a black screen, but it was running (Finder found the system, and I was able to ssh into the box). A reboot seems to have gotten its attention. Came up, and the only issue was a delay in my lunch's arrival :)
So is this CDMA for iPhone story another rumor, or is Apple actually planning on expanding out to Verizon? It makes sense within the North American market (less sense anywhere else). From the WSJ:
The new iPhone would work on a type of wireless network called CDMA, these people said. CDMA is used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T's main competitor, as well as Sprint Nextel Corp. and a handful of cellular operators in countries including South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers world-wide, including AT&T, use another technology called GSM.
Doesn't interest me, though. One thing I really like about my iPhone is that it's not a brick when I travel overseas. Any CDMA phone - iPhone or otherwise - is.
I noticed a couple of days ago that the category selection option wasn't working in WebKit browsers on this site; it seemed curious, since the same code was working over on my Cincom blog. Well - the issue was fairly simple. A while back I changed the way comments get added (I now include the comment box on any single post page). However, the only place I was assigning the user agent was in a bit of template associated with the old way of doing comments - which meant that I was never checking the user agent at all.
That hit the category selectors, as those boxes are Javascript driven, and the Javascript differs for IE6 and "everything else". So... I slapped the user agent check back in, and now it all works again.
Looks like Oracle understands that Sun's "make it up in volume" theory just wasn't working out:
Rebranded Oracle Solaris operating system, the UNIX OS will now be available for a 90 days trial version and then users have to pay to buy a licence. Earlier, under Sun, the OS was available for free but users had an option to buy support from Sun. This may seem OK for enterprise customers as cost of OS is miniscule compared to cost of services. Companies like Oracle generate extremely thick revenues through services and support.
I'm not sure what kind of future Solaris has in any event, free or otherwise. Linux mostly qualifies as "good enough", I think.
It's a command line heavy install at the moment, but it looks like it's possible to get Pharo and Cassandra talking.
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Today's screencast looks at how #= and #== differ in Smalltalk.
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Technorati Tags: comparison, equality, equivalence
The 4.0 version of the iPhone OS will finally take us to where we were with Windows 3.0 - task switching:
The technology, detailed by people familiar with Apple's plans for the new firmware, will finally allow users to launch multiple apps in the background and quickly switch between them, as AppleInsider exclusively reported earlier this month. Currently, a running app must be quit when the user returns to the Home screen.
For all the verbiage about how "you don't really need this", chat apps (skype, irc, AIM) are way, way less useful if you have to fully quit and log back in every time you want to check something else.
Interesting - Google is baking Flash into Chrome:
The search-and-advertising giant announced Tuesday that it will bundle Adobeâs Flash player with downloads of the Chrome browser, putting Google in sharper opposition to Apple
Of course, with the popularity of the iPhone (and the seeming popularity of the new iPad), site developers are going to have to deal with the "no flash" problem anyway...
We're looking forward to the arrival of the iPad we ordered - the early reports (Boing Boing and Walt Mossberg) sound good.
Dave Buck reports that Dorin Sandu will be talking about Smalltalk and Cocoa in Ottawa this month:
We will provide an overview of model-view-controller as implemented by Cocoa, introduce key-value coding, key-value observing, key-value binding, and review some of the provided controllers and views. We will illustrate all these concepts through several example applications implemented in Smalltalk.
Follow the link for location details; it's happening at 6 PM April 14
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Today's screencast looks at how to read rss and atom news feeds in Smalltalk.
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Technorati Tags: rss, atom, syndication
Maybe Apple as a whole has a distortion field, only it's reaching out into reality:
The Wall Street Journal reports (with its usual paywall shenanigans) that both CBS and ABC will be streaming TV shows to the iPad. CBS will opt for video that you can watch through Safari on the iPad--as we reported last week, the network has already been running tests of HTML5-served video. As of Saturday, when the iPad launches, CBS plans to have full episodes of popular reality show Survivor available, as well as clips from other shows. At some point in the future, however, the network is shooting for full parity between what's offered on its standard Website and on the iPad.
I suspect that the iPad we bought will get a lot of use for streaming TV...
O'Reilly says that "cloud computing" is now where "web apps" were a few years ago - they are what "everyone" is working on:
For many years at OSCON we called out "web applications" as a distinct topic. This year it became a useless demarcation, as just about everything is a web application. Cloud computing is in a place similar to web applications a few years ago.
Technorati Tags: open source, cloud
We'll be doing the podcast with David Buck tomorrow - he's recently been working on upgrading some VisualWorks users from older versions (including version 2.5.x) to the latest release. Listen live on justin.tv
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Engadget has a first look at the JooJoo. Yes, it is the worst named device ever...
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Today's screencast is a basic introduction to file handling in Smalltalk, looking at class Filename, and at basic Stream protocol.
Here's the code I used in the short examples in the screencast - The #nextLine message is part of the NetClients package - when I did the recording, I didn't notice that. To get that code, load the NetClients parcel:
"Filename is your entry point into file handling" (Filename named: '.') directoryContents. "Read line by line" list := List new. stream := 'lines.txt' asFilename readStream. [stream atEnd] whileFalse: [list add: stream nextLine]. stream close. "more manually, to show stream protocol" list := List new. stream := 'lines.txt' asFilename readStream. [[stream atEnd] whileFalse: [| next| next := stream upTo: Character cr. list add: next]] ensure: [stream close].
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
We'll be talking to Dave Buck about porting VisualWorks apps from older revs (as far back as the 2.5 era) up to the latest (7.7) at 1 PM eastern US time - about 10 minutes from when I'm posting this. Listen live at justin.tv
Doc Searls thinks that more open mobile platforms, like Android or Symbian, will end up beating Apple in the new space being created by the iPad:
The iPad will launch a category within which it will be far from the only player. Apple's feudal market-control methods (all developers and customers are trapped within its walled garden) will encourage competitors that lack the same limitations. We should expect other hardware companies to launch pads running on open source operating systems, especially Android and Symbian. (Disclosure: I consult Symbian.) These can support much larger markets than Apple's closed and private platforms alone will allow.
I'm not so sure. Part of why the iPhone and Touch are doing so well is that they provide a consistent, simple user interface. No file system to mess with, not multiple stores - one stop shopping and your apps handle all of their own details for you. Google doesn't really look at the world that way; I seriously doubt that any device they ever sponsor will be as easy to use as what Apple is coming up with.
Arguably, Android's ecosystem is more open that Apple's, but thus far, that hasn't been enough - it would have to be at least as good an end to end system. Until another vendor in the mobile space beats the iTunes/mobile device combo, Apple will lead. That's not destiny; there are plenty of ways other vendors could do better (wifi synching, anyone?). It's just that they haven't done it yet - and the open source community really doesn't have much of a track record in the "easy to use UI" space.
Update: I disagree with Cory Doctorow for all the same reasons. Here's the thing - cars used to be accessible to owners as well, and now they pretty much require an expert to do anything under the hood. And people still buy cars. Consumer goods go through a lifecycle, and they eventually exit the "anyone can get under the hood" part of it.
I agree with John Dvorak on this one - the iPad will not be the salvation of old media (newspapers and magazines). Why not?
No matter that you are not reading these journals now. For some unexplained reason you'll want to read them on the iPad. How does that make any sense?
Exactly. The problem is the content, not the medium. The old media guys haven't figured that out yet, and it looks like they never will.
Okay so the iPad has a problem that lots of software has, when you finish the basic setup -- now what? There are no movies, newspapers or books on the device, and no clue as to how to get them on there. Those are the first things I want to do, see how it plays stuff. Maybe I'm wrong about that. I should disconnect and see what I get.
Dave Winer must be the only person on the planet who doesn't know that you use iTunes to get stuff onto the iPad - either directly from the iTunes app on the device, or via synching from your computer.
I've been asked about my impressions of the device, but at this point, I don't really have any - it's my wife's iPad, and she's been using it. IN watching her use it, I've noticed that she's had some minor issues with the UI - she hasn't looked at an iPhone/Touch, so it's all based on prior expectations from OS X and Windows. The most interesting one I've seen? The fact that double click isn't used (other than double tap for zoom). As we settle in with the device, I'll have more to say, but so far - we like it.
This week, Michael and I got VisualWorks customers from older versions of VW up to the latest. It ended up being a wide ranging conversation; this is part 1 of 2 - part 2 will be out next week.
To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software.
To listen immediately, use the player below:
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Effortless for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to smalltalkpodcasts@cincom.com - or visit us on Facebook or Ning - you can vote for the Podcast Alley, and subscribe on iTunes. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
Technorati Tags: podcast, visualworks, upgrade
Spotted in PCWorld Latest Technology News
Microsoft is ending its support for Intel's Itanium processor with the current version of its Windows Server OS; according to a Microsoft blog posting Friday.
The death throes of the iTanium have to be the slowest moton thing in the tech space ever...
Nick Carr makes a good point about digital records and fragility:
The problem is magnified by the speed with which old digital media and recording techniques, including devices and software, are replaced by new ones. It's further magnified by the fact that even modest damage to a digital recording can render that recording useless (as anyone who has scratched a CD or DVD knows). In contrast, damage to an analog recording - a scratch in a vinyl record, a torn page in a book - may be troublesome and annoying, but it rarely renders the recording useless. You can still listen to a scratched record, and you can still read a book with a missing page. Analog recordings are generally more robust than digital ones. As Bollacker explains, history reveals a clear and continuing trend: "new media types tend to have shorter lifespans than older ones, and digital types have shorter lifespans than analog ones." The lifespan of a stone tablet was measured in centuries or millennia; the lifespan of a magnetic tape or a hard drive is measured in years or, if you're very lucky, decades.
Carr adds a worry about cloud storage overtaking local storage, and a resulting "storage monoculture" resulting what amounts to a single point of failure. I'm not sure we'll get there, but it is possible. For things like music and books, we still like to have local copies, because we'll listen (or read) over and over. Video is something else again - beyond a few favorites, most people don't want to re-watch something they've seen already. Storage is cheap (and getting cheaper) though, so I'm not sure that the cloud monculture issue will ever truly arise.
Today's Smalltalk Daily looks at creating a simple test case using SUnitToo - with the File handling code from last Friday. You can also download the small package I show in the screencast (zip file). To watch, click on the viewer below:
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
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I just finished two books on the civil war - one on Sheridan (more properly, on him and his top commanders)
, and the other on the war in the Chesapeake Bay region
. The Sheridan book covered the last year of the war - more or less, the Shenandoah campaign and the wrapup of the siege of Petersburg. Sheridan was an interesting character, and he ended up having a lasting impact on the army - his innnovations with cavalry warfare make me wonder - he would have been an interesting guy to pair with Patton during WWII.
Another thing that comes clearly through this book, at least for me - if you're going to fight a war, fight the war. No half measures, no "proportional response" nonsense - take the war to the enemy and make them regret the decision to go to war in the first place. I often wonder how differently many modern American wars might have gone had Sheridan, Sherman, and Grant been around to run them.
Anyway - if you're interested in this period of history, it's an interesting book, and short. A good companion to a biography of Sheridan.
The second book, about the war on the riverine Chesapeake, was fascinating. It really brought home to me how messy the border region war was between 1861-1865. All along the Chesapeake, the skirmishing, smuggling, and guerilla warfare went on non-stop until the very end of the war, and it was often a nasty business. Not that war is ever not nasty, but it was smaller scale and more personal - given the divided loyalties of the region, there was a lot of the stereotypical "brother vs. brother" thing going on.
If you want to read something that gives you a view of the war away from the common "Lee vs. a parade of Union commanders" thing, this is a good one to look at.
Engadget has the scoop on apple's next big event:
Yes folks -- the world is turning upside down. Apple has announced an iPhone OS 4 event on April 8th at 10AM PT for a "sneak peek of the next generation of iPhone OS software."
I think that once Apple ships a new rev of the iPhone on the next gen of the OS, I'll be upgrading.
Here's Hernan Wilkinson, presenting mutation testing at ESUG 2009. You can download his slides here (PDF). To watch, click on the viewer below:
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly.
If you like this video, why not subscribe to Smalltalk Videos?
Steve Wessels has some nice things to say about VisualWorks.
Technorati Tags: visualworks
Steve Wessels makes a good point about the malleability of Smalltalk:
What I would like to say is that I love how Squeak is open under the covers, and so easy to explore and extend. All the Smalltalk tools do that. But I m also aware of how these little annoying behaviors about Squeak have more that just a few times caused me to become diverted by yet again another tools enhancement run. The temptation to personalize it, which is exactly what I think Alan Key and Dan Ingalls had in mind, can be great enough to the point of distraction. You just have to remember that.
Yeah, it's incredibly easy to get lost in a "bug hunt" at times. It's cool that you can do things like what Steve talks about in his post (modifying the browser), but then again - if it were more nailed down, would you spend less time on bug hunts and more time on your actual project? It's worth considering, I think...
Today's screencast looks at changing tabs in a VisualWorks UI.
You can download the video directly here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Technorati Tags: video, visualworks, tab widget
The reactions to the iPad are all over the map, and fascinating. Dave Winer has a thoughtful piece, although I think he lost a bit of objectivity in looking so deeply at his personal workflow. Mark Bernstein thinks that it may well work perfectly as a book replacement, or as a digital picture frame, or - we'll figure it out. Tim Bray seem ambivalent. Lots of people are up in arms over the lack of a USB port or two.
Meanwhile, my wife has been pretty happy using it to read the same book upstairs (Kindle on her Macbook) and downstairs (Kindle on the iPad). It's early days yet; we'll see how things look in a few weeks. I haven't had any real time with it, so I don't really have any comments beyond "it looks pretty" :)