Welcome to episode 5 of Independent Misinterpretations - a new Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith>, and David Buck. This week David and I continue our "war stories" - conversation from last week.
You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.
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. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
Welcome to episode 5 of Independent Misinterpretations - a new Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith>, and David Buck. This week David and I continue our "war stories" - conversation from last week.
You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.
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. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
My daughter turns 17 today - something that seems unreal. On top of a (now pretty old) monitor in my office I have a set of baby photos of her - that just doesn't seem that long ago. Anyway, she's a great kid who does most of the cooking around here. So this morning, she gets pancakes:
It has been quite a week. The experience of being at Smalltalks 2010 in Argentina was beyond any expectations I might have had. ¿The reason? It wasn’t only the keynotes, neither being in another country for the first time: It was because of meeting and feeling a part of the smalltalk community.
Sounds a lot like ESUG to me - and that's a good thing.
Update: If you are using Parallels 7, then don't follow the directions below. Just install it normally; it'll run correctly without any tweaking
I spent some time playing Fallout: New Vegas
in a Windows XP VM today (Parallels 6) - and the experience was quite good. Here's the setup I have, for those who might be looking to do the same:
13" MacBook Pro, Fall 2010 model with 4 GB of memory and 250 GB of disk
Parallels 6
A Windows XP, Service Pack 2 VM that's been given access to both cores, priority, and 2 gb of memory
Additionally, I had to register for the New Vegas Forums, and download the d3d9 dll from there, and drop it into the New Vegas folder (under the Steam directory structure).
Before I added that DLL, the game ran right through the opening movie, and then crashed. Afterwards, it ran perfectly. I did reset the graphics to "Low" from "Medium" - even at that setting, it looks much crisper on my Mac than it does on the Xbox.
The gameplay seems fine, although there is a bit of an odd delay going into VATS at times. Since the whole game slows down, it doesn't result in my character getting killed, so that's ok. As to stability, I've only seen one crash - and given the noise you hear about the game crashing on regular Windows boxes, and some of the instability I've seen on the Xbox, this doesn't worry me much.
The good news? I have access to my current favorite game when I travel now :)
It actually works, after applying the patch noted here - I took the screenshot below:
You might wonder why I'm doing this - after all, I have the game on my XBox. Well, I'll be traveling soon, and won't have access to my XBox - and it looks like using the latest Parallels, I can get access to the games I like on Windows without a full on Windows machine :)
Engadget Reports that we'll have to wait a bit longer for the iPad update we've wanted:
Many users of the Golden Master version of 4.2 reported that a WiFi connection could be established by their devices but, once made, they were unable to actually do anything on the 'net, and not being able to do anything on the 'net is what we like to call a Very Bad Thing.
That's a good reason to delay - the initial release had wifi issues that plagued my wife an a friend constantly.
I updated Parallels to version 6 - I'll be traveling for work soon, and I thought it would be nice if at least some of the Windows games would be available to me - the Xbox will be here while I'm away, sadly. The initial experience was less than thrilling.
The download and update seemed to go ok, and the migration of a Windows XP VM went smoothly as well. Then I suspended the VM and tried to quit Parallels - and that's when things got weird. The keyboard became unresponsive, and there was no way to switch to other apps. The Dock was still working, and I could start things - they just wouldn't come to the front. Really odd. Without the keyboard or terminal access, the only thing I could do was a hard reboot.
After the reboot, everything seemed fine - my VMs fired up and suspended just fine, and Parallels was well behaved. All I can figure is that part of the install/update process left things in a weird state. Not a huge surprise with VM technology, but odd. Anyway, if I end up installing any Windows games, I'll post on how that goes.
Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.
To watch now, use the viewer below:
Click to Play
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
The way we've done cellphone service in the US is kind of insane. For all the talk about how we "enabled competition" while in Europe they "stifled" it, just read this article about the realities of using an unlocked phone in the US (and contrast that with Europe). It looks like the regulation that fixed service bands over there created a space wide enough for real competition - while the variance in bandwidth usage here has created nothing but lock in. Another case of rent seeking, it seems to me...
Welcome to episode 9 of "That Podcast: An FNV Diary" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith and I document our trials and tribulations in Fallout: New Vegas.
On today's podcast, Michael and I talk about the two endgame scenarios we've run:
NCR Victory
Courier takeover of New Vegas
We also discussed the other endgame outcomes we intend to try out - which will get talked about on the next podcast!
Got feedback? Send it to James. We'd really appreciate it if you head on over to iTunes and leave a comment - enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in the wastelands!
Welcome to episode 9 of "That Podcast: An FNV Diary" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith and I document our trials and tribulations in Fallout: New Vegas.
On today's podcast, Michael and I talk about the two endgame scenarios we've run:
NCR Victory
Courier takeover of New Vegas
We also discussed the other endgame outcomes we intend to try out - which will get talked about on the next podcast!
Got feedback? Send it to James. We'd really appreciate it if you head on over to iTunes and leave a comment - enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in the wastelands!
The TSA might be run by the dumbest people on the planet. Consider: they're current idea of security involves either a privacy destroying fully nude picture of you, or a grope level pat down. No word on what they'll do if some bad actor decides to ingest (or otherwise internally conceal) an explosive - at this point, I wouldn't put it past these idiots to recommend cavity searches.
It gets better though: now they are supposedly considering a WiFi ban, because WifI could be used to detonate something. That's fascinating, because I guess the TSA hasn't pondered simpler things, like mechanical timers. Never mind though - in the realm of security theater, the TSA is all about puppetry. It's just a great time to start traveling for work again :)
Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we continue with syntax, looking at how you write comments. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.
Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.
To watch now, use the viewer below:
Click to Play
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
Remember in March when we shared with you that more than 24 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute? Well, you continue to amaze us: you’ve increased the amount of video uploaded to YouTube to 35 hours per minute. That breaks out to 2,100 hours uploaded every 60 minutes, or 50,400 hours uploaded to YouTube every day.
The amount of disk space alone is staggering, never mind the ongoing bandwidth usage.
Here's another video from ESUG 2010, which was held in Barcelona, Spain, the week of September 13, 2010. In this presentation, Eli Green talks about a native port of Gemstone to OS X. You can watch using the embedded player below, or follow this link to Vimeo.
I just finished "The Writer" - the second (and apparently final) DLC for Alan Wake. It wasn't bad - like "The Signal", it uses the floating words in the air thing to activate stuff - and boy, doing that is the only way to survive a bunch of the encounters, because you'll get overwhelmed fast otherwise.
I liked the game, but I think Remedy didn't carry the episodic nature of the game far enough. They released the initial game on disc with 6 episodes, then came out with two DLC episodes. Here's what they should have done: released one episode, with the rest coming out as DLC. They could have sold the initial episode for the regular price, with the purchase getting you access to the other episodes as they came out. Had they planned that, they could have rolled an episode out every 2 weeks or so, and treated the entire thing like a serial. IMHO, that would have peaked interest a lot more.
I'm curious as to how this plays out: will Google reach content deals with the networks, or will they start playing games with the way Google TV identifies itself in order to bypass the problem? The former would involve long (and probably stupid) negotiations; the latter would involve a small change to the way Google TV identifies itself. I'm not sure which way things will go :)
The endless campaign against the supposed losses from piracy have bitten me. I'm teaching a training class in a couple of weeks, so I wanted to set up an existing LCD monitor as a second screen - the class is being given via webcast, and I wanted the main screen for the slides, and the second screen for watching the class chat channel. Seems reasonable, right?
Well, the copyright posse has made sure that I can't (easily) do that. I have a mini-dvi to dvi adaptor I got with my new 13" MBP. I have an older LCD screen and a dvi to vga adaptor. Seems like it should all work fine, right? Nope - the older plugs have wires to carry analog, and the jerks at the MPAA (et. al.) are convinced that those are only there for nefarious purposes. Likewise, I wanted to plug my mac into the TV via an adaptor I bought a few years back - dvi to s-video. Same problem. In that case, I wanted to stream from a network site to my Mac, and display on the TV. Terrible, right?
Sure, I can buy a new set of cables for all of this, but the reason that I need to is just stupid. I'm not pirating anything - I'm trying to work or display content from a content provider on a bigger screen. Making this harder on me simply makes me less likely to bother.
Today's Smalltalk 4 You continues with "ProfStef", which is part of the "one click" Pharo download. Today we look at one of the basic literal object types: Numbers. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, use the viewer below:
Click to Play
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
Things are looking shaky in the JCP - the Apache Foundation is distinctly unhappy:
"Why would we want to be in an organization where the rules of law don't matter? Our being on the [JCP Executive Committee] would be a sham. It would show that the community doesn't matter, that we'd basically cave into Oracle pushing stuff through, whether or not it would be in the best interest of the community," said Jim Jagielski, president and cofounder of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), in an interview with the IDG News Service.
I'm very curious to see how this will work out for Oracle. I understand their desire to monetize Java, but it brings to mind my teaching experience (many years ago, during my first year on the job): if you're too easy at the start, tightening up later is really, really hard. And that's where Oracle is at - Java has been "loose" for a long time, and they are trying to tighten things down.
It's times like this that make me wonder about the data I save. I've been archiving data off a drive that has to go back to my former employer - I had filled a 1 TB drive with stuff. Over the last day (on and off as I was able to muster interest) I copied the stuff that I thought I actually wanted over to a new drive. The results were fascinating.
I started with a drive that had 995 GB on it. I ended up with a new 1 TB drive with only 52 GB taken up. So... what the heck was I doing with the other 940 or so GB? Makes me go Hmmmm...
Today's Javascript 4 You - starts in on Javascript syntax. We'll be covering that topic for the next few screencasts on Javascript. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.
Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.
To watch now, use the viewer below:
Click to Play
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
I've ported the final release of Seaside 3. This version is like the previous (2.9) ported one year ago. Differences are on the portability layer and some configuration tools. Now Seaside uses Pharo's Grease. I think that Grease will contribute to make easy the job when porting other Frameworks related to Seaside or Pharo and currently ported to other Smalltalk dialects (Magritte, Pier, etc, I think will be funny porting both ;) Another difference is the Welcome application, very nice Welcome to newcomers!
Florin Mateoc will be talking about Smalltalk and algorithms on December 1st in NYC:
Florin Mateoc is a professional programmer for more than 20 years. He has programmed in Fortran, assembly, Basic, C, C++, Smalltalk, Java and C#. He is not a Smalltalk bigot,he does not think that Smalltalk is either perfect or the end of the evolutionary line of programming languages. He just thinks that nothing better has come along yet.
Follow the link for the location and lore details.
Welcome to episode 8 of "That Podcast: An FNV Diary" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith and I document our trials and tribulations in Fallout: New Vegas.
On today's podcast, Makahlua joins us again as we skirt around the end game. We talked aboiut crashes (we've started hitting them big time), companion quests, and some of the more remote areas of the game map, like Guardian Peak. We also mention a couple of spots with good treasure you might have missed - but the hidden cache I mentioned towards the end is actually near Searchlight, not Primm. To find it, go around the irradiated Searchlight to the north, and you should "stumble" on it.
Got feedback? Send it to James. We'd really appreciate it if you head on over to iTunes and leave a comment - enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in the wastelands!
Welcome to episode 8 of "That Podcast: An FNV Diary" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith and I document our trials and tribulations in Fallout: New Vegas.
On today's podcast, Makahlua joins us again as we skirt around the end game. We talked aboiut crashes (we've started hitting them big time), companion quests, and some of the more remote areas of the game map, like Guardian Peak. We also mention a couple of spots with good treasure you might have missed - but the hidden cache I mentioned towards the end is actually near Searchlight, not Primm. To find it, go around the irradiated Searchlight to the north, and you should "stumble" on it.
Got feedback? Send it to James. We'd really appreciate it if you head on over to iTunes and leave a comment - enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in the wastelands!
Today's Smalltalk 4 You starts a Smalltalk walkthrough using "ProfStef", which is part of the "one click" Pharo download. Over the next set of screencasts, we'll cover Smalltalk syntax and basic libraries.. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, use the viewer below:
Click to Play
If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.
While I'm no fan of formalized net neutrality rules (I worry a lot about rent seeking opportunities in any large dscale regulatory environment) - the way networks are blocking Google TV is over the top - and since it's aroused precious little protest, is likely to lead to a very "walled garden" sort of future, where you'll need a bunch of devices in order to get access to all of the content you want:
Now as it turns out, browser client info is not the primary blocking mechanism being employed by Hulu, NBC, and other sites engaging in GTV blocking. On all affected sites I've tested so far, the serious blocking occurs during the process of Flash video playback startup, where an "unsupported device error" will appear.
Google customizes the Flash Player ID, which can't be (easily) mucked with by the end user. This has its stupid aspects as well; all Google really needs to do is stop customizing that ID, and the problem will vaporize (at least until the networks come up with some other lame blocking scheme).
That's the thing we'll see more of, I think - stupid cat and mouse games where content is there, and then isn't. That serves the interests of the big providers, of course - they would rather keep you glued to the time slot driven, well understood ad model world of broadcast TV.
Independent book stores have been falling to the big box stores for awhile now, but the recession and the rise of popular e-readers (iPad, Kindle) seems to be putting the final nail in the coffin. Here's a story out of Knoxville:
“When we opened, we knew there was a void—there wasn’t an independent new-books store in Knoxville,” McNabb says. “There were just the chains. And that’s where we came in. So that was early 2005, and at that point our main concerns were the chains and Amazon—but we thought we could live that way. And then late 2007, everything started changing.”
2007 is right about the time that e-readers started to pick up, and it was also the start of the recession - so I think it's been a nasty 1-2 punch to those outfits. The big box stores shouldn't get smug though; I can't recall the last time I visited one, and my wife and I read a lot. The Kindle store on the iPad is now our "go to" place.
My guess is that the big stores will hang on for a bit, but like the big record stores (remember those?), they're doomed. The thing is, a small independent store might be more helpful than one of the big box stores, but neither is as useful as "people who bought X also bought Y" - the Amazon recommendation engine. I've bought a ton of stuff that I never would have seen through that, and many of the books I've bought that way were self published, or from very small publishers. Which means that ultimately, this transition should be good for authors.
Welcome to episode 4 of Independent Misinterpretations - a new Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith, and David Buck. This week David and I talk about some of our "war stories" - things we've seen on various projects over the years.
You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.
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. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
Welcome to episode 4 of Independent Misinterpretations - a new Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith, and David Buck. This week David and I talk about some of our "war stories" - things we've seen on various projects over the years.
You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.
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. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
in a Windows XP VM today (Parallels 6) - and the experience was quite good. Here's the setup I have, for those who might be looking to do the same:
