I work in technology sector. And I do round a clock, not only from 9 to 5. It is my bread and butter, it is my hobby, it is the fascination of my life. And with the current rate of change particular in information technology (IT), there is always something new to learn, to try, to talk about. I often post news, thoughts, and reviews. And when I do, this is the category I use.
I am sure that by now everyone has almost forgot about Y2K computer problem hype. There was nothing. Or should I say there was nothing serious? Well, anyway, by means of Google Groups I came across this interesting discussion about Y2K problem that happened in January of 1985. There is even a story about some program that should brake in 2004. :)
By means of Linux Weekly News, I came across Groovy. Groovy is a Java-like scripting language. It is JRE compliant, has Java syntax, supports existing Java objects and libraries, has dynamically-types variables, and some more. It has templating system, simplified interface to JavaBeans, works with SQL, and can be used to write Java servlets.
Here is what they say about it on their website:
Groovy is designed to help you get things done on the Java platform in a quicker, more concise and fun way – bringing the power of Python and Ruby inside the Java platform.
Groovy can be used as an alternative compiler to javac to generate standard Java bytecode to be used by any Java project or it can be used dynamically as an alternative language such as for scripting Java objects, templating or writing unit test cases.
Overall it sounds rather interesting. It seems that it feel the niche between Java and Perl/Python/Ruby, providing an acceptable compromise for all those people participating in the holy wars. :)
Archive of all Edsger W. Dijkstra works can be found here. For those of you who don’t know who he was, here is a quote from the site:
Edsger Wybe Dijkstra was one of the most influential members of computing science’s founding generation. Among the domains in which his scientific contributions are fundamental are
- algorithm design
- programming languages
- program design
- operating systems
- distributed processing
- formal specification and verification
- design of mathematical arguments
In addition, Dijkstra was intensely interested in teaching, and in the relationships between academic computing science and the software industry.
During his forty-plus years as a computing scientist, which included positions in both academia and industry, Dijkstra’s contributions brought him many prizes and awards, including computing science’s highest honor, the ACM Turing Award.
Most of his papers make for a rather entertaining read. (For example, the thingy about hungry professors and semaphores).
One of today’s post at Slashdot asks an interesting question: should touch typing be taught in schools as mandatory subject?
This is one of those questions where I have the side which I am almost fanatical about. Yes!
Until recently, seeing a computer guy not using all 10 fingers to type made me all made and crippled inside. Especially programmers. Especially in our office. It is as unprofessional as it can get. Touch typing is the most basic computer skill. If you don’t have it, what kind of programmer are you? I have real problem with respect towards computer programmers who cannot touch type. But, as I mentioned, until recently, I felt so strongly only about computer professionals. Since some time now, I start to get the same feeling towards any computer user.
Don’t you hate it when people who driving around don’t look in the mirrors, or turn their head to make sure the path is secure, or don’t show turn indicators when maneuvering? It’s pretty ugly when regular cars behave this way. But when professional drivers (taxi cabs, buses, police) do the same it is even worse.
After all, touch typing is not that difficult to learn. It takes only about a week or two. During this time you learn to use fingers properly and you get used to the idea. After two weeks you are pretty much touch typing. The speed is horrible, but you are on the right way. Just keep your fingers at place and your speed will increase dramatically with practice. There are also tons of ways to learn touch typing. You can take a course in almost any school or college. You can get a book and study it by yourself. You can use a program. You can learn it for free or you can pay for you studies. You can learn it anyway you like. But “Just Do It” © Nike.
Even if you are fast typer with your 4 and half fingers, you will be amazed how faster you will get after learning touch typing. If you think that you don’t need to type that much, you’ll be surprised how many more things are typable. Unless you are touch typing you are avoiding (consciously or unconsciously) a lot of text. It is similar to fork and knife usage in some way. If you are in the restaurant with someone taking notice on your manners (business meeting, date, or whatever) and you don’t know how to use knife and fork properly, you will avoid ordering food that comes in large pieces. Like stakes. Why should you? Learn the damn thing and get over with it. It will save you more than two weeks during the next year only.
If you need an example – I spent less than 5 minutes on this post, while not being an extremely fast typer myself. Learn it!
There are still a lot of people who use Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you are trying to convince them to give Mozilla Firefox a try, then it might be a good idea to point them to www.switch2firefox.com . Everything they need to know is conveniently gathered in one place. There are both theory, in terms of happy customer reviews and lists of reasons to switch, and practice in the way of direct links for downloading Firefox and all the vital plugins, such as Macromedia Flash and Shockwave, Java, etc.
This site covers Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris.