Logging frameworks! Gah! I just want to stab myself in the eye with a pointy stick.

Learning JPA’s JPQL (as realized by Hibernate). Garbage. But whaddya gonna do? Proceed.

Missing log4j, add it, try again. Missing Apache commons logging. Grrr, okay, add it, try agin. Missing slf4j. WTF! Okay, add it. Still missing slf4j. Oh god, just kill me. Find all the misc slf4j jars, add each and every one of them, try again.

That all these class not found exceptions occur at runtime, vs compile time, gives me unbounded pleasure.

Meanwhile, I tinker with telltale. It’s not quite there. It still doesn’t have the dynamic (runtime) configuration that flogger had. (It’s predecessor iteration.)

Nov 16, 2011

Apple’s famously guarded about their upcoming product releases. It’s a good strategy that gets them lotsa free press.

There’s more to the story. My theory is that Apple stays mum because any particular plan isn’t concrete until the trigger is pulled. It’s better to under-promise and over-deliver.

I imagine that Apple is constantly refining, experimenting, developing each of their products. What we ultimately see is just a snapshot of that product during its evolution. I recall a quote from Pixar (Tim Cook?):

“Our movies are never ‘done’, what gets released is just a snapshot in time.”

That philosophy certainly carried over to Apple.

Consider the rumored upcoming MacBook Pro refresh. Apple hadn’t announced anything. Because I don’t think they knew themselves. The next MBP was expected 2012-ish, to leverage some new Intel chipset. Alas, Intel’s late. Waiting 18 months to refresh is too long. So Apple pulled the trigger on what they have in the pipe.

A better example is the iPad 3. Why refresh when the iPad 2 continues to stomp? The longer Apple waits, the better the iPad 3 will be. Whenever a new challenger appears, or demand for the iPad 2 starts to dip, Apple can just pull the trigger.

Steve Jobs once admitted (at D8?) that their tablet was a work in progress, but they decided to release their phone first. By not announcing either, Apple didn’t precommit and was able to deliver whatever made the most sense.

Releases as snapshots is very “agile”, something us software developers aspire to do. By always having a product that is shippable, a team can pull the trigger when it makes most sense. Much less risky than the traditional Big Bang, waterfall, Hail Mary Pass product management strategy.

Sep 16, 2011

The article How Apple became a monopsonist is at least 8 years too late. Apple iced out competing MP3 players when they bought up all the miniature hard drives for use in their iPods. I marveled at the time.

The novel part is just how much cash Apple has to spend. If anything, Apple will become ever more audacious.

Jul 6, 2011

I’m glad to see reason prevail in Apple’s victory over Mirror Worlds’ Cover Flow patent lawsuit. (My prev post here.)

Apr 15, 2011

FYI. Work pemitting, I’ll be there.

Wed, April 27, 2011 @ 10:00 am

Pierce County Elections
2501 S. 35th St.
Tacoma, WA
253-798-7430

1) Extending the provisional certification of WinEDS 4.0.
2) Final certification of WinEDS 4.0.
3) Update on voting systems in Washington State.

Apr 15, 2011

I might actually put more effort into comments and documentation if JavaDoc used a lightweight markup syntax. Markdown, for instance. It’s wikitext like. There’s already some working code. And Markdown doesn’t make me feel all homicidal.

I christen this proposal JavaMarkDocDown. Catchy, no?

Feb 14, 2011

James Clark has a candid, lucid take on JSON supplanting XML for data exchange. Given his role developing XML, I respect Clark’s intellectual honesty. Wasn’t easy.

Contrast that with Tim Bray’s pithy response in the comments: a link to his “skunkworks” proposal to cleanup XML. From the year 2002. Hilarious.

“XML is like violence. If it doesn’t solve your problem, you’re not using enough of it.” — Anonymous

Feb 14, 2011

Time to rebuild our roads. The work backlog is enormous, as are the costs. Therefore we need innovative, quick, and cost effective alternatives.

I propose building modular roads. Legos for roads. Interchangeable components built with the latest materials and technologies. With emphasis on ease of maintenance and less environmental impact.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

1. Modular roads are easier to repair and maintain, reducing lifetime operating costs.
2. Subsurface construction of modular roads will still be real effort.
3. Surface, subsurfaces (aka base), or both could be modular.
4. Components are more durable.  Whereas concrete is brittle, components are baked, to make them stronger. Whereas asphalt fissures and reverts to gravel, components are woven with carbon fibers, to increase their tensile strength.
5. Components are self healing.
6. Instead of lengthy street closures for resurfacing, components are quickly pulled up and replaced as needed.
7. Used components are recycled into new components.
8. Modular roads remove surface water and manage drainage more efficiently. Surface components will be permeable. Subsurface components double as drainage culverts.
9. Different modular road component systems will be needed for different applications. Highway surface components may be huge, trapezoidal (to minimize noise from tires crossing seams), and somewhat flexible. Street road components may shorter, thicker, and have better subsurface water management. Parking lot components may be cheapest of all.
10. Modular roads are upgradeable. Replacement components will be tougher, lighter, cheaper. Some components will have built in solar panels. Some components will convert mechanical energy (of vehicles driving across) into electricity.
11. New ecological materials and coatings will be self-cleaning, pre-treat waste, or filter contaminates.
12. Concrete is a huge source of atmospheric CO2. Components built from latest materials will be carbon neutral and may even remove CO2 from the air.
13. Components will be fabricated on site, just in time, with mobile kilns. This reduces inventory and transportation costs.
14. Custom (irregular) shaped components will also be made as needed. (3D printer technologies are already “printing” houses.)
15. Components will be light colored, to better reflect sunlight, reducing warming.
16. R&D is needed to determine optimum sizes, shapes, and attachment systems for components.
17. Determining optimal designs and tiling patterns will be “crowd sourced” like an X-Prize contest. Get our nation’s best and brightest emotionally involved in solving this huge problem.
18. Components will be illuminated (phosphorescence, built in OLEDs) to improve visibility in low light. Reducing the need for overhead lamp lighting, electricity, and light pollution.
19. Components have built in guide wires and mile markers to assist autonomous vehicles, navigation.
20. Components are “smart”. They alert when they’re in need of service. They log traffic volumes and loads.
21. Curbs, sidewalks, etc. will also be modular components.

[2/9/11 - Edits, cleanup.]

Feb 8, 2011

Reality mimics art. Giving every student an iPad reminds me of The Diamond Age. In Neal Stephenson’s book, a copy of A Young Woman’s Illustrated Primer is given to a large group of students. The Primer is a teaching book that adapts to the student. Great story.

The Diamond Age may prove as influential as Snow Crash.

Feb 7, 2011

Eventually. We’ve seen it before. Georgia is considering replacing textbooks with iPads and digital content. This potent combination definitely busts the textbook monopoly.

Today, most jurisdictions have to accept whatever crap Texas and California choose. Both of whom are held captive to the Discovery Institute’s antiscience, misanthropic creationist agenda. So this allows enlightened districts to maintain their bastions of sanity.

I do worry a little bit. Computers in the classroom have been a bust. There’s no substitute for teachers. And these distracting digital devices must be teacher controlled for the duration of the class. No texting or surfing porn during lectures.

I’m sure there will be innovative educators, content creators, and students that will weave mobile tablets into the classroom. I’m less sure any progress will be widely adopted.

Feb 7, 2011