java.net Weblogs by Daniel H. SteinbergWeblogs by Daniel H. Steinberg from Java.netWhere are you- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Long before cell phones were ubiquitous, Bill Joy remarked that they changed basic assumptions about how we think about phone numbers. With land lines, personal phone numbers were mostly bound to a place. When you dialed a number you were calling a location. With cell phones you might not know where the person answering is.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/397 A change in perspective- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Ten years ago today, forever seemed like a really long time. That was the day that I formally exchanged vows with Kimmy the wonderwife. Father Guido Sarducci used to say that the phrase "forever and ever" was overkill. He noted that the additional "and ever" probably isn't necessary - it's covered by "forever". And then we had kids and forever changed to not being long enough.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/346 Changing Events- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Briefly, yesterday, we quietly debuted a feature that allowed you to submit your Java related events for listing in java.net . Thanks to those that submitted events. We're still polishing how best to present this feature. If you have any ideas, please respond in the talkback below.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/270 Technology Poems- (Found July 2, 2008 ) The java.net top weblog introduces a new feature: our Poetry Corner. The first contribution is from Tom Clements. Tom's work as a Java poet was featured several years ago in the JavaOne conference coverage produced by JavaWorld magazine. We've got work by other poets on tap. Feel free to send your own to Poetry Corner as long as they focus on technology and don't contain references to that man from Nantucket.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/262 Avoiding the GridBag- (Found July 2, 2008 ) The GridBagLayout is kind of the brocoli of the Swing layout managers. It's good for you, there are people who seem to really like it, but it's brocoli. In Java Today we feature a java.net project named packer. In many ways the new approach isn't much more accessible to new users but the code that a complex layout would require is greatly reduced.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/264 A Wolf's Dilemma- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Cory Doctorow looks at the SCO Linux strategy as a high-stakes version of the Prisoner's Dilemma. You can read more about this classic game at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The key is summarized there as "whatever the other does, each is better off confessing than remaining silent. But the outcome obtained when both confess is worse for each than the outcome they would have obtained had both remained silent."http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/266 Group Dynamics- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Clay Shirkey recommends that when you are constructing social software to support large and long-lived groups, you need to build in barriers to participation. For some groups this is a binary switch - you are in or you aren't. For others, non-members can do certain tasks (like reading the content posted on java.net ), while members can post replies, and higher levels of membership can host projects and perform other tasks. But, Shirkey stresses, "ease of use is wrong."http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/269 Think Platform- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Imagine a high school or college student working late the night before a paper is due. The libraries are closed when the student starts to work on the Bibliography. What if the student's word processor could transparently use Amazon as a resource for creating a bibliography. The student types in the title, author, and publication year of the book and a correctly formatted entry is created with the publisher and other information correctly filled in. Tim O'Reilly included this example as he...http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/276 Not a Technical Issue- (Found July 2, 2008 ) You see a need for hole to be filled in a particular software offering or API. It's just so obvious. It wouldn't be that hard to do. You ask, "Why don't they just fill your favorite pet peeve here". Often the barrier to accomplishing your goal is not a technical issue.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/285 Open source - develop vs deploy- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Maybe this is the wrong group to ask, but how often have you used open source software and not messed with the code base This is, of course, a non-representative sample of users of open source software. In his most recent java.net blog entry, Simon Phipps draws the distinction between people who need the source and people who just want to use the software.http://weblogs.java.net/pub/wlg/291 |