You think HD-DVD vs Blu Ray is pointless: there are two competing standards for microchipping pets. If you have the wrong scanner, you cannot read, or even detect, the implanted chip. This has caused anger, confusion, and animals to be accidentally put to death. Yikes.
Author Archives: Jimmy Lin
Longhorn -> Windows Vista
“Windows Vista“, eh? It’s an okay name — more meaningful than “XP”. Dan hopes Windows Vista’s fate will be like AltaVista‘s: technically it still exists, but no one uses it. I’m more inclined to believe it’ll be more like my old high school, Monta Vista: still going strong.
No bookstores in Cupertino???
When I moved to Cupertino in 1989, it had several general bookstores: A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in the Oaks, a B. Dalton in Cupertino Crossroads, a Waldenbooks in Vallco Mall, and a Crown Books in the Marketplace (across from Vallco). Stacey’s later opened a branch near Vallco. For the geeks, there was Computer …
Web development: Ruby on Rails and Django
A constant theme in HCI and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is how hard it is to get a group of people to adopt and support new technology — being technically superior is not nearly enough. One good example, interestingly enough, is in the area of web application frameworks. For example, in my favorite language Python, …
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Salvadorean food and Willow Glen ice cream
Two nights ago, my buddy Jonathan and I met up for dinner. We were in an adventurous mood, so we went to Vicky’s Restaurant [map | Mercury News review], which specializes in cuisine from El Salvador, in the Burbank neighborhood of San Jose. Jon couldn’t resist the 2 Tacos for $2 deal, but we also …
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Python IDEs
Normally I program in Java, but recently I needed to write a quick program, and I turned to my favorite language for such tasks, Python. I hadn’t used Python for a while, so I’d forgotten how much I like the language — terse, clean syntax, and an elegant design. But I’m still looking for a …
More product naming goodness
Earlier I wrote about Microsoft and IBM making their nomenclature more sane. Looks like Sun is getting also into the act. The current version of Java is “Java 2 Platform Standard Edition, version 5.0” (or J2SE 5.0), which has an internal version number of 1.5. That’s three version numbers for one product. Thankfully, the next …
Language-oriented programming
Lately there’s been a bunch of initiatives aimed at making software development easier and more robust, by having programmers create and program in domain-specific languages, instead of general-purpose ones like C or Java. Examples include Intentional Software which was spun off from Microsoft Research, the Meta Programming System by JetBrains, and Software Factories by Microsoft. …
Bay Bridge compromise
Miracle: Ahnold and the legislature leadership have finally reached a deal on the Bay Bridge replacement. Now maybe this bridge will be built before I turn 40. Sheesh.
The Great Malls of China
The Great Mall of America is nothing compared to what’s getting built in China these days. We’re talking malls over 130 acres, or 1/5 of a square mile.