There will be no more updates to ODE for the remainder of this abbreviated month so that I can get a new publishing system for the site up and running. I’m going to debut a new, automated version of the site starting on March 1.
I’m a pretty dedicated Perl programmer, but I’ve been considering learning Python lately, mainly because the code is supposed to be more maintainable than Perl code. LinuxWorld has a story on Python, comparing it to Perl. In the world of Web application servers (an area of great interest to me), ZDNet is reporting that IBM will announce a Linux version of their WebSphere Application Server. I’ve heard that there will be a port of Cold Fusion to Linux as well. I just wish these guys would support FreeBSD. ...
Here’s a link to a cool article at webreference.com that explains how to use XML, HTML, and Perl together in Web publishing. I’ve seen textfiles.com mentioned here and there over the past few days. Looking through the old text files reminds me of calling the old Ripco BBS in Chicago in a quest to find the coolest g-files available. Interestingly, Ripco is still around. Here’s something that won’t come as a surprise … people have already figured out how to hack the new Pentium III chip and obtain the serial number, even if you have that “functionality” turned off. When are these companies going to learn that people figure out how to get around everything, given time? The chip was hacked the guys at c’t magazine in Germany. ...
Jack Hidary, a money drunk executive from EarthWeb (a company with an ephemeral business model that managed to win in the IPO lottery anyway) is doing traditional companies the favor of explaining how important it is that they retool their businesses to work like his business at Silicon Alley 99. Infoworld has the story. Daniel Rosen of Microsoft continued his self immolation routine in federal court today. Soon the court will hear testimony from Joachim Kempin, the thug in charge of keeping Microsoft’s OEM serfs in line. ...
The beat down goes on. David Boies current victim Microsoft general manager of new technology, Daniel Rosen. Perhaps Microsoft should have saved some of the money they spent on lawyers and instead spent it on consultants to teach its executives how to testify in court. Or maybe they just don’t even have a defense to present. By the way, the trial will be in recess for about six weeks starting soon. First the impeachment trial ends and now this? What am I to do? ...
Aaron Weiss criticizes Yahoo in Salon Magazine, mainly for abandoning its role as cataloguer of the Internet. Try the Mozilla Directory instead, it’s more scalable. Here’s a swell piece from USA Today talking about what swell guys the people who got rich by starting Internet companies are. Here’s a knee slapper for you … it’s not about the money at all. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. Rough Justice for `King of the Hackers’: an update on Kevin Mitnick, the famous hacker who’s been languishing in prison for years without a trial. ...
Outraged!: A Glimpse of the Future. A discussion of the coolest feature on any portal. News.com reports on a spat between Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond that led to Perens’ resignation from the board of the Open Source Initiative, and they use it to launch into a discussion of the pitfalls of the open source model in general. What they don’t really seem to get is that the talking heads of the Open Source movement aren’t nearly as important as they’re made out to be in the media. There’s a vaccuum of media attention out there that’s dying to be filled by someone, and there are people in the Open Source community who are all too happy to fill it. I don’t have any objection to that, but what’s going on at the political level doesn’t have all too much to do with the actual, running code that people are using. ...
There’s an article on hackers (the open source programming kind, not the breaking into computers kind) in the Economist. A new Outraged! discussing Netscape’s unofficial channels was sent to the mailing list last night. I’ll post it on the Web sometime today. The DOJ has accused Compaq of sharing secret information about the BeOS with Microsoft. By the way, you can chalk up Compaq’s John Rose as another Microsoft witness who has hurt Microsoft more than he’s helped them. ...
The Washington post reports that the Secret Service provided over 1.5 million bucks and technical aid to a New Hampshire company that is trying to build a national database of driver’s license photos. Not only are the states selling our personal information (which we are required to provide), but the government is helping private companies buy it. I was reading this story about the Web site for the Grammy awards, which is being produced by IBM, and I thought it would be interesting to see what Web server the site is running. Lo and behold, the site is running Apache 1.1.1 (a rather old version) on Linux. If it’s good enough for IBM and the Grammys, it should be good enough for you. ...
From the Red Rock Eater news service: www.theory.org.uk The Case for Government Promotion of Open Source Software New York Law Journal: Boies Puts on a Legal Clinic at Microsoft Trial A rather disturbing article about flouride appears today in Salon Magazine. Is everything they told you was good for you when you were a kid actually bad for you?