All posts by Martin MC Brown

a.k.a.: Martin MC Brown a.k.a.: Martin Brown a.k.a.: mcslp a.k.a.: Martin C Brown a.k.a.: MC

Making PDAs wrist friendly

I'm a big fan of Futurama, and if you are a fan too you will know that Leela (and some other non-regular customers) have a wrist-computer. It is seldom used in any plotlines, but it is not the only film or program that has the idea. Predator (although I realise the Predators interface was somewhat limiting!) or the even more extensive and futuristic

To me it makes sense - the wrist (and forearm) is a vast expanse of wasted space on your arm, why not use it?

As we tend towards a more digital lifestyle, more and more of us are carrying a PDA, a phone, an MP3 player. We hear about convergence of these items so that we only have to use one pocket, instead of three, to carry all these items.

Making PDAs wrist friendly

I'm a big fan of Futurama, and if you are a fan too you will know that Leela (and some other non-regular customers) have a wrist-computer. It is seldom used in any plotlines, but it is not the only film or program that has the idea. Predator (although I realise the Predators interface was somewhat limiting!) or the even more extensive and futuristic

To me it makes sense - the wrist (and forearm) is a vast expanse of wasted space on your arm, why not use it?

As we tend towards a more digital lifestyle, more and more of us are carrying a PDA, a phone, an MP3 player. We hear about convergence of these items so that we only have to use one pocket, instead of three, to carry all these items.

Physicalizing the virtual team

Once again I am on the road, this time I'm meeting the members of my virtual team.

Many of these people I have spoken to on the phone, exchanged emails and chats and discussed topics at some length, but it is amazing how different these people are in person, and to an extent, personality, compared to their online virtual personas. I don't mean to imply that they put on a façade to hide their true nature, but it is interesting just how much human communication cannot be exchanged through the medium of digital communication.

I guess there are just some things that IT has not yet managed to achieve.

Physicalizing the virtual team

Once again I am on the road, this time I'm meeting the members of my virtual team.

Many of these people I have spoken to on the phone, exchanged emails and chats and discussed topics at some length, but it is amazing how different these people are in person, and to an extent, personality, compared to their online virtual personas. I don't mean to imply that they put on a façade to hide their true nature, but it is interesting just how much human communication cannot be exchanged through the medium of digital communication.

I guess there are just some things that IT has not yet managed to achieve.

Solaris, a v40z and the Apache Software Foundation

Last year, Sun gave the Apache Software Foundation, the group responsible for, among other things, the Apache httpd server, the Ant build system, SpamAssassin, and the deployment environments like Jakarta and Tomcat, a v40z server running Solaris.

The ASF are putting it to good use, and most interesting is their application and use of Solaris Containers to help compartmentalize projects. How do I know this? Because there is a good interview at Tim Bray's Blog with Mads Toftum.

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Solaris, a v40z and the Apache Software Foundation

Last year, Sun gave the Apache Software Foundation, the group responsible for, among other things, the Apache httpd server, the Ant build system, SpamAssassin, and the deployment environments like Jakarta and Tomcat, a v40z server running Solaris.

The ASF are putting it to good use, and most interesting is their application and use of Solaris Containers to help compartmentalize projects. How do I know this? Because there is a good interview at Tim Bray's Blog with Mads Toftum.

This is

Origami or UMPC, it’s all tablet to me

Today is the day when we find out about both the Intel UMPC and the Microsoft Origami. Like Gizmodo, Engadget and others though, I'm a little disappointed that it's really nothing more than smaller form factor tablet PC.

Really, if this is what the fuss is all about, I'm seriously underwhelmed. Not one of the devices looks particularly friendly to me. Most of them have massive borders around the screen (for no appreciable reason) and they all like a bit too thick to make them particularly practical as anything but keyboardless display bricks.

Origami or UMPC, it’s all tablet to me

Today is the day when we find out about both the Intel UMPC and the Microsoft Origami. Like Gizmodo, Engadget and others though, I'm a little disappointed that it's really nothing more than smaller form factor tablet PC.

Really, if this is what the fuss is all about, I'm seriously underwhelmed. Not one of the devices looks particularly friendly to me. Most of them have massive borders around the screen (for no appreciable reason) and they all like a bit too thick to make them particularly practical as anything but keyboardless display bricks.

Python, Google and the new website

I've been using Python for almost as long as I've been using Perl. I'll admit to still preferring the latter language over the former for web tasks, but I use Python for a lot of other scripting and application work that never sees Apache or a website. The strong typing, mathematical and object oriented features lend themselves well to some of the work I do.

Recently though Python (and Perl) have been on a minor hiatus while waiting for the next big version to come out. Perl 6 is in development (there's a good overview of progress and features) but to some it seems a long time coming.

Python, Google and the new website

I've been using Python for almost as long as I've been using Perl. I'll admit to still preferring the latter language over the former for web tasks, but I use Python for a lot of other scripting and application work that never sees Apache or a website. The strong typing, mathematical and object oriented features lend themselves well to some of the work I do.

Recently though Python (and Perl) have been on a minor hiatus while waiting for the next big version to come out. Perl 6 is in development (there's a good overview of progress and features) but to some it seems a long time coming.