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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
One of the elements of new equipment (and indeed just about any boxed product) that I hate is the amount of packing and padding that goes into the product. Most of that, especially with computer and IT items is Polystyrene Foam, or Styrofoam.
It's a very good packing component, but has problems when you want to get rid of it, because it isn't biodegradable or easily recyclable (most current recycling methods rely on using comparatively toxic chemicals, which complicates the process, and reduces the effectiveness of recycling in the first place). Even when it is possible, most companies and goverment agencies concentrate on the relatively easy recycling of plastic, glass and paper/cardboard.
One of the elements of new equipment (and indeed just about any boxed product) that I hate is the amount of packing and padding that goes into the product. Most of that, especially with computer and IT items is Polystyrene Foam, or Styrofoam.
It's a very good packing component, but has problems when you want to get rid of it, because it isn't biodegradable or easily recyclable (most current recycling methods rely on using comparatively toxic chemicals, which complicates the process, and reduces the effectiveness of recycling in the first place). Even when it is possible, most companies and goverment agencies concentrate on the relatively easy recycling of plastic, glass and paper/cardboard.