Blogs

Robert Pike and Ken Thompson have been working with others to produce a new system language that aims to bring the fun back into programming by being fast and easy to use. The language is called Go and attempts to merge the best of scripting languages with systems languages like C++.

It is common for hosts to have a number of names on the internet, this can be done for virtual hosting, marketing and other reasons. For I while now I have worked with implementations of webservices, when these webservices are shipped we often provide the client with a vanity URL that is memorable for the service that they wish to access.

O'Reilly have published a couple of books, one for Architects--- called 97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know--- and one for Project Managers--- called 97 things every Project Manager should know. Now they are looking for contributions to a new book. The contributions so far are a pretty good read. There's still time to contribute a article too on their wiki.

Occasionally for breakfast I have scrambled egg on toast, and I am really quite fond of mixing anchovies into the egg. This is instead of salting the egg, in a similar way you might not salt a tomato sauce. Recently I've discovered that the Victorians--- God bless 'em--- often had a minature course called the savoury. Not only that, my scrambled egg concoction was one of them. It is called Scotch Woodcock. Perhaps they they might not have necessarily mixed the the egg and fish together, but it's damn near.

Childhood Brain Modification is a page of childish, but some are quite amazing tricks to pull. Most are sort of science related too, and some are just to amaze.

Again, in the UK, the debate over A level exams has come up, and it is easy to ask whether they are fit for purpose. Some critics of the exam think that the real agenda in education is one of social engineering, and that aspiration is better than despondency. Others say that the exams are hard and students are working harder than ever to obtain the grades they need to get to universities. Universities on the other hand are finding that many entrants need additional remedial tuition to bring them up to the standard required.

Paul Graham has written a interesting explaining why programmers dislike meetings. After reading it it is easy to wonder why the reasons are not explained more often. He explains that development, or the creation of most things, manages time differently. Creation often needs longer periods of concentration where managers generally schedule meetings in hour slots: filling the day with different meetings. Attending meetings costs the programmer more in lost productivity as it can break concentration.