hyperacktive.blogspot.com / 2.23.2006

WTF!? Volume 32 - Chapter 1

An Arrow in the Ass

Issued on Valentine's Day, the United States Patent & Trademark Office granted a patent which [appearently] entails all rich-media technology implementations, inclduing the likes of: Flash, Flex, Java, AJAX, and associated technologies, when the said rich-media applications are constructed, edited and accessed on any device over the Internet.

I echo the title of this post again which is testament to my utter astonishment: WTF!?

You've Got To Be Joking...

The story was reported by Information Week on Feb. 22, 2006. Read it, then take a look at the actual submission sent to the USPTO.

I must be reading this wrong...

Legal Skirmish

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.I'm positive it will involve law firms because there is plenty of blood in the water.

Related Links


hyperacktive.blogspot.com / 2.18.2006

Krugle Code Search

Why reinvent the wheel?

The open source community is about sharing; its about building on the work of others, streamlining development and increasing productivity.

This sounds great and looks good on paper but doesn't always work so well in practice. Most often programmers can't find exactly what they need. The result is that they end up spending the time and effort to write relevant code when there may already be open source code available.

A Google for Programmers

A new search engine, called Krugle (Kroo-gul), endeavors to make it easier for programmers to locate and share source code.

Scheduled to launch in March 2006, Krugle will index programming code and documentation from several, popular open source repositories. The index will cover about 100 million pages of high-quality technical content.


The Krugle Workspace

Krugle will allow developers to annotate code and documentation, create personal bookmarks and save search results in a custom workspace. These saved workspaces are given unique URLs, which means that developers can ship a set of annotated code to a co-worker by [simply] e-mailing a link.

Business Model

Krugle will generate revenue from advertising on its public search engine. The company also plans to offer an enterprise edition to facilitate code-sharing within companies.

Please Note:

Krugle is not affiliated with Google.



hyperacktive.blogspot.com / 2.17.2006

Going Coastal

Nocturnal Emissions

Being a computer geek, I'm [often] up late banging away on the keyboard. I can usually be found tapping out lines of code, chatting with friends or just surfing the web. These activities are usually accompanied by a random WinAmp stream or XM Radio which provides the ambient soundtrack to a quiet and uneventful evening at home. I prefer the 70's and 80's channels, Jazz, Classical and even the "random playlist" stations from time to time. I detest FM radio. The incessant yammering of DJ's, the repetative music and constant commercials is enough to drive you slowly insane! Even XM radio is so loaded with their own bumpers it is beginning to get on my nerves. But that is a topic for another post. Regardless of the ads or the lack thereof, on occasion, the music can become repetative and tiresome. In these instances I've found myself going back to good old AM radio!

I know what you're thinking. No. There isn't much on AM radio—especially during the middle of the night. Most of the stations I can get around here feature enraged Christian evangelists screaming or Latino stations playing Mexican Polka. This, of course, is in addition to the various other schlock that pollutes the AM landscape. However, there is one show on at night that provides an odd mix of serious, strange and interesting material. The show that I'm referring to is: Coast to Coast AM.

Crop Circles, Aliens & Bigfoot...Oh My!

Coast to Coast AM is a nationally syndicated late-night radio show. It is a virtual lolapolooza of bizarre subject matter. For example, topics range from alien abductions, hauntings and global conspirary theories to in-depth chats with some of today's most respected scientists.

The show is hosted by a kind and affable fellow by the name of George Noory. Noory, a 37 year radio veteran, took over hosting duties after the show's original host, Art Bell, left the microphone to deal with personal issues. (Bell has since returned to host the show on weekends..."from somewhere in the High Desert"...Pahrump, Nevada, which is not too far from Area 51.)

Regardless of your opinions and/or skepticism regarding the odd subject matter, it is definitely entertaining. I suggest checking it out!

hyperacktive.blogspot.com / 2.09.2006

IE 7.0 Beta

Chop Chop...

Microsoft, well-known for releasing buggy and broken software, has been cranking on version 7.0 of Internet Explorer. In the meantime, browsers like Firefox have gained momentum and chopped into a large portion of the IE user base. At least the MSIE Dev Team has been paying attention to the criticism directed at its product over the past few years. But will the rush to release the new version of IE result in the same "level of quality" that we've come to expect from the behemoth from Redmond? I hope not but its not looking good at the moment.

"Yeah it's buggy but it's a BETA!"

Beta testers seem to be complaining more than usual about problems they're experiencing with the Internet Explorer 7.0 Beta 2 Preview. The beta includes a denial-of-service flaw, among other problems which are fueling the flames of the [inherently] skeptical.

There's Still Hope

New features like tabbed browsing, RSS integration and improved security provide some encouragement. Hopefully, they've fixed their shabby CSS support and some of the other issues that developers have been bitching about. I have a sneaking suspicion that this version will be more of the same BS from MS but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I'll wait until I can try the final release before I decide whether or not to chuck them [back] under the bus.

Related Links

hyperacktive.blogspot.com / 2.08.2006

IBM's New "Cell" Chip

Breakthrough Microprocessor Architecture

IBM, Sony and Toshiba release key documents describing fresh technical details of the revolutionary Cell Broadband Engine architecture.

The new microprocessor, touted as a "supercomputer on a chip," is well on the way to completion, IBM says. The Cell chip could end up inside the PlayStation 3 game console, and elements may be found in future IBM "blade" server chips.