Today's Smalltalk Daily looks at how searching for code (senders/receivers, etc) works in WebVelocity 1.1. If you can't see the embedded video directly, you can go directly to YouTube for it. Click on the viewer below to watch it now:
You can follow the Smalltalk channel on YouTube for all the "Smalltalk Daily" videos. You can also check out the videos on Vimeo, where the quality is higher, or over on Facebook, if you are a member.
You can download the video directly here. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Microsoft has launched a new Windows 7 campaign to take on Mac OS X. A new tab on the Windows 7 sites compares Windows 7 to Mac OS X in a number of areas--listing out the reasons that Windows 7 is the superior choice.
Sure, Apple took a small percentage (all at the high end) of the PC/laptop market away. But, they've moved on: you'll notice that Apple wound down the "switcher" ads a long while ago now. Why? Because they are focused on the mobile space - phones and iPads. In that area, Microsoft is basically invisible - and that leaves the one/two spot to Google and Apple, with Google playing the license model that Microsoft played with PCs years ago.
The third spot will end up with either RIM (Blackberry) or HP (Palm) - with Microsoft way, way back on the sidelines. Watching the MS marketing machine is just confusing at this point.
The Smalltalk group at Cincom has always been focused exclusively on Smalltalk - we're now joined in that focus by Instantiations. eWeek thinks that Google's purchase of the Java business from Instantiations is good for Java and for Smalltalk - they quote Mike Taylor:
“We’re extremely excited about both halves of this new development for the company,” Taylor said. “We’re excited for our Java business to go to Google an excellent home it. And the Smalltalk group is excited about being in a new mode where we can focus on Smalltalk.”
The Smalltalk business just got a whole lot more interesting :)
Will Android get to tablets before HP does? If so, they have to move fast. Engadget reports:
We've been trying to find out when HP would launch a webOS tablet since the company first bought Palm, and we're now hearing from several trusted sources that it'll be calendar Q1 2011.
Apple has an even bigger headstart in this space than they did in phones; in the phone arena, they broke out, but other systems (Blackberry in particular) were already there. If HP can get the second mover position, I think it puts them in a great place.
The frustrating part is not using many images (which is pretty cool to have multiple computers running at once… but I digress), but setting up the images every time. So I decided I’d find a way to load common configurations automatically. But how would I communicate to the image that it should run certain code on startup? A quick google found writing scripts.
This is one of the nice things we did to Cincom Smalltalk over the last few releases; made this kind of scripting a whole lot easier. In fact, if you check this Smalltalk Daily archive page, you'll find some nice examples. For a more general overview, I covered all of the command line arguments - for both images and the VM - here.
It's worth applying "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" to rising internet memes. Take the Dry Erase quitter from yesterday, for instance:
“Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office (33 Photos)” is indeed a hoax, say its creators John and Leo Resig.
At least "The Chive" got plenty of pageviews out of it...
I've published a package called FindAgain to the Cincom public Store repository. It allows you to search for senders of a selector or references to a class or shared variable (which you could do before) and when you select one, find subsequent references to that selector or variable in the method (which you couldn't do before).
Today's Smalltalk Daily looks at code visibility (up and down the hierarchy) works in WebVelocity 1.1; it's a little different from 1.0. If you can't see the embedded video directly, you can go directly to YouTube for it. Click on the viewer below to watch it now:
You can follow the Smalltalk channel on YouTube for all the "Smalltalk Daily" videos. You can also check out the videos on Vimeo, where the quality is higher, or over on Facebook, if you are a member.
You can download the video directly here. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
I swear, spam moves in waves, just like a marketing campaign. I was getting virtually no email with attached malware until about 2 weeks ago, when suddenly it turned into a flood. I hope it dies off soon; I'm getting tired of seeing it....
I'm trying out the installer for WebVelocity 1.1 on Windows (XP and 7), and it's taking way longer than I'd like. The problem isn't Windows; it's Parallels. It updated recently, and I hadn't fired up any of my VMs since then.... so they all need to update Parallels tools.
It's like watching grass grow :)
Update: Well, so much for Windows not slowing me down. Windows 7 has decided that it's not genuine, even though I have a corporate install DVD, and a valid key. Oh, the joys of Windows Genuine Advantage....
Today's Smalltalk Daily looks at the console tool in WebVelocity 1.1. If you can't see the embedded video directly, you can go directly to YouTube for it. Click on the viewer below to watch it now:
You can follow the Smalltalk channel on YouTube for all the "Smalltalk Daily" videos. You can also check out the videos on Vimeo, where the quality is higher, or over on Facebook, if you are a member.
You can download the video directly here. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
Some people say that history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme. Well - look at smartphones, and you'll see echos of the PC/Apple battles of the late 80's and early 90's. Microsoft eventually crushed Apple in that arena, and ended up with something like a 95 percent share of the OS space.
Google is doing something similar with Android, and in much the same way: Apple is the sole vendor with the iPhone and IOS, while Google has licensed Android to anyone who wants it. The numbers are kind of stunning:
As worldwide smartphone sales grew by 50 percent during the second quarter, Android was the big winner, as it became the third largest operating system and sales passed 10 million units for the first time, according Gartner.
Things are way less clear in the phone space right now:
Symbian is still the largest smartphone operating system in the world. Sales totaled 25.4 million units, up from 20.9 million a year earlier, but its market share dropped from 51 percent to 41.2 percent.
But - if you think back, you'll recall that there were other PC players in the beginning: TI, and Amiga come to mind. Personally, I think Apple will end up doing better in this space than they did in the computer market. Their pricing isn't as far out of line as Macs were (when I first bought a PC, the differential with a Mac was $2k, and the Mac had less memory and less disk). As well, Apple has gotten a pretty good jump with the iPhone and iPad. Over time, I expect the smart phone space to look more like a lot of other markets - a strong number one (Google/Android), a powerful number two (Apple), and then everyone else.
Who would have guessed that Microsoft was going to be in that "everyone else" category a few years ago?
I have to admit that this "e-reader review" is funny, but I disagree with the point being made. I've been reading voraciously ever since I got my iPad - in some ways, it's almost too easy to read with it. I never have to be without a book unless I don't feel like reading, regardless of the time of day. I don't have to drive to a store, and anything I buy arrives in seconds. I also don't need to worry about bookmarks, because the device does all of that for me. All in all, it's a great thing for reading.
The daily video I posted earlier had corrupted audio - I'm not sure how it happened, since I worked ahead for tomorrow's video right afterwards, and it came out fine. Then again, a bunch of us are going back and forth in email over some hard to reproduce installation issues, so go figure. Software just sucks sometimes :)
Anyway, I've redone the video and reposted it to the various places you expect to find it :)
My daughter just stumbled on the new DragonAge DLC - I was too busy replaying the original game to notice. Looks like I get to spend more time underground; it's all about dwarves and golems.
I've been figuring "no", for the simple reason that simultaneous data and voice on CDMA is problematic, and that would make a CDMA iPhone a downgrade from a GSM one in one big way. However, if anything could sway Apple, it might be this:
Apple is now believed to have had a change of heart on CDMA. It once described the standard as "dead" since a clear majority of cellular networks use GSM and HSPA, but the company has reconsidered after recognizing length of time to transition to LTE for 4G and, more importantly, the threat of Android. Verizon is the world's largest Android carrier and has helped Google thrive with HTC and Motorola phones being "safe" from Apple.
Still... I'm not so sure. My guess is that it's not happening - but I guess we'll know how this rumor pans out in a few months.
According to the SF Examiner, a proposed bill by Supervisor John Avalos could bar new cell-tower installations based on aesthetics alone. In other words, if an ugly cell-phone tower blocks someone's view, the resident could protest and request a public hearing.
At some point, the weight of well intentioned regulations is going to make just about everything impossible :)
An iPod Touch equipped with a front-facing camera is no longer an iPod Touch. It’s a device for making calls. Video calls. And with an app like Skype which uses the long-awaited multitasking functionality on iPhone to make and receive voice calls it’s also a fully functional phone. Apple could even build Internet-based voice call functionality directly into iOS for this very purpose. Goodbye house phones.
Yes and no. Inertia is going to play a huge roll in the transition from POTS service to IP based service - whether the phone companies fight tooth and nail is merely secondary. I figure that anone growing up now will be unlikely to opt for a landline - but the default will be mobile service, not skype.
What we really need to see is for services like skype to bring the same level of disintermediation to the wireless carriers that the breakup of AT&T brought to POTS service way back when...
Today's Smalltalk Daily looks at how you save code to a source code repository in WebVelocity 1.1. If you can't see the embedded video directly, you can go directly to YouTube for it. Click on the viewer below to watch it now:
You can follow the Smalltalk channel on YouTube for all the "Smalltalk Daily" videos. You can also check out the videos on Vimeo, where the quality is higher, or over on Facebook, if you are a member.
You can download the video directly here. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
So much for .NET delivering a seamless environment for dynamic languages:
Much early speculation on this change in focus comes from Jim Schementi, previously the program manager in charge of Microsoft's implementation of the Ruby software known as IronRuby. Schmenti reports on his blog that the team dedicated to working on IronRuby has decreased to one employee.
Over in Java-land, with Oracle in the driver's seat I just don't see it happening. So it looks like the future of dynamic languages is in the hands of the backers of those languages - and they won't get a lift from the big guys.
The Wii may be tumbling at last, as Microsoft's Xbox 360 outpaced it by several hundreds thousand units in NPD Group's July 2010 retail sales. The games industry was steady, year-on-year, losing a few points in software and accessory sales but gaining notably in hardware sales.
To me, the two devices are in separate spaces: the XBox is for more devoted gamers - people who are willing to invest a lot of time in a game (like, say someone who'll play ME2 on Insanity). The Wii is a casual gaming device - big at parties and get togethers.
Based on how my daughter operates, I understand where things are going:
Last week there was an interesting article over at Wired about the apparent death of phone calls. Turns out that according to research by Nielsen, the average number of mobile phone calls people are making is dropping every year since it hit a high in 2007
Heck, even I fall into that "text over voice" thing. When I pick my daughter up from somewhere, I'm usually listening to music from Pandora or iTunes. I can text her without unplugging the phone, so I do. If we hadn't gotten unlimited texting on my daughter's phone, we would probably be bankrupt by now :)
PCWorld reports on the legions of iPad competitors that are about to show up. I don't expect Apple to drop prices on the iPad much (if at all) - they'll hapily stay at the high end, like they have with laptops. They may end up with less market share than some other players, but they'll keep most of the profits...
I'm not sure what's going on, but the websites and phone lines at Cincom HQ are down. There was a pretty nasty looking line of storms that passed through there earlier this evening; that might be related.
Update: There was a power outage; things are getting back to normal now
Update 2: Seems I had to kick Apache manually. Joy :)
This week's podcast goes a bit afield from what we normally talk sbout. Michael just relocated his blog to his own domain, and the approach he's taken to running it is unique enough that we thought it might be interesting. It's definitely in the "less is more" category of software solutions.
To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.
To listen immediately, use the player below:
If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Effortless for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!
If you have feedback, send it to smalltalkpodcasts@cincom.com - or visit us on Facebook or Ning - you can vote for the Podcast Alley, and subscribe on iTunes. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!
It looks like WiFi is the next great gathering place of the "afraid of technology" crowd, and they've got a foothold in Ontario:
A group of central Ontario parents is demanding their children's schools turn off wireless internet before they head back to school next month, fearing the technology is making the kids sick.
Right..... and none of the WiFi signals these kids run into elsewhere (malls, coffee shops, various homes in their neighborhoods) affect them at all. It's just the magic one at school. Heck, as I sit here at my desk, my Mac is picking up two WiFi signals from two of the neighboring houses, never mind the hotspots I'm running. If I lived in a city, I might be picking up dozens - when I travel, it's not uncommon to have to pick out the hotel WiFi from a huge crowd. Then there are the mobile phone towers everywhere, and the TV and radio signals... and so on.
This kind of thing needs to be laughed at so that it doesn't gain traction - because there will be no end of difficulty if it does.
Today's Smalltalk Daily looks at a simple one table application in WebVelocity 1.1. If you can't see the embedded video directly, you can go directly to YouTube for it. Click on the viewer below to watch it now:
You can follow the Smalltalk channel on YouTube for all the "Smalltalk Daily" videos. You can also check out the videos on Vimeo, where the quality is higher, or over on Facebook, if you are a member.
You can download the video directly here. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
The latest release of the Cincom Smalltalk suite are out: ObjectStudio 8.2.1, VisualWorks 7.7.1, and WebVelocity 1.1. There's a fair amount of new stuff, even though this is a point release - check the release notes for more. When the NC systems are ready for download, I'll let you know:
ObjectStudio 8.2.1:
Windows 7 Certified
Updated Modeling Tool
Updated Mapping Tool, bringing a tool level interface to the power of our Object/Relational framework
Built on top of VisualWorks 7.7.1, so that you have access to all the enterprise frameworks in both products
VisualWorks 7.7.1:
Improved 64 bit support for Solaris and Linux. Windows support is being built for the next release
Improved Mac OS X VM - faster and reliable
Overhauled memory management for the VM
New code comparison tool for Store
Continued incremental improvements to the GUI
Project Manager Tool to organize your development images
Many enhancements to our Oracle database support
Store now runs on top of GLORP
WSDL 2.0 support, including support for SOAP 1.2
Enhancements to our internationalization frameworks
Support for the SQLLite database
Preview support for Cair Graphics
WebVelocity 1.1:
Support for Amazon's cloud services: S3, EC2, RDS
An Amazon instance is available for you to experiment with
Built on Seaside 3.0
Completely new UI, built with JQuery
Support for coordinated development between remote developers via the browser
Just this month, both the Dell Streak and Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 debuted running Android 1.6 under custom skins. I'll be blunt: There's absolutely no excuse for a brand new Android device to be shipping with a year-old version of the operating system. Froyo aside, Android 2.0 has been out since last October, and Android 2.1 has been around since January. Despite the two manufacturers' vague promises of upgrades -- Dell has said its Streak will receive the current version of Android sometime this year, while Sony has promised to bring the Xperia X10 up to version 2.1 before New Year's -- it's simply embarrassing and unacceptable for new hardware to be launching with such outdated software.
Now, contrast that with the iPhone - with Apple in control of both the hardware and the software, you get integration. Not without issues, as iOS 4 showed - but with a whole lot less confusion. This kind of thing is going to give Google fits for as long as it keeps happening.
I found myself nodding my head through this PC World article - StarBucks is going to sweep the floor clean of most small coffee shops. How? They can make free wifi work for them, while WiFi - free or otherwise - is problematic for most small to mid size shops. StarBucks has the scale to set up the IT infrastructure and manage the network setup, and - they are big enough to offer partnerships with outfits like the WSJ (you can get free access to the WSJ at StarBucks, and they get a cut if you use that free access to subscribe).
Meanwhile, the smaller shops are having trouble with digital campers hogging tables, and they don't have the scale to even attempt an upsell. Maybe ubiquitous (and not ridiculously expensive) 3G will arrive to save the day for them, but even there, they suffer from the digital camper issue. I have to agree with Elgan - these smaller shops are going to get creamed like BlockBuster did.
renderActionsOn: html
super renderActionsOn: html.
html button
class: #comment;
callback: [self addComment];
with: 'Comment'.
addComment
| comment |
comment := Comment new.
(self call: (CommentEditUI on: comment)) ifTrue:
[comment bePersistent.
object comments add: comment.
object commitUnitOfWork]
PostListUI
renderDetailsOn: html
| sorted |
sorted := SortedCollection sortBlock: [:a :b | a created >= b created].
sorted addAll: self objects.
sorted do: [:each |
html anchor
callback: [self call: (PostViewUI on: each)];
with: each title.
html text: ' -- ', each created printString.
html paragraph: [html text: each content].
html horizontalRule]
Click on the viewer below to watch it now:
You can follow the Smalltalk channel on YouTube for all the "Smalltalk Daily" videos. You can also check out the videos on Vimeo, where the quality is higher, or over on Facebook, if you are a member.
You can download the video directly here. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here. If you like this kind of video, why not subscribe to "Smalltalk Daily"?
I've gotten a report of problems using the new download form that the Cincom marketing group put up here; it's only one report though, so I have no idea whether there's an actual problem or not. If you try to use the form and get redirected in ways that don't seem to make sense, let me know. Thanks!
I got a query about Smalltalk code to handle RSS/Atom feeds this afternoon, and - obviously, as the main author of BottomFeeder - I have some code around to do that. In the public store repository, you can load the bundle Syndication-Handling. I've done a screencast on using it: