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esug2010

JIT Research at ESUG 2010

December 10, 2010 22:15:12.807

Here's another video from ESUG 2010, which was held in Barcelona, Spain, the week of September 13, 2010. In this presentation, G. Richarte talks about his VM work, concentrating on JIT research. You can watch using the embedded player below, or follow this link to Vimeo.

A JIT Built in Smalltalk from James Robertson on Vimeo.

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posted by James Robertson

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A GLASS Shell

December 10, 2010 19:50:09.000

A shell for GLASS - and a video to see how it works. Cool stuff.

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posted by James Robertson

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Squeak Connectors are Back

December 10, 2010 16:44:29.654

Spotted in Planet Squeak

Chris Muller has recently updated Connectors to work with Squeak 4.2 images. Connectors gives you the ability to turn Morphic into a drawing environment for making connected diagrams. This tool was developed by Ned Konz many years ago and hasn’t been able to load in an up-to-date image for some time.

The open source Smalltalks have a ton of activity around them - which makes me wonder why some of the commercial vendors keep making it harder to find their products. Free is very compelling, espcially with things like Seaside and Eliot's JIT.

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posted by James Robertson

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The End of the Ottomans

December 10, 2010 15:51:26.000

I just finished A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire - which is, as the title asserts, a survey of the last century and a half of Ottoman rule. The Ottomans fascinate me because of how long the empire survived - it was founded at the end of the 13th century, and survived into the 20th - which is a huge span of time. In that period they wiped out the last vestiges of the Romans (Byzantium), and then collapsed themselves in the wreckage of WWI.

The book covers the long period of decline, and - more importantly - how the Ottomans tried to deal with that decline. It's a sympathetic read - if you're looking for information on the Armenian Genocide, for instance, this isn't the place to look. If, on the other hand, you're interested in how they adapted to the steady rise of Europe and the industrial age, this is exactly what you want. I learned a lot about the "Young Turks", and how they were much more continuous with previous Ottoman politics than I had thought.

Why does any of that matter? Well, pull out a map of the near east, and look at all of the troubles the world has there. Never mind current politics - just realize that the map of that region was drawn by the victors of WWI, and then modified by the various successor regimes across the region as they consolidated their rule. Some of that consolidation is incomplete to this day (at least in the minds of the regimes dwelling there).

That's why the end of the Ottomans interests me so much. The empire spanned the time from the late medieval era into the 20th century, and the fallout from its collapse is still with us - just one more reminder that the past is still with us, whether we understand that or not.

posted by James Robertson

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BottomFeeder

BottomFeeder Releasing

December 10, 2010 11:45:54.000

As you've probably noticed, I haven't managed a release of BottomFeeder for awhile. At first, it was because I was going to ship out a 7.7 based release, then 7.7.1 came out, and then I got laid off from Cincom - so through a long chain of events, it just never happened. So...

Today I was showing my build script for Bf to some folks here at my new job - they have been using RTP manually, and I thought that a script might make things easier. In doing that, I polished my script up a bit (catching some parcel dialogs I had been ignoring), and then I was just poking around the new runtime. One of the other things that had held up a release was what I thought was a new bug, but it turns out it was simply a mistake I made when porting up to 7.7.1.

If you look in class FontPolicy, there's a method: bestFont:allowance: - it will take a font request and hand you back the best match. At the very bottom of that method is this:


	best == nil ifFalse: [^best].
	^noFontBlock 
		ifNil: [self class noMatchingFontSignal raiseRequestWith: requestedFont]
		ifNotNil: [noFontBlock value: requestedFont]

At some point, I removed my override fix for that - doh. So, when I get back to my home office I'll get that dealt with, do a new build, and then look at the whole rehosting problem I mentioned yesterday. The good news is, I think I'm ready to roll it out :)

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4 U 15: Breaking a Loop

December 10, 2010 1:56:52.414

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we look at how to break out of loops prematurely in Javascript. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

Prompters

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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[js4u15-iPhone.m4v ( Size: 3087610 )]

posted by James Robertson

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Smalltalk 4 U 23: Cascaded Messages

December 9, 2010 6:48:45.365

Today's Smalltalk 4 You continues with "ProfStef", which is part of the "one click" Pharo download. Today we we take a look at cascaded message sends - i.e., how the semi-colon works in Smalltalk syntax. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Cascaded Messages

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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BottomFeeder

BottomFeeder News

December 8, 2010 21:14:45.180

BottomFeeder

Since I'm no longer at Cincom, the location I've been using to host BottomFeeder is no longer accessible to me. So... I'll be relocating the files to this server. That will have to wait until the weekend (or possibly the Christmas break) - the bandwidth I have in the hotel here in Dallas is just barely usable, and I have nice, reliably fast connectivity at home.

The bad news is, I can't do anything about the update requests for existing downloads (unless I can get someone at Cincom to redirect those Http requests - I'll look into that).

In any event, look for an announcement on that within the next couple of weeks.

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posted by James Robertson

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Silverlight Smalltalk

December 8, 2010 9:34:56.000

Vista Smalltalk has been dusted off, polished, and updated - and it's back in development as Silverlight Smalltalk:

Think of each Silverlight-enabled browser as a 2010 version of the Xerox Alto and imagine the Internet (with Comet-style instant messaging) as a scaled-up version of PARC’s Ethernet network.

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4 U 14: Looping in Javascript

December 8, 2010 7:39:40.466

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we look at looping in Javascript. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

Looping

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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That Podcast 13: All Good Things Come to an End (AAC)

December 8, 2010 0:18:41.167

That Podcast: FNV Diary

Welcome to episode 12 of "That Podcast: An FNV Diary" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith and I document our trials and tribulations in Fallout: New Vegas.

On today's podcast, Michael, James and Maki talk about the final battle when you side with Caesar, and take a look ahead at what they hope to see in terms of mods and dlc. Michael and Maki also express their displeasure at the XBox exclusive first DLC coming later this month, while James lords it over them :) This may be the last of these podcasts for a bit - we think we've covered the game. We will be back when DLC and cool mods appear though, so stay subscribed.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. You can get to the podcast directly in iTunes via this link. You can also go to the iTunes store and leave a comment, or join the Facebook Group and discuss the podcast.

If you want to download the podcast directly, I've provided it in three formats:

Got feedback? Send it to James. We'd really appreciate it if you head on over to iTunes and leave a comment - enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in the wastelands!

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[fnvdiary13.m4a ( Size: 17,543,904 )]

posted by James Robertson

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fnvdiary

That Podcast 13: All Good Things Come to an End

December 8, 2010 0:18:36.757

That Podcast: FNV Diary

Welcome to episode 12 of "That Podcast: An FNV Diary" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith and I document our trials and tribulations in Fallout: New Vegas.

On today's podcast, Michael, James and Maki talk about the final battle when you side with Caesar, and take a look ahead at what they hope to see in terms of mods and dlc. Michael and Maki also express their displeasure at the XBox exclusive first DLC coming later this month, while James lords it over them :) This may be the last of these podcasts for a bit - we think we've covered the game. We will be back when DLC and cool mods appear though, so stay subscribed.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. You can get to the podcast directly in iTunes via this link. You can also go to the iTunes store and leave a comment, or join the Facebook Group and discuss the podcast.

If you want to download the podcast directly, I've provided it in three formats:

Got feedback? Send it to James. We'd really appreciate it if you head on over to iTunes and leave a comment - enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in the wastelands!

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[fnvdiary13.mp3 ( Size: 12,788,333 )]

posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Smalltalks 2010 Video

December 7, 2010 7:31:53.000

Spotted in Ten is a good number

You can check Smalltalks 2010's videos at FAST's website. Enjoy!

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posted by James Robertson

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Back To Training

December 7, 2010 7:29:15.902

My first job will be to deliver some (very compressed) training. On the project I'm on, there's a deployment rolling out to a new group, and some of the developers are in town to learn about the app. As part of that process, they need to learn Smalltalk. So.... I'm doing that part :)

The schedule is tough - we have 2 1/2 days to get them through a basic intro - and having just spent a week doing this, I have my doubts about how much will stick in this short a span of time.

There's nothing for it though - I'll see what we can do in the amount of time we have, and then refer them off to the extensive library of screencasts over at the Cincom Smalltalk website.

Oh, one small thought on those - if you've found those screencasts useful, be aware that there aren't any new ones coming in that particular series (I'm covering Pharo in my new series of casts). As Cincom releases new versions of their products, the older screencasts (especially the ones dealing with the tools) are going to start getting dated. I wsn't completely caught up to VW 771 and OS 821 when I left, so that's already happening for some of them :)

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st4u

Smalltalk 4 U 22: Arithmetic and Message Precedence

December 7, 2010 1:23:36.451

Today's Smalltalk 4 You continues with "ProfStef", which is part of the "one click" Pharo download. Today we we take a look at how the message sending precedence rules in Smalltalk impact arithmetic. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Precedence

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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general

Getting Started

December 6, 2010 19:23:56.918

I'm writing this early on during my first day, but I have no network access - as with most larger companies, there are network security issues, so I can't just toss my Mac on the network - maybe I'll actually look into tethering as I go along :)

Interestingly enough, my start coincided with a new installation of the application I'll be working on, so I'm getting an architectural overview. Pretty useful, all things considered - it's nice to get a broad based idea about a project before you have to dive right into it. Tomorrow I go back in front of the group though - I'm supposed to deliver a Smalltalk overview. They have a pretty agressive schedule for that - I'm expected to get beyond the point I delivered last week over a five day class. I started trying to manage expectations on that yesterday :)

My hotel is ok - free breakfast, decent WiFi (better than what I got at the place I usually stayed when I went to Cincinnati, and I'm paying almost $60 less per night). There's a small exercise room as well, a fridge and microwave. For meals I'm going to have to either eat out downscale or buy microwave stuff - we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I'll be away from my usual network haunts during the work day.

posted by James Robertson

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Pharo and ODBC

December 6, 2010 13:31:43.000

Torsten contributes to Pharocasts with a "how to" on Pharo and ODBC:

You often have to access existing databases when you develop an application. One way is to use ODBC. I created a small small screencast to show you how

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4 U 13: Returning From a Javascript Function

December 6, 2010 1:20:54.814

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we look at the built in prompters (dialogs) in Javascript. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

Prompters

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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travel

Travel Life

December 5, 2010 20:02:14.000

Oh my gosh, this is so true :)

posted by James Robertson

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Ancient Discoveries

December 5, 2010 13:15:50.867

The backpack I've been carrying my laptop in ripped, so I delved into my vast collection of laptop bags - some from machines issued to me years ago, some from trade shows, one larger rolling bag I bought myself. I finally settled on an old Dell bag - it's in good shape - seems I barely used it - has lots of pockets for wires, and a pouch my iPad will fit into nicely.

There was a surprise waiting for me though - when I opened it up, there was an old Toshiba Satellite Pro sitting in there. If I had the time, I'd boot it up - gosh knows what rev of Windows is on the thing, what the machine specs are, or how many megabytes (it's that old) of disk space it has.

Memories :)

posted by James Robertson

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podcastAAC

Independent Misinterpretations 8: Smalltalk Training From the Cloud

December 5, 2010 0:58:35.102

Welcome to episode 8 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith>, and David Buck. This week Dave and I spoke about the VW Intro course I taught last week. I used Dave's material, and delivered the course over the web using Adobe Connect Pro. That worked fairly well, and we discussed that on the podcast.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

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.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

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posted by James Robertson

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podcast

Independent Misinterpretations 8: Smalltalk Training From the Cloud

December 5, 2010 0:57:46.152

Welcome to episode 8 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith>, and David Buck. This week Dave and I spoke about the VW Intro course I taught last week. I used Dave's material, and delivered the course over the web using Adobe Connect Pro. That worked fairly well, and we discussed that on the podcast.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

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.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

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[im8.mp3 ( Size: 16662345 )]

posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Heading to Dallas

December 5, 2010 0:41:08.332

As some of you know, I accepted a new job recently - I'm heading to Dallas tomorrow, and I start on Monday. I'll be contracting at Northrop Grumman, on their MES project. It sounds like it'll be a fun project to be part of, although it's a bit of a commute :)

While I'm there, I'll see if there's anything I can do to perk up the local Smalltalk community. See you in Dallas!

posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Debugger Driven Development

December 4, 2010 12:18:57.665

Spotted in seandenigris.com:

An amazing feature of Smalltalk is that you can create methods right from the debugger.  This fits nicely with “write the code you wish you had.”

VisualWorks has been able to do that for awhile - it's nice to see the capability out in the OSS world. As I said the other day, the open source Smalltalks are catching up - the various commercial vendors are going to need to start paying serious attention soon.

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

November Smalltalk Archives

December 4, 2010 10:22:43.970

posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

VA Smalltalk and Seaside

December 4, 2010 10:17:38.200

Need to mix together VA Smalltalk, Seaside, and then deploy it all as a Windows Service?Louis La Brunda has the answers for you. Follow the link and download the instructions from there.

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posted by James Robertson

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Plugging Seaside and Apache Together

December 3, 2010 17:34:21.968

Phillippe Marschall has just announced a new Seaside/Apache adaptor that makes Smalltalk plug in better:

The AJP adatpor is a server adaptor dedicated to connecting Seaside to Apache. You can't use it without Apache because it doesn't understand HTTP. Instead it uses the binary AJPv13 protocol which is more efficient and simpler to parse. The result is a lightweight adaptor without any external dependencies but Grease/Seaside. In the multipart parser special attention has been paid to avoid unnecessary copy operations. Streaming however is currently not supported.

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

UI Tools for Squeak and Pharo

December 3, 2010 13:51:34.281

Squeak and Pharo now have modern UI building tools:

Beside the Polymorph based UI Buidler for Pharo there is now also a Morphic based one for Squeak.

The open source tools are catching up to the expensive commercial ones quickly.

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posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4 U 21: Message Sending Precedence

December 3, 2010 7:42:38.970

Today's Smalltalk 4 You continues with "ProfStef", which is part of the "one click" Pharo download. Today we we look at message sending precedence within a Smalltalk statement. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Message Precedence

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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[st4u21-iPhone.m4v ( Size: 4375862 )]

posted by James Robertson

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