Smalltalk with James Robertson

A software developer shares his thoughts on Smalltalk - it's a good read, focusing on Pharo.

Technorati Tags: pharo

This is very unusual for Dallas - an ice storm is one thing, but having three days of sub-freezing weather (keeping the ice on the roads) followed by a couple of inches of snow? That's weird. Here was what I faced leaving the hotel to get to DFW this morning - bear in mind that there's pretty solid ice under that mess:

I-635 was better near the airport, but here's what it looked like near the hotel:

The airport was no joy, either:

It's not all bad though - I'm catching an earlier flight only because of a delay, so I do manage to get home a bit early :)

Where did some of the Smalltalk Collection protocol come from? Well, according to this relayed recollection from Dan Ingalls, it came from Alice's Restaurant:

But I recognized it right away, here’s how “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” transitions from the littering trial to the draft:

"Came to talk about the draft. They got a building down New York City, it’s called Whitehall Street, where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected."

If that's true, it's hilarious :)

Technorati Tags: humor

Keeping in mind that there's still ice on the roads (4 days after the ice storm, mind you), this is what I woke up to today:

Looks like another day of working from the hotel - driving in to the office yesterday had some white knuckle moments, and getting to the airport later today will be enough excitement for me...

Today's Smalltalk 4 You takes a look at recovering lost code in Squeak using the change list tool. 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:

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:

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, lost code, squeak, change list

This is just really, really cool.

Technorati Tags: skin, burns

Who knew? The media's theory about making content available during brief "windows" drives up piracy rates outside of those windows. TechDirt explains:

One of the main reasons why people access unauthorized copies is because they can't get legitimate copies. The movie industry is so infatuated with "windows" that it doesn't seem to realize that restricting how people can access their movies only drives more and more people to unauthorized means.

That, and the fact that the media outfits are consumed with the idea of selling you N copies of the same content, where N equals the number of devices you own. Here's a hot tip: if I have the DVD, I shouldn't need to buy a digital copy to put on my iPad. So long as I bought the DVD, I should be able to make use of that content on a personal basis any way I want. Sure, if I start selling copies, or even giving them away, that's a problem. If I want to watch on another device? Not so much.

Technorati Tags: movies, video, audio

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we take a look at dropping and reading cookies 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:

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:

Technorati Tags: js4u, javascript, tutorial, cookies

If they add this to the iPhone, I'll be tempted to give up my grandfathered unlimited plan:

When bundled with AT&T's 2GB Data Pro Plan ($25/month), the mobile hotspot app costs $20 per month and adds 2GB of extra data service. However, the 4GB allotment applies to all devices connected through the hotspot, and an overage charge of $10 per gigabyte applies if the user goes over 4GB.

Technorati Tags: att, mobile, hotspots

Jeff Jarvis would like to see math that adds up for News Corp. on "The Daily" - reading his post makes it look iffy to me, in the same way that the production of "Spiderman" on Broadway is iffy. Add in Apple's in app subscription rules, and things really get interesting.

Technorati Tags: iPad, newspaper

The weather right now back home:

Meanwhile, here in Dallas:

The tv news tells me that many of the highways are parking lots filled with ice patches, and that rolling blackouts are hitting various areas. Joy :)

Today's Smalltalk 4 You takes a look at swapping the mouse buttons in Squeak, so that the right mouse button brings up the context menu. 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:

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:

Technorati Tags: st4u, smalltalk, squeak, mouse buttons, halos

Dmitri Zagidulin explains why he picked Smalltalk and Seaside:

Why? Good god, why? Why should a choice of language, or especially a choice of which web app framework to use, matter? Because, I believe that: Your choice of app framework deeply affects your development speed, and your overall level of courage.

Follow the link to see what he meant by that :)

Technorati Tags: seaside

This is what I woke up to this morning here in Dallas:

Meanwhile back home, I have a phone message telling me that my wife's grocery delivery order will be delayed... due to winter weather. It's everywhere I want to be :)

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we take a look at the built in Navigator object 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:

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:

Technorati Tags: js4u, javascript, browser, navigator

Torsten rounds up the useful - and easily remembered - Pharo links:

It's hard to remember long URL's. At least for me. But with these new shortcuts remembering important pharo-project sites is now easy:

• http://issues.pharo-project.org
• http://ci.pharo-project.org
• http://book.pharo-project.org
• http://wiki.pharo-project.org

Technorati Tags: pharo

Today's Smalltalk 4 You takes a look at the Process Monitor tool in Squeak. 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:

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:

Technorati Tags: squeak, smalltalk, process

I posted on the value of high sneak in Fallout: New Vegas a bit ago, but wow - I brought my level 23 character with high sneak and unarmed into Dead Money this weekend, and it was so much easier to make progress. I got into the Sierra Madre just before I had to leave for the weekend, but now I'll have to give Fallout 3 a shot with high sneak.

Technorati Tags: fnv, fallout new vegas

It's not that I expect wifi at 30,000 feet to be awesome - but why does Steam refuse to log me in so often, requiring me to delete ClientRegistry.blob, and force this on me:

Sigh...

Technorati Tags: steam

Welcome to episode 15 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith, and David Buck. This week Michael and I talk the upcoming (March 14-16, 2011) Smalltalk Solutions conference. We are both attending and giving talks, and we both like the look of the agenda.

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!

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, sts2011, sts, las vegas, smalltalk solutions

Welcome to episode 15 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith, and David Buck. This week Michael and I talk the upcoming (March 14-16, 2011) Smalltalk Solutions conference. We are both attending and giving talks, and we both like the look of the agenda.

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!

Technorati Tags: sts2011, sts, smalltalk, smalltalk solutions, las vegas

When I left Dallas on Friday, it was almost 70 degrees. This is what I came home to:

At least I didn't have to shovel it - it looks like it was a lot of work :)

I had to sit back and ponder the state of my expectations today. We got up to 10,000 feet, and I turned wifi on - and nothing happened. Since I forgot to put Steam into offline mode before I left, that means no Steam games on the flight.

Just consider that for a second - it's not enough that I have power, now I expect to have network access up here, too :)

Today's Smalltalk 4 You continues with the Squeak code browser, looking at the various menus. 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:

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:

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, squeak, browser