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itNews

Asking the Wrong Questions

October 23, 2012 16:12:04.000

Slashdot Insults Users with the wrong question:

'Nonsense. The long and short of it is: If my 3 years old son can learn Windows 8 through very moderate usage, anybody with half a brain can do so too.' Bill Gates has already successfully made the transition to what he calls an 'unbelievably great' Microsoft Surface. On Friday, we'll start finding out if current Windows XP and Windows 7 users are also smarter than the average 3-year-old!'

The issue isn't whether users can figure out Windows 8; it's whether they can do what they do now with XP or Windows 7, and whether doing that requires more effort, or less. If the answer is that it takes more effort (especially on non-touch systems), then yes - it's too hard to use.

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posted by James Robertson

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Spoon 3 Beta 3

October 23, 2012 16:09:07.323

Craig Latta has just pushed out another beta. In related news, I spoke to Craig and Chris Cunnington about what's been going on with Squeak for next week's podcast - check that out on Sunday.s

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posted by James Robertson

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JS 4U 215: Polylines on a Map

October 23, 2012 9:45:38.774

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at drawing polylines on a Google map. 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:

polylines

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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ST 4U 299: Help in Pharo

October 22, 2012 13:11:37.026

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the help system that is included in Pharo. 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:

Pharo help

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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IM 99: Object Centric Profiling (AAC)

October 21, 2012 19:17:05.942

Welcome to episode 99 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week we have another recording from the STIC 2012 conference - Alexander Bergel talking about object centric profiling. If you would rather watch the video, head on over to the STIC website.

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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IM 99: Object Centric Profiling

October 21, 2012 19:13:23.921

Welcome to episode 99 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week we have another recording from the STIC 2012 conference - Alexander Bergel talking about object centric profiling. If you would rather watch the video, head on over to the STIC website.

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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ST 4U 298: Backing up Your Envy Repository

October 19, 2012 13:30:29.643

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at creating a clone of your existing ENVY repository. Since all of your code resides in that repositry, backing up a copy periodically is a really good idea. 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:

Clone the Repository.

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:


The good thing about ENVY Development in VA Smalltalk is that ENVY tracks everything - you really can't lose code that you develop, even when you don't formally release it. On the other hand, you do have a single point of failure - the repository itself. Fortunately, it's easy to back up, both within VA and without. Outside, just backup the file (typically manager.dat in the "manager" directory under your VA installation). Within VA, go to the Tools menu:

clone

What that option does is create a new library and reconnect your image to the new library - after which you can archive the original. The cloning can take awhile (especially if the file is large). When it's finished, you'll get promoted for the new repository size. Always select 16 GB:

New repository size

Finally, VA connects to the new library and you're ready to get back to work:

Reconnected

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

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posted by James Robertson

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education

Good Luck With That

October 19, 2012 13:02:05.121

Looks like the Education System doesn't like change:

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the state has decided to crack down on free education, notifying California-based startup Coursera that it is not allowed to offer its online courses to the state’s residents. Coursera, founded by Stanford computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, partners with top-tier universities around the world to offer certain classes online for free to anyone who wants to take them. You know, unless they happen to be from Minnesota.

Since this is all web based, how do they intend to ban residents from taking these courses? Are instructional DVD's also a bad thing?

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posted by James Robertson

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JS 4U 214: User Defined Polygons on Maps

October 18, 2012 7:26:49.583

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at how you can let users define polygons on a map with map marker placement. 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:

polygons on map

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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Pharo at fOSSa

October 17, 2012 15:33:21.000

At the fOSSa Open Source Conference this year (Dec 4, 5, 6 in Lille), there will be a Pharo workshop.

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posted by James Robertson

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JSON in Pharo

October 17, 2012 13:31:25.000

Ask a question, get the answer - that's what happened in this thread, where there's a nice, concise example shown using PetitParser for JSON.

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posted by James Robertson

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ST 4U 297: Inspecting any Object in VA Smalltalk

October 17, 2012 7:27:46.946

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at a nifty little feature of VA Smalltalk - the menu options that make it easy to inspect arbitrary objects in VA. 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:

Inspecting in VA.

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:


During Smalltalk development, it's quite common to want to inspect arbitrary objects - and sometimes, it's not that easy to "dig into" the right level of the application for that. Fortunately, tools to deal with that are right in the VA environment. Take a look at the "Options" menu in the launcher:

Inspect

Notice the "Delay" option - if you want to inspect a widget (one of the options), you can set a countdown to give yourself time to get the cursor to it. Try that, and move the mouse to the toolbar for the launcher:

Inspect

This is a really useful thing - where I work, using VisualWorks, we've built similar tools into the environment. In VA, they are already there.

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

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games

Great Times in Dishonored

October 17, 2012 0:10:01.928

What do you do after you take down a bunch of guards? Stash them in the guard post, of course:

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posted by James Robertson

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JS 4U 213: Adding a Polygon to a Map

October 16, 2012 7:29:51.836

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at a simpler map overlay - a defined polygon. 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:

polygon overlay

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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