that destination from [our] conversation

Swarms

2011-04-12T17:43:00.001-07:00

Swarms, a set by Simon Geilfus on Flickr.

geek out to this

Super Column info

2010-04-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

For the last month or two the Digg engineering team has spent quite a bit of time looking into, playing with and finally deploying Cassandra in production. It’s been a super fun project to take on – but even before the fun began we had to spend quite a bit of time figuring out Cassandra’s data model… the phrase “WTF is a ’super column’” was uttered quite a few times.

If you’re coming from an RDBMS background (which is almost everyone) you’ll probably trip over some of the naming conventions while learning about Cassandra’s data model. It took me and my team members at Digg a couple days of talking things out before we “got it”. In recent weeks a bikeshed went down in the dev mailing list proposing a completely new naming scheme to alleviate some of the confusion. Throughout this discussion I kept thinking: “maybe if there were some decent examples out there people wouldn’t get so confused by the naming.” So, this is my stab at explaining Cassandra’s data model; It’s intended to help you get your feet wet & doesn’t go into every single detail but, hopefully, it helps clarify a few things.

continue reading the PDF

Frequently Forgotten Fundamental Facts about Software Engineering

2009-12-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

Excerpts and Selections
Originally Written by:
Robert L. Glass

This month's column is simply a collection of what I consider to be facts—truths, if you will—about software engineering. I'm presenting this software engineering laundry list because far too many people who call themselves software engineers, or computer scientists, or programmers, or whatever nom du jour you prefer, either aren't familiar with these facts or have forgotten them.

I don't expect you to agree with all these facts; some of them might even upset you. Great! Then we can begin a dialog about which facts really are facts and which are merely figments of my vivid loyal opposition imagination! Enough preliminaries. Here are the most frequently forgotten fundamental facts about software engineering. Some are of vital importance—we forget them at considerable risk.

Complexity

C1. For every 10-percent increase in problem complexity, there is a 100-percent increase in the software solution�s complexity. That's not a condition to try to change (even though reducing complexity is always desirable); that's just the way it is. (For one explanation of why this is so, see RD2 in the section "Requirements and design.")

People

P1. The most important factor in attacking complexity is not the tools and techniques that programmers use but rather the quality of the programmers themselves.

P2. Good programmers are up to 30 times better than mediocre programmers, according to "individual differences" research. Given that their pay is never commensurate, they are the biggest bargains in the software field.

Tools and techniques

T1. Most software tool and technique improvements account for about a 5- to 30-percent increase in productivity and quality. But at one time or another, most of these improvements have been claimed by someone to have "order of magnitude" (factor of 10) benefits. Hype is the plague on the house of software.

T2. Learning a new tool or technique actually lowers programmer productivity and product quality initially. You achieve the eventual benefit only after overcoming this learning curve.

T3. Therefore, adopting new tools and techniques is worthwhile, but only if you (a) realistically view their value and (b) use patience in measuring their benefits.

Quality

Q1. Quality is a collection of attributes. Various people define those attributes differently, but a commonly accepted collection is portability, reliability, efficiency, human engineering, testability, understandability, and modifiability.

Q2. Quality is not the same as satisfying users, meeting requirements, or meeting cost and schedule targets. However, all these things have an interesting relationship: User satisfaction = quality product + meets requirements + delivered when needed + appropriate cost.

Q3. Because quality is not simply reliability, it is about much more than software defects.

Q4. Trying to improve one quality attribute often degrades another. For example, attempts to improve efficiency often degrade modifiability.

Reliability

RE1. Error detection and removal accounts for roughly 40 percent of development costs. Thus it is the most important phase of the development life cycle.

RE2. There are certain kinds of software errors that most programmers make frequently. These include off-by-one indexing, definition or reference inconsistency, and omitting deep design details. That is why, for example, N-version programming, which attempts to create multiple diverse solutions through multiple programmers, can never completely achieve its promise.

RE3. Software that a typical programmer believes to be thoroughly tested has often had only about 55 to 60 percent of its logic paths executed. Automated support, such as coverage analyzers, can raise that to roughly 85 to 90 percent. Testing at the 100-percent level is nearly impossible.

RE4. Even if 100-percent test coverage (see RE3) were possible, that criteria would be insufficient for testing. Roughly 35 percent of software defects emerge from missing logic paths, and another 40 percent are from the execution of a unique combination of logic paths. They will not be caught by 100-percent coverage (100-percent coverage can, therefore, potentially detect only about 25 percent of the errors!).

RE5. There is no single best approach to software error removal. A combination of several approaches, such as inspections and several kinds of testing and fault tolerance, is necessary.

RE6. (corollary to RE5) Software will always contain residual defects, after even the most rigorous error removal. The goal is to minimize the number and especially the severity of those defects.

Efficiency

EF1. Efficiency is more often a matter of good design than of good coding. So, if a project requires efficiency, efficiency must be considered early in the life cycle.

EF2. High-order language (HOL) code, with appropriate compiler optimizations, can be made about 90 percent as efficient as the comparable assembler code. But that statement is highly task dependent; some tasks are much harder than others to code efficiently in HOL.

EF3. There are trade-offs between size and time optimization. Often, improving one degrades the other.

Maintenance

M1. Quality and maintenance have an interesting relationship (see Q3 and Q4).

M2. Maintenance typically consumes about 40 to 80 percent (60 percent average) of software costs. Therefore, it is probably the most important life cycle phase.

M3. Enhancement is responsible for roughly 60 percent of software maintenance costs. Error correction is roughly 17 percent. So, software maintenance is largely about adding new capability to old software, not about fixing it.

M4. The previous two facts constitute what you could call the "60/60" rule of software.

M5. Most software development tasks and software maintenance tasks are the same—except for the additional maintenance task of "understanding the existing product." This task is the dominant maintenance activity, consuming roughly 30 percent of maintenance time. So, you could claim that maintenance is more difficult than development.

Requirements and design

RD1. One of the two most common causes of runaway projects is unstable requirements. (For the other, see ES1.)

RD2. When a project moves from requirements to design, the solution process's complexity causes an explosion of "derived requirements." The list of requirements for the design phase is often 50 times longer than the list of original requirements.

RD3. This requirements explosion is partly why it is difficult to implement requirements traceability (tracing the original requirements through the artifacts of the succeeding lifecycle phases), even though everyone agrees this is desirable.

RD4. A software problem seldom has one best design solution. (Bill Curtis has said that in a room full of expert software designers, if any two agree, that's a majority!) That's why, for example, trying to provide reusable design solutions has so long resisted significant progress.

Reviews and inspections

RI1. Rigorous reviews commonly remove up to 90 percent of errors from a software product before the first test case is run. (Many research findings support this; of course, it's extremely difficult to know when you've found 100 percent of a software product's errors!)

RI2. Rigorous reviews are more effective, and more cost effective, than any other error-removal strategy, including testing. But they cannot and should not replace testing (see RE5).

RI3. Rigorous reviews are extremely challenging to do well, and most organizations do not do them, at least not for 100 percent of their software artifacts.

RI4. Post-delivery reviews are generally acknowledged to be important, both for determining customer satisfaction and for process improvement, but most organizations do not perform them. By the time such reviews should be held (three to 12 months after delivery), potential review participants have generally scattered to other projects.

Reuse

REU1. Reuse-in-the-small (libraries of subroutines) began nearly 50 years ago and is a well-solved problem.

REU2. Reuse-in-the-large (components) remains largely unsolved, even though everyone agrees it is important and desirable.

REU3. Disagreement exists about why reuse-in-the-large is unsolved, although most agree that it is a management, not technology, problem (will, not skill). (Others say that finding sufficiently common subproblems across programming tasks is difficult. This would make reuse-in-the-large a problem inherent in the nature of software and the problems it solves, and thus relatively unsolvable).

REU4. Reuse-in-the-large works best in families of related systems, and thus is domain dependent. This narrows its potential applicability.

REU5. Pattern reuse is one solution to the problems inherent in code reuse.

Estimation

ES1. One of the two most common causes of runaway projects is optimistic estimation. (For the other, see RD1.)

ES2. Most software estimates are performed at the beginning of the life cycle. This makes sense until we realize that this occurs before the requirements phase and thus before the problem is understood. Estimation therefore usually occurs at the wrong time.

ES3. Most software estimates are made, according to several researchers, by either upper management or marketing, not by the people who will build the software or by their managers. Therefore, the wrong people are doing estimation.

ES4. Software estimates are rarely adjusted as the project proceeds. So, those estimates done at the wrong time by the wrong people are usually not corrected.

ES5. Because estimates are so faulty, there is little reason to be concerned when software projects do not meet cost or schedule targets. But everyone is concerned anyway!

ES6. In one study of a project that failed to meet its estimates, the management saw the project as a failure, but the technical participants saw it as the most successful project they had ever worked on! This illustrates the disconnect regarding the role of estimation, and project success, between management and technologists. Given the previous facts, that is hardly surprising.

ES7. Pressure to achieve estimation targets is common and tends to cause programmers to skip good software process. This constitutes an absurd result done for an absurd reason.

Research

RES1. Many software researchers advocate rather than investigate. As a result, (a) some advocated concepts are worth less than their advocates believe and (b) there is a shortage of evaluative research to help determine the actual value of new tools and techniques.

There, that's my two cents' worth of software engineering fundamental facts. What are yours? I expect, if we can get a dialog going here, that there are a lot of similar facts that I have forgotten—or am not aware of. I'm especially eager to hear what additional facts you can contribute.

And, of course, I realize that some will disagree (perhaps even violently!) with some of the facts I've presented. I want to hear about that as well.

Robert L. Glass is the editor of Elsevier's Journal of Systems and Software and the publisher and editor of The Software Practitioner newsletter. Contact him at rglass@indiana.edu; he'd be pleased to hear from you.

Reprinted from IEEE Software, vol. 18, no. 3, 2001, pp. 112, 110–111.

a traditional Maori war dance known as the "Haka"

2009-04-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

poet_b | | SPIKE.com

re:Client Meeting

2009-03-18T09:41:00.001-07:00

To-do Lists and Notes

Stikkit - Web application used to organize your daily details. Stikkit’s integration with Mobivity allows you to create and retrieve your Stikkets from your Stikkit account via SMS.
Remember The Milk - Task management web application where you can interact with your RTM task lists via 2-way SMS using twitter.
Jott - Call and leave yourself or anyone on your contact list a note. The note is transcribed to text and sent to your Jott account/email addresses.
CellTell - CellTell + Backpack = Voice notes for your 37signals Backpack to-do list account.
ToodleDo Toodledo reviews - To-do list management site, where you can access your Toodledo lists from your mobile WAP browser.
SyncNotes - Access your notes via mobile WAP browser.
motask - Simple mobile WAP browser site to manage to-do lists.
BrainCast - Record notes to yourself, log into the site and listen to them later. Also set reminders for Braincast to call you and play back a recorded message.
AirSet - Personal information manager with contacts, lists, and calendars for yourself and shared groups. Accessible via mobile WAP browser.
mindjot - Remember a product or service while on the go by sending in the mcode, you’ll be sent more information later.
reQall - Call up and record a note that gets converted to text. The note is available on your account online and emailed to you. You can also setup SMS reminders from calendars.
pingme - To-do lists with an integrated reminder system.

Calendars and Reminders

Google Calendar - Access your Google Calendar through a WAP enabled mobile browser.
GooSync - Synchronize your GoogleGoogle reviews calendar with the calendar in your mobile device.
AOL Mobile Reminders - Setup important date reminders and get notifications via SMS.
oh don’t forget - Single reminders to send to yourself via SMS. No account needed, just setup a single reminder and you’re good to go.
Jotlet - Shareable online calendars with SMS reminders.
Web Reminder - Setup multiple reminders to send to yourself via SMS.
rminder - Reminders created with text are translated to voice reminders that call you. Also has integration with major calendar applications.
Planzo - Shareable online calendars and to-do lists with SMS reminders.
bitBomb - Online Calendar with buddy lists and group SMS reminders.
Snoozester - Setup your own wakeup calls and SMS reminders.
myMemorizer - Manage your own events and have SMS reminders sent to you.
Joopz - Send group SMS, set reminders, schedule event SMS messages.
TextMemos - Another simple reminder service, works via SMS.

Email to SMS

TeleFlip - Forward your emails to your phone via SMS. Filter by time of delivery, messag sender and number of SMS messages per email.
TAPGAD - Send in a SMS to the service to request your emails to be sent to you via SMS, even reply to sender of emails through SMS.
emoze - Push Outlook emails, contacts and calendar items to your phone.

Voicemail to Text

SpinVox - Convert your voicemails to text for your email or SMS.
CallWave - Translates your voicemails and sends SMS messages to you. Also has a mobile WAP site to access and manage your messages.
SimulSays - Voicemails are translated to text, after which you can manage the messages through their mobile application.

Mobile Office Tools

scanR - Use your mobile camera phone to scan, copy and fax. Copy documents, white boards and business cards and extract the text.
Qipit - Use your camera phone to capture handwritten notes or printed documents, email or MMS them to Qipit and fax, email or publish and share them.
SoonR - Connects to your remote PC access your desktop, contacts, and files securely. Use your PC to relay Skype calls too.
GoLiveMobile Tip - Query the WikipediaWikipedia reviews via SMS.
YAHOO! Go 2.0 - If you are a Yahoo user, you can access just about all your Yahoo applications.
flurry - Access your email, contacts and news through a full mobile application.

Mobile Search and Alerts

Google Mobile SMS - Query Google through SMS and get local directory results and other important information at your fingertips.
1-800-GOOG-411 - Call Google’s 411 service to get directory information, you can request them to send you the requested information via SMS too.
YAHOO! oneSearch - Yahoo’s new mobile search accessible via SMS or WAP enabled browser.
4INFO - Query for live sports scores, entertainment, travel, directory services via SMS.
Tellme - Call or SMS for directory services.
YAHOO! Alerts - Setup Yahoo news, stocks, weather, horoscope and other SMS alerts.
AOL Alerts - Setup AOL news, stocks, weather, horoscope and other SMS alerts.

Miscellaneous Tools

zakly.info - Give out your mobile ID for all your contact info, accessible via mobile device.
pinger - Point to point voice messaging.
Buxfer - Budget and track your expenses via SMS.
Geezeo - Access your account balance via SMS.

The best subway ad ever

2009-02-22T15:40:00.001-08:00

Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts

2008-12-06T03:09:00.001-08:00

* As i have already Posted about Yahoo Messenger Shortcut Keys & Keyboard shortcuts for Windows .These shortcut Keys will help ypu to Work Fast.Similarly most of us use Firefox it is essential to know its Shortcuts also.
*

*

* Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.
* Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.
* Ctrl + N: New window.
* Ctrl + T: New tab.
* Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.
* Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.
* Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.
* Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.
* Ctrl + O: Open a local file.
* Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
* Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.
* Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.
* Ctrl + P: Print page.
* Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.
* Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...
* Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...
* Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.
* Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.
* Escape: Stop loading page.
* Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.
* Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.
* Ctrl + U: View page source.
* Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.
* Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.
* Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.
* Ctrl + Numpad[0] or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.
* Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.
* Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.
* Alt + Home: Open home page.
* Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.
* Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.
* F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.
* Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.
* Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.
* Slash (/): Find text as you type.

Share & Enjoy !!!

May or may not be a parody:

2008-11-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Delimages - jpeg - imagify del.icio.us

2008-10-12T04:29:00.001-07:00

I love this

Got listed here

2008-09-18T16:04:00.001-07:00

cool

2008-09-10T05:34:00.001-07:00

----------------
Now playing: Leftfield - Dusted (Si Begg's Buckfunk 3000 remix)
via FoxyTunes

linkage

2008-09-04T06:11:00.001-07:00

Gerald-Levin-on-Fear Radio brings you talk, streaming music and actual radio stations.

Deezer.com
- Part social network, all music. The site allows you to listen to
free streaming music, build your own playlists, share them with friends
and even embed music on other sites.

DI.fm
- Digitally Imported specializes in streaming electronic and dance
music from all around the globe. Also offers premium upgrades for
higher bit rates.

Free.Napster.com - Free streaming music from Napster Napster that includes full albums.

Grooveshark.com
- Build your own playlist, as you go along, save it, and you can listen
to it again in the future. Also suggests similar songs and more.

iLike.com - Features a mixture of full songs and samples that you can listen to. An extremely popular app on many social networks.

iTunes
- While not a Web application, the vast majority of us have it already
installed on our systems. Just click on the “Radio” link and listen to
different Internet radio stations from all over the world.

Last.fm
- Last.fm follows what you listen to and then makes suggestions of what
else you may like, or you can also just dive right in, listening to
whatever you feel like.

Live365.com
- A mixture of free stations and ones only available to VIP
subscribers, it covers just about every genre of music you can think of.

Magnatune.com - A home for independent artists where you can either stream their albums, or buy them by naming your price, starting at $5.00.

MikesRadioWorld.com - A guide to over 5,000 streaming radio stations from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

MP3.com - Stream the music, or download it free. Lets you jump around choosing the tunes you want to hear.

MusicMesh.net
- Start with one album, listen to it in its entirety or just one track,
and then check out other artists and albums that are of a similar vein.

RadioTime.com - Collects streams from radio stations from all over, putting them in one easy to use directory.

Real Player - Download Real Player and then play free music via their Rhapsody service.

SHOUTcast.com - Using a program such as Winamp, choose the radio station of your choice from around the world, and “Tune In”.

Slacker.com - Listen to their pre-built stations, or start building one of your own.

Streampad.com - Search for music to listen to, or point it directly to a page you want to listen to, including podcasts.

TheSixtyOne.com
- Streams music and then allows you to purchase the tracks via
Amazon.com’s MP3 store. Site also has social aspects allowing users to
“bump” songs up playlists as well as make leaderboards by building
their own playlists.

Yahoo Music - Only works with Internet Explorer (still), but streams music from artists or by station.

Mix Tapes

MeeMix.com - Start exploring your favorite music and similar artists, create your own station and then share it with your friends.

Mixwit.com - Like Muxtape, you can create and listen to “mix tapes” and then share them with friends.

Muxtape.com - Not your typical streaming site as users make up their own “mix tapes” of up to 12 songs, and then share them with anyone.

Spinjay.com
- Create playlists and have people vote on them to make you a popular
“DJ”, or simply browse through the existing ones and listen.

Music Discovery

Blip.fm
-A “Twitter” for music that lets you tell others what you are listening
to and embeds the music in your post, making an ever growing playlist
by following the main timeline of the site. Check out the Mashable Conversations interview with Gavin Hayes, lead singer of Dredg, we did a while back about the site.

Finetune.com - As you find music you like, you can add it to a playlist which you can then embed in your site.

Musicovery.com
- Name your “mood” and Musicovery starts playing music based on that.
It then follows a progression based on your votes for the song, or you
can jump around on the other suggestions on the screen.

Pandora.com - Many people were depressed when Pandora had to shut down its non-U.S. streams,
but the site lives on. Enter the name of a song or artist you like,
the site analyzes it, and builds a channel on that style of music.

Soundpedia.com - Similar to Pandora in that you start with artist and then it builds a station based on that style/genre of music.

Music Search

Dizzler.com - Search for streaming music, radio stations, video and more.

Jiwa.fm - Search for music you like and Jiwa will search for streams of it.

SeeqPod.com - Even though its legality has been called into question, Seeqpod allows you to search the Internet for publicly available MP3s for you to listen to.

Skreemr.com
- Like SeeqPod, Skreemr allows you to search for all of those allusive
tracks you’d rather just listen to then admit you have them on your iPod IPod .

Represent

2008-08-22T15:55:00.001-07:00

View my page on The Podfeed Community

How to use tinydb.org

2008-08-19T21:59:00.001-07:00

how to use

write a DB entry

Make a POST or GET request to http://tinydb.org/_write.

write GET example:
http://tinydb.org/_write?this=is so simple&i=will use this a lot

You can make as many variables as you in your POST or GET request.

the only special field that is always created is \"url\"
the _url parameter is so when people click your link on a web page, they can go to an actual site rather than seeing your data.

the _url paramater must be in the format http://www.url.com or http://url.com after submitting your request, we will return a unique short url you can use to access your data ( tinydb.org/c )
If your _url parameter contains the string __tinydb_id__ , this string will be replaced with your new tinydb id. Eg, setting the _url param to http://kortina.net?tinydb_id=__tinydb_id__ will create a tinydb record that redirects to http://kortina.net?tinydb_id=19f (or whatever the tinydb id you create is)
read a DB entry

Call a url. If you want the data returned in a certain format add ?_f=json to your request. The current formats are:

* _f = json - returns a json object containing your data
* _f = jsonp - returns a json object but in javascript, that is fed directly into a callback function, tinydbCallback, to be called once the script is loaded. use your own callback with ( &_c=callback )
* _f = js - returns a json object but in javascript, with an optional callback function ( &_c=callback ) to be called once the script is loaded
* _f = xml - returns your data in XML

- these also work on the _write call, allowing your app to get the id back in a friendly format.
- the default format for read is HTML, so if you provide no _f parameter, you will recieve html
- the default format for write is plaintext, so if you provide no _f parameter, you will recieve a plaintext url for your tinydb data
read examples:
http://tinydb.org/c
http://tinydb.org/d?_f=js&_c=callwhendone
http://tinydb.org/e?_f=json
http://tinydb.org/e?_f=xml

*** Note: It should be assumed that any data stored in tinydb is not secure and can be accessed by anyone.
read and write multiple rows

To create an entry with multiple rows add the _i parameter to your first write call (i.e. http://tinydb.org/_write?_i&name=jane&comment=first row). This will basically your first entry be your parent_id. So additional writes to this should contain the id as the _i variable returned on the first write. (i.e. http://tinydb.org/_write?_i=Qw&name=joe&comment=another row).

To return a list of the rows just call the original id with the _i=true as a parameter (i.e. http://tinydb.org/Qw?_f=xml&_i=true )

Remember you can create rows, but not edit them - you can see a sample of this here.

FLASH DEVELOPERS: There is a bug with google app crossdomain.xml file -- so to get the proper unrestricted crossdomain.xml you must use the appspot.com domain which in our case is tinydborg2.appspot.com (i.e. http://tinydborg2.appspot.com/Qw?_i=true&_f=xml).

Scientists Develop Technique For Extracting Hierarchical Structure Of Networks

2008-08-13T13:55:00.001-07:00

n a May 1 Nature paper, "Hierarchical structure and the prediction of missing links in networks," Santa Fe Institute (SFI) researchers Aaron Clauset, Cristopher Moore, and Mark Newman show that many real-world networks can be understood as a hierarchy of modules, where nodes cluster together to form modules, which themselves cluster into larger modules -- arrangements similar to the organization of sports players into teams, teams into conferences, and conferences into leagues, for example.

Dark Roasted Blend: Hilarious Signage, Part 11

2008-08-04T13:01:00.001-07:00

My favorite from the collection

i am still up anf did this for example

2008-08-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

----------------
Now playing: Leftfield - Inspection (Check One)
via FoxyTunes

This is kinda a big deal, but it

2008-07-24T14:20:00.001-07:00

"The Patent and Trademark Office has now made clear that its newly developed position on patentable subject matter will invalidate many and perhaps most software patents, including pioneering patent claims to such innovators as Google, Inc. In a series of cases including In re Nuijten, In re Comiskey and In re Bilski,
the Patent and Trademark Office has argued in favor of imposing new
restrictions on the scope of patentable subject matter set forth by
Congress in article 101 of the Patent Act. In the most recent of these
three — the currently pending en banc Bilski appeal — the Office takes
the position that process inventions generally are unpatentable unless
they 'result in a physical transformation of an article' or are 'tied
to a particular machine.'"

This is why there needs to be a development machine

2008-07-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

So that software , like the ones listed below can be installed, tinkered with, benchmarked and properly evaluated prior to being added to my workstation

Ecotect v5.60| 26.5MB

ECOTECT is a complete building design and environmental analysis
tool that covers the full range of simulation and analysis functions
required to truly understand how a building design will operate and
perform. It finally allows designers to work easily in 3D and apply all the tools necessary for an energy efficient and sustainable future.

Ashampoo sorta. it's Cocktail (for april)

2008-07-20T05:29:00.001-07:00

Cocktail is an award winning general purpose utility for Mac OS X. It is a smooth and powerful digital toolset with a variety of practical features that simplifies the use of advanced UNIX functions and helps hundreds of thousands of Mac users around the world to get the most out of their computers.

The application serves up a scrumptious mix of maintenance tools and interface tweaks, all accessible via a comprehensive graphical interface. Most of Cocktail's major features are arranged in five basic categories. In addition, a Pilot lets you clean, repair and optimize your system with one click of the button.

Disks

; Automatically check SMART (Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) status of disks
; Enable or disable journaling on selected disk
; Repair permissions on selected disk
; Set disk sleep (spindown) time
; Modify sleep settings for portable computers
; Allow or prevent mounting of external disks during system startup
; Enable or disable Sudden Motion Sensor

System

; Run periodic maintenance scripts
; Enable or disable Spotlight indexing of selected disk
; Erase Spotlight index for selected disk
; Rebuild Launch Services database
; Update locate and whatis databases
; Change startup mode
; Set startup delay
; Force empty Trash
; Enable Kiosk mode

Files

; Clear system caches, component caches, Directory Service caches, dynamic link editor's (dyld) shared cache, kernel caches, user caches, ColorSync caches, Dock caches, Java caches, QuickTime caches and font caches (including font caches created by applications from Adobe, Microsoft and Quark)
; Clear CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) job files, core files, virtual memory swap files and other temporary files
; Clear Internet caches, cookies, download lists, form values, history files and page icons created by Safari, Camino, Firefox, OmniWeb, Opera and Shiira web browsers
; Manage (view, print and save) log files
; Clear log files (manually or automatically rotate and/or remove archived copies of log files)
; Delete DS Store files from disks or folders and their subfolders
; Allow or prevent DS Store files creation on network volumes
; Delete locked or inaccessible items
; Lock or unlock files and folders

Network

; Change speed, duplex and MTU of network cards
; Easily optimize network settings for common connection types (Dial-up/PPP, Bluetooth/GPRS/EDGE, Satellite, DSL/PPPoE, Cable modem and Fiber/FiOS)
; Manually modify TCP receive and send window sizes, TCP slow link window size, UDP outgoing datagram size, UDP receive buffer size, receive and send buffer sizes for local stream sockets as well as state of delayed ACKs, NewReno Fast Recovery and RFC-1323 extensions
; Configure the built-in (File Sharing) Mac OS X file server

Interface

; Customize look and features of Finder, Dock, Expos�, login window and other system services
; Modify hidden settings of Address Book, Backup, Disk Utility, iTunes, Mail, Remote Desktop and Terminal

Pilot

; Clean, repair and optimize your system with one click of the button
; Schedule clearing of system, user and Internet caches, clearing of log files, repair of disk permissions and run of periodic maintenance scripts

Steve has a need..

2008-07-19T19:46:00.001-07:00

Book Collector
Collectorz.com
Book Collector is a book database software to catalog your book
collection. Adding books to the database is quick and easy, no typing
needed. Just type the author and title and it will automatically
download all information from various sources on the Internet (like
Amazon and Library of Congres), including the cover image. After adding
your books, the resulting database can be browsed, sorted and searched
in various ways. Book lists can be printed and exported to HTML, CSV
files or XML. Use the integrated Loan Manager to track which books you
loaned and to whom.

ConceptDraw PRO 8.0.2 - 170 MB

ConceptDraw PRO is a well known and popular business graphics and
diagramming application for Windows and Macintosh. It contains powerful
vector drawing tools, graphics libraries with hundreds of pre-drawn
shapes, built-in scripting language, support for many import and export
of many file formats and many other professional features

Features:

ConceptDraw PRO offers a comprehensive set of drawing and diagramming
tools for business and technical professionals. Cross-platform and
versatile, it includes all the features of ConceptDraw Standard, plus
more specialized libraries, CAD compatibility and support for
additional formats for easier data exchange. Support for PowerPoint
lets you easily use ConceptDraw drawings and diagrams in PowerPoint
presentations. The program also supports Outline text format: this
means you can describe a chart in a text file and the program will
create a diagram out of it, or you can save your diagram as a text
outline. ConceptDraw Professional is specially intended for software
and database developers, Web designers, managers, engineers,
architects, scientists and other professionals.

ConceptDraw is intended for drawing schemes and diagrams of different
kinds: business diagrams and flowcharts, network diagrams and software
charts, technical drafts, floor and landscape plans. ConceptDraw offers
a wide choice of powerful and easy-to-use tools for quickly creating
all kinds of charts and diagrams. Even if you've never used a drawing
tool before, it's very easy to create high-quality professional graphic
documents with ConceptDraw. That’s possible thanks to the program’s
intuitive interface, comprehensive drawing capabilities, and many
pre-drawn library shapes. Templates will help to quickly create most
common documents.

At the same time the comprehensive professional features of ConceptDraw
allows you to develop graphical enclosures to various corporate
solutions. Use ConceptDraw to visualize and share information you work
with every day, prototype new ideas, systems, and solutions.

What's new in ConceptDraw 8:

• Search through libraries. Search was added to facilitate the
ConceptDraw libraries using. You can search for required objects within
all ConceptDraw PRO libraries Type in your search word and click "Find"
to search through libraries for matches.

• Improved Snapping. The dynamic snapping feature will help you to
place the objects on your drawing in regular way. Object moving via the
screen initiates the creation of guide lines. These color lines assist
you to place objects on the workspace in a most accurate manner.

• Export with one click. New "Save to" button, placed in the upper left
corner of the toolbar, offers easy access to Export dialog window. The
recently used file format will be indicated in the window.

• WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) Chart. Using ConceptDraw Office, you
have the ability to generate WBS in just one click. WBS will be opened
in ConceptDraw PRO. Use powerful capabilities of ConceptDraw PRO to
edit it and share with project participants.

• Project Status Reports. Within ConceptDraw Office ConceptDraw PRO
provide you with the tools you need to generate reports that visually
represent project data: Summary and Actuals; Resources and Budgets.

• Project performance monitoring. With ConceptDraw Office you can
create dashboards and indicators to display current project status.
Visual information will be represented in ConceptDraw PRO

Librarian Pro 1.2.8

If you're like us, you have managed to
create your own mini-library of books, magazines, games, CDs, software
titles, and movies. It is difficult to sort through all of them to see
which ones you have on file, or to find where you last shelved a
particular one. Librarian Pro is a complete personal inventory system!

Organize items into smart collections, add them to the
in-program Amazon shopping cart, mark them as lent out to friends, and
even export for the web or your iPod! Librarian Pro also supports
importing from other cataloging applications like Delicious Library and
DVDpedia.

Search for items in-program on Amazon by author, artist, title, and keyword. Details
will automatically fill into new items including product images!
Additionally, up to five Amazon reviews are also retrieved for your
reading pleasure. Afterward, even add your own reviews!

Librarian Pro's databases are fully compatible with both the Mac OS X and Windows versions.
Additionally, one license will grant activation for both copies of the
application. Download the free fifteen day trial and have serenity
return to your media collections.

Features :

Organize items into smart collections

Create multiple databases for different locations

Reload details for items from Amazon

View a borrowed items list

Filter out duplicate inventory items

Shop on Amazon from within the program

Compatible with Amazon Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France

Sleek Mac-like modern feel and controls

View item details on the fly in the main window

Display items in list or icon mode

Import from Delicious Library

Import from DVDpedia, Bookpedia, CDpedia, Gamepedia

Import iTunes Albums

Import Borrowers from Address Book (Mac OS X)

Export to the web

Export to your iPod

Manage a list of borrower accounts

Create records for software, music, movies, games, and books!

Review items with a five-star system

USB Security
# If your drive is lost or stolen, nobody will be able to access the contents of the folders you protected.
The
password is always required to open the folder. No matter if your drive
is connected to another PC running in Windows Safe, DOS, Linux or Unix,
folders always retain their protection.

# Password Protect is safe. If your Windows crashes, you will not lose your data.
You
will be able to unprotect your folders. We don't store passwords in the
Windows registry or on your hard drive. Learn how Password Protect
processes passwords.

# Protect a folder right from Windows Explorer.
You
don't even need to run Password Protect from the Start menu. Simply
right-click the folder is the right pane of Windows Explorer and select
Protect This Folder.

# Unprotect the folder with a double-click.
No need to run the program. Just double-click the folder in the right pane of Windows Explorer and enter the password.

# Protect folders on your external / removable drive and access your folders from any computer your drive is plugged into.
Save
your money. You do not have to install Password Protect on every
computer your USB drive is plugged into and you do not have to purchase
a Password Protect license for each of these computes. Just install
Password Protect USB on your external drive. For more info, see
Protecting Folders on External and Removable Drives.

BDV DataHider 2.3

The
BDV DataHider application was designed with one thing in mind, and that
is to help people to achieve the task of hiding their confidential
information with the utmost confidence that their important information
shall never be compromised in any way, or form.

The BDV
DataHider is a menu-driven programme that allows one to select either
one of three methods. Those options are simply, hiding your
confidential information within a text file, or in an image file, and
finally in an audio file of your choose; or just hiding your
confidential information in a floppy
diskette for ease of transportation, and portability.

Simply
during the deployment of the BDV DataHider, you will be prompted to
select your preferences of your hiding place. The BDV DataHider does
the rest of the work for you professionally, and effortlessly. With
that level of ease of use, and confidence that the BDV DataHider would
offer you, it would be in your best interest if you were to spend your
precious time with the activities that interest you most - rather than
constantly worrying about your confidential information getting
compromised by the un-savoury people!

Here are some key features of "BDV DataHider":

· Data encryption with password protection;
· Hiding encrypted data in images (ie, stenography);
· Hiding encrypted information in files of any format;
· Hiding encrypted data on a floppy diskette (the built-in "Secret Diskette" feature);
· Simple text editor that would allow you to create/edit any text that you wish to quickly hide; but, forgot before.

FOR APRIL
Protected Music Converter 1.0.0.9

Protected Music Converter - convert DRM protected music (WMA, M4P, etc.)

How to convert DRM protected music files like WMA, M4P?

We have a perfect solution for your problem. Our Protected Music
Converter software can convert wide range of protected music formats to
most common unprotected formats like MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV.

Protected Music Converter
is a software tool you can use for conversion of wide range of
different audio file formats to most commonly used formats like MP3,
OGG, WMA, WAV. This software is especially useful in case if you
have protected music files you want to listen on playback device, which
doesn't support particular DRM technology, like MP3 CD player,
iPod/iPhone, Zune or other portable digital player, cell phone, Pocket
PC, etc.

#Main features of Protected Music Converter:

* Straight and easy to use interface
You can easily
convert your music file with just few mouse clicks: add your music
files to batch list, select appropriate output format and press start
button. You can create custom profiles for output format settings or
use build-in standard profiles, Drag'n'Drop, Copy/Paste from MS
Explorer are also included.

* Protected music files conversion

All protected music files playable by both Windows Media Player and
QuickTime Player can be converted to unprotected MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV.
This is not protection removal though, software just plays protected
files and places resulting sound into unprotected music file.

* Wide range of supported input formats

All music files with filename extensions listed below are supported as
valid input files for Protected Music Converter: wma, m4p, m4b, m4a,
aac, ulw, au, sd2, amr, gsm, adts, caf, mpeg, mpg, m1s, m1v, m1a, m75,
m15, mp2, mpm, mpv, mpa, snd, 3gp, 3gpp, m4v, swa, amc, 3g2, 3gp2,
drv-ms, aif, aiff, aifc, asf, asx, wm, wmx, wmd, wmz, mp3, wax, ogg, wav

* Batch conversion support

If you have massive amount of files you want to convert this software is exactly what you need to speed up the process.

* Most recent audio codecs support

Protected Music Converter uses most recent audio codecs, it internally
supports WMA and OGG formats, for MP3 encoding it uses LAME encoder 3.97

makes the loins drip

2008-07-19T03:31:00.001-07:00

Data Visualizations

and it makes a good example as well

2008-07-19T03:25:00.001-07:00

The geography of cyberspace

IPTools

2008-07-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Acrobats from San Francisco's Flyaway Productions rehearse aerial moves on a chandelier that will spout flames during their Fire Arts Festival performance.

OAKLAND, California -- While crews battle wildfires across California, performers at the Fire Arts Festival are embracing flames as they prep for a weekend of pyrotechnics.

"Do they shut down Water World when there's a flood?" said Michael Sturtz, founder of The Crucible, the nonprofit collective that has hosted the annual event since 1999. "Of course, what's happening is unfortunate, but we're harnessing fire to make a creative spectacle."

Industrial sculptors, mechanical engineers, flying trapeze artists -- and, of course, fire-safety officials -- are busy preparing for this year's Fire Arts Festival, which features large-scale art installations and acts like some of the more fiery performances at DIY-heavy Maker Faire and the annual desert art party known as Burning Man.

Crucible_094_580x_2

More than 50 different flame-fueled installations by artists from the Bay Area, Seattle and elsewhere will burn through at least 4,000 gallons of propane at this year's festival, said Sturtz.

The event boasts an entirely new roster of performers and exhibits, he said, including a hydrogen-powered flame sculpture, a massive inverted Tesla coil, fiery Flamenco dancers and a shooting gallery rigged with flamethrowers to incinerate targets.

The Steampunk Tree House, which traveled to Burning Man in 2007 and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in March, is making its first appearance at the Fire Arts Festival this year.

"The sculpture will keep traveling until it finds a home," said Sean Orlando of his 30-foot-tall, steam-powered sculpture. "Luckily, it's modular, so all 25,000 pounds of it comes apart ... and we can show it anywhere we want."

The open-air festival, which has drawn as many as 10,000 spectators in past years, runs Wednesday through Saturday at the Crucible's Fire Arts Arena in Oakland. Fiery festivities begin after sundown in a lot adjacent to the Crucible's headquarters at Kirkham and 5th streets. Tickets cost $35 to $55, with proceeds benefiting the center, which offers classes in the industrial arts such as glass-blowing, metalworking and fire-eating.

While admitting that the California wildfires -- which have prompted evacuations and filled the air with smoke in certain parts of the state -- could dampen attendance at the Fire Arts Festival, Sturtz said he thinks this year's event is more relevant than ever.

"People need to stop fearing fire and got more comfortable with it [and preventative measures like] controlled burns," he said. "It's crucial to help prevent future crises like the one we're experiencing."

For Steve

2008-07-04T06:20:00.001-07:00

Parallels Workstation v2.2.2204

Parallels Workstation v2.2.2204 | 20.91 Mb

One Machine. Multiple Operating Systems. Unlimited Possibilities.

Parallels
Workstation is the most powerful, easiest-to-use, cost-effective
desktop virtual PC solution available today. It empowers any user, from
experienced professional developers to sales executives to casual home
users, with the ability to create completely networked, totally secure
independent, maximally stable virtual machines on a single physical
machine.
Trusted Technology for Powerful Performance

Parallels
Workstation is a hardware emulation virtualization solution. This
stable, trusted technology maps the host computer’s hardware resources
directly to each virtual PC’s resources, allowing each virtual machine
to operate identically to a stand-alone computer. Parallels
Workstation’s sophisticated virtual machine engine enables each virtual
machine to work with its own processor, RAM, floppy and CD drives, I/O
devices, and hard disk – everything a physical computer contains.
The World’s First Hypervisor-powered Virtual PC Solution

Parallels
Workstation is the first desktop virtualization solution to include a
lightweight hypervisor, a mature technology originally developed in the
1960s to maximize the power of large mainframes. Hypervisor technology
dramatically improves virtual machine stability, security and
performance by using a thin layer of software, inserted between the
machine’s hardware and the primary operating system, to directly
control some of the host machine’s hardware profiles and resources. It
not only makes Parallels Workstation-powered virtual machines secure,
stable and efficient, but also empowers users to immediately realize
the benefits associated with Intel VT hardware virtualization
architecture.

Download
http://rapidshare.com/files/64623374/Workstation

I have a deep, and emotional connnection to this video on many levels.

2008-06-18T11:08:00.001-07:00

Crazy russicher Brakedance - MyVideo

for the project (codenamed RASCAL) I'm about to start with steve

2008-06-12T08:30:00.001-07:00

Go here for videos and more info:

Now I'm gonna take the browns to the superbowl, update the client, shower then start the day

Because apart from being a beautiful day...

2008-04-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

This brought a smile to my face.
(And I have an Atari 2600 for salem *for real* I even got the box it came in) All offers will
be considered. Email me for more info.

In the meantime, enjoy this pic

http://www.eyje.com/pictures/funny/Top_Office_Jokes_32_PICS_

2008-04-26T09:52:00.001-07:00

Top Office Jokes [32 PICS] - funny - pictures - eyje.com

How Cool is this

2008-04-24T20:37:00.001-07:00

http://www.whitney.org/arport/commissions/codedoc/Paley/CodeProfiles_800x600.htm

----------------
Now playing: AaronJae-Versatility - Aaron Jae
Just click on it..really go ahead

The Best of the Best of the Best (with honors)

2008-04-10T15:06:00.001-07:00

Most Downloaded clips online- and it's kinda addictive. I'm up to page 83, and with 10 clips per page...do the math
http://video.i7i.us/search.php?lang=en&q=Best;1

Please complete form (humor)

2008-04-06T07:35:00.001-07:00

Complete Your Evil Plan
Your evil plan is nearly complete. Simply fill in your answers in the appropriate blanks below and then get ready to call your press conference. You may want to photocopy this page first, in case you change your mind later and want to create a different evil plan.

Primary Concerns

Your Objective:

Your Motive:

Stage One:

People:

How do people react when you enter a room?

Stage Two:

Monuments:

How do mere mortals react to your presence?

Stage Three:

Weapons:

End Result:

Supplemental Information:

Descriptive Verb: How would you characterize the look on the doctors face when you were born?

Base of Operations:

Type of Henchmen:

How would you describe yourself:

Do you prefer to dress:

Your existence signals:

Pick a word just for the hell of it:

Tragic Past: What would no person ever do in your fearsome presence?

Power: What do you possess?

Return to 'So You've Decided to Be Evil'

For B.B.

2008-03-20T03:43:00.001-07:00

Audio Pirate: Audio - Breaks + Samples

mac blogs

2008-03-20T02:53:00.001-07:00

Cool Mac Apps . com - Home - Cool Software for Your Mac
Essential Mac OS X applications

The Archive of the Synapse

2008-03-18T20:44:00.001-07:00

Archive Home Page

cool blogs

2008-03-17T02:44:00.001-07:00

http://best-firefox-extensions.blogspot.com/
http://teachme-buzz.blogspot.com/
http://tweak-everything.blogspot.com/

think of this as a beta test

2008-03-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Massive Attack - Angel

2008-03-10T22:44:00.003-07:00

Massive Attack - Angel
Video sent by samithemenace

because it's not a shrew

2008-03-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

http://creativecommons.org/license/ on your terms
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/ -for all you data whores
http://www.sketchswap.com/- illustrate, appreciate
http://www.dmoz.org/about.html because you can

So for the site listed below, scroll a bit and use the archive & tags links on the left and right
http://software-helpdesk.blogspot.com

http://www.wisegeek.com/ what you don't know- learn

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/03/09/science-nervessound-20070309.html -body electric

http://www.ifixit.com/info/ID-your-Mac

2008-03-10T19:16:00.001-07:00

iFixit > Info > ID Your Mac
Identify Your Computer
G4
Ti/Alum G4
Titanium / Aluminum
iBook G4
iBook G4

Click on your computer to identify the model.
G3
PowerBook G3
PowerBook
iBook G3
iBook G3
Clamshell G3
Clamshell
PowerBook G3 Speeds (MHz) Family/Model #
Wallstreet (PDQ) 233, 250, 266, 292, 300 M4753
Lombard (Bronze) 333, 400 M5343
Pismo (FireWire) 400, 500 M7572
PowerBook G4 Speeds (MHz) Family/Model #
Mercury 15" 400, 500 M5884
Onyx 15" (VGA) 550, 667 M8407
DVI 15" 667, 800, 867 MHz, 1 GHz A1001 / A1025
Aluminum 12" 867 MHz, 1, 1.33, 1.5 GHz A1010 / A1104
Aluminum 15" 1, 1.25, 1.33, 1.5, 1.67 GHz A1046 / A1095 / A1106
Aluminum 15" (Hi-Res) 1.67 GHz A1138
Aluminum 17" 1, 1.33, 1.5, 1.67 GHz A1013 / A1052 / A1085 / A1107
Aluminum 17" (Hi-Res) 1.67 GHz A1139
iBook G3 Speeds (MHz) Family/Model #
iBook Clamshell 300, 366, 466 M2453 / M6411
iBook G3 12" 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 M6497 / A1005
iBook G3 14" 600, 700, 800, 900 M8413 / A1007
iBook G4 Speeds (MHz) Family/Model #
iBook G4 12" 800 MHz, 1, 1.2, 1.33 GHz A1054 / A1133
iBook G4 14" 933 MHz, 1, 1.2, 1.33, 1.42 GHz A1055 / A1134

iBook G3 Clamshell

2008-03-10T19:15:00.001-07:00

iBook G3 Clamshell Disassembly: iBook Parts

code warrior

2008-03-10T11:16:00.001-07:00

Code Profiles --- W. Bradford Paley