Rubbing wrong…
When drawn into technology discussions, I can sometimes appear to be "religious" toward particular products and/or brands of items I happen to like. And I have no qualms about making derogatory statements about products and technologies I don't like... which are 99.9% honest statements. I had to explain this to some folks recently, so I wanted to share for those who are interested in how my thinking works in regards to technology, and why I feel I can say some of the things I do.
Panera Bread Is The Largest Provider Of Free WiFi
For those who don't know.... this is one of the reasons I love this place:
From Slashdot:
Panera Bread Is The Largest Provider Of Free WiFi:
ayb11 writes "According to this article, the Panera Bread chain of Bakery/Cafes (think Starbucks that bakes their own bread) is the largest provider of free WiFi in the US. Their web site says, " There are currently 573 Wi-Fi enabled Panera Bread bakery-cafes, from California to Virginia. More are added every day." (Even my retired dad takes his barely-used laptop over there so he can get free refills on coffee.) Their full list of hotspots is here."
System architecture thought for the day…
I wrote something I really liked today, so I wanted to share it here:
The more moving parts you have in a system, the harder it has to work to accomplish a task, and the more likely one of those parts is to break. If you can then remove parts from the system (reduce complexity) without reducing the system's functionality / capability, then you have achieved those beloved goals of "continuous improvement" and "increasing operational effectiveness". It's more than likely that removing parts will reduce system overhead and potential bottlenecks, resulting in an improved and more capable/effective system overall, putting yourself on more competitive footing for the future.
How to make your PC more secure
A popular security writer has made some simple recommendations on how to make your computing experience less succeptible to the dangers of being connected to the internet: Schneier on Security: Safe Personal Computing
Take home points:
- If possible, don't use Microsoft Windows. Buy a Macintosh or use Linux.
- Don't use Microsoft Internet Explorer, period.
- Don't use Outlook or Outlook Express.
To the last two points, I'll take this opportunity to recommend Firefox or Safari for web browsing, and Thunderbird or Mail for email.
Thoughts on forward thinking web application development
Been doing some research at work lately on something I've felt strongly about for some time. I wish I either had more time or took more time to sit down and write out my thoughts. I ran across a guy who seems to be of a similar mindset in his thoughts about where web application development needs to be heading.
Now a lot of the "open source" community out there is going to see this and say something like... "duh"! But "big corporate" (most, not all) hasn't seen this light yet, so it's nice to find some people out there thinking the same way so I know I'm not crazy:
Key points (but please read the above):
- "Java was originally designed to run on first set-top clients and then PC clients" - Java was NOT designed for server side applications.
- "The average corporate application will be a big text pump, taking in XML from a back-end resource, transforming it somewhat, and producing either HTML or XML"
- "Java is horrific at processing text since it can’t manipulate strings directly." - Not only is it not architected for server-side applications, it's not architected for manipulating large amounts of text!
- "...developers want only a very thin veneer over operating system services like sockets, while Java provides a huge virtual machine in between the application and the operating system." - We (IT workers of the world) need to be reducing complexity, not creating or facilitating it.
- "where is the application server of the future? It is a big text pump that is embedded in the various endpoints of an enterprise. There is nothing in the middle."
Reducing Complexity:
Is it just me, or is it not a simple thing to conceptualize that introducing abstraction layer upon abstraction layer means introducing overhead upon more overhead, and is only going to result in a horribly performing product? Keep in mind folks that it takes extra CPU cycles per abstraction layer to get through to code that actually does some work!
As we get access to all this latest and greatest, faster hardware and such, the wrong approach is to introduce yet more layers of absraction in code to make it easier to manage for the developer. More abstraction == BLOAT. Faster servers should mean the ability to service more customers per server (provided bandwidth isn't the issue). Developers have been trending towards adding more abstraction layers to code which has been (somewhat) offset by improvement in hardware. I'm all for easing the development process with abstraction layers for certain pieces of an app, but some of you have been taking this a little overboard. Code needs to trend back closer to the metal, not further away from it.
Unprotected (windoze) PCs can be hijacked in minutes
This is another reason I don't use windoze: USATODAY.com - Unprotected PCs can be hijacked in minutes
Apache (httpd) 403 errors & SELinux in FC3
Quick fix:
chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t <path to web files>
Now for the meat:
So in Fedora Core 3 we now have SELinux enabled by default in the installation. I decided to leave it enabled because security is a "Good Thing" (right?) and I knew I was going to have to get familiar with it at some point. So this was all fine and good until I ran into the first piece of the system I wanted to work with that was affected by the default policy that's called "targeted".
Start-up banks on Java hardware boost
Doesn't the fact that a company exists with the sole purpose of speeding up Java, AND has been able to get 3 rounds of venture capital funding signify a deeper lying problem? Start-up banks on Java hardware boost | CNET News.com
But There’s No Software for the Mac, Right?
This is an excellent commentary addressing a lot of points that are commonly misunderstood about the Macintosh. If you're a Windows user who has become disenchanted with what you might have thought was a decent system, this is definitely worth your time to read.
Windows Versus the World
Daring Fireball has an excellent writeup that neatly summarizes the excitement many of us have about the current trend in desktop computing: Windows Versus the World
Debunking arguments against the Mac
Many people I talk to who are complaining more and more about popups and the poor security that windoze provides, often will speak of the same myths about the thought of getting a Mac... "it's more expensive"... "PC's are faster". Blah. This is for you: But Macs Are Slower, Right?
Microsoft to secure IE for XP only
So for those who haven't heard, Micro$oft made this huge stink a year and a half ago how it was really going to get serious about security and "refocus" on security and all that. My BS detector went off the scale at the time, but I kept quiet. Then XP SP2 came out and everyone was happy, right? Well no, not exactly.
Then today we hear that Microsoft to secure IE for XP only. Does this sound like a company committed to security?
Windows Upgrade, FAA Error Cause LAX Shutdown
Speaking of windoze being 'beta quality', nothing like making the system that practically defines the phrase "mission critical" rely on it. This is truly nothing less than recipe for disaster.
Windows is the ‘biggest beta test in history’ – Gartner
This is just classic. For all my "big enterprise" friends out there, isn't it funny how enterprises claim to be, and only seek out "risk adverse" solutions? Well, Gartner (a company big enterprise pays big money to) comes right out and says deploying windows is, in fact, "risk congruous"!
Target
Are you walking around with a bullseye on your forehead? Hackers taking aim at Microsoft's Windows
A visual history of spam (and virus) email
A very interesting visual depiction of one guy's spam: A visual history of spam (and virus) email
WSJ Comments on how to compute safely
This piece from the Wall Street Journal is a must read for all windoze users. If you don't follow his first piece of advice, at least follow the rest.
Microsoft Warns of Critical JPEG Flaw
This is just too huge not to make fun of. Just viewing the wrong image on Windows now can destroy your machine. Come on folks! There is something better out there!
Update:
An explot for this bug is now out in the wild. Now is the time to move to Firefox!
Understanding my problem with Windoze….
A lot of people have the mistaken impression I "hate PC's". This is entirely not true. The "PC" architecture offers some pretty good bang for the buck. To be completely honest, I own several PC's myself. What I don't like is what people typically choose as their default operating system, and why they choose it. Do most people tend to do any homework when choosing an OS? No. They typically just go with whatever the reseller delivers on the box, not realizing the headaches and security nightmares that lie ahead. Someone has written up a nice (and objective) article that goes deeper into it. I particularly like the last paragraph and am happy to say I've chosen the same "something else".