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July 30, 2004
Paul Graham - Great Hackers
Another interesting article with insights into programmers by Paul Graham. Some choice quotes...
In programming, as in many fields, the hard part isn't solving problems, but deciding what problems to solve. Imagination is hard to measure, but in practice it dominates the kind of productivity that's measured in lines of code.
Great hackers think of it [writing code] as something they do for fun, and which they're delighted to find people will pay them for.
Good hackers find it unbearable to use bad tools. They'll simply refuse to work on projects with the wrong infrastructureI would agree with Chris and disagree with Paul about the Python/Java and NT statements. I think Paul's TCP/IP statement is true but now we've moved up the stack. At the level I hack/program/develop, it's just an operating system. I need some control over it but not as much Paul implies I would.
Business types prefer the most popular languages because they view languages as standards. ... The thing about languages, though, is that they're not just standards. ... A programming language is a medium of expression.I think Paul is behind on the .Net bandwagon. Lots more hackers like .NET, even slashdot gets excited about Mono (not that slashdot is exactly filled with great hackers) because it's a good tool.
The problem is, if you're not a hacker, you can't tell who the good hackers are. ... There's no way around it: you can't manage a process intended to produce beautiful things without knowing what beautiful is.
It seems like the only way to judge a hacker is to work with him on something. And this is the reason that high-tech areas only happen around universities. The active ingredient here is not so much the professors as the students. Startups grow up around universities because universities bring together promising young people and make them work on the same projects. The smart ones learn who the other smart ones are, and together they cook up new projects of their own.
The people I've met who do great work rarely think that they're doing great work. They generally feel that they're stupid and lazy, that their brain only works properly one day out of ten, and that it's only a matter of time until they're found out. If there is a Michael Jordan of hacking, no one knows, including him.So I should give up trying to figure out good of a programming I am. If I'm good, I won't know it. If I'm not good, then my thoughts that I'm not good will be accurate. The only other option is that I'm not good but think I am. I'm pretty sure I'm not in that category, but I've met some people who are :)
I'd always supposed that all smart people were curious; that curiosity was simply the first derivative of knowledge.Curiosity and passion, I think the two go hand in hand.
But apparently hackers are particularly curious, especially about how things work. That makes sense, because programs are in effect giant descriptions of how things work.I remember the first time I ever visted Kyle's office when I was in CPT 255. Just before I left he asked me if I liked to take things apart when I was younger. Seemed like a strange question at the time.
One difference I've noticed between great hackers and smart people in general is that hackers are more politically incorrect. To the extent there is a secret handshake among good hackers, it's when they know one another well enough to express opinions that would get them stoned to death by the general public. ... In such situations it's helpful to have a habit of questioning assumptions
you never have to work on boring projects (unless your family will starve otherwise), and in return, you'll never allow yourself to do a half-assed job.Of course, I've only pulled out the parts I agree with in some vain attempt to make myself feel like a great hacker and dismissed the parts that don't align with me. It's sort of like reading your horoscope, you can pick and chose the parts you like so it applies to almost anyone.
Anyway, I've been lazy enough for today. Yesterday was a good day (not a 1 in 10 day, but close), today isn't looking so hot.
Posted by mikel at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2004
Testing for Network Connections
Another good article for CPT 355 by Box and Fox.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnnetcomp/html/NetworkComponent.asp
Posted by mikel at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2004
.NET CF versioning and GC
Some good info from Steven Pratschner that will probably be reading for CPT 355.
http://blogs.msdn.com/stevenpr/archive/2004/07/26/197254.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/stevenpr/archive/2004/06/30/170289.aspx
Posted by mikel at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2004
Mitch Daniels and the Computer Project
Emily Cox made the news again. This time talking with Mitch Daniels about her Tippecanoe County 4-H computer project.
Posted by mikel at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2004
Linux Switchers
This isn't new, but I just stumbled across it.
http://www.ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54
via Scott Hanselman
Posted by mikel at 07:02 PM
July 13, 2004
Squeak
This might be some thing that the 4-Hers in the computer project would be interested in.
Posted by mikel at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2004
RE: New Emulator in VS 2005
The change in the emulator could be a big help in VS 2005. The emulator was much improved over the eVB one and now that you can install third party apps it will be a big help. Especially since it's pretty much impossible to have a physical device for every type of device available.
[Via Windows Mobile Team Blog]What you see in VS 2005 is a true device emulator that runs the ARM version of Windows Mobile and ARM versions of your app. This is a huge step forward in eliminating differences between device and emulator and the headaches caused by those subtleties. The other really cool thing about this is that you can now install and run software from 3rd parties in the emulator (not previously possible unless you convinced the developer to release/support the x86 version of their app).
Check it out and send in that feedback.
[Author: Robert Levy]
Posted by mikel at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2004
ISV buddy
Looks like something interesting for DelMar Information Technologies to look into.
Funky channel 9 links
http://channel9.msdn.com/poetryjam/poetryjam.html
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=13031
Posted by mikel at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2004
Sermons Online
Now that Kossuth has sermons online, I thought it would neat to have a listing of churches that make their sermons available. Here's a short start. I'll add to the list as I run across new ones or have time to do more searching.
Kossuth Street Baptist Church
Nappanee Missionary Church
Faith Baptist Church
Fellowship Church
Posted by mikel at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2004
4-H computer project
Judging for the 4-H Computer Project was today. Check out the pictures.
Overall, we had less projects this year than last but the quality was a lot better. The kids really did some neat projects.
Posted by mikel at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2004
free alternative to parition magic
NTFS Resize, this looks like it could a good alternative to partition magic. I haven't tried it yet but will next time I need to resize a disk.
http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html
Posted by mikel at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
log4net
log4net is a tool to help the programmer output log statements to a variety of output targets. log4net is a port of the excellent log4j framework to the .NET runtime. We have kept the framework as similar to the original log4j as possible while taking advantage of new features in the .NET runtime. For more information on log4net see the features document.log4net is part of the Apache Logging Services project. The Logging Services project is intended to provide cross-language logging services for purposes of application debugging and auditing.
http://logging.apache.org/log4net/
Posted by mikel at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
InfoCentral - Open Source Church Management System
InfoCentral via Brian Bailey
http://www.leaveitbehind.com/home/2004/07/more_open_sourc.html
Posted by mikel at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)