John Montgomery's revelation that the most commonly used languages of non-professional programmers are HTML, JavaScript, and C++ is worth reflecting on.

First, let's just state the obvious: HTML without JavaScript isn't a programming language, and few people are using Rhino or what-have-you to explore JavaScript as a standalone language, so …

Eric Gunnerson, discussing "Why so many languages?" makes the key point that "Compactness and simplicity have big benefits as well in programming languages."

Once upon a time, I made a good living teaching Java. Sometimes I taught it to C and C++ developers, sometimes I taught it to COBOL developers …

This post is written using the "Elicit" blogging client. I somehow stumbled across it this morning and it does the one thing I've been missing in a dedicated blogging client: it allows posts to be scheduled. So I can write this at noon, set its post time for 6PM this …

Powertoys manufactures a hand gyroscope for battling RSI. I was considering buying one until I read this this disturbing claim: "Explosive, dynamic, exciting Powerball! Powerball is a dynamic and completely revolutionary new gyroscope that literally explodes with mind numbing torque and inertia once you activate its internal rotor."

Dang. Guess …

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::: {style="direction:ltr;margin-top:0in;margin-left:0in;width:5.9097in"} Job Opening: Explosion-Resistant Skull Required :::

::: {style="direction:ltr;margin-top:.0493in;margin-left:0in;width:1.7493in"} Wednesday, June 07, 2006

11:16 AM :::

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Tablet Input in Java

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

10:06 AM

Turns out that, contrary to what I'd feared, the Tablet Input Panel for the Tablet PC [does]{style="font-weight:bold"} recognizes SWT components as text labels, and you [can ]{style="font-weight:bold"}use the TIP to add recognized handwriting …

I bought two Zalman "Ultra Quiet CPU Coolers" for my new dual-processor system (which I'm building because, in a classic example of bad timing, my old motherboard blew right at the beginning of this extremely deadline-driven month). They don't work (at least two won't) with an MSI ATX motherboard. Not …

My latest SD Times column argues that it's time to retire Mort, Elvis, and Einstein.

Microsoft today announced a new version of VS "for database professionals." It seems that the emphasis is on maintaining database integrity while evolving the data model: a worthy first goal. Perhaps as significant as the release itself is the way in which the SKU has been developed: the team was …

::: {style="MARGIN-TOP: 0in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; WIDTH: 8.73in; DIRECTION: ltr"} ::: {style="MARGIN-TOP: 0in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.084in; WIDTH: 6.604in; DIRECTION: ltr"} An Old Neural Net Programmer on Jeff Hawkins' Model of Intelligence :::

::: {style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.049in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.084in; WIDTH: 1.54in; DIRECTION: ltr"} Monday, May 29, 2006

7:07 …