Top 10 Things I've Learned About Computers From The Movies and Any Episode of "24"

  1. Megapixels aren't important: What determines the resolution of a photograph or audio recording is the "enhancement" algorithm run on it. Any image, when run through the proper enhancement, will reveal sufficient detail to recognize a face, read a license plate, etc.
  2. Computer screens output text at 4800 baud and make …
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Lost my PDA, Going Paper-Based...

I'm not a forgetful person, but in the four days before Tina's first surgery, I forgot at various times: my jacket, my credit card (x2), and my Pocket PC Phone Edition PDA. Must have had something else on my mind. I got the jacket and credit cards back, but my …

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Premature Non-Functional Programming the Root of All Evil?

This post by Wesner Moise reminded me of my own post a few weeks back. Basically, the observation is that the "functional programming" paradigm, in which variables are immutable once bound, really seems to have something going for it.

In functional programming, the context necessary to achieve a function is …

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Laterooms, GC, and Mono

::: {.Section1} [Ouch. A company called Laterooms.com gave up on Mono, saying that it’s GC was essentially non-existent (maybe because it didn’t pack memory?). Via [Cook Computing]]{style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri; color:#1F497D"} :::

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Predicate Dispatch

Okay, since I've spent the whole damn day talking about other people's languages, let me tell you something that I would give a lot of thought to if I were designing a language. Consider C# 3.0 extension syntax:

static void Foo(this String s){ ... }
static void Foo(this Int32 …

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Trends in language syntax

Who said I wasn't fond of Delphi? Look: Delphi is a great tool. I wish absolutely nothing but the best for DevCo and the Delphi development community.

[However... ]

I have yet to hear an argument that makes me think that the Delphi language is going to experience a rennaissance in …

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Mort/Elvis/Einstein: The Humpty Dumpty Personae

There's been a rash of criticism about Microsoft's Mort/Elvis/Einstein personas. A few months ago, I swiped at M/E/E and triggered some correspondence. Part of that was the surprising lack-of-results for a search for a document that defines the Mort/Elvis/Einstein personas! One certainly justifiable criticism …

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David Intersimone on DevCo, the viability of Delphi, and Turbo Ruby

I just got off the phone with David Intersimone. My recent SD Times column on "DevCo," (the codename for the spin-off of Borland's languages and database teams) ruffled some feathers, particularly when I described the Delphi language as "well past its peak, and with its Pascal roots ? on the wrong …

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Fucking Shit

We just found out that the fucking margins on Tina's second fucking lumpectomy aren't clear, meaning that she either has to get another fucking lumpectomy or a fucking mastectomy. Total fucking shit. And today's our fourteenth fucking wedding anniversary.

This is the type of situation for which I keep swearing …

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Learning to Program

John Montgomery wonders what would be good non-traditional ways to learn to program (where "traditional == text-based tutorial"). This is a subject dear to my heart and I started to write a post, but it looks like that's turning into an article, so here I'll just make the observation that the …

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