Microsoft Hiring Ruby Implementor

Microsoft is looking for a developer whose "first task will be to drive the exploration of other dynamic languages such as Ruby and JavaScript on the CLR". Dang. If only they allowed people to work remotely...

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Tablet PC Honesty

Rob Bushway data-mined the buzz about Origami to reveal that a lot of Tablet PC users don't carry their existing Tablets around as much as they might claim. It's a good catch. I have 3 Tablets (how ridiculous is that?) and have to admit in all honesty that somewhere over …

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Permalinks fixed (?)

I have had a problem with dasBlog by which the first load of a page on this site (via permalinks) would serve up a 404, but if you refreshed, you'd get the page. The solution appears to be at hand: by turning off the Movable Type blacklist in the configuration …

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The 60 Percent Solution

So first a writer in Australia says that "Up to 60% of the code in the new consumer version of Microsoft new Vista operating system is set to be rewritten," and the blogosphere goes crazy. Then Scoble wigs out\< ?xml:namespace prefix = o /> and says:

  1. It's not true;
  2. It's absurd …
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LISP macros versus C macros

::: {.Section1} [Ted Neward also laments the lack of LISP-style macros in mainstream programming languages. Damn straight. LISP macros allow you to extend the syntax of your programming language. You know how modern IDEs allow you to type 'for' and then hit some key and it expands into a complete for …

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Should programmers fear offshoring?

Ted Neward argues that "programmers shouldn't fear offshoring."

He has two theses:

  • Unlike previous industrial revolutions, the demands in the software industry are such that there'll be plenty of work for all; and
  • Best practices seem to indicate that physical proximity is important to software success

I'd like to agree …

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XNA, Managed Code, and XBox Live Arcade

The February '06 issue of Game Developer Magazine (hey -- the last magazine I founded that is still in publication) has an article on "Casual Games and the Mass Market." They mean games like those of PopCap and PlayFirst: you know, Bejeweled and the like. Okay, so first of all, it's …

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Pandora vs. Last.fm

::: {.Section1} [I haven't tried Last.fm, which is a music recommendation service based on what other people listening to X []{.underline} also listen to. But I like Pandora quite a bit, so this article comparing them was worth reading. On the other hand, I still prefer KEXP to both.]{style …

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Scott Hanselman has diabetes: Sponsor Team Hanselman

::: {.Section1} [Scott is walking in the Diabetes Walk and is only halfway to his fund-raising goal. C'mon, give him a \$20.]{style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri"}\< ?xml:namespace prefix = o /> :::

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Tracepoints: Debugger controlled printf() debugging

::: {.Section1} [A "tracepoint" is a breakpoint that doesn't "break" you into the debugger, it outputs a trace to the Debug console. Apparently, VS2005 has them. Via [Chris Anderson\< ?xml:namespace prefix = o />] ]{style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri"} :::

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