Later today I’m going to update my piece How I Got A Career. There is a section on how you can get started with programming that is real, real, old. These days, with free IDE’s and compilers available all over the place, it’s even easier to get started.
Thanks to Dave Bauer for the useful critique. I wrote that piece ages, and ages ago. Man it’s a different world 🙂 Python, Perl, and Java seem the most appropriate starting points now. Not VB or Delphi.
I let ya know when it’s finished.
Definately a site to go see.
A fun tutorial from Sun where you build a desktop GUI app. I’m a little outta practice so I’m giving it a whirl.
That’s what this great Michael Wolf column says the industry is headed.
The NYTimes piece A Rift Among Bloggers is getting alot of commentary.
Like Rafe I realize Garret is a weblogger who doesn’t normally go on a rant. But this time he certainly did and lays down how it is.
I like Shelley’s view point on it as well. Read the NYTimes article… Seems like a big club doesn’t it?
Jonathon Delacour nails how I feel on the whole blogging == journalism track. Summary – it doesn’t. And that is a good thing. Why define a new means of expression in terms of an old one he asks. I feel the same way.
As far as my view point goes? Well to tell ya the truth… I see nothing new as far as what people are doing blogging-wise. Blogs have been here since the start of the web. But what I do see are many new faces. Some of which might not have been here were it not for advances in technology. Others that would have made it here no matter what. And that’s a good thing.
Rifts? Yeah sure there are those that like to trump up differences between certain cliques… and yes weblogging reminds me of HS lunch tables. Back in ’94 you had Justin’s Links from the Underground and now… well it’s wide open. But don’t say that techies havn’t been weblogging about politics. That something new is going on – cause it’s simply not. Certain developers have been weblogging about politics from day one. Re-read Garret’s piece. It’s just more of the same.
It’s still rock n’ roll to me. And please can we get some real weblogging articles? Some on the sociology of it all?
Speaking of the sociology of it all, here goes a new fast growing clique of bloggers Catholics. Look at this huge list. It looks like the crisis in the Church has been a catalyst. Just like 9-11 was for the ‘warblogger’ clique. So the cycle continues.
Billy Joel – It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me
What’s the matter with the clothes I’m wearing?
“Can’t you tell that your tie’s too wide?”
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
“Welcome back to the age of jive.
Where have you been hidin’ out lately, honey?
You can’t dress trashy till you spend a lot of money.”
Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout the new sound
Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me
What’s the matter with the car I’m driving?
“Can’t you tell that it’s out of style?”
Should I get a set of while wall tires?
“Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile?
Nowadays you can’t be too sentimental
Your best bet’s a true baby blue Continental.”
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk
It’s still rock and roll to me
Oh, it doesn’t matter what they say in the papers
‘Cause it’s always been the same old scene.
There’s a new band in town
But you can’t get the sound from a story in a magazine…
Aimed at your average teen
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
“You could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance.
Don’t waste your money on a new set of speakers,
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers.”
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It’s still rock and roll to me
What’s the matter with the crowd I’m seeing?
“Don’t you know that they’re out of touch?”
Should I try to be a straight `A’ student?
“If you are then you think too much.
Don’t you know about the new fashion honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money.”
It’s the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It’s still rock and roll to me
Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout the new sound
Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me
Nice guide for rabbit owners like myself.
Now this is kinda neat and shows you what you can do with Java, XML, and XSL. Check it out.
Excellent TheServerSide.com thread. I know how he feels. via rebelutionary.
Just a little thing on perspective. It is almost always easier to fight something from the outside then it is from the inside.
Sometimes people get characterized in negative light because they appear to outsiders that they are just going thru the motions, but in reality, sometimes much more is going on that meets the eye. Sometimes, that person is someone that cares so much, that they want to make a difference from the toughest place to be – on the inside. Because they know so much is at stake. Because they care and believe.
F.B.I. Agent Coleen Rowley is just such a person. She didn’t run to newspapers on Sept. 12th and blurted to the world what she felt was wrong. No – she fights from the inside. That’s courage to me.
I watched her testimony the other day and I couldn’t help but think of her as a person with tons of honor. It’s a word that’s rarely used anymore. She has it in spades.
Thinking about the house were buying really brightens my day. It signifies some kind of new era for us, for me. I’m blessed to be where I am in life and thankful. Middle Class. 🙂 Here goes a NYTimes pictorial on the middle of the middle class. It’s real important to remember where you come from in life. To not lose perspective on reality. To realize that others may not have the wealth, or the freedom to act as you do. There is a huge difference between owning a company and working for one for example. Between owning a house and struggling to pay rent. Or worst. Between paying rent and living in a shelter. As always, it’s important to walk in other’s shoes. Some people simply refuse to do that. Some people only do it for tactics. Some people don’t know how or were never forced to because they had to. Some people forget how. I hope I never get that way.
Slashdot covers this week’s NYTimes magazine. It’s hard out there.
Pink Houses by John Mellencamp
There’s a black man with a black cat livin’ in a black neighborhood
He’s got an interstate runnin’ through his front yard
You know he thinks that he’s got it so good
And there’s a woman in the kitchen cleanin’ up the evenin’ slop
And he looks at her and says, “Hey darlin’, I can remember when
you could stop a clock.”
CHORUS:
Oh but ain’t that America for you and me
Ain’t that America somethin’ to see baby
Ain’t that America home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me
There’s a young man in a t-shirt
Listenin’ to a rockin’ rollin’ station
He’s got greasy hair, greasy smile
He says, “Lord this must be my destination.”
‘Cause they told me when I was younger
“Boy you’re gonna be president.”
But just like everything else those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went
:|| CHORUS
Well there’s people and more people
What do they know know know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico
Ooh yeah
And ther’s winners and there’s losers
But they ain’t no big deal
‘Cause the simple man baby pays for the thrills, the bills,
the pills that kill
:|| CHORUS