Category Archives: Communications, Connection, Internet, Web, Media

One guy builds version 1.0 in a few months and…

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Here’s something I don’t understand. Ignore the Napster legal history for a moment. Let’s talk about software development. About two years ago, Napster and Bertlesmann announced that they would deliver a version of Napster that would charge money and only provide music legally. Now, it seems like they ran out of money before they could even deliver that. What I don’t understand, exactly, is why they couldn’t build this thing that sells Bertlesmann music with two whole years of work and a whole team of developers? When Fanning had built the original thing in three months? (Then again, the story here sounds incredibly familiar. One guy builds version 1 in a few months and then a team of 15 can’t build version 2 for years and years. Tell me you haven’t seen that movie before. (emphasis added by me – Karl))

Read Joel on Software. Telling it like it is.

The Gone and Forgotten RSS Reader – Carmen’s Headline Viewer

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Recently I reminiced about Carmen’s Headline Viewer. A really cool desktop RSS reader from back in the day (4-99 to 7-01!). Doesn’t work so well now that the spec has changed, and it’s no longer being updated. Booting it up, after so long, was rather surprising. For code that’s over a year old, it’s highly competitive. Update: Ben Hammersley remembers Headline Viewer in the Guardian. Thanks Shelley.

The Journalist’s Creed by Walter Williams

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I believe in the profession of journalism.

I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.

I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.

I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.

I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.

I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one’s own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another’s instructions or another’s dividends.

I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.

I believe that the journalism which succeeds best — and best deserves success — fears God and honors Man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power, constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today’s world.

Thanks Garret.

I have to document THAT?

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For many Java facilities, including most open-source packages and most internally developed components, the reality is that very few class libraries or components come with any significant documentation besides the Javadoc. This means that developers will be learning to use facilities from the Javadoc, and we should consider organizing our Javadoc around this reality. I’ve often joked that one of the most important skills for a Java programmer today is the skillful use of Google and Javadoc to reverse-engineer poorly documented APIs. It may be true, but it’s not really very funny.

Read the rest in this develperWorks article. via codaland.