08.19.08
Log4Net
An open source logging framework for .net (ported from Java I think), just what the doctor ordered. By Apache.
How to participate in the Linux Community
Here’s a guide that’s just been published about how to participate in Linux development:
“A guide to the kernel development process aims to encourage participation by new programmers by explaining what’s involved. Some developers and businesses attempting to submit changes to the Linux kernel find themselves tangled up with the processes used, according to the guide, which was written by Jonathan Corbet, executive editor of lwn.net and himself a Linux developer.”
I haven’t read this yet (just scanned the earlier bits), but it looks like a valuable insight into the way the linux community and linux development really works. Might offer some good clues on how to structure a successful, scalable open source project.
Life in the Information Economy, Corey Doctorow
This is a great talk given by Corey Doctorow, master of the blogosphere, he of the red goggles and hot air balloon.
It’s about the information economy brought on by the net, and why the efforts to control copying on it are doomed to fail (either failing to work, or breaking the net in the process), and the fundamental changes to the way we organise as a result. Nice points are that this environment facilitates cheap collaboration, so favours smaller groups of specialists collaborating ad-hoc over large groups (big corps), because coordinating people in an hierarchical fashion is expensive.
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/04/my-cambridge-busines.html
There’s a video of it, plus a link to a transcription.
08.18.08
Illustrated book about cats written by Amazon Mechanical Turk
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/15/illustrated-book-abo.html
Bjoern sez, “‘Amazing but True Cat Stories’ is a collection of stories about feline antics, illustrated in vivid 8-bit color by true mspaint artists. Stolen pants, pooped-on veterinarians, fur on fire, foretold seizures, and much more! This book was entirely written by the anonymous crowd. All stories and illustrations were submitted by workers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. I selected, edited and laid out the stories in a short but sweet coffee table book. The idea for this book was born in Terminal A at Washington Dulles, where I was stranded for some hours in late July. To spend my time, I posted the following two tasks on MTurk: 1) Write at least one paragraph about a funny, unbelievable or otherwise memorable incident involving your cat. 2) Sketch a cat. With or without an environment and toys. Before I got out of that terminal, it was already clear that the submissions were too good to keep to myself.”
Now that’s a way to write a book.
Amazon Mechanical Turk seems like it would have massive actualizing potential, but it’s hard to think of good uses. This is a really left of center idea.
08.16.08
Great Cloud App – Project Draw
Need to knock up a decent looking diagram? No need to pay the boomer tax by buying Visio. You can use Gliffy.com, which is fine, although the free version is becoming more and more restricted (note to Google: Buy Gliffy.com and add it to Google Docs, pleeease).
But if you want something free and available right now, try Project Draw by AutoDesk Labs. It’s a surprisingly excellent diagramming tools, with lots of icons, and the ability to import your own graphics. It also appears to be a javascript app; doesn’t require flash. I don’t really understand how that’s possible, but it’s right there doing its thing, so hey.
When I first saw this thing, I thought it was only about working with files on my local filesystem. However, it definitely has a server that stores your documents. It’s pretty confusing figuring out how you get at them, because it has a “file” menu that looks like a desktop app’s file menu, but works in a disjointed, unintuitive way. It works like this:
New: New document
Open: Opens a file from your file system
Export: Saves the current document to your file system, many formats including picture formats like gif & jpg, as well as pdf.
Save, Save As: Saves to the server
How do you reopen something from the server? There’s an outlook bar type of thing on the left of the screen, with three vertical “tabs”. The default selected one is the top one, which shows the built in shapes pallette. Change it to the middle one, and you get a list of your files on the server. Click one, and it opens from the server. Crazy, but that’s how it works.
Despite that minor annoyance, it’s a great piece of software, worth trying out next time you need a quick diagram.
How does Google exist?
Google is an actualizer’s dream. They supply amazing, useful, disruptive software and services for free. I’m an unapologetic google fanboi. Oh and there’s a search engine.
But how on earth do they make money from this stuff? Well, as my first shot at answering that question, I read this:
Google Investor Relations FAQ
Short answer: Ads.
08.13.08
Tradgedy of the anticommons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_anticommons
I’ve got no time for intellectual property laws. The great project of humanity has been to add to our collective knowledge. That’s the great jewel of our species. To lock up bits of it seems to me a travesty. For actualizing, every locked up piece of information is an opportunity lost, it becomes friction in the machine.
