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    <item>
 <title><![CDATA[qooxdoo - the new era of web interface development]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=70</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://qooxdoo.oss.schlund.de/">qooxdoo</a> looks like a neat way of making web applications look better. Will look further into this.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=70</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2005 09:24:09 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Brave new world...]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=69</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"New output content protection mechanisms planned for the next version of Microsoft® Windows® codenamed &quot;Longhorn&quot; protect against hardware attacks while playing premium content and complement the protection against software attacks provided by the Protected Environment in Windows Longhorn."</div></blockquote><br />
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/stream/output_protect.mspx">Output Content Protection and Windows Longhorn</a> is quite an interesting page. Looks like all Windows users need to get new audio and video equipment in order to play "premium content". I can't find my newspeak dictionary, so I'm not sure what premium content means.<br />
<br />
It's fascinating how many tricks the entertainment industry comes up with to protect itself from its customers.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=69</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:43:08 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP)]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=68</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"Communicating Sequential Processes, or CSP, is a language for describing patterns of interaction. It is supported by an elegant, mathematical theory, a set of proof tools, and an extensive literature. The book Communicating Sequential Processes was first published in 1985 by Prentice Hall International (who have kindly released the copyright); it is an excellent introduction to the language, and also to the mathematical theory."</div></blockquote><br />
Another online <a href="http://www.usingcsp.com/">book</a> to read when I have spare time.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=68</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:15:52 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=67</link>
<description><![CDATA[Wow, two entries in one day! I must be on fire! Antually, the report linked below comes from <a href="http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/">this</a> page about the six dumbest ideas in computer security, linked from today's /. frontpage.<br />
<br />
It contains gems like "turd polish" (it still stinks, but management might enjoy it's improved, shiny appearance) and  "It is often easier to not do something dumb than it is to do something smart."<br />
<br />
Worth a read.<br />
<br />
]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=67</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 12 Sep 2005 11:05:16 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Personal observations on  the reliability of the Shuttle]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=66</link>
<description><![CDATA[Nice <a href="http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/feynman.html">report</a> by Richard P Feynman about what caused the Challenger disaster.<br />
<br />
Should also apply to how software systems are designed and built.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=66</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:56:33 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Managing for Creativity]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=65</link>
<description><![CDATA[Yes, I'm still alive and jotting down things I should read when I can find the time. This time a <a href="http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbrsa/en/issue/0507/article/R0507L.jhtml?path=arc&amp;pubDate=July%202005">piece</a> from the Harvard Business Review (again from /.) about how to manage for creativity.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=65</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jul 2005 09:07:27 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Painless Software Schedules]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=64</link>
<description><![CDATA[Could software development schedule management be <a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000245.html">this</a> easy? Using Excel?]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=64</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jun 2005 08:51:55 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Windows rapidly approaching desktop usability]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=63</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"Microsoft Windows XP, Home Edition, with Service Pack 2, is a tremendous improvement over previous Windows versions when it comes to stability and appearance, but it still has many glitches that keep it from being competitive with GNU/Linux for everyday users, including a tedious installation procedure, lack of productivity software included with the operating system, hardware compatibility problems, and a price so much higher than any of the Linux distributions I've tested lately that I don't feel this product is a good value for most home or small office users"</div></blockquote><br />
NewsForge does a <a href="http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/05/18/2033216">review</a> of the latest edition of Windows XP, comparing it to various Linux distributions. Funny 'cause it's true :)]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=63</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 30 May 2005 08:43:51 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Why Can't I Patent My Movie?]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=62</link>
<description><![CDATA[A fun little <a href="http://www.ffii.se/dokument/filmpatent_eng.html">essay</a> (although it originates from a Swedish page) about software patents - as such.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=62</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2005 14:35:24 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[How to Survive a Zombie Attack]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=61</link>
<description><![CDATA[Kuro5hin has published a guide on <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/4/18/153047/155">how to survive a zombie attack</a>. Might require some adaptation to local conditions, but well worth a read just in case. You never know...]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=61</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:23:01 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Wicked Cool Shell Scripts]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=60</link>
<description><![CDATA[A <a href="http://www.intuitive.com/wicked/">book</a> that contains (or claims to contain) some wicked cool shell scripts. Examples included.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=60</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:10:29 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Proof and beauty]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=59</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3809661">An article</a> from <a href="http://www.economist.com">The Economist</a> about how mathematical proofs in the future will be done by computers rather than humans. Will read later.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=59</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2005 08:16:01 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[I knew it!]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=58</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"Large enterprises should not use Linux because it is not secure enough, has scalability problems and could fork into many different flavours, according to the Agility Alliance, which includes IT heavyweights EDS, Fuji Xerox, Cisco, Microsoft, Sun, Dell and EMC."</div></blockquote><br />
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/0,2000061733,39184795,00.htm">Linux is insecure and unscalable</a> state the usual suspects. I knew it. I guess I'll just delete it now and go back to using Windows. Oh, wait...<br />
<br />
The other day I needed to retire one of the hard drives of my work computer. It was old (from around 2000), only 8GB and had started making suspicious noises. So rather than letting it crash completely, leaving a complete reinstall as the only option, I decided to move the contents of it onto a new partition on the other, large harddrive. I have done this procedure many times on my Linux box(es) and it's usually a quick and painless procedure.<br />
<br />
Obviously, Windows does not come with standard tools that let you do useful things. So, out comes Partition Magic to shrink my F: drive to make room for the current C: drive. Before this adventure started, my system drive was C: (master on IDE1). Then the CDROM drive was D:, CDRW drive was E:, and large HD (slave drive on IDE1) was F:. Lots of programs plus Windows' page file was stored on F: since it has plenty of space.<br />
<br />
So, once PM had done its magic and shrinked my F: drive to make room for the old C: drive at the beginning of the harddrive, I copied the old C: partition into the newly created empty space on the slave harddrive, powered down the system and removed the old, faulty harddrive.<br />
<br />
Now I had pretty much the same configuration as before. Two harddrive partitions, and two optical drives. So everything should be fine and boot up nicely. Oh, wait...<br />
<br />
Of course, since I have moved the partitions onto the same physical harddrive, Windows has decided that it must randomly swap the drive letters around to ensure that at least something goes wrong. And it does. As I mentioned previously, the Windows page file was set up on F: since the old C: partition was nearly full. Since the drive letters have been swapped around, F: is now either non-existent or an optical drive and either way it does not work for swapping.<br />
<br />
So now I can't log in. I enter my name and password, but after a minute of pondering Windows simply returns to the login screen. "Ok, I'll just manually configure the drive letters" I, naively, think. But since I cannot log in to the damn system I can't configure the drive letters, and the thing won't even boot to command line. So out comes the install CD, and I go into rescue mode. Nope, no way to inform Windows what the drive letters really should be there either (oh, how much easier this is in /etc/fstab). Hours of blood, sweat and tears follow.<br />
<br />
Final solution: Get a new HD from storage. Copy old system partition onto new harddrive. Make two small dummy partitions on new HD to act as D: and E:, which made Windows' random drive letter assignment agent leave the old F: as F:. My optical drives are now G: and H: and Windows boots. I dread the next time a program installed from CD wants to read something from D:. <br />
<br />
So.. while this certainly is not an enterprise class problem, it clearly demonstrates how Windows isn't quite ready for the desktop yet. It's still lacking proper system tools, and looks like something you'd buy in the Fisher Price section of a toy store. And is about as useful. But at least it only comes in one flavour..?]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=58</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2005 08:30:16 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[How to Start a Startup]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=57</link>
<description><![CDATA[Yes, I'm still here, even though updates have been relatively infrequent. But since I mainly use this page as a reminder to myself of things that I should look at when I have time, it only means that I haven't had much time to find things lately.<br />
<br />
But today /. links to an essay by Paul Graham about <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html">How to Start a Startup</a>. Sounds quite interesting. Coming from a man who's made a load of cash on his own startup it sounds even more interesting. Will read later (when I'm not at work, the essay is long)...]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=57</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2005 08:13:06 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[A parent's primer to computer slang]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=56</link>
<description><![CDATA[Finally you can understand 1337, too:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/kidtalk.mspx">A parent's primer to computer slang</a>]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=56</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:05:20 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Odd Comments and Strange Doings in Unix]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=55</link>
<description><![CDATA[Fun page from Bell Labs about <a href="http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/odd.html">comments and doings</a> in the Unix source code.]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=55</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:38:37 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[ACM Queue - A Conversation with Alan Kay]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=54</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&amp;pa=showpage&amp;pid=273">Interview</a> with Alan Kay at ACM Queue.<br />
]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=54</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2005 09:36:02 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[The Cell Processor]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=53</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/cpu/cell-1.ars">Article</a> from <a href="http://arstechnica.com">ars</a> about the latest processor venture of Sony/IBM/Toshiba. <br />
<br />
The hype is good, wonder if the processor is, too?]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=53</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2005 09:23:17 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[RubyForge]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=52</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"RubyForge is a home for open source Ruby projects"</div></blockquote><br />
Since I'm on a roll here I might as well add a link to <br />
<a href="http://rubyforge.org/">RubyForge</a>, too. Like sourceforge, but for Ruby projects.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=52</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:35:20 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[PMD]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=51</link>
<description><![CDATA[Note to self: Check this out. Integrates with both Eclipse and Emacs. Nobody knows what <a href="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/">PMD</a> stands for, but apparently they think it's great.<br />
<blockquote><div>"PMD scans Java source code and looks for potential problems like:<br />
<br />
    * Empty try/catch/finally/switch blocks<br />
    * Unused local variables, parameters and private methods<br />
    * Empty if/while statements<br />
    * Overcomplicated expressions - unnecessary if statements, for loops that could be while loops<br />
    * Classes with high Cyclomatic Complexity measurements"</div></blockquote><br />
]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=51</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:33:14 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Hacking Open Office]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=50</link>
<description><![CDATA[Slashdot links to a story about <a href="http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/01/26/hacking-ooo.html"> Hacking Open Office</a> that should be interesting. Would be nice to customise the application slightly, as it contains a few annoyances (like the default style..).<br />
]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=50</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:29:20 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Rolling with Ruby on Rails]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=49</link>
<description><![CDATA[Adding another link from /. to my suggested reading list, <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html">Rolling with Ruby on Rails</a>.<br />
<br />
Is this a worthwhile technology, or just another fad? Quotes like <i>"the super productive new way to develop web applications"</i> certainly don't make me less sceptical...]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=49</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2005 08:51:19 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Death by UML Fever]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=48</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&amp;pa=showpage&amp;pid=130&amp;page=1">Here</a> is a great article from ACM Queue about UML Fever. It details various strains of the disease, and their effect on those infected.<br />
<br />
It's funny 'cause it's true...]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=48</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2005 13:31:06 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Safecracking]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=47</link>
<description><![CDATA[The frontpage of Slashdot links to an <a href="http://www.crypto.com/papers/safelocks.pdf">article</a> (pdf) about safecracking from a computer scientist perspective. Looks like an interesting read, always fun to see how other professions tackle security issues (and maybe I can learn how to break into a safe, too :)]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=47</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:03:27 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA['Essential Highlights' by lyngtun - DPChallenge]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=46</link>
<description><![CDATA[Well, my entry to the 'Yellow Revisited' challenge made it in the top half at least, 146 out of 399 submissions... View the image <a href="http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=126703">here</a>. <br />
<br />
Got quite a few nice comments, and even some top ratings. I like to think that my entry was rated down because it wasn't commersial enough ;)  I'll try again later, but will skip the 'People and their pets' challenge.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=46</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2004 22:01:47 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[A radical cure for the ailing U.S. patent system]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=45</link>
<description><![CDATA[Slashdot links to an IEEE <a href="http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/careers/careerstemplate.jsp?ArticleId=i120204">article</a> about how the US patent system can be fixed. Long read, but looks interesting so it's probably worth the while.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=45</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2004 08:47:17 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[My first DPChallenge submission]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=44</link>
<description><![CDATA[Well, I've submitted an image to the "Yellow revisited" challenge at <a href="http://www.dpchallenge.com/">DPChallenge</a>. In the spirit of the challenge I won't reveal which one it is until voting is complete :)<br />
<br />
There were 399 submissions, anything above last place will be an encouragement for further experimentation.<br />
<br />
Next challenge is wind...]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=44</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 08 Dec 2004 08:51:28 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[More Ruby]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=43</link>
<description><![CDATA[Slashdot has a horribly disorganised <a href="http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/06/1158251&amp;tid=156&amp;tid=1">"story"</a> about Ruby today, although it really is just a collection of links.<br />
<br />
The comments contain some links that are worth checking out when I have the time.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=43</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 08 Dec 2004 08:48:09 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Gentoo is Rice]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=42</link>
<description><![CDATA[People always take the piss out of Gentoo users because we compile everything from scratch. Some Gentoo users think that compiling from scratch is really cool and that's the only reason for using it (I'm not included in that segment).<br />
<br />
Others laugh at our favourite Linux distro, for example here:<br />
<a href="http://funroll-loops.org/">Welcome to Gentoo is Rice, the Volume goes to 11 here.</a><br />
<br />
It's funny 'cause it's (sortof) true :)]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=42</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2004 08:27:46 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Ten Most Wanted Design Bugs]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=41</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.asktog.com/Bughouse/10MostPersistentBugs.html">Ten Most Wanted Design Bugs</a> is a compilation of design bugs that have shown up again and again. For instance the "<i>computer shuts off if power is lost for a milisecond</i>" bug: <br />
<blockquote><div>"If cars modelled this behavior, you might drive your car from New York to Miami, run out of gas in Fort Lauderdale, 10 miles from your destination, and suddenly find yourself back in New York."</div></blockquote><br />
]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=41</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:51:38 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[FIlm vs digital images]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=40</link>
<description><![CDATA[What is best? Film or digital?<br />
<blockquote><div>"This is an unscientific test to see the difference between film and digital from a realistic and economical viewpoint. The tests where conducted on 12/21/03 at The Painted Hills Oregon. I already knew that I preferred digital to 35mm film but I wanted to see just how good film could be. I didn't want to limit myself to just 35mm because there where other inexpensive options available. I wanted to see how an inexpensive 4x5 field camera and a cheap flatbed scanner would compare to a state of the art digital SLR and top of the line Nikkor glass. Could a setup costing half as much be twice as good? You judge for yourself."</div></blockquote><br />
The test is <a href="http://www.butterflydesigns.net/tests/film_digital.htm">here</a>.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=40</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:34:40 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Why extends is evil]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=39</link>
<description><![CDATA[Over time I have come to realise that class hierarchies (with superclasses and inheritance etc) are quite interesting, but seem to not have a lot of real-life use-cases. In university we spent time writing Animal, Mammal and Whale classes, but so far none of my employers have asked me to do so.<br />
<br />
In an <a href="http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-08-2003/jw-0801-toolbox.html">article</a> on Javaworld this problem is articulated further, and concludes that the best way to encapsulate implementations is through interfaces, not inheritance hierarchies.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=39</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:13:18 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Why getter and setter methods are evil]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=38</link>
<description><![CDATA[Found an <a href="http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-09-2003/jw-0905-toolbox.html">article</a> on Javaworld on why getter and setter methods are evil. Might be an interesting read.<br />
<br />
Personally I've always found getters and setters (for fields) annoying since all they introduce is code bloat with the benefit that someday you can replace the field with a calculated value (but we all know that day will probably never come) and other classes will still compile.<br />
<br />
Worth a read.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=38</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2004 13:20:11 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Photography sites]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=37</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://flumpie.deviantart.com">Flumpie's</a> recent pictures have inspired me to learn more about digital photography. Haven't had time to play much with the camera yet, but have at least found a decent <a href="http://www.shortcourses.com/mustsee/mustsee.htm">list</a> of sites to check out.<br />
<br />
There are loads more sites, too (obviously). Found some nice tutorials at <a href="http://dpchallenge.com">dpchallenge</a>.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=37</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2004 13:19:43 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[One-day compilers]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=36</link>
<description><![CDATA[A set of <a href="http://www.venge.net/graydon/talks/mkc/html/index.html">slides</a> showing how to create a DSL (domain specific language) in one day using Ocaml.<br />
<br />
Too many programming languages, too little time. At the moment I'm looking into Ruby and Lisp (but haven't gotten very far), but maybe I should add Ocaml to the mix, too.<br />
<br />
The problem is that I never get anything done, spend too much time worrying about what tool to use :)]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=36</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:15:41 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[The Law of Leaky Abstractions]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=35</link>
<description><![CDATA[Great article from <a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com">Joel on Software</a> about <a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html">The Law of Leaky Abstractions</a>.<br />
<br />
Short summary: Learn the basics first, then use abstractions to work faster.<br />
<br />
Anyone who believes that all you need to make great software are fancy IDEs should read this.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=35</comments>
 <pubDate>Mon, 22 Nov 2004 09:32:22 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Panorama Tools]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=34</link>
<description><![CDATA[Adding a quick link to <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/panotools/">Panorama Tools</a>:<br />
<blockquote><div>"The cross-platform library behind Panorama Tools and many other GUI photo stitchers"</div></blockquote><br />
Since Canon's software doesn't run on Linux, this may be worth checking out if I ever want to use the panorama feature of my A80.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=34</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2004 08:22:43 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Economist.com | Intellectual property]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=33</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"It is probably inhibiting, rather than encouraging, commercial innovation, which had never received, or needed, legal protection in the past"</div></blockquote><br />
<br />
<a href="http://slashdot.org">Slashdot</a> links to an <a href="http://economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3376181">article</a> in the Economist about patent systems in general and the US allowing business method patents in particular.<br />
<br />
I should take the time to get a "No software patents" image somewhere on these pages.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=33</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2004 07:56:20 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Fuck the South]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=32</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.fuckthesouth.com/">Greetings</a> from the northeastern states to the southern states.]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=32</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:32:11 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Lock your domains]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=31</link>
<description><![CDATA[New transfer rules for domains will make it <a href="http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/11/09/domain_transfers_and_hijackings_to_become_easier.html">easier</a> to hijack domains (but also to transfer your domains from reluctant registrars).<br />
<br />
Don't panic, just make sure that your domain is locked, as it should be unless you intend to transfer it.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=31</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2004 13:16:25 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[How To Write Unmaintainable Code]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=30</link>
<description><![CDATA[In the improvised series on how to keep demand for developers high, we today proudly introduce <a href="http://mindprod.com/unmain.html">How To Write Unmaintainable Code</a>.<br />
<br />
Following the simple advice in this essay makes sure that development of a product will take forever, and if it ever reaches the market, a complete rewrite will be necessary for the next version.]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=30</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2004 08:47:04 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Crash Test Dummy Olympics]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=29</link>
<description><![CDATA[Have to add a quick update about the very addictive flash game <a href="http://www.crashtestdummyolympics.co.uk/">Crash Test Dummy Olympics</a>.<br />
<br />
I was hooked on the game by my friend at <a href="http://www.stenhjem.net">stenhjem.net</a> who posted the high jump contest.<br />
<br />
Now curling has been added, too.<br />
<br />
<b>WARNING: This game is highly addictive. Don't try it if you have important things to do!</b>]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=29</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2004 08:36:20 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Making Mplayer stream music/video on Gentoo]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=28</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.gentoo.org">Gentoo</a> is a wonderful Linux distribution, but the ability to customise <i>everything</i> does come with its perils.<br />
<br />
Lately I've been struggling with viewing <a href="http://www.nrk.no">NRK</a> and <a href="http://www.tv2.no">TV2</a> web-tv and radio, without much luck. The annoying part is that it used to work before, and all over the web there is much rejoicing that finally these sites work on Linux.<br />
<br />
No such luck for me. Until yesterday, that is. So I'm writing down the solution here since I haven't updated portage to include the correct USE-flags for mplayer yet.<br />
<br />
The problem was that a new USE-flag was introduced for mplayer recently. This had the innocent-sounding name 'network' and is disabled by default. Disabling this use-flag means that the ability for mplayer to stream contents over a network is ignored during compilation, and I was left with a partially castrated version of the program.<br />
<br />
Long story short, 'env USE="network" emerge mplayer' solved the problem and it works now. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=202933">Here</a> is the thread that led me to the solution.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=28</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2004 08:32:09 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[IOCCC Winners]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=27</link>
<description><![CDATA[The <a href="http://www1.us.ioccc.org/years.html">source code</a> for the winners of the 2004 annual obfuscated c code contest have bene announced. Don't try this at home.]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=27</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2004 08:21:15 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Use your illusions]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=26</link>
<description><![CDATA[Found a really, really, really annoying <a href="http://users.bigpond.net.au/dropbear/illusion.jpg">illusion</a>. Even loaded the image into the GIMP, and the squares ARE the same shade of gray.]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=26</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2004 14:54:40 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Who really rules the world?]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=25</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.nielsbuus.dk/rod/2004election_by_iq.png">This illustration</a> may indicate that perhaps there is a slight problem with the US election, namely the voters.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=25</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2004 09:57:50 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[How to use portage correctly]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=24</link>
<description><![CDATA[Found some <a href="http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=171464">info</a> in the Gentoo forums on how to use Portage correctly. Always nice to do things the right way, things tend to not break in the long run, then.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=24</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2004 08:29:39 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[TinyURL.com - where tiny is better!]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=23</link>
<description><![CDATA[Use <a href="http://tinyurl.com/">TinyURL</a> to make big urls small...]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=23</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2004 12:39:11 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[US Presidential Election 2004]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=22</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/president/">Live coverage</a> from CNN of the current status in the US presidential election.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=22</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2004 08:30:57 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Grid computing: Conceptual flyover for developers]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=21</link>
<description><![CDATA[<blockquote><div>"This article shows you how this emerging technology borrows from past technical concepts -- it won't take much for you to see the parallels between the development of Grid computing with that of Web services, XML, and other technical arenas. You'll also see how Grid services and the very framework it all rests on is very much like object-oriented programming."</div></blockquote><br />
This <a href="http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/grid/library/gr-fly.html?ca=dgr-lnxw01-obg-GridFlyover">article</a> gives an overview of grid computing. I haven't looked into it very much yet, so it's probably worthwhile to do so. The question is whether it's just another hype...]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=21</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2004 08:05:55 -0800</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Concept Programming vs. Lisp]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=20</link>
<description><![CDATA[An <a href="http://mozart-dev.sourceforge.net/cp-vs-lisp.html">article</a> about concept programming vs Lisp. Maybe interesting, don't have time to read it now but will come back to it later...]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=20</comments>
 <pubDate>Sat, 30 Oct 2004 20:49:10 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Championing a Wiki World]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=19</link>
<description><![CDATA[An <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2004/tc20041019_0375_tc182.htm">article</a> in BusinessWeek discussed Wikis, a wonderful tool for collaboration.<br />
<br />
A couple of interesting Wikis:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.instiki.org/show/HomePage">Instiki</a> - a Wiki written in Ruby<br/><br />
<a href="http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/">MediaWiki</a> - used for Wikipedia.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=19</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 29 Oct 2004 08:44:58 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[OpenVPN]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=18</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/20041011-newsletter.xml">This</a> issue of the Gentoo Newsletter contains a primer on OpenVPN, a nice solution for getting access to LANs behind a firewall. Looks pretty easy to configure, too.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=18</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2004 14:27:23 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[bash.org: Quote #349567]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=17</link>
<description><![CDATA[A particularly funny <a href="http://bash.org/?349567">quote</a> from the always incredibly funny <a href="http://bash.org">bash.org</a>]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=17</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2004 13:50:06 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[No Software Patents!]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=16</link>
<description><![CDATA[A <a href="http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/help/link.html">page</a> that argues the case against software patents in Europe. I believe software patents will be detrimental to the industry in the long term, so let's hope the politicians understand that patents weren't made for software. We've already got copyright laws to protect software, that'll do, thank you.<br />
<br />
If anyone's in doubt about how software patents are bad, just look to the US and the incredibly obvious "ideas" that are patented there. "1-click shopping" is the prime example of patenting the blatantly obvious.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=16</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2004 08:14:44 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Mozilla Extension Room]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=15</link>
<description><![CDATA[Tons of good extensions to Mozilla (and Firefox) at the <a href="http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/">Extension Room</a>.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=15</comments>
 <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2004 08:06:17 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Revision Control Systems]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=14</link>
<description><![CDATA[Found a <a href="http://zooko.com/revision_control_quick_ref.html">quick guide</a> to revision control systems that are worth looking into. I'm getting tired of CVS's limitations and would like to move on to something more sophisticated (but preferably still free (speech)).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gnu-arch/">GNU Arch</a> looks interesting, it supports a lot of advanced features. <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/">Subversion</a> has been in the news a lot lately, but I'm not entirely convinced. <a href="http://abridgegame.org/darcs/">DARCS</a> looks very interesting, the fact that it's written in Haskell makes it even more so...]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=14</comments>
 <pubDate>Sun, 24 Oct 2004 06:31:20 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Encrypt backups]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=13</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=47726&amp;highlight=keyring">How to</a> encrypt a file using gpg so it can be sent to e.g. my gmail account as an offsite backup.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=13</comments>
 <pubDate>Sat, 23 Oct 2004 08:24:51 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Lisp is a Chameleon]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=12</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/chameleon.html">Lisp is a Chameleon</a> - maybe it is about time I install an implementation and start playing with this language....]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=12</comments>
 <pubDate>Sat, 23 Oct 2004 08:23:40 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[The Gimli Glider / Air Canada]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=11</link>
<description><![CDATA[Facsinating stori about landing a 767 out of fuel: <a href="http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html">The Gimli Glider</a>]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=11</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2004 20:21:35 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[The origin of Murphy's Law]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=10</link>
<description><![CDATA[An MSNBC <a href='http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6301146/'>story</a> about the origin of Myrphy's Law, and how it still comes true at NASA.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=10</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2004 19:59:03 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Windows v Linux security - again....]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=9</link>
<description><![CDATA[An interesting <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/linux_v_windows_security/">article </a>at The Register reflecting over the "Get the Facts" campaign from Microsoft. Especially interesting is the point that if Windows is attacked so much because of its large user base, then why is IIS more attacked than Apache?]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=9</comments>
 <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2004 19:48:09 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[GmailFS - Gmail Filesystem]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=8</link>
<description><![CDATA[Perhaps the <a href="http://richard.jones.name/google-hacks/gmail-filesystem/gmail-filesystem.html">Gmail filesystem</a> is a solution to off-site backups for home use? Schedule a nightly cron-job that backs up important information to the 1GB gmail account... Rsync or perhaps a compressed tarball. Obviously the size of the backup can't be too large due to bandwidth issues, but at least mail and important documents can be included.]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=8</comments>
 <pubDate>Thu, 21 Oct 2004 08:42:22 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Watching the US elections]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=7</link>
<description><![CDATA[At <a href="http://pollingreport2.com/">PollingReport.com</a> the latest polls leading up to the US election in November are posted. Will Kerry manage to pull ahead when it matters?]]></description>
 <category>General</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=7</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 20 Oct 2004 12:04:06 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Which OS are you?]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=6</link>
<description><![CDATA[Apparently this is me: <a href="http://bbspot.com/News/2003/01/os_quiz.php"><br />
<img width="300" height="90" border="0" alt="You are Slackware Linux. You are the brightest among your peers, but are often mistaken as insane.  Your elegant solutions to problems often take a little longer, but require much less effort to complete." src="http://www.bbspot.com/Images/News_Features/2003/01/os_quiz/slackware.jpg"><br />
<br>Which OS are you?<br />
<br></a>]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=6</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 20 Oct 2004 09:09:11 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[How NOT to go about a programming assignment]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=5</link>
<description><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.di.uniovi.es/~cernuda/noprog_ENG.html">How NOT to go about a programming assignment</a> describes how all real programming students work. Almost takes me back to my good old college days.]]></description>
 <category>Fun</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=5</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 20 Oct 2004 08:57:51 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Good Bad Attitude]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=4</link>
<description><![CDATA[Another essay from Paul Graham, <a href="http://paulgraham.com/gba.html">Good Bad Attitude</a>, delving into the minds of hackers.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=4</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 20 Oct 2004 08:45:54 -0700</pubDate>
</item><item>
 <title><![CDATA[Python Vs Ruby]]></title>
 <link>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=3</link>
<description><![CDATA[A Wiki page discusses the merits of <a href="http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PythonVsRuby">Python Vs Ruby</a>.]]></description>
 <category>Development</category>
<comments>http://improvised.org/improvised/index.php?itemid=3</comments>
 <pubDate>Wed, 20 Oct 2004 08:41:29 -0700</pubDate>
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