therning.org/ magnus

It’s been a while but my list of links to put out there is starting to get a bit too long.

Here’s another example of how wrong the patent system is. We really don’t need software patents in Europe! There seems to be some hope for the situation in the States though. We need more stories like that!

Some Linux related things. I suppose “military intelligence” isn’t such an oxymoron after all, at least not in Sweden. If you want to learn Linux, here are some tips. If you are so unfortunate as to be a Linux user forced to work on Windows then here are some tips for you.

There’s always some interesting things going on in the DRM world. How’s this for a story? Large music company sticks dodgy software from small company on CDs so that their customers’ unwittingly installs said software when trying to play the CD on their computer. Then it turns out that the software is dodgy and the large company is taken to court in class action suits all over the world. Now, who’s to blame? The large company that made the amazingly bad decision to treat their customers like criminals? Not if you’re Sony! Here’s a bonus article on DRM, a bit of scare mongering surrounding Microsoft’s use of “trusted computing”. Yes, technology can be used in bad ways, but I doubt even Microsoft would be able to stick to such a bad use of technology for long. Call me an optimist! I’m hopelessly late. Here’s an excellent explanation of why DRM is so hard from a technical POV.

I’ve been hoarding links on how to opt out of the NHS database here in the UK. They could turn out to be useful.

I doubt I’ll ever need this.

Looking to become a maintainer of some free software? Look no further.

If you live in the UK and shop online you should know your rights.

A funny story about security.

How’s this for ending on a funny/happy note? It seems the RFID tags in passports can be used to crash the RFID readers.

Just can’t help wanting to point people to this description of abject oriented programming, a little-known but widely used programming paradigm.

Over to something more serious. I want a zooming desktop that uses the power of language. Something for GNOME 3 maybe?

I just listened to episode 10 of the Get Illuminated audio cast where Steven E. Landsburg is interviewed (I found the link on Boing Boing). It sounds like a very interesting book; I really love that sort of provocative writing, the sort that challenges your common sense.

The only argument I can raise against the author’s reasoning, and bear in mind that I haven’t actually read the book yet this is all based on the interview, is that it’s “how not to be part of the problem”, but it’s not “how to solve the problem”. I suppose it really highlights the difference between “do no evil” and “do good”.

I’m not too surprised by this actually…

Which Programming Language are You?

Microsoft, if you need to pay people to use your product then it’s probably not a very good one!

…you walk into TK Maxx, see a picture of Kelly Osborne and wonder why she would be interested in random numbers.

I did the Programmer personality test:

Your programmer personality type is:

   PHTB

You’re a Planner.

You may be slow, but you’ll usually find the best solution. If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

You like coding at a High level.

The world is made up of objects and components, you should create your programs in the same way.

You work best in a Team.

A good group is better than the sum of it’s parts. The only thing better than a genius programmer is a cohesive group of genius programmers.

You are a liBeral programmer.

Programming is a complex task and you should use white space and comments as freely as possible to help simplify the task. We’re not writing on paper anymore so we can take up as much room as we need.

Add a toilet to publictoilets.org. I just added the first entry for Cambridge, UK.

Brilliant clip from Family Guy:

I realised I hadn’t put in one of these posts in a while. The level in my “To Blog” bookmark tag was dangerously high… here we go!

I really enjoy this, rather old article on superstitions in relation to computers. I never bothered counting my superstitions on Windows, but given that I’ve given up on understanding Microsoft’s products I suspect they run in the thousands.

Every developer needs Cenqua’s Commentator. I’m getting it as soon as I’ve saved the money. It’ll be the first piece of software that I pay for myself in years. Worth every penny though.

libgfshare. Please, go off and write some cool software using it. Please! If I were a FirefoxIceWeasel user I would use the Python sidebar. It looks so useful I might look into creating one for epiphany. If you’re considering doing something cool with PDF docs, have a look at extendedPDF. I think I’ve mentioned Rob Bradford’s GConf difftool in another post, or maybe not. Anyway, I’m hoping that’s the first step towards a tool that lets you export GConf settings between machines. Are you a Python web developer, Python Paste is yet another framework.

If you still believe that “do no evil” is enough then you won’t be interested in Google Watch. I however thing they should upgrade their slogan to “do good”, so I am interested.

I found the following post funny, but I’m probably the only one. Havoc doesn’t understand why distributed VCS is better then Subversion. I suppose that’s what happens when you are a famous FLOSS person that immediately gain submit access to any project one shows an interest in. For the rest of us; thank goodness for distributed VCS.

Old news, but Firefly fans are bloody brilliant.

More old news, I don’t really see why I should worry about “identity theft” from someone rummaging through the rubbish in my wheely bins while the UK banks are so careless with client information.

With great power comes great responsibility. It’s sad when language designers don’t believe the developers deserve the responsibility. Here’s a post on the difference in attitude between C# and Python when it comes to empowering the developer.

I had fun reading about the evolution of a Haskell programmer, even though I didn’t understand all the code.

Well, I actually do believe in the cheerleader defense for wireless networks. Anyone who has looked at software security knows that plausable deniability is much easier to achieve than locking down a system. IANAL but I still believe in the phrase “beyond reasonable doubt”.

Now, I wasn’t planning on running Vista on any of my private machines. After reading this, rather long, article on Vista’s EULA I’m absolutely certain of that. I’m almost thinking Microsoft is taking a piss out of their users. However, evidence is mounting that they aren’t. I can’t help but wonder how their “de-activation” will hold up in legal systems outside of the US. I also wonder how much further this distrust-your-user craziness in EULAs can be taken before users start reacting negatively.