Humankind

Humankind has advanced so far...

Netbeans 6

I downloaded Netbeans 6 the other day and my initial impressions are very positive. I can't stand Eclipse: I really dislike the look and feel, the code completion isn't as nice as IDEA, the perspectives are annoying to use, and I don't find it nearly as intuitive as IDEA (which is my main IDE for work). Netbeans 6 was comparable to IDEA for me in the short amount of time I have used it; check it out if you haven't already.

Fairness is foolish

The Fairness Doctrine mandates "fair" talk radio broadcasts by requiring equal amounts of airtime for both sides of the issues. Last time I checked, we lived in a capitalistic economy where "fairness" has no place. If you want "fairness" in your economy go to Europe where the economy is sluggish at best, the tax rate is astronomical, and the unemployment rate is at least double the rate it is here. Capitalism centers around efficiency, not fairness. It makes no difference to me who has more presence in talk radio; unprofitable businesses go bankrupt; that is the way capitalism works and that's the best system ever developed in the history of mankind.

For a wonderful example of how successful government supported media can be, check out PBS sometime; what an entertaining channel.

Whatever happened to Xen? Oh, and the iPhone is dumb

If you've ever wondered like I did, here's you answer.

Since everyone's talking about the iPhone, I'll jump on that train for the moment with my opinion: it's a huge ripoff. Tons of other phones have many more features and cost half or less than the iPhone but don't have all the hype so aren't as popular. The deal killer for me is the glacially slow Internet connection - I've heard many sites taking a minute or two to load. Why would you pay $2000 over 2 years for that? I guess if you want to be "hip" then go ahead; seems pretty foolish to me.

Linux in da house

I finally got the Internet working in my apartment after a lot of fiddling; in the end I don't know exactly what I did to get it working, but the fact that it does work is all I care about for the moment.

The first thing I did was install the newest Ubuntu. Wooooooow. Installation was incredibly seamless and I am very happy with everything so far. I was living in the ancient days of Breezy Badger with no internet connection before (and Windows at work), so this is quite an adjustment for me. If you haven't used Linux on your PC before, I highly, HIGHLY, recommend Ubuntu, even if you don't know much about computers. I'll say it right now, and I'll say it again: Linux blows the pants off Windows any day of the week. The worst problem is that most businesses write their programs for Windows so there isn't nearly the selection of software in Linux. But for personal use, Linux can't be beat (I'd say OS X is comparable, maybe even better, but it's waaay overpriced so I'll still stick with Linux).

Of spreadsheets and thank you notes

Unless you happen to be a programmer, you may not have noticed, but spreadsheets are incredibly hard to code. Of all the implementations I have ever seen, I would say one, Microsoft Excel, actually works likes its supposed to (most of the time). Almost all the other ones are littered with focus and paint issues.

In other news, I received a thank you note for a wedding I attended about one year ago. I do believe that is the longest time I have ever experienced between a gift and a thank you note. Way to go Justin H. You are the man. The best part was the contents of the note, which was highlighted with this:

"Thank you for the concrete dish you gave us for our wedding. It is neat and we use it a lot." Touching words for anyone to hear.

Java grid computing

Here is one of the better discussions from some of the developers of GigaSpaces, Terracotta, and Coherence about the merits of these different products.