authentication
Dare Obasanjo’s May 26th thoughts on the Facebook platform contained a number of links to the Facebook API documentation. At the time, clicking through to any of the Facebook API links resulted in a login dialog: It struck me as incredibly odd that I had to login just to
programming languages
Dennis Forbes took issue with my recent post on C# and the Compilation Tax, offering this criticism, pointedly titled “Beginners and Hacks:” Sometimes [background compilation and edit and continue] are there to coddle a beginner, carefully keeping them within the painted lines and away from the dangerous electrical sockets along
programming languages
If you didn’t get a chance to watch today’s historic interview between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, you should. Finally seeing these two computer industry giants on stage interacting with each other was fascinating and at times even a little touching. * Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Prologue * Steve
software development concepts
Rich Skrenta writes that code is our enemy. Code is bad. It rots. It requires periodic maintenance. It has bugs that need to be found. New features mean old code has to be adapted. The more code you have, the more places there are for bugs to hide. The longer
design principles
Khoi Vinh, the design director for the New York Times, explains how essential grids are to web design in his SXSW presentation with Mark Boulton, Grids Are Good (Right?). So much web design work relies on establishing a grid and the constraints on that grid: ad sizes, display size, browser
computer hardware
I’ve never understood programmers who loved the craft of programming, but were disinterested in the underlying hardware – the very tool that allows them to practice their craft. I have an unabashed love for computer hardware that borders on inappropriate. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Warning: this post
performance
From the “you can’t make this stuff up department,” this 2003 gem from blogging O.G. John Dvorak: IDLE-TIME PROCESS. Once in a while the system will go into an idle mode, requiring from five minutes to half an hour to unwind. It’s weird, and I almost
game development
I originally discovered the fiendishly addictive Tower Defense as a multiplayer game modification for Warcraft III. It’s a cooperative game mode where you, and a few other players, are presented with a simple maze. A group of monsters appear at the entrance and trudge methodically toward the exit. Your
hardware
In When Hardware is Free, Power is Expensive, I referenced a Google whitepaper (pdf) that explained why typical PC power supplies are not particularly efficient: Most likely, the computer you’re using wastes 30-40% of the electrical power it consumes because it is using an inefficient power supply. It’
linux
Today, bowing to customer demand, Dell launched a new series of desktops featuring the free, open-source Ubuntu operating system. To my knowledge, this is the first time Dell has ever offered any non-Microsoft operating system on their desktops. Until today, it was quite literally impossible to decline the
software development concepts
Bill Gates has often said that over time, the cost of computer hardware approaches zero. Here’s one such example: Ten years out, in terms of actual hardware costs you can almost think of hardware as being free. History has proven him right. Computer hardware isn’t literally free, of
javascript
Mike Shaver, a founding member of the Mozilla team, has strong feelings about how the web became popular: If you choose a platform that needs tools, if you give up the viral soft collaboration of View Source and copy-and-paste mashups and being able to jam jQuery in the