Miguel de Icaza moves to Mac

This is a fresh news: Miguel de Icaza, founder of Gnome and Mono projects, declares in this post he moved from GNU/Linux to Mac OS X.

Lua vs Python or Embedding vs Extending

Another (in)famous comparison!

At least once in your programmer career, you will face the need to add a scripting language to your program. Many famous programs use a scripting language: Unreal, Quake, Emacs, Blender 3D and many games. But, when you decide it and when you start to project your implementation, you face a terrible dilemma: should you make a program with a interpreter or functions for a interpreter? This crossroad is the "embed vs extend". I'll talk about my personal opinion and how this dilemma is equal by Lua vs Python comparison.

The Robot and the Baby

I would like to salute John McCarthy, father of lisp recently passed away, in a more constructive way than a simple dedication.
McCarthy wrote a beautiful science-fiction story, The Robot and the Baby, talking about robot's perceptions.
I think it's quite lovely: inviting you to read it could be better than write a simple necrology.
Farewell, mr. McCarthy.

Farewell, Master

Today I read the latest sad news. Denis Ritchie, co-writer and co-ideator of UNIX and C programming language, died at 70.
Thank you for your immense contribute to computer science.

int main(int argc, char** argv){
   printf("Farewell mr. Ritchie.\n");
   printf("You made our tools.\n");
   printf("You made the True Operating System.\n");
   printf("You made us programmers.\n");
   printf("You made us hackers.\n");
   return 0;
}

Thank you

Thank you for NeXT and its codebase.
Thank you for the Macintosh, a real personal computer, wich does what a PC should do in 2011.
Thank you for iPhone.
Thank you for iPad, the "magical" device.
Thank you for creating this framework, giving me the opportunity to work as a Real Programmer in a Real Programming Language.
Thank you, Steve.

Never do Data-Entry

«I am sorry if I didn't write these days. Unluckly, I was very busy with a lot of work so I didn't pay much attention to other tutorials. Excuse me. I'll try to write something about next week»

It happened to me yesterday...

Data Entry is bad by design.
It's true, it's important, because without datas, a database is useless. But there are good and bad ways to insert datas. Good ways are:

1. User-Based: users insert informations on specific designed application
2. Data-Transfer: datas are moved from a data source (text file, excel, network, ecc.) to a destination database with a script
3. User-Evolved: it's similiar to the user-based. It's more Zen, because in this model we admit «perfection is impossible, imperfection is normal, evolution is required». Premising we can't insert all datas, we'll delegate users to modify and to refine them. It's how Wikipedia works

Bad ways are (usually) more widespread, because data-entry is made to solve an informations hole without considering how the database will evolve, who will use it and how.

1. One-Man-One-App: this is the "less worst" solution. A programmer is charged to implement a program to manage a database and to fill this database by himself. Though is still a bad solution, it's a bit more human because the programmer can write a program more suitable for HIS needs. More important, a single error doesn't compromise whole work
2. Data-Source-Based: absolutely THE worst solution. Two or more users work to fill a common data-source (an excel file, a text file, ecc.)

One-Man-One-App problems are:

1. A new "data-inserter" must be trained to learn how the hight-customized application works
2. Move datas to another database more well designed could be difficult
3. The official data-inserter doesn't always pay necessary attention on data-entry, because he's a programmer. Repetitive jobs make programmers angry and frustrated

Data-Source-Based is bad because

1. Data-entry manifests in its worst way: "filling" an excel spreadsheet is one of most boring and frustrating activities on earth. Even a 100x6 table is hard to fill with care
2. "Save button" is "Cumulate-and-Fire" anti-pattern incarnation. If someone forgets to Save, hours of works could be trashed
3. Finding errors could be hard if you have more than 7 columns
4. A clumsy operation (e.g. a "sort and save" just on a selection) could make datas inconsistent and ruin irremediably all the work done

If you're ALONE to fill a large database with datas wich came from paper or other non-scriptable sources, try to move yourself to a good way of data-entry. If it's impossibile, NEVER USE data-source-based: create a front-end even if you're working with an excel. This will allow you to have to avoid the "cumulate-and-fire" anti-pattern, will allow you to make a more comfortable way to insert datas and will give you a little fun when coding your script.

Anyway, data-entry is bad and boring. The only good way to do it is spreading it among three or four employed on a long timeline. 10 minutes per-day of data-entry is sopportable: two or more hours per-day doesn't.

Tutorials and Protests

Just some random thoughts

About Tutorials
Some months ago, I was surprised for the «Tech-Blog-Silence». Many blogs about GNU/Linux and FOSS stop to write saying «there's nothing to say». Obviously, if you talk just about GNU/Linux Desktop there's not always a revolution to talk about. How many years we waited to pass from X11 to X.org? And how many to pass to Wayland? In this blog I would talk about programming, computer science, sometimes about math and often about technological trends.
I would like to write some tutorials about Java, iOS programming. Maybe also about C++/QT and pure C and python and Lua. If you have some preferences, please tell me.
Obviously, I'll continue to write my annoying rants :)

Meanwhile, in Italy: Demonstrations and Prime Minister
In Italy, protests against new university law (Decreto Gelmini) continues, moving students and professors. Italian Prime Minister said "True students are at home, studying". I disagree this statement: everybody, in a democratic country, can express his ideas and, even if there are always some extremist factions, it's unfair to despise ALL demonstrators.

Meanwhile, in Italy: Wikileaks and Prime Minister
All goverments are trying to controll the recent wikileaks flood, hunting for Julian Assange, investigation to find the chatterbox. In Italy, the Prime Minister say that all leakes about him are just lies. He says goverment works well and these infamous informations was provided by payed girls, fourth-category politicians or communist newspapers.
I didn't know that to be vice-abassador of USA in Italy is a «fouth-category» office, neither that «The Guardian», «The Economist» and «The New York Times» are pro-communism.
Maybe in Italy we are detached from reality.

Universities: Passing the Torch of Culture

«In this post I expose some thoughts about italian universities and italian politics. I hope to be not offensive, it's not my intention. I hope to stimulate a constructive dialog, giving my personal ideas and experiences as "experimental datas"»

Who wants to sit on my chair tomorrow?

In these days italian students are protesting against a new law for university. Googling a bit you can find some commentaries to the law (they're more understandable than law's text), wich can help you to get the more important features:

1. universities could become foundations
2. professors will give resignation when they'll become 70
3. new professors will be recruit by a commission of 4 randomly choosen professors
4. small universities will be encouraged to fuse themselfs

It doesn't sounds bad. But there are several "cut offs" in universities budgets, explicable only with a decision to reduce public financing. The "fight against barons" (this is a nickname used for more influents professors whom manage recruitings, balance, ecc.) will not be resolved in this way.
I appreciate these contestations, because they prove youths' interest about public life and public instruction. But these protests should be oriented to two more important points, instead to defend just the "status quo".

1. Professors can be disheartened by University's Senate and could be fired
2. New professors can be admited to a recruiting contest only if they are international figures (such as Andrew Tanenbaum, Dario Fo, Carlo Rubbia, ecc.) or they have a successfull 10-year curriculum in a company

Bruce Sterling wrote on its «The hacker crackdown» what he thinks what is universities' mission. Have you ever tried to think about it? What's the universities' mission? Sterling says it's «passing the torch of culture». It's true, but not complete. Universities must

1. Prepare future managers
2. Prepare future high technical staff
3. Passing the torch of culture to future generations

In our universities, computer-science program isn't very updated: a new bachelor in CS, usally knows just Java and C/C++/PHP; knows just a bit about UNIX, doesn't know exactly what's a TCP/IP port; has difficulties to understand the differences between a process and a thread; he doesn't know how works ANT, Make and other usefull tools; he doesn't know anything about real-time systems and programming; he doesn't know anything about NO-SQL databases, sometimes neither they exist

This is unacceptable, because it's like an eletronic engeneer whom ignore microprocessors. This new bachelors have also difficulties to learn new languages and techniques.
There's many things to change in italian universities.
I hope this protest will not stop when money will return.

Buy now your new iBrick!

Think heavy

A news from Ars Technica

«[...]Biana Wofford alleges that Apple purposely crippled the iPhone 3G with its introduction of iOS 4 in order to boost iPhone 4 sales[...]»

I am (for work) a iPhone 3GS user. I like my phone, it works well and it has a large application store. ACTUALY I haven't troubles with my iPhone. But last Apple politics doesn't calm me down. When I bought my Macbook Pro I was convinced I could buy another PC after five or six years, maybe even more. I'm still convinced this is true, because Apple's tight integration between hardware and software is good. But his "tight integration" is becoming a hell on iOS devices.
Building a software good for a Mac G4 and a Mac-Intel isn't easy. Anyway, if I should have Mac G4, I will probably accept it's slower to launch a program than a new Mac-Intel. But a smartphone isn't a computer and it has a completly different "way of mind": when I compose a number, if I have to wait three seconds, I think something is going wrong; if I see a delay when scrolling my contacts list, then I think there's too many processes in background.

Apple forbids iOS downgrade to prevent users to pass to a jailbreakable version. I can understand this. But I can't understand how Apple can pretend that a user gently accepts to choose between a unusable "brick" or 500$ to buy a new iPhone 4. I can understand that supporting patches for three or four iOS versions (e.g. 2.x.x, 3.1.x and 4.1.x) to grant a unbreakable OS for different hardware isn't easy neither cheap. But these solutions aren't well accepted.
After the drop of XServe line, I expect more attention on its consumer products.

Stop smoking

Wanna try to stop?

I'm thinking about my Facebook page. What I found there? Some interesting news (in Italy a politician, Nicky Vendola, updates his status at least two times at day). Some news posted by me (mainly blog uploads and shared links). And a lot of (useless) status uploads and a lot of not very interesting news (some are near to spam). I start thinking to unsubscribe from the "Blue Social Network", because all interesting news can be found with a good RSS reader, but soon I realize I can't.
Facebook isn't a "funny site" anymore: it's the "main street" of internet comunication. Your Facebook page is your business card to the world, more than your blog or your web site. It's the best place to put your advertising, 'cause it will be sent to all your Facebook contacts.
You ARE your Facebook page; you ARE the news you post and the links you share. All these informations draw your profile to the other Facebook users.
When someone is looking for you, he will go to Facebook. I can survive without Facebook, using just iChat connected to Facebook's jabber server; but all other social activities (publicize a movie, a post on my blog or just share a newspaper article) can be done only with Facebook.
Facebook is a powerful tool, but for some days I felt sad on last sessions. Why?
My answer (just my 5 cents) is simple. I feel like when I tried to stop smoking: I felt strange some days because I didn't know what to do. Smoking was like a "filler", a way to don't get bored while I didn't any activity.
When you're on a boring office, with no chance to talk about interesting things with your colleagues, what can you do? Connect to the blue site.
Well, I decide to stop "facebooking" with no reason. I stop using it with a precise idea about what to do in it: no "busy wait" for a chat, not looking all 200 demotivational posters 'cause I don't know what to do. I'll start to use it conscientiously, as the last BBSs' offspring.

PostScriptum
Take a look to this old soviet device. It was created three years before Photoshop 1.0. Interesting :)

Oracle's short vision

Mr. Magoo, you are more fun

News of the day (october 29 2010). From Computer World I read «Oracle: Google 'directly copied' our Java code». In this article is exposed how and where Google did copy Java's code. From the article we read

«The infringed elements of Oracle America’s copyrighted work include Java method and class names, definitions, organization, and parameters; the structure, organization and content of Java class libraries; and the content and organization of Java’s documentation»

I organize this declaration in the following list

1. Java's methods names;
2. Java's class names, definitions, organization;
3. Java methods' parameters;
4. the structure, organization and content of Java class libraries;
5. Content and organization of Java’s documentation;

Pay attention, this statements aren't so unfamiliar. Do you know where I (and probably you) did hear them before? When SCO accused Linux of copyright infringement. SCO was more prepared, saying mr. Torvalds copied directly UNIX code into his kernel (Linux). In the final chapter of this ridiculous theatre, SCO showed this famous pieces of code: few macro definitions of the errno.h header file. These macros look similar to this:

#define PI 3.14159265

The SCO-Linux controversies was more complex and still continue. Anyway, SCO showed some code and, on a computer-science lawsuit, gave some material to think about.
Let's return to Oracle's assertions. How much are they real? As a programmer with some knowledge in law and licensing, they seem ridicolous.

1. You can't set a copyright for a "Function Name". Neither for a class name or a declaration. They're not "trademarks". The only trademark could be the "java" prefix in some cases (such as java.*), but I have doubts, because there are placed to grant the Java Standard Definition;
2. Look point 1;
3. Look point 1;
4. As I say on point 1, I can understand Oracle dislikes the word "java" in a whole classpath, but this is placed to follow the Java Standard Definitions;
5. This is more difficult: as you can read here, Oracle's documentation distribution isn't released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

If you think well, there's something else to say: Android is based on 3 things: a Virtual Machine (Dalvik), a language (Java) and a classpath (Harmony). Google never said Android runs Java and they're right, because Dalvik is very different to Hotspot; Harmony is a java classpath reimplementation released under the Apache License.
By the way, "Java" was released under GPL by Sun Microsystems just before it was purchased by Oracle and just some pieces are still under a non-free license. So, Oracle's charges to Google seems inconsistent to me. If the problem is documentation, then Google can pay a team to rewrite it.

I think the main reason to start this lawsuit campaign is the lesser importance of the Java Micro Edition platform. How Oracle (a server provider) could be afraid on losing the mobile market? The answer is Oracle feels threatened by the decreasing importance of selling licenses to use the Java Micro Edition. Sun Microsystems earned selling to smartphone producers (Nokia, Erikson, Motorola, ecc.) the autorization to include a JME on their products. I think this was the only profittable Java client platform. Now that JME is going out  of market (killed by iOS and Android), maybe Oracle is playing dirt to give new life to this project.

E' morto Benoit Mandelbrot

Benoit Mandelbrot su Wikipedia

L'insieme di Mandelbrot su Wikipedia

Articolo su La Repubblica

Apprendo oggi che giovedì scorso s'è spento Benoit Mandelbrot, scopritore dell'insieme che porta il suo nome e pioniere della teoria dei frattali.

Non voglio aggiungere parole: penso che il miglior epitaffio sia esplorare i paesaggi matematici che scoprì per primo e sentire per questo un senso di meraviglia.