dop’s blog

In his blog, Ethan Nicolas suggests to have a smaller, more compact Java2 version, the J2BE (Java 2 Browser Edition).

He thinks that JRE (Java Runtime Edition) is too bloated (~7MB) and Sun must create a smaller edition that will dynamically download any necessary classes from the Internet whenever they are needed.

I totally agree with the above. JRE is indeed too bloated and that new cut-down version could be nice and could easily beat Macromedia Flash (now part of Adobe) and AJAX.

However, he also supports that 1) Java is slow, 2) it is unreliable and 3) it cannot be installed easily. Starting from the latter, I say that he either didn’t install Java or that he is using some exotic hardware. I’m using Java on GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows XP and have never had any problems installing it - moreover on my Linux (OpenSUSE 10.0) it was installed automatically during installation. And I do not know anyone, either simple user or developer that had problems. Of course I’ve never had any problems with Flash either.

He states that Java is unreliable. Yes it is, if the developer does a crappy job. In the mean time, my browser hung while viewing Flash content, just because the developer made a crappy job. So it is not a Java problem, it is a developer mentality and ability.

And here comes the first argument: Java is slow (while starting). Yes, the JVM is a bit slow to come up, however in today’s machines it is not that bad. And I prefer to have a slow start than a slow experience (TM).

What he forgets though is that:

1. Flash is only available in a few platforms, while Java, through the open-source implementations, is available in almost all platforms - have you ever seen Flash on Alpha processors? I haven’t…
2. Java is a lot safer than Flash - yes, Flash has some security flaws and nobody, except Macromedia, knows them. Recently a bug was discovered. What was the last time there was a security flaw in Java?
3. AJAX does not scale well. Today’s AJAX applications are simple. But what will happen tomorrow when there will be full featured applications? Are there any tools to create such applications? For Java I can think of some (eclipse, NetBeans, JBuilder etc.).

According to Scott Byer, an Adobe software engineer, they cannot make the transition for Photoshop CS from PowerPC to x86. The problem is that they cannot port the existing codebase to XCode (Apple’s development tool) and create Universal Binaries.

So now, they are doing heavy work to clean things up and make the transition to XCode. All of you remember, this is not open-source software that one can make a quick compile, distibute, see what is wrong and then fix it.

They must create a quality application that will be used by professionals all over the world and if it is bad it won’t be nice for the company profile.

My point of view: MacOS and Photoshop were an endless hack. So now, they need to revert it to more clean code. It would have happened some time in the future.

Fold is the new way of seeing portals. It is a virtual desktop, based on AJAX principles, that hopes to become our everyday start page. All it needs is a Mozilla Foundation browser (Mozilla Suite Navigator or Firefox).

It is still on beta, but it shows what will happen in the future.

Try it in: http://beta.fold.com/

IDEMA (International Disk Drive, Equipment, and Materials Association) has formed a commitee to investigate future specs for magnetic storage devices - yeap, hard disk drives.

Well, the commitee recommended to replace standard of 512 bytes/sector - a 30-year-old standard - with sectors of 4096 bytes.

Windows Vista are said to support this. So, developers, start modifying your programs if you use aggressive buffer that relied upon 512 byte sectors.

More in: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=6076

I the Linux Game Tome, one can find all the available open-source games for Linux. Seems good to me

There is a nice - although very shocking - video in Google Video. It shows a woman giving birth to her child. I think it is a must-see for everyone - please DO NOT SEE IT IF YOU BELIEVE THAT NUDITY OFFENDS YOU.

Seth Godin has made a speech, which is now available from Google Video. His audience is Google people. A must watch for everyone that is interested in marketing - even remotely.

Anyone remembers Tablet PCs? You know, that small PCs that look like big notepads (or books) and can be used with a pen. Well, there was much hype 2-4 years ago for those little machines - however, they were too big, too heavy and very expensive.

Now, Microsoft has resurrected the tablet PCs with the Origami Project. It looks like a cut-down PC or a big Playstation Portable (PSP). Could this be MS’s response to the successful Sony PSP? I dunno… However, if they pack it with useful software - and not just beautiful or innovative software - and sell at an affordable price - for God’s shake, 1000$ is too much guys - it could possibly find a place in many homes and replace some ordinary PCs or laptops.

And maybe give some specs out and see real innovation with Linux, XGL and some other really interesting open-source projects.

I am an ATI fan and I am using Linux (SuSE 10.0 that is) as my main OS - I occasionally boot into MS Windows XP as well.

I am an unfortunate guy that has an ATI Radeon 9600XT and X.Org 6.9. Yes, truly unfortunate… ATI has released new drivers (8.22.5 as of this time). Although my distribution is fully supported, X.Org 6.9 is not. None of the patches that I have found work - but of course, the drivers are for X.Org 6.8, not 6.9. So, I have a pretty good card and I cannot test any 3D application, game or composite manager.

The open-source driver - r300 Project - does not support my card.

And I am asking - is it that difficult to create a new driver? If only I had the time and resources and assist you guys in ATI.

I am thinking very seriously of selling my card and buying an nVidia one. Although I don’ t think they make better cards, they surely have better drivers. I am accepting donations through Paypal, using ipapadop_at_inf.uth.gr

My blogsite now uses Google Adsense and has some ads. Although this is really annoying for some people - and I do apologize, if you need to complain you know where to do it - it is more like a test to me, to see if this is can make some money. Since I am currently a student, I could make use of any financial help I can get - and test if Adsense really works.

For entering ads like this:

I use the AdSense-Deluxe, which is pretty good… For having the neat sidebar box, I modified sidebar.php in my theme, according the instructions from http://www.tamba2.org.uk/wordpress/adsense/

If I earn some money, I’ll tell you so - and how much…