Understanding free software and Bloppers in Movies

Having used free software since I came into computing I've had to explain the meaning to many people. This article from freesoftewaremagazine uses a cake as a good analogy to explain what "free" means.

Many movies show their protagonists using computers to save the day. However it's always amazing what the computer can do compared to real life. For example in the 24, they are able to download information to a PDA without problems and there is always someone who can crack the computer code of the enemy just in time which is always helped by the fact they can just demand more computing power when they need it. In Minority Report, Tom Cruise's character is seen using a 3D computer to move files around and collect information. The system doesn't crash and Tom Cruise never gets tired. Anyway more movie bloopers

Technorati Tags: Open Source, Movies, software, Films

JUnit with Annotations

Every since I was at university I've always unit tested my code in some shape or form. A few years ago I came across JUnit which made unit testing easier. Today after having used JUnit 4 for some weeks as it comes preinstalled in Eclipse I came across this article, "JUnit with Annotations".

Java 6 has been out for a few days. As I'm using Java 5 at the moment it seems like a minor upgrade for what I am developing.




Technorati Tags: Testing, Junit, software, Java

Keeping Children Safe On The Internet

While I was reading some blogs I overheard on the radio that the UK government wants to establish a kitemark for software that keeps children safe on the internet from paedophiles.

This news has made me sit and snigger as the fact that any computer contacted to the internet has a browser which allows you to go to any site you like which hosts a message board, forum or gives you access to webmail.

The only real way to keep children safe while using the internet is by being aware of what internet sites they are going on to, using kiddie control software which doesn't let them browse certain sites (surprisely this actually works) and produces a log of what sites they have to, explaining to them that people on the internet are not always who they seem and most importantly actually talking to your child. By talking I mean you get into the habit of asking about "their" day and actually listening. That way they will be more inclined to tell you what is in their letters, emails, etc. In fact they will be so happy that you are interested, you will actually wishing at times they would shut up.


Technorati Tags: government, technology, software, politics, children

No Silver Bullet

I was reading about software development again and came across this article called "No Silver Bullet" The article just reminds you of the fact that software development is a complex process and whatever new methodologies, languages or tools that come around that make development easier they will never be a cure all as software is designed by humans.

A bit of trivia you can find out what ipaddress you are currently surfing from at ip-address.com


Technorati Tags: ip address, technology, development

Going Bust!

I remember reading a post on a forum a few weeks back where one person was explaining that it was difficult and impossible in many cases to get references from some companies if you worked in IT, especially any companies from the 90's as lots of them don't exist anymore. Well on Friday I got this letter from a company I use to work at and apparently they have gone bust. This is the second company that I cannot no longer get a reference from as they have gone bust and so I now cannot prove 2 entire years of my working career. Both companies that I worked for that have gone bust seem to have a problem giving me enough work to keep me occupied so I left and finding out that they no longer exist is not a surpise.



Technorati Tags: jobs, technology, company