Nokia acquires Trolltech, goes cross-platform
I wonder what this will mean for the mobile market and for Symbian. I also wonder what are the real plans for the TrollTech product line. TrollTech is the maker of Qtopia but also QT the cross platform windowing package, which until recently KDE was based on. I can see where this move works with the linux tablets, but Qtopia is also linux-based and meant for phones…. do you think Nokia has plans on merging the two? or shifting away from Sybian, or do you think they may just do what they’ve done with every other mobile app company they bought… maintain for a year or two and then shutdown…. They did it with IntelliSync and a few others?
Speeding car in Florida flies 200 feet, kills 5
A car traveling at high speed down a private airport runway ran off an embankment and was airborne for 200 feet before smashing into a tree early Saturday, killing all five young men in the vehicle. Just go to show that dumb people shouldn’t be allowed to drive. We’ve moved into an age where it is no longer ’survival of the fittest’ but ’survival of the smartest’. While I do feel sorry for the loss affected by the families, but…. anyone with 2cents in there head know that if you give an idiot a car, they will do idiotic things…
update: another story about a driver who is not smart or nice enough to have a car: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080125/od_nm/spain_driver1_dc_1
Warcraft is taking over the world
AppleGeeks Lite
I only mention this since my brother recently convinced me to try World of Warcraft. And now, I actually understand what they are saying…. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the original Warcraft (the one with the 2d aerial view) but the idea of a RPG online game kind of worried me. I’d play’d Runescape a while back (since it was free), and then at work I got a bit into SecondLife for a while (if you play with SecondLife, check out the NOAA Island).
But like I said, this World of Warcraft… it is pretty slick. It is like Runescape and SecondLife in one, and since it is completely commercial, it is completely better… anyways… if you are willing to waste many hours of your life away… signup… the first 10 days are free…. after that …. well if you drink Starbucks more that 3 times a month you can afford WoW. Anyways… soon you too will be understanding the WoW lingo…
Draft of HTML 5 Hints at a Brave New Web
This week, the HTML Working Group, which is the arm of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) charged with updating HTML, published the first official draft of HTML 5, which will eventually supersede HTML 4.
And here I am, trying to learn XHTML and CSS, yes I know I’m way behind schedule but then again for the last 10 years or so I’ve been developing behind the scene applications and Java applications… my web dev days are long out of date… so yes here I am trying to learn XHTML and CSS, trying to refresh my JavaScript knowledge and pick up Ajax, plus looking into Python/Jython, but again that is more for behind the scenes… I’ve already worked with J2EE an Servlets, didn’t like JSP, but now to have to worry about HTML5…. couldn’t they have released this a year ago so that I could just learn it… oh well such is the life of a programmer… always having to learn new technologies and always one day behind….
Relic thefts ‘huge crime problem’ in U.S. parks
Theft of artifacts and relics is robbing not only the US Parks System, but everybody who visits and recognizes the purpose and benefit of the parks for all. While I’m not surprise that things like this happen, heck it happens all over the world… but regardless…. Anyways… I don’t know on whom to place more blame, the actual thieves, those who purchase the relics, or to a less extend the government for not funding the Parks well enough those they can attempt to prevent this. I think overall my blame falls on those who purchase these relics, and that goes for all theft related events, from fine art to animal pelts. If no one was willing to purchase these items, then no one would profit from the actual theft of such objects… oh off my soap box….
Relic thefts ‘huge crime problem’ in U.S. parks
Theft of artifacts and relics is robbing not only the US Parks System, but everybody who visits and recognizes the purpose and benefit of the parks for all. While I’m not surprise that things like this happen, heck it happens all over the world… but regardless…. Anyways… I don’t know on whom to place more blame, the actual thieves, those who purchase the relics, or to a less extend the government for not funding the Parks well enough those they can attempt to prevent this. I think overall my blame falls on those who purchase these relics, and that goes for all theft related events, from fine art to animal pelts. If no one was willing to purchase these items, then no one would profit from the actual theft of such objects… oh off my soap box….
BRT vs LRT, issue of developing a mass transit
Tel-Aviv and Israel are in the process of developing a nationwide transit system. They come across a great question of which is better. Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) or Light Rail Transit(LRT) with arguments for and against both.
I’m not sure which side I ‘ride’ on. I’ve seen how bus systems work, I’ve seen how rail systems work. Personally I like the mix that they have in places like Rome and Istanbul…. Basically they have a dedicated line that has a rail/tran setup, but on the same dedicated roadway… both buses and taxis share it. This basically means that at all time the space is being used my a mass transit/car sharing community. I guess what I’m thinking is that there has to be a middle ground. Since it takes several years to dig and build a subway or LRT, but only a few months to build a street…. why not build the bus lanes, and then add tracks as time goes on…..
Job Description vs Actual Job
I reluctantly write this post here since I’m not sure who actually reads this blog and how it will be taken. I roughly know who reads the Lauren and Nick Blog, but I’m not totally sure who reads this one. I know it is published via my Plaxo Pluse and I think I have it imported into my Facebook Notes, but I’m not sure nor am I sure if I have it being published anywhere else…
Anyways, this topic came up among friends last night. As the post title states, the wonder is what others think about there Job Description as compared to what they actually ‘do’. More importantly performing the role of a manager when it is not in your job description.
Basically when you think about it we are ‘only’ paid to do what is stated in our job descriptions. So what do you do when you find yourself doing other work. I’m not saying that you find yourself doing the work of others, but that your work has out grown your job description. Say you were hired as a junior level engineer, but over time while your position has not change, you now find yourself managing a small project. Or say you are a entry level financial analyst but find yourself doing the same work as your superiors. Or even say your job description includes the work of a upper level manager but you title only lists you as a junior level manager…. anyways these are all very common possibilities… so what should you do?
do you:
- Accept it and keep going
- or Accept it and seek redefinition of your job description
- or Accept it and simply seek compensation (raise, bonus, etc)
- or Reject it and simply not do it
All very plausible options but which should you take. Now there are also other factors:
- Do you want the work?
- Are you seeking advancement or raises?
- Do you feel you are not capable of the doing the work (not likely if you are already doing it)
Regardless of the motive, desire of personal choice, I guess the bottom line question is, do you do it or not? This means until our job description matches our job, or do we wait till our job description changes and then start the work? So what does everyone else out there think?
Open ID, first there weren’t enough, and now there are to many
For those out there who have been following the whole OpenID, it has been pretty interesting. First the whole idea in my opinion is great, one ID to track your web-based life. At sites that support OpenID, simply setup your account and then link it to your OpenID, and then ‘never’ worry about all the passwords again.
My first thought was that this was great, and it would be great if this was link to say email or something. I was looking forward to when Yahoo (my primary email provider) would start supporting OpenID, but over the last month or so… I’m skipping ahead. So when I first heard about OpenID there were only a handful of providers. I found out about it through Plaxo. They recommend MyOpenId.com, so off I went to explore… and create my first ID. That too is when I thought about the fact that I wanted to connect my ID to my email…
So like I said.. OpenID it suppose to help sync and simplify our online identities, of which I have many. I have my Blogger/Google id through this blog, I’ve got my email id via Yahoo. I’ve got my blogroll id through Bloglines (well I didn’t initially consider that an ID, but they do provide personal blogs so). And if you consider Bloglines and identity, then I’ve also got Del.icio.us, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and then there is also Plaxo.
Well so here I had my OpenID at MyOpenId.com, then Bloglines announced they were providing ID, and I think they (and Ask.com) may have been the first to provide such ID. Then a few weeks ago as groups started announcing there 2008 line ups…. many others just started announcing they were going to provide IDs. This week was the most interesting, if not just the last 2 days. Late last year OpenID2.0 was finalized, and then yesterday both Yahoo announce that they were going to provide ID (link) and Google’s Blogger has done the same (link). So now here lies the dilemma… I’ve been using Yahoo as my personal email for years… starting back in HighSchool so while I have a nice alias that points at my yahoo id, my ID is an old highschool name from my BBS days…. Now my Google/Blogger ID I’ve been using is more of the kind of web ID that I’ve been using as of late. Most new account logins use the same username especially sights that I comment on and such. So which to use….
Well that brings me back to my topic… at first there weren’t enough ID providers, and now there are too many to choose from. The funnier part is that the one company that introduced me to the notion of OpenID and OpenSocial for that matter was Plaxo. Plaxo is a my synchronization of life. My yahoo, google, aim, and local addressbooks and calendars are all synced through Plaxo. My blogs, del.icio.us, flickr and twitter, are sync through Plaxo Pulse. SO if anything, Plaxo is my single ID, so while they accept OpenID and were one of the first to do so… why don’t they provide??? Oh well I guess even with all the syncing and simplifying Plaxo and OpenID do, it makes sense to not connect your OpenID to a very public arena. I guess having a OpenID only provider will help insure security… The bottom line is, while it is a good thing that OpenID is now out in the open with thanks to BigWeb (Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc)… I’ve decided I like my quieter OpenID provider MyOpenID.com . That all said, I think if I ever did switch my OpenID to another provider, at this point it will only happen if Plaxo becomes a provider.
OpenID: what it is
List of OpenID providers can be found here.
List of site allowing OpenIDs here and here.
Open ID, first there weren’t enough, and now there are to many
For those out there who have been following the whole OpenID, it has been pretty interesting. First the whole idea in my opinion is great, one ID to track your web-based life. At sites that support OpenID, simply setup your account and then link it to your OpenID, and then ‘never’ worry about all the passwords again.
My first thought was that this was great, and it would be great if this was link to say email or something. I was looking forward to when Yahoo (my primary email provider) would start supporting OpenID, but over the last month or so… I’m skipping ahead. So when I first heard about OpenID there were only a handful of providers. I found out about it through Plaxo. They recommend MyOpenId.com, so off I went to explore… and create my first ID. That too is when I thought about the fact that I wanted to connect my ID to my email…
So like I said.. OpenID it suppose to help sync and simplify our online identities, of which I have many. I have my Blogger/Google id through this blog, I’ve got my email id via Yahoo. I’ve got my blogroll id through Bloglines (well I didn’t initially consider that an ID, but they do provide personal blogs so). And if you consider Bloglines and identity, then I’ve also got Del.icio.us, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and then there is also Plaxo.
Well so here I had my OpenID at MyOpenId.com, then Bloglines announced they were providing ID, and I think they (and Ask.com) may have been the first to provide such ID. Then a few weeks ago as groups started announcing there 2008 line ups…. many others just started announcing they were going to provide IDs. This week was the most interesting, if not just the last 2 days. Late last year OpenID2.0 was finalized, and then yesterday both Yahoo announce that they were going to provide ID (link) and Google’s Blogger has done the same (link). So now here lies the dilemma… I’ve been using Yahoo as my personal email for years… starting back in HighSchool so while I have a nice alias that points at my yahoo id, my ID is an old highschool name from my BBS days…. Now my Google/Blogger ID I’ve been using is more of the kind of web ID that I’ve been using as of late. Most new account logins use the same username especially sights that I comment on and such. So which to use….
Well that brings me back to my topic… at first there weren’t enough ID providers, and now there are too many to choose from. The funnier part is that the one company that introduced me to the notion of OpenID and OpenSocial for that matter was Plaxo. Plaxo is a my synchronization of life. My yahoo, google, aim, and local addressbooks and calendars are all synced through Plaxo. My blogs, del.icio.us, flickr and twitter, are sync through Plaxo Pulse. SO if anything, Plaxo is my single ID, so while they accept OpenID and were one of the first to do so… why don’t they provide??? Oh well I guess even with all the syncing and simplifying Plaxo and OpenID do, it makes sense to not connect your OpenID to a very public arena. I guess having a OpenID only provider will help insure security… The bottom line is, while it is a good thing that OpenID is now out in the open with thanks to BigWeb (Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc)… I’ve decided I like my quieter OpenID provider MyOpenID.com . That all said, I think if I ever did switch my OpenID to another provider, at this point it will only happen if Plaxo becomes a provider.
OpenID: what it is
List of OpenID providers can be found here.
List of site allowing OpenIDs here and here.
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