The only feature that makes Ruby more awesome than Python is being proposed. And Guido already commented on that :)
O Sérgio e o Alex tiveram a ideia de promover pequenos workshops tanto sobre tecnologias como soft-skills e apesar de só ter assistido remotamente à primeira, acho a ideia interessante, e sem dúvida uma mais valia para a malta de Lisboa.
Já foram 3 (Erlang e CouchDb, Técnicas de Apresentação e Capristano e Sinatra) e mais se seguem. A não perder ;)
Long time ago there was this website called SourceForge that hosted the majority of opensource projects. It would offer a unix shell account, hosting and CVS (and later on, SVN) repos and CDN powered downloads. Today a lot of Unix and Windows utilities live there.
Google got big and in 2006 they launched their own OpenSource Hosting with a SVN repository, wiki, issue tracking and downloads. Plain simple, à lá Google.
Then a couple of ruby hackers started a side-project called Github that offered repository hosting for projects that used the Git Version Control System. But it wasn’t a regular hosting like SourceForge, GoogleProjects, or even BitBucket or Launchpad [1], it uses the Web2.0 success model:
If you have used Github, you have seen that the web interface is really simple. Basecamp-like simple. The only thing that is limiting this factor it git itself that is not as straightforward to use as SVN or even Mercurial. But they even did some tutorials and provide some help about git itself, which works pretty well and is making some great opensource projects migrate to their service.
This is a small difference to the regular services. In Github you can follow2 developers, or simply some project. It has an activity stream (think facebook) where you can be up to date with commits, forks, pushes related to the projects you care.
It is free for opensource projects, but they run a business. If you want your company to use their features for your projects, you can buy one of their plans. I find they a bit expensive, specially the lower ones for small teams, but it’s not by chance that they won the Best Bootstrapped Startup Crunchie.
I love the decentralization of git and now more than ever I love the offline commits. So bad I migrated everything I had in SVN and I am hosting everything as a git repository in my external hard-drive, VPS and the important ones in Github.
I have tried to use simple git repositories in my VPS and even using Redmine to browse but the experience sucks comparing to Github where you can see the various branches, commits and even get some stats.
There are some nifty features like being able to host your webpage as a github repo, or the per-project wiki that’s very useful for storing the documentation of your opensource project. There is a small different against google’s project wiki: it isn’t available in the repository, which I find weird for these guys that even have snippets in repositories. You can also edit a file and commit right there in the browser, which I use sometimes for quick fixes in my website. But my favorite feature is the commit comments which Gaspar use for code reviewing.
What I most miss is an issue tracker. Google has this, and while Github doesn’t include one, it allows you to integrate with 3rd party services like lighthouseapp. Be there is always hope.
As I said before, I love the fact that Github works with the opensource community. They even blog about cool projects they host. There is a general concern about a commercial company hosting most of the opensource projects around (being Google, Github, any of them). I agree that would be safer to have non-profit entities, like the FSF and a non-freetard one, to do this service. However I find the advantages of having an innovative company working on this service enough to have the risk of having most of the opensource projects in the future.
1 The later two are a step ahead of the former and more close to Github.
2 Or stalk…
I’ve already expressed my opinion about BitTorrent but I believe it is important to pay attention to the trial the Pirates are facing. I suggest you to read Jesper’s post.
I’ve followed the trial via TorrentFreak and you should read the posts too.
This trial is not only important to ThePirateBay [1], but to everyone involved in file-sharing and ultimately the internet. Zeth has an interesting writing about the consequences of this trial for both parties, and even if the pirates lose, they can appeal and this whole thing can be delayed 5 or even 10 years.
1 Oh my god! I just linked to a torrent-index, I must be a criminal assisting copyright infringement! I can go to jail!
London buses are now displaying a beautiful slogan for the Atheist Campaign.
Although I like the idea, enjoy the ad they came up with, and even find the girl in the pic attractive with that tshirt, I won’t donate.
I don’t intend to take part of active atheism. Let the others believe in whatever they want, without any kind of pressure against.
I won’t say that ad will not light up some doubtful heads though.
Uma boa leitura sobre os extremismos que existem aplicados a religião (como existem em qualquer outro campo):
Pode bastar. Há muita gente que bebe bagaço ou fuma haxixe sem ser alcoólico ou drogado. Mas tem que ser pouquinho de cada vez. Também as crenças religiosas são para consumir com moderação por serem tão fortes. Há poucas religiões light. Um deus algo-poderoso que dê uns toques aqui e ali não satisfaz. Os crentes querem um Deus Todo-Poderoso, com maiúsculas e tudo, capaz de controlar todo o universo. Uma crença que os aqueça por dentro. Mas disso só se pode tomar um calicezinho aos domingos e dias de festa. E nunca quando se tem crianças doentes em casa.
Será que é possível existirem religiões light? Ou religiões que não sejam levadas a sério, é por falta de crença dos praticantes? Então e o budismo? Dirão que é um pouco extremista, mas não é uma religião no sentido mais formal da palavra.
Andr3 finally released it. The de.fibrillator, a way of getting your ma.gnolia bookmarks back and ready to import in del.icious (or any other service).
Kudus!
Since any of you offered to pay my trip to Lift Conference, I relied only in Stephanie who did an awesome job by blogging the event. Thank you very much!
The presentation that caught my attention was Where will you work tomorrow? by Pierre Belcari.
I like the idea of companies using the hoteling system and trying to come up with different approaches.
Note: If you are in Portugal, come to this year’s edition of Take Off where we will discuss coworking and this issue.
Microsoft has filled in a patent for a Computer that is powered by a phone.
My current setup is my macbook attached to the external monitor, keyboard, mouse and disk. So this is what I’m doing now with my laptop. It’s just a matter of time until I have the same power in my PDA. I don’t find this innovative at all, Microsoft!
Oh wait, that’s exactly what redfly does!
Smart ways to prepare for a world beyond recession.
Making powergrids more intelligent, managing wireless networks of even traffic, are ways of surviving though the crisis and stimulating the economy.
So, VS2010 screenshots came out and its UI was revamped to use WPF.
I understand the WPF thing. HTML is somehow limited for some experiences, and XAML is the markup language for real Rich Applications. It runs somehow limited in the browser via Silverlight, but has full power in the Desktop.
I am not sure about MS intention to make WPF the default UI system. I really digg Winforms, even if it’s old. It’s simple and it works! In every MS Office release, they have introduced new toolbar and menu styles and I’ve always liked the plain winforms approach. Now they are trying to be innovative with the ribbon that’s system-wide in 7. Although the layout approach may be more suitable in some applications, the design it’s not simple.
The 3D appearance of the ribbon and the WPF controls in VS2010 adds to much noise to the interface. Apple has just one simple toolbar, that makes application work in a simple way. Context stuff goes into sidebars or the inspector, and there aren’t any applications that try to go round this simple layout. Ok, there’s Office for the Mac, but those guys are a bit weird.
I loved the Winforms Visual Studio style. It was the prettiest IDE around. Not it looks like some colored version of Eclipse RCP. And I bet it takes more time to load on regular pcs.
O que não se ensina nas universidades é um artigo que vai sair na edição de Março da Exame onde empreendedores de sucesso vão comentar sobre o que falta no ensino superior.
Gostei bastante da resposta do António Câmara da YDream que aborda Criatividade, Propriedade Intelectual, Domínio da Língua, Incerteza, Gestão do Tempo e Capitalismo. E de facto um empreendedor necessita de todas elas.
Peter Saint-Andre posts about the way he sees governments: something abstract that is powered by individuals that believe in it, just like religions.
The authority of a particular religion’s god derives from an asserted monopoly over divinity (thou shalt share in the divine only through participation in this church). The authority of a particular country’s government derives from an asserted monopoly over power (thou shalt have strength only through participation in this government department or function). On this theory, the goodness or power of the people (i.e., ultimately of individuals) comes about only through the grace of the monopolists — not from the inborn features, acquired customs, and hard work of the people.
I oppose the monopolists. I think that divinity and power, properly defined, are all and only individual, and that institutions derive their just divinity and power from the individuals who participate in those institutions.
The Bird and The Bee – Again & Again
Já não metia aqui música há muito tempo. Obrigado à cientista por me lembrar.
This is not a post complaining about gmail’s downtime. It’s about their response.
I happen to follow Google’s Official Blog they published a small text about this incident.
First, it was written by the guy directly responsible for this. Not some PR guys trying to reduce the problem, but the guy who as the ass on the line here. This is a huge difference.
And he focus on the right thing: explaining users that this is not usual, but happened and they are doing their best to a) make it work again and b) find the problem. Although sometimes a) requires b), their priority is clear. They also understand that businesses and people depend on their service, and take that into account.
One of the best responses I saw to a downtime, and by the biggest player.
Also on this subject, take a look at Gary’s video on turning negatives into positives.
Cara ASAE,
Parece que multaram uma empresa por ter um site com a funcionalidade de Convidar um Amigo.. Ora os CTT, cujo principal accionista é o Estado fez exactamente o mesmo no passatempo Amigos ViaCTT, também não deveriam ser multados?
Assim como todos os sites portugueses que façam uso de sistema de referral. E ainda me têm de explicar como é que isto é um esquema em pirâmide, havendo apenas descontos nos respectivos serviços/produtos?
I never got into this podcast/video cast thing. It takes more attention that I want to give it, since I’m always doing something else in my computer apart from listening to audio.
Tiago writes more about this problem and I totally agree with him.
I guess this is why I didn’t go with Rails ;)
Giant Robo – The Day Earth Stood Still is a OVA from the original Giant Robo manga1. The plot is set in a alternate future where all the energy is supplied by a miraculous Shizuma Driva that replaced Fossil fuels when renewable sources weren’t successful. Apart from that interesting idea (and the problems that it brought), GR is a mecha anime and the main characters have super powers.
Giant Robo has been called “one of the true timeless classics of Anime”, an epic in the vein of Homer’s Iliad and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Mike Crandol of Anime News Network says Imagawa “takes the best of the old and mixes it with the best of the new to create the definitive giant robot story.” John Huxley of Anime Boredom concludes the series is “the super robot show as it was in your mind’s eye, a perfect combination of the old without the disappointment of reality.”
I wouldn’t go that far, but it is indeed an epic anime.
1 Doesn’t have anything to do with homonymous movie
