Functional Programming
joolean you are thinking of currying. I don't know much Scheme, but you can emulate currying. Here is a curry routine for JavaScript.
function curry(fun, param) { function n(param2) { return fun(param,param2) } return n; }
iRATE
I implemented a similarity-search plugin for iRATE. With a correctly configured plugin one can pick any song and discover music that sounds similar. Unfortunately, most users find following installation instructions tiring and end up with a non-working plugin. I have to address that issue.
I wish users would just do the Right Thing(tm).
Microsoft
Well, I had a much lower opinion on the state of java web development until I read Microsoft's own comparison of it with ASP.NET. Propaganda aside, that article says that Struts match every ASP.NET feature. That's pretty impressive given that this is coming from Microsoft.
Java
Note: I'm not a Java nut. However, I've developed an appreciation for it after seeing what the rest of the programming environments provide/require. Java is not a universal solution. It just set the standard for the currently hyped platform features. Hopefully the language hype will move on to something other than better versions of Java
iRATE
We released the long delayed 0.3. Currently work is being done on finishing the server and redoing the GUI.
Wireless
I've decided that in the future it just won't be worthile for me to get non-linux appliances.
Many of the current breeds of 802.11g routers run linux and can be customized like any linux box. These things are a really great & affordable way to learn about embedded linux and non-x86 architectures. They also make great platforms for exploring ideas and hobby projects. Linksys wr54g is easy to find and cheap. However asus wl500 is even cooler due to a host usb controller on it. It can work with a great number of usb gadgets. Hmm, wonder what use plugging in a usb mouse into a wireless router would be.
I suspect the same will hold for linux phones when they become generally available. Those of us who want to tinker with every software thing will find them to be much more exciting toys than silly proprietory alternatives with no room for creativity.
Lunacy Cruise
On a completely unrelated note, linux lunacy people stopped by last year and did a Q&A session at my LUG.
This photo of my most wonderful woman was taken by one of the speakers. Does anybody know who the photographer was? He did a damn good job.
Pardon the silly dhtml trick.
Arnie
I love it. First we had the Bush/Gore humour, now Arnie. What is USA gonna come up with next?
Borland C++Builder
mrorganic I found BCB to be a kickass RAD C++ tool. It was just too easy to create GUI C++ programs. I don't think anybody else even comes close to that. I loved VCL's properties and simplicity. Too bad that C++ doesn't support those.
Also, builderX will have a wx design tool. It's one of the biggest features. However I agree that it's a very stupid tool. It looks like a massive resource hog with a single feature: compiler/debugger agnosticness(got a better word?). Since when is application development dependant on being able to compile with 6 different compilers on windows and 2 or 3 on other platforms? In my experience 1-2 compilers-per-platform is plenty and it's easy enough to learn their debuggers. It just seems that borland decided to give up on their C++ development tools and just pretend that they didn't by having a GUI compiler wrapper.
On the other hand, this is good news for wxwindows. As any opensource project, they can always use more help.
New HTML Parser: The long-awaited libxml2 based HTML parser code is live. It needs further work but already handles most markup better than the original parser.
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If you're a C programmer with some spare time, take a look at the mod_virgule project page and help us with one of the tasks on the ToDo list!