SOCIETY IS DOOMED; Dr Paris Hilton?
So here's the witty social commentary part of the blog! Well, maybe not so witty. All about Paris Hilton (gawd).
Recipe: Creamy Mushroom Fettucine
Serves: 2
This is a quick recipe that you can cook in about 15 minutes (plus about 10 minutes to prepare your ingredients). You cook the sauce in the time your fettucine takes to cook, and then combine the two in the pan.
Creamy Mushroom Fettucine - ready to serve
2007: Year of the blog
Happy 2007 all. I don't think anyone is reading since I never update. So, 2007 will be the year of the update! Well, at least the first week will be. Ha.
Building CPUs
I am always amazed by the brain power that would be required to understand and design a CPU. Obviously it's not done by one person, but still I'm sure there are people that understand how it all works. I was looking at the Unofficial 4004 Website recently, which contains recently released schematics and a simulator for the Intel 4004 processor. This processor is a predecessor of the 8086 processor, the basic idea of which (arguably) still lives on today in the latest Intel CPUs - even though they dropped the 80#86 naming convention awhile back.
Given how relatively complex the schematic and functioning of the 4004 is, at least to someone who doesn't know much about Electrical Engineering like me, imagine what the circuit diagram (if you can call it that) for the Intel Core 2 Duo must look like.
So yeah, that's my bit for the day - my occasional reminder that all these bits of technology we take for granted every day were actually conceived, designed and built by actual people. It's not just CPUs, but things that use them, like mobile phones, microwaves and music players.
Domino: Accessing Domino Views from Adobe Flex applications
Adobe Flex (formerly Macromedia) is a tool for writing "Rich Internet Applications" (or RIAs). This is a buzzword that means a normal application like interface but via the web - kind of like AJAX stuff. The difference is that Flex applications compile down to a Flash (SWF) file. The advantage of this is that the performance is much better than that of a pure Javascript/HTML app, and the Flash Player is very ubiquitous, so chances are your users will have no problem using your Flex front end. The only negative is that Flex 2 requires Flash Player 9, which doesn't quite have the penetration that Flash 7 and 8 do at this stage.
Being a Domino developer, the first thing I had to try was how hard it would be to get at Domino data using Flex. Short answer: not too hard!
Okay, so this is technically Show-n-tell Tuesday (Australian time), but I was working out some kinks.
Continue reading Domino: Accessing Domino Views from Adobe Flex applications
Food Porn and Salt and Pepper Squid Recipe
I enjoy cooking, which my wife thinks is great. I like browsing through the cookbooks at the bookstore, and have more than once bought a book because I had started salivating over the pictures (usually because I went there on an empty stomach). I didn't make up the term, but I like to call nice pictures of food that make you want to eat it "food porn".
Linux, iTunes and AirTunes
This is a cry for help, not a HOWTO. Here's what I want to do:
- My Windows PC runs iTunes with my library on it
- My Powerbook can connect to the shared library and play music from it
- I want my media box (running Linux) next to the TV to act as like an "Airport Express" so I can use it as a "remote speaker" from the Powerbook
I can find plenty of references to hosting a shared iTunes library on Linux (eg. daapd), or even software that can talk to a shared iTunes library (eg. Rhythmbox), but seemingly nothing that will let Linux pretend to be an Airport Express.
Yes there are things I could do like run rhythmbox on the linux box and remote control it from the Powerbook, but I don't want to do that. I want my Powerbook to be the source, streaming the music to the media box which is acting as a remote speaker.
If I work it out, I'll write it up!
Merry Christmas!
Where I work there is a single Christmas Party each year for all the Sydney staff (about 1,000 of them), rather than each department having their own party. The venue and "theme" are usually kept secret until a Flash based invite goes out to all staff via our Intranet, whose purpose is to reveal both and provide a way to RSVP. This invite is usually done by the company we use for all of our web graphics work, however this year I was asked if I wanted to give it a go.
Domino: "stampAll" vs "replaceItemValue and save" speed comparison
We had a discussion at work recently about whether it is faster to stampAll for multiple fields, or to update the fields and then save. The short answer? If you're updating fewer than 5 fields it is faster to stampAll rather than update the document and save. For the long answer, read on for some comparisons and ugly standard Excel graphs due to lack of time.
Continue reading Domino: "stampAll" vs "replaceItemValue and save" speed comparison
More than meets the eye!
Holy crap, I had never realised just how phallic Megatron was. This is from the toy's box art:
I'm sure that's some sort of metaphor for guns being used to make up for a lack of penis. Err, I don't mean by single women in the bedroom either.
In other Transformers news, if you haven't heard they're making a new Transformers movie. There has been some leaked "Work in Progress" art of the new Megatron:
The new Megatron
Doesn't really look like the Transformers of the 80s, but rather some robot alien thing with lots of sharp bits. The toy will certainly not be suitable for small children as they could get some nasty cuts from playing with that thing.
I think I'll write some more about the movie later, I need to sleep now.