Ugo Cei’s Weblog
Here’s a video of a new type of multi-input touch screen. I wasn’t aware of it, but with the current technology, touch screens allow only one input (finger) at a time. This will make possible, assuming it ever turns into a consumer device, a whole new raft of human-computer interaction modes (do you remember Minority Report?).
In any case, the video is mesmerizing and it makes you realize how clumsy and limited the mouse is. Even tablets aren’t much better.
Hat tip: Jeremy.
You asked for it, and now you’ve got it! At “Evil or Not?” it’s now possible to cast your votes not just regarding Google’s evilness, but also Microsoft’s and Yahoo’s.
Now it will really be possible to compare the big three’s respective degrees of evilness. But for this comparison to be meaningful, we need many more votes. As soon as we have some data, I plan to put up a couple of zeitgeist pages with interesting statistics. So, please, visit “Evil or Not?” and vote!
We also need more feeds with fresh news about Microsoft and Yahoo. If you know of some good blogs or news sites with content on these two companies, besides the obvious ones like Scobleizer and Zawodny, please leave a comment.
Some time ago, I used Ajax for Dummies as a post title. Not only that, I also reproduced, with some changes, the cover of a Wiley “For Dummies” book. Now I’m wondering: Will I get a slap on the wrist like Jason did?
Mr. Wiley, can I have my own little letter from your “Trademark Coordinator”, please? I will bitch and moan for a while on my weblog, just hoping to get some nice incoming links, then I will dutifully comply. I promise.
In the previous installments of this series, I did some experiments trying to make Java and Ruby coexist by using two bridges: rjb and YAJB. This time, I’m going to try to solve the same problem using JRuby.
JRuby is not simply a bridge, it is a “1.8.2 compatible Ruby interpreter written in 100% pure Java”. As it is written in Java and consequently runs on the JVM, it should provide a much better integration. At the very least, it allows you to use some typical Ruby idioms when traversing Java collection classes, or accessing bean properties by name:
require 'java'
include_class 'Fetcher'
feed = Fetcher.fetch(ARGV[0])
feed.entries.each do | entry |
p "#{entry.publishedDate} #{entry.title}"
end
Compare that to the sample I posted here.
You should be aware of a couple of limitations, though:
A great tutorial on creating a video podcast … the French way. Might not be appropriate for a work environment, but then again who would want to work in a place where this is not appropriate? 
(Via Melablog.)
Would you like a brand new, Intel-powered. MacBook Pro? All you have to do is design a logo for our new company. We will select the one we like most and award the winner a 1.67GHz MacBook Pro. Head on to the contest section of the website and be sure to read all the rules.
You might want to know who we are and what we do. You can read about us on the contest’s brief section, but the short version is that we are a bunch of Open Source enthusiasts who decided that founding a new company was the best way to further our passion and our interests. I’ll probably tell you more on this in the coming days.
Matt Cutts: “Bigdaddy continues to roll out and is now available at three data centers. In addition to 66.249.93.104 and 64.233.179.104, Bigdaddy is now up at 216.239.51.104. We%u2019ve been going through the spam feedback and acting on it, and reading through the general search feedback as well.”
OK, this is a totally vanity-driven post, but while checking search results on the new data centers that Matt mentions, I just noticed that results for my name (in quotes) will go up to about 59,300 from about 32,500. Does this mean that I’m almost twice as relevant as before, according to Google? I don’t know, but it’s nice to cultivate this illusion ;).
It’s just not fair that I continuously bash Catholics and US bible-thumpers here and don’t give other sects their fair share. What better opportunity for despising a bunch of bearded, intolerant, sexist and fanatical guys than to show my support for the Danish newspaper which published the original cartoons and the editor of France Soir who got sacked by a coward publisher for reprinting them?
According to the BBC: “Ministers from 17 Arab countries urged Denmark to punish the newspaper. Arab League head Amr Moussa, who attended the Arab ministers’ meeting, criticised the European press.” Tell me the name of an Arab country with a democratically elected government and a free press, then we can start to talk. For the time being, those ministers and their beloved prophet Mohammed can kiss my ass.
