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ruby’s system() on windows - “system() can behave very differently on Windows; different Rubyists present explanations and workarounds.” via Ruby Weekly News

win32-service - manage windows services with ruby. Looks like the current release (0.5.0) is source only, you’ll need to compile it yourself. again via Ruby Weekly News

RRobots - think robocode, in Ruby. looks nice already. tk interface. Via Ruby Weekly News.

Flipbook Printer

Warning Label Generator. fun. via anarchaia

gHacks » Free File Host List November 2005

O’Reilly Radar > LazyWeb Request: Tab History. This is really about multi-threaded surfing in general, which people have been doing with separate windows (or lynx sessions) long before tabbed browsing came along.

What I’d like is a thinkmap-style visualisation of the threads of my browsing history. If it could demote pages I closed quickly, or show if i rated or tagged the page, all the better. alt-click a thread to remove it, or click a thread and say “open-all-steps-in-thread in tabs”.

But just to see the threads I followed would be a huge, huge improvement. Its too bad that the standard browser concept became fixed and cloned so early.

Steel dolphin Creative - Color Scheme tool. Nicely done generator with various algs (complimentary, double contrast, monochromatic, etc).

Richard Stallman Gets in Trouble with UN Security for Wearing a Tin-Foil Hat - Bruce Perens. No permalink. It’s from Friday, November 18.

a pretty system architecture picture from Elastic Path’s docs.

Basecamp database model - a useful mailing list thread about establishing a context in which all other queries shall be executed.

Gamasutra “Threading 3D Game Engine Basics”.

“Design Vigilantism”. fun. at bearskinrug. Great illustration.
via Jason Santa Maria.

The Fonly Institute: Problems with the $100 laptop.

Also a sunnier macworld article about the $100 laptop project.

See also The Future of Africa - poptech conference session at ITConversations.

Gamasutra: Underrated Games? (printable).

It’s not Java, it’s the morons

Common pronunciation mistakes in English (by language background).

Having developed a short list of problems for my brazilian colleagues here, it’s interesting to see a more serious piece of work. Practice for Portuguese language backgrounds, for example.

Jay Fields Unoriginal Thoughts: Logging == Crutch

“When developing using BDUF log files are often used to determine expected input and output. The log file is a valuable tool that can be used to determine the source of bugs and problems.

However, once you step into the world of Test Driven Development you should leave the log file in the past. Instead of depending on a log file, the test suite should test for boundry cases that would appear in a log file.

BDUF is walking (or crawling), but Agile development is running. When you want to run, leave the crutch behind.”

Bulletproof Web Design Contracts article at SitePoint.com.

1. Scope of Work and Scope Creep
2. Client Amends and Revisions
3. Dealing With Client Delays
4. Who Owns the Website You’ve Built?
5. Legal Boilerplate Clauses
6. Milestones and Project Completion
7. Client and/or Third Party Page Modifications
8. Maintenance and Technical Support
9. Payment Terms

“Hackers tend to think business is for MBAs. But business administration is not what you’re doing in a startup. What you’re doing is business creation. And the first phase of that is mostly product creation– that is, hacking. That’s the hard part. It’s a lot harder to create something people love than to take something people love and figure out how to make money from it.” - Paul Graham, What Business Can Learn from Open Source (the essay)and the Audio from his OSCon Keynote (on IT Conversations).