Orkut is a fascinating experiment in what happens when the developing world hits internet nerds. Basically the thing totally exploded in Brazil [like 20% of the country is on it] and the population there just started spamming every person and group in Portugese. It also never has really implemented any needed features. Nowadays I only log in to delete friend requests from guys named Paulo.
Category: Tumbles
When Jeff and I ran into him in the elevator on our way out on the first night, the inimitable Shaun Inman described the breakfast buffet at our hotel as “breakfast with your blogroll”, and he was right. Our hotel was one of the closest to the convention center and it felt like “everybody” was there. It was pretty surreal to walk downstairs every morning and eat scrambled eggs with your RSS feeds.
Tron
Bryan Veloso’s Avalonstar Bowling Extravaganza was a hearty success last night. I have sore muscles, some of which I didn’t even know were used for bowling, but ’tis most definitely worth it. At left, Tron celebrates the act of striking pins.
Everyone gives out their business card as an artifact documenting the fact that they met you. Eventually all the ones I get will coagulate into a sweaty orb and will be unloaded en masse into a drawer somewhere, but before that happens they’ll be useful for remembering whose feeds I ought to be subscribing to. (Wilson and Steve got added today.) 9rules is nice, but the act of meeting people is a far better content aggregator.
A (Re-)Introduction to JavaScript. I’m going to save this and the slides from the presentation so that I can send them to a developer whenever he wants a crash course in JavaScript.
The redesigned homepage for Python, the original rabid‐fanbase language. It’s really nice to see a programming site that doesn’t view design as a triviality. Can I have a volunteer for a SourceForge redesign?
Judge references Billy Madison in recent opinion. If I were a judge, this is how I would write all my opinions: with derision, arrogance, and bizarre references to pop culture.
There is no transformation that will keep a determined hacker from understanding your program. This turns out to be true for all programs in all languages, it is just more obviously true with JavaScript because it is delivered in source form. The privacy benefit provided by obfuscation is an illusion. If you don’t want people to see your programs, unplug your server.
Sam Stephenson makes the three greatest svn commits ever. Prototype 1.5 is finally ready to start using at my job. Sam, I don’t know you, but I feel like I owe you a case of beer for the amount of work you’ve saved me.
Last but not least I have to thank Jon Stewart for reminding the Academy (time and again) that everything we were forced to endure (from the endless montages to the finger‐wagging lectures) was insulting and, in the end, utterly absurd. I’m sorry to say that you’ll not be hosting the event again next year, Jon. (The Emperor does not like to be told that he’s not wearing any clothes.)