We in software development build everything from scratch. How many times have we created the login control? Software engineering researchers have been harping a lot about reusable code, but developers always find it easier to copy and paste than to build a good library (not everyone though). But even if we build libraries they are not designed well enough to fit every scenario that it was planned to handle.
Then came design patterns by the gang of four. It is not a easy read and will not make sense till you can see the pattern. I have it for years and go back to it to see how the threads weave into pattern. Today I came across Yahoo! Design Pattern and UI pattern libraries for web development. Earlier today I watched Atlas being presented by Nikhilk Kothari at Microsoft. It seems there are finally libraries, patterns, and code bases that will temp even lazy programmers like me to use some rigor and discipline in to the development process.
ASP.NET 2.0 also offers such great patterns like the Providers. Are we coming of age? For some it is buzz words like Web 2.0 and SOA but the rest it is a exciting new world and one that is better.
I was reading an interview on ENIAC’s co-inventor J. Presper Eckert and found out that Unisys had its root in ENIAC. Kind of nostalgic. I really liked what he said – “I am happiest when I am working on the edge of something — where there are not many people who have done it. When nobody has done it, it is pretty tough. That gets me excited.”
Now I know the feeling and why I get bored with something that I know has been done already.
You can read the interview here: Link to Article
I use about 4-5 computers between all the places I am at. I have always wanted to have my folders in sync between the machines to get a unified view of the way data my data and files are organized. There are many tools like I have tried (E. g.Sync Toys from Microsoft), but they are very limited.
While I have Goole Desktop on one of my computers (not the new version), I do not have it configured to not send any data back to google and have a few firewalls to verify internet activity, though it is hard at time to guess.
While searching across computers using the technique proposed by Google, works. I would think that it is technically the least feasible. I would better install some peer-to-peer software that exchanges meta data between the known peers and keep the files in sync. If you have Cygwin, even rsync could do the job with a little workaround with your NAT routers.
However the approach taken by Google will require tremendous amount of storage capacity and and other networking and computing resources to enable cross computer searching. Now given that the tool is “free”, why would a for profit company want to take this approach? Bear in mind that they have some of the brightest minds working for them, so lack of technical competence is ruled out.
My take is, better information all all aspects of a person using their services.
Well they can index everything from your surfing habits to your personal documents. Then they can mine the data that can be very (did I say very) valuable for marketers and targeted advertisers. But with so much data on a indivisual, it is like the apple in the Garden of Eden, too hard to resist the temptation. No matter what Google says about privacy, it is not something I would do and will proactively advocate other people not to use it.
Google has been holding up against the Feds for giving out its search log data. While I am sure most Google users appreciate this, including me there is something which makes me uneasy in the gut. For one, how much information do they have? Then how long can they hold up. Eventually they will have to give in.
For one thing it has somehow changed my behavior in using online search engines. For one thing I clear my cache and cookies more often. Then at every opportunity I switch search engines. Sometime..though rare I even reboot my router for a few minutes to get a new IP from my ISP. Privacy concerns? who really cares? I would any way give away information for a chance to win a fee lunch.
But when I am logged into Google for personalization and do searches they can easily build a profile of what I do. While targeted ads are ok and in some cases good, what happens when the nosey BB wants access to everything? Can Google defend itself against entities that are really out to get access to its data? Privacy laws are so loose and do not translate borders.
Not everyone says “do no evil”.