DevTopics is a high-level and sometimes satirical look at software development and computer technology. DevTopics is written by Tim Toady, the founder of Browserling Inc, a cross-browser testing company. When we occasionally dive into the details, it's usually about C# and .NET programming. (More)
Web designers worldwide are staging an online revolt against the Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 web browser. The designers claim that “IE6,” which was released 8 years ago but is still used by 20% of users, is “crippling the Internet’s potential and slowing down the online experience.”
The "IE 6 No More" website seems to be the hub of online dissent against IE6. The site includes code that developers can insert into their websites to encourage IE6 users to upgrade. Some websites already provide hurdles or roadblocks to IE6. For example, YouTube sends a message to IE6 users, asking them to upgrade to another browser like Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. However, YouTube will continue to function in basic mode for IE6 and other outdated browsers.
CodePaste.NET is a new public code pasting site that allows you to paste and link code from social network sites like Twitter and Facebook, or chat and IM applications like Skype or Messenger. The idea is that these social networks or chat clients work well for interactive discussion, but they don’t allow enough space to post even the shortest snippets of code for all participants to see.
A lot of Twitter traffic deals with discussions about code or code concepts, so a place to share and view code is very useful. So rather than squeezing code snippets into these clients, you can post it on the the CodePaste.NET site and then link to the snippet. As opposed to other code pasting sites, CodePaste.NET is more specific to .NET developers, providing syntax highlighting and the ability to apply comments on snippets.
I have a friend who announces when she’s going to bed every night on Facebook. It’s the 21st century equivalent of “Good night, John Boy.” But does anyone really care?
Facebook, MySpace and especially Twitter provide a global platform to the narcissist in each of us. We tweet the minutia of detail in our normally normal lives, hoping that somebody in cyberspace actually cares.
I’m not throwing stones in a glass house; I’m actually throwing them at the mirror. I, too, am guilty of sharing my life ad nauseum on Facebook. Even this blog is an electronic indictment of my narcissism, as if anyone truly cares about my rants.
Microsoft Popfly is a set of online visual tools for novice programmers and end-users to build Web pages, applications and games. This was Microsoft’s attempt to bring programming to the masses, similar to Hypercard on the Macintosh, or the original Visual Basic on Windows before it became a real (complicated) object-oriented language under .NET.
But this fly lived for only two years. Microsoft has just announced that on August 24, 2009, the Popfly service will be discontinued and all sites, references, and resources will be taken down. At that time, access to your Popfly account, including any games and mashups that you have created, will be discontinued.
You’ve got a great business idea, now all you need is your Web domain. But it seems like all the good domain names are now taken. Here are some tips to help you find a domain name that fits your business.
20 years ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. For his next project, he’s building a web for open, linked data that could do for numbers what the Web did for words, pictures, video: unlock our data and reframe the way we use it together.
Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. He leads the World Wide Web Consortium, overseeing the Web’s standards and development. Full bio and more links
FKA200 has compiled a list of the most expensive domain name sales ever. Many of these sales were completed before the dot-com bust in 2001. It makes you wonder if the buyers were ever able to recoup their costs.
It appears that Dr. Dobbs Journal is dead. Beginning in January 2009, Dr. Dobb’s Journal will become “Dr. Dobbs Report — A Special Software Development Monthly Section in InformationWeek magazine.”
According to a posting on the InformationWeek website:
“Led by Dr. Dobb’s Editor-in-Chief Jon Erickson, Dr. Dobb’s Report focuses on the tools, technologies, people, products and services transforming the software development marketplace. Anchored by new in-depth Analytic Reports the Dobbs editorial team will produce in 2009, Dr. Dobb’s Report highlights the most business-critical perspective and strategies to help the readers of InformationWeek Magazine define and frame software development objectives.”