Z Trek: The Alan Zeichick Weblog
Greet ISO 32000-1:2008, the official PDF standard
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Portable Document Format. Thanks to PDF, you can distribute documents to people – and they can read it without knowing what type of application created it.Consider the world before PDF's debut…
Hot news from the Dallas Regional Chamber!
I'm happy to share this public service announcement.SAME COMPANY, SAME MISSION, DIFFERENT NAMEGreater Dallas Chamber becomes Dallas Regional ChamberDALLAS (June 30, 2008)... The Greater Dallas Chamber is changing its name to the Dallas Regional…
Breaking with the past: Windows OS X?
The Windows NT kernel and architecture, which are at the heart of Windows XP and Windows Vista, are getting more bloated all the time. Packed with every conceivable feature, Windows is home to a huge numbers of different APIs and programming…
Put down that handset, California drivers!
As of July 1 (tomorrow), it is illegal for a car driver to use a handheld phone in California, thanks to two new laws. The Calif. Dept. of Motor Vehicles has a wireless telephone laws FAQ. Here's an excerpt.Q: What is the difference between…
Amazon cuts the cost of its Kindle e-book reader
Do you have a Kindle Wireless Reading Device? I don't. One reason, quite frankly, is price. I couldn't justify shelling out $399 for the device, sight unseen.Amazon has just cut the price of the Kindle by 10%. But even so, I can't justify paying…
It’s time to check your e-mal
A friend, chatting via instant messenger yesterday, referred to the need to go deal with some e-mal.It was a typo for e-mail, of course, but e-mal instantly resonated as a malapropism. When you get into your office in the morning or after lunch,…
Great flicks at the Eclipse Ganymede Poster Contest
The Eclipse Ganymede release train rolls out tomorrow, June 25. As part of the festivities, the Eclipse Foundation is having a movie poster conference.There are 35 great posters available, and you can even vote for your favorite. Sadly, I didn't…
Tomorrow is Eclipse Ganymede Day!
Ganymede, the big Eclipse release train, leaves the station tomorrow, June 25. And what a release train it is, encompassing 23 separate projects (new or updated) and 18 million lines of code.This is the fifth year in a row that the Eclipse Foundation…
Hide your GPS, before someone steals it
Last summer, the San Francisco Examiner ran a story that described about how thieves were grabbing portable GPS units out of cars. They're still doing it.According to "Auto break-in epidemic hits South City," published in August 2007, auto break-ins…
World Series of Poker? I don’t think so…
In today's scam spam, here's a message that came to one of our "letters" e-mail addresses. Forgive me for not sitting in....Subject: World Series of Poker Invitation in VegasWe wanted to let you know right away that you have been invited to…
Two decades of Mathematica
Yesterday, June 23, 2008, was the 20th anniversary of the launch of Mathematica.My first experience with Mathematica came in 1990, when I was editor of Miller Freeman's AI Expert magazine. I loved the software — it was incredible. It was very…
The wisdom of George Carlin
I only got to see George Carlin live once. It was in Las Vegas, sometime in the 1990s. I can't remember which trade show we were attending, but a bunch of us went over and caught Carlin's show at one of the big casinos.He was funny on television.…
Why doesn’t iPhone 3G support WiFi N?
I'm disappointed that Apple's support of 802.11n - the latest, but still draft, incarnation of the wireless Ethernet specs — extends to its Macs and Airport access points, but not to its handhelds.In my office, all of the desktop/notebook…
Wanna buy a used Cisco phone? How about 56 phones?
I get the strangest e-mail messages. Why does this person think that I might have this stuff?Subject: Cisco VOIP Lab Requisition. Cash Paid For De-Commissioned Gear.I am putting together six VoIP labs. The below Cisco gear is needed for immediate…
Flooding in Iowa from 35,000 feet
Yesterday, on a flight from San Francisco to New York, we had a clear view of the flooding on the Mississippi River. This photo was taken from seat 11A as we flew over the Iowa banks of the river, near Des Moines.I've created a Web album of…
This year’s color is Blue Iris, a beautifully balanced blue-purple
I eagerly await Pantone’s annual Color of the Year. In 2007, the color was Red Hot Chili Pepper. This year, the color is Blue Iris.According to Pantone, the color (which is coded 18-3943) is a multifaceted hue that reflects our complex world:…
Testosterone-fueled software development
A business-technology blogger for the Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Buckman, posits that there’s an innate difference in coding style between male and female programmers.
In her June 6 posting, “Men Write Code from Mars, Women Write More…
iPhone + Development = EclipseWorld 2008
I couldn’t be more excited about the possibilities for mobile development using the iPhone 2.0 software stack and AJAX.If you missed the iPhone development classes at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, or if you want an Eclipse-style…
What will you do when gas hits $17 per gallon?
What will you do when gas hits $17 per gallon? That's what drivers in the United Kingdom are wondering.According to a story in today's Daily Mail, the combination of high oil prices, high taxes and a potential strike by fuel-lorry drivers might…
Go to STPCon Fall 2008, get free coffee!
We're crazy about testing, and to prove it, if you sign up for the Software Test & Performance Conference by July 3, you'll get a complimentary Starbucks worth $25.Here are some of the crazy classes at STPCon Fall 2008:#401 Help Your Boss Avoid…
The theme for EclipseWorld 2008 is ‘Java.’
Java, Java, Java, Java, Java.EclipseWorld 2008 is October 28-30 in Reston, Va. — near Dulles Airport, right outside Washington, D.C.The program is live with more than 60 technical classes and full-day workshops. The eXtreme Early Bird discounts…
No, you may not have your lighthouse back
Crazy-but-apparently-true story of the day: A Massachusetts lighthouse, presumed destroyed in 1925, was discovered to be sitting here in the San Francisco Bay Area.Check out this story on CNN. We've driven by the Point Montara Light Station…
Space: 1999 and Space: 1899
My family has been rewatching that great old 1970s science-fiction series, Space: 1999. I had a soft spot for that series, particularly the first season, when the show had more of an edge.While a lot of people liked when the show introduced…
Gender. Love. Sport. Brain.
It's the perfect gift for Dads and Grads! Pricing for a DNA portrait starts at $390, but now you can identify the gene that puts butterflies in your tummy for just a few dollars more, according to this press release.DNA 11’s DNA Art Portraits…
Public service announcement: Goats beat tractors
This just in from the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. This is the sort of good work that government should be doing!Goats rather than tractorsIn just a few days, a few hundred goats cleared several acres of thick brush and grass at Sacramento…
Why you didn’t win the SD Times 100
Every year since 2003, we've published the SD Times 100. And every year, many companies that weren't named to the list have asked us to explain why they weren't on the list.For weeks after the awards come out, company executives call and e-mail…
This makes sense if you’re from Maine
Bert and I was discussin' the whole Internet thing the other day.Bert sez, "I don't get how any of them electronic stoahs ever sell nuthin'. After all, everyone who visits them is a browsah, not a buyah... Cahn't make much money on people just…
Who are the 2008 SD Times 100?
Today, the editors of SD Times unveiled the 2008 SD Times 100, the newspaper's annual listing of the most innovative companies and organizations in the software development industry.First appearing in 2003, the SD Times 100 has had its share…
The new SD Times Job Board has really taken off!
We announced the new SD Times Job Board two weeks ago. When the service initially went it up, it had just over 600 jobs. Early this week, I got a report saying that it was up to 1,100 positions.When I checked this morning, it was up to 1,230…
Dang! Missed seeing Suzanne Vega!
Huntington, N.Y., is the World Headquarters of BZ Media LLC. The Long Island suburb also has the Inter-Media Art Center, a terrific non-profit performing art theatre. It's only a block away from our offices.I'm impressed with the quality of…