Compiling languages down to Javascript May 12th, 2008

If it’s really the case that browsers, virtual machines and IDEs will one day converge, then the first steps would be to run Java, Ruby and other languages in a browser using Javascript. (Hat tip to Nick for the timely links.)
[Edit: run Python using Javascript too.]

Emacs as an anagram of “ECMA-S” May 11th, 2008

Steve Yegge on *Emacs, pointing also to the possible future direction of the *browser:
“IDEs are draining users away, but it’s not the classic fat-client IDEs that are ultimately going to kill Emacs. It’s the browsers. They have all the power of a fat-client platform and all the flexibility of a dynamic system. I said earlier [...]

Orl korrect at OKCon March 16th, 2008

Yesterday’s OKCon 2008 was great fun, if a long day! I’m still digesting the food for thought that the conference provided—many, small courses; over a dozen if you include the more open sessions after the keynotes, and each followed by a sorbet of questions and debate—so I don’t have a great deal to say about [...]

Working out chaotic things December 10th, 2007

I’m so impressed with Radiohead. I was a fan back in the days of The Bends (y’know: before they literally, if not metaphorically, sold out), and have more affection for Pablohoney than most. But in an era when it’s trivial to get whatever music you want for free off your mate who happened to buy [...]

Distributed FM radio from a single digital signal November 25th, 2007

There’s currently no plan to switch off FM stations. In fact, many radio bosses have said oh, for heaven’s sake to the very idea. There is, astonishingly, less of a plan for radio switchover than there is desire among the general public for TV switchover. So that must be some sort of record for nothingness.
Seriously: [...]

Geeknight #1: collect the whole series! February 8th, 2007

Further to my earlier post, the first Oxford Geeknight was splendid. It all ran very smoothly, and though Simon Willison, Tom Dyson and I each had a small hand in setting up the tech, really all the praise has to rain down on the head of Natbat, who organised everything down to the minutest detail, [...]

Universal re’locator January 18th, 2007

What happens when nobody will take responsibility for a standard that the web relies on?
RSS, the standard millions of us use to syndicate content, and view other people’s syndicated content, was originally invented by Ramanathan Guha at Netscape, for use on its my.netscape.com portal. Soon afterwards, Netscape lost interest in the format, leaving it ownerless [...]