Levels of Indirection

Smokebreak TV is responsible for the best laugh I've had in a long time. It goes like this:

A group of my coworkers in the Tucson office started a cable access show called Smokebreak TV and released their first episode last week. My friend, Vlad, a coworker with me in the local office, reviewed the episode in his blog, offering up an E-for-effort appreciation of the show and noting the potential bulldada factor. Being unfamiliar with the term, bulldada, I tried looking it up on Merriam-Webster as well as doing a "define:"-style Google search. Both turned up empty. I then tried a regular Google search on "buldada means" and got a hit on a book review that defined the term. The book in question was "Galaxy 666" by Pel Torro, which Ken DeVries called the worst science fiction novel ever written. He said that it "does for literature what Plan 9 From Outer Space did for the cinema." Reading the quoted passages is what sent me reeling. So, thanks guys. I owe you one.

iPod Race movie

I just discovered the iPod Race (quicktime) movie from last December. If you are an iPod user and you haven't seen it yet, you gotta check it out.

Endo-Testing with Mock Objects

I finally paid attention to the buzz surrounding endo-testing with mock objects and read the introductory paper. I’m quite impressed with the concept and I can easily see how it’ll provide me with an easier way to unit test within complex states. I’m already convinced that test-driven development is the way to go, so I’m especially impressed with the idea that mock objects work especially well when employed as a TDD tactic.

By the way, for anyone still using Delphi, there’s a Delphi Magazine article on the subject.

You are Invited - Intro to UML & Design Patterns

I will be speaking on Tuesday, March 23 at 7pm in the city of Orange on the following topics: An introduction to UML followed by a very brief introduction to design patterns (which will, of course, be illustrated using UML diagrams). This will be at a meeting of the Orange County Delphi Users Group, although as you can see, the topics have nothing to do with Delphi, per se. OCDUG meetings are open to the public.

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) comes in multiple forms and serves many purposes. This presentation will describe UML diagramming in particular and discuss the uses for it. All 9 diagram types will be presented with an emphasis on the Class diagram. (That's the one that most people think of when you just say "UML diagram.")

Software design patterns first became popular with a book called "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides (a.k.a. "The Gang of Four"). All software is designed according to patterns, whether or not the programmers realize it. This book sheds light on how patterns are used in software design and offers up a catalog of certain patterns that tend to recur in good code. Many other pattern catalogs have emerged subsequently, but the original GoF catalog is still considered the proper starting point. This presentation will cover: the general concept of patterns, the difference between patterns and idioms, and how patterns are described and catalogued. One pattern (Singleton) will be discussed in detail.

The OCDUG meetings are held at Red Brick Software, 1301 East Lincoln Avenue, Orange, CA 92865. [Directions]

Proposed Spammer Punishment

When we finally figure out how to catch and convict spammers (and virus writers), I propose that they each be punished as follows:

1. Lop off his or her head
   
2. Put the head on stake
   
3. Aim a web-cam at it as a warning to all other would-be spammers
   

That's not too lenient, is it?

Why Anti-Spam Technology Doesn't Work

Over half of all e-mail traffic is SPAM these days, and it's getting worse, costing businesses $20 billion a year in lost productivity. Most of it originates from a handful of organized spamming groups that the authorities are unable to do anything about because of ineffective laws. In the mean time, a number of technological solutions are being used/proposed, but, as this terrific article (and part 2 of 2) shows, none of them (will) work. What a mess! I sure hope somebody finds a way to deal with this soon.