As reported on CNN and Devthink, the writers strike is now officially over!!!
The first effects will be seen on the late-night shows. Over at the nofactzone they have the guest details for the *special* writers return episode. I’m glad to see the strike now officially over, let’s hope the writers have saved up some good ideas!
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It’s worth noting that, as reported on TechCrunch, FireFox 3 Beta 3 has been released. So in honor of version 3 beta 3 here are 3 highlights from the release notes:
It’s hard not to like what’s coming.
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Now that the writers strike is effectively over, I thought I’d jump back into posting.
I look forward to seeing my favorite tv shows come back. The Chicago tribune has a list showing when various tv shows are coming back.
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Similar to my previous post about MySql CONV, this post about the more explicitly named PHP function base_convert is about arbitrary base conversion. I’ll assume you’ve read the previous post about the benefits of base conversion particularly for compact representation of long ids and just get right to it.
string base_convert ( string $number , int $frombase , int $tobase )
The PHP function base_convert suffers the same limitation as MySql CONV and can only convert to bases between 2 to 36. One word of warning though is that it can lose precision on very large numbers due to it’s internal use of double’s vs floats. So if available, I would utilize and recommend MySQL CONV over base_convert.
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Can you achieve compact representation?
So you’ve got to pass long ids through a url or maybe you need to email a link that contains an id. Long ids can be ugly and in an email can cause the link to be broken across lines. How can you improve this situation? The best way to accomplish this is by using base conversion to achieve compact representation.
Compact representation via base conversion sounds cool but how does it work? When you are creating a base10 id you are dealing with 0-9. When you create a URL you have many more characters to deal with A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and a few symbols. If you convert from base10 to a higher base you can take advantage of more of those characters. You can get more meaning out of each character in your URL and shorten the length of your id.
So how does MySQL come into this? MySQL provides an very easy and powerful function to do base conversion. See the syntax below:
CONV(N,from_base,to_base)
N can be an integer or a string. You can see more details here. The maximum base you can use with this function is 36 which uses characters A-Z0-9. This is the highest base that is case insensitive that can be important when you are doing comparison of higher base ids.
Here is what it can do… 1928374650 (base10) becomes VW3REI (base36). That takes 10 characters down to 6 characters a 40% savings. In this case smaller is better!
If you have to pass an id via a URL convert it to base36 or mention compact representation in your next development meeting!
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As I and others have mentioned before, Microsoft has finally released Visual Studio 2008 Express. It looks like they have made some serious productivity improvements to the various IDEs.
For those that don’t know the available Visual Studio 2008 express editions are below:
These are some powerful tools and best of all they’re free.
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Billed as the “Ultimate Instant Messenger”, Trillian Astra may be just that. Currently in alpha, Astra will connect to all IM networks including Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL+ICQ, Bonjour, and even MySpace. That alone is pretty interesting, but not unique (check out Pidgin). Astra is also attempting to translate one Trillian profile page to all of the other service specific profile pages with automatic sync. If accomplished that will be one mighty huge feather in their cap. I wonder if they will integrate with Google’s Open Social?
It’s also important to note that Astra looks much better then the current Trillian 3.1, check out the screenshots and skins. I don’t mind the aesthetics of the current 3.1 but Astra makes it look like its been hit by the ugly stick. Astra even boasts the ability to change skins without restarting… nice!
The third side to the triangle that is Astra is the ubiquity of clients. Astra will run Windows and Mac OSX as well as on the iPhone. This could be a good way to simplify your chat management between your computer and your mobile devices.
The last feature I noticed was strong public key encryption that will keep your inane banter private. This can be especially important from a business users perspective giving you the confidence of knowing that the people you chat with are who they say they are.
Trillian Astra looks very promising but so do many other alpha products. Let’s hope the coders at Creulean Studios can execute on Astra and give us all a great product.
If this post has you clamoring a download sign up for the alpha.
An interesting side note is that IM companies have really taken to the new .im TLD which is in stark contrast to most internet companies.
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In a recent FCC ruling, as reported by the NY Times and Techcrunch, may open up the cable networks and possibly let companies like Google become providers. Another possible outcome is the un-bundling of cable channels. This seems to already be happening, with content providers making content available directly over the internet.
The actual specifics are that the FCC will have new powers over the cable industry under the 70/70 rule of the Cable Communications Act of 1984. The rule states that FCC can adopt rules to promote diversity of information sources once 70% of households have access to cable and at least 70% subscribe. I would have thought this was true a long time ago… but that’s just me.
Whatever happens anything that increases competition in cable/satellite TV is a good thing.
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You can’t just use Microsoft Visual Studio. You have to customize it. Make it yours. This post is about doing just that!
Have fun with these!
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As reported on the No Fact Zone, Stephen Colbert’s application for the South Carolina democratic primary has been rejected. This to me is pretty lame, as this would have brought more people into the democratic process. Oh well I’m sure he’ll think of a funny way to spin this.
