Schollnicks

I started programming when I was 8 or 9…. I started using computers from the Apple ][ & ][e’s that were at Sherman elementary with Apple Basic… After conquering that, I was able to start using a CP/M based system with Dual 8″ floppy’s, and started working on their version of basic…

About a year later, the Timex Sinclair ZX-80 was conquered… For fun, try to make a graphical version of monopoly on the Timex Sinclair… That has to fit within 16K, and runs off the cassette loader….

Other computers followed, but I did not started any serious projects until after switching to White Box PCs… And starting Matrix Technologies…. I started writing Bulletin Board Utilities, and eventually started helping maintain, and develop QuickBBS….

Sadly, due to a variety of issues… Most significantly my development box dying, work overload, and too much stress caused a re-evaluation of my QuickBBS development…

This is tough. Apple Basic, QBasic, 68xxx Assembly, MS Pascal, Turbo Pascal (one of my favorites), C (Blah!), AppleScript, Python (my favorite). I have forgotten even more languages, including CBasic, QBasic, etc…

I keep planning on sitting down and working through Objective-C. But my dislike of C, and lack of free time keeps forcing me to back burner this….

I have had a lot of applications that I have enjoyed programming, even had fun with… The Indigo Security script has been a AppleScript pain, but has been fun in expanding my Applescripting experience…

The Software Licensing software kit that I worked on a few years back was a cross-platform Python bash! Involving ODBC, Windows specific code, Macintosh Specific code, Unicode, and ReportLab (PDF Library) riots… I learned a heck of a lot regarding Unicode, and while frustrating it was really satisfying…

While being cynical, it is something to be aware of. Just because you write your new software package, does not necessarily mean you will be able to make a living off a shareware software package.

Keep programming because of the love of product, and don’t allow yourself to become a slave to a particular project. My 4 year daughter keeps reminding me that there is a world away from the computer. It’s important to be able to get up from the programming chair, stretch your legs, and step away for a few minutes…

Also Document your code! I can’t say this enough… Documenting is the most annoying but needed part of any project. I eventually started a format that I liked, and it has saved me so much time and energy.

Help yourself in the future by adding a sniplet of code in your documentation that demonstrates how to use the function / module / subroutine… While this isn’t immediately helpful, in 6 months, you’ll come back and there maybe a nagging question on how the routine passes data… And the example will be helpful…

- Benjamin

(See Macworld of the complete article…)

Macworld | Microsoft to bring back Visual Basic in Office for Mac

In summary, Microsoft will be adding VBA support back into Office, but the next version of the office suite (”VBA will return to the next full upgrade to the Mac version of Office”).

Wait a second, the next version of the office suite. Not a service pack, so we will have to wait until somewhere around 2010 - 2011 before we can use VBA on the Macintosh again.

First of all, the lack of VBA can seriously hamper interoperability between the Windows version & Macintosh version of Office. Is the finance dept really going to make a second version of your spreadsheet for Macintosh users? We have enough problems with people creating Web Sites that require Active X controls, I don’t think we will be able to win the fight over spreadsheet VBA usage….

If this is Microsoft’s level of commitment to their Macintosh users then we have to question the amount of resources that they are given, and their priorities.. This entire VBA fiasco is guaranteed to have a negative effect on Mac Office’s market share….

From Fortune, March 25, 2008 (http://bigtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/03/25/microsoft-looks-to-cash-in-on-the-iphone/).

The Mac unit’s work certainly isn’t charity – it delivers millions of dollars in profit for the company with its Mac version of the Office productivity suite. Microsoft doesn’t break out exact numbers, but we can extrapolate: Gibbons said the Mac Business Unit provides about a third of the revenue for the Specialized Devices and Applications Group, which also includes Windows Embedded, Microsoft Hardware, the Automotive Business Unit and Microsoft Surface Computing; the whole group did more than $1 billion in sales last year. So it’s reasonable to guess that the Mac unit provided about $350 million – and since Gibbons said the Mac group was one of the group’s more profitable units, it’s possible that Microsoft made somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million in profit from Mac software.

Maybe it is time to start to re-evaluate the Macintosh dependency on Microsoft, after all, Pages (iWork) can open Office XML files…. Same with Numbers, and Keynote. If Excel can’t open VBA, neither can Numbers, but Numbers is significantly more stable, and about 1/3rd of the price and supported by Apple.

- Benjamin

Pets on lap while driving may soon be a no-no in Calif.
(AP): “AP - Pull over and put down the dog. A California lawmaker wants to ban motorists from holding pets on their laps while driving and getting caught can net a $35 fine. The bill passed the Assembly on a 44-11 vote on Monday, and heads to the Senate.”

(Via Yahoo! News: Top Stories.)

Here’s my view on this….

A $35 dollar fine means that this is intended as a revenue gathering scheme instead of actually attempting to stop people from driving with their pets unsecured.

Quite simply most people that drive with their pets unsecured are not going to worry about a $35 fine, until it occurs. Even then, they may stop for a short while after being caught, but will probably not stop in the long term.

Here’s the California government attempting to mandate common sense. It just doesn’t work…

(More on FrontRow with Indigo later….)

From Engadget… (Which got it from hack a day)

Bootable flash key makes disk encryption attacks super-simple: “

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Storage

Ruh roh, Shaggy — you remember that disk encryption attack that involved cooling off your target’s RAM and yanking it to get a bitdump before the contents faded? Well, it looks like things just got a lot simpler for would-be attackers — check out this USB flash key designed by security researcher Robert Wesley McGrew, which can boot your machine and dump the RAM to itself without altering its contents. That means you no longer need to actually pull the DIMMs or carry around an air duster; all an attacker needs is enough time to reboot your machine and copy the contents of your RAM. Of course, that takes time — McGrew says things are running quite slowly right now, but he suspects his test machine is dropping down to USB 1.0 speeds. That’s still not too reassuring — looks like we’ll be spending even more time with our machines from now on.

[Via Hack a Day]

(Via Engadget.)

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