Posted by Curt Hibbs
Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:03:00 GMT
I just got my blog upgraded to the latest version of Typo. I desparately needed to do this just because the old version I had been running had no builtin spam protection and I was drowning in comment spam.
In order to do this with a reasonable amount of effort, I was only able to transfer over the articles I had posted, so all of the comments have been lost.
Hopefull the anti-spam features of Typo will help keep the spammers at bay.
Posted in other | no comments
PHP is a point & shoot; Rails is an SLR
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:51:00 GMT
I declare this to officially be Metaphor Day. After reading this post, I realized that:
(via Obie)
Posted in rails, other | 5 comments
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Fri, 17 Feb 2006 23:56:00 GMT
It feels good to be part of an innovative community.
Dave Thomas
and
Andy Hunt,
the venerable Pragmatic Programmers seem to have a knack for finding and/or creating the concepts and products that fuel many innovative trends.
The print industry, be it magazines or books, is at a crossroads trying to figure out how to transition into the digital age. When Dave and Andy decided to create their own publishing company, the
Pragmatic Bookshelf,
they created the industry’s best tool-chain for authoring and publishing books.
Their most recent innovation in this traditionally stodgey industry was the Beta Book.
This is a book that is sold in electronic form (PDF in their case) before it is finished. This is great for technical books because it gives the readers early access and allows them to provide feedback and corrections before the book is cast into stone.
All-in-all, it is a win-win situation for everyone. They deserve your thanks (and your
business).
It looks like other publishers are following the Pragmatic Bookshelf lead. First, it was O’Reilly with their
Rough Cuts,
followed closely by Manning with their
Manning Early Access Program.
I expect we will see the other technical book publishers follow along in due time.
UPDATE: Several readers have informed me that Manning has been doing this for years, even before the Pragmatic Bookshelf (at least as early as 2003, possibly earlier). Thanks for the correction.
Posted in other | 1 comment
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:33:00 GMT
Cory Doctorow has just posted one of the best (and most comprehensive)
essays
I’ve yet to read on the publishing industry’s objections to Google Book Search. If you are interested in this topic, or Fair Use rights in general, then this is a
must-read.
Finally, it’s no foregone conclusion that free electronic copies of a book will substitute for sales of physical copies of that book. My first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, was released as a free, open download on the same day that it appeared in stores. Three years later, it’s in its sixth printing and more than 650,000 copies of it have been distributed from my website (an untold and unknowable number of copies have been distributed by others, as well). That’s because my biggest threat as an author isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity. The majority of ideal readers who fail to buy my book will do so because they never heard of it, not because someone gave them a free electronic copy.
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Posted by Curt Hibbs
Tue, 14 Feb 2006 16:07:00 GMT
Just for fun, I entered this blog’s URL into this
calculator
to see how much it is worth. The answer was $0.00 – so I’ve got nowhere to go but up!
Posted in other | no comments
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Tue, 29 Nov 2005 08:00:00 GMT
This blog is powered by Typo, a Rails-based open source blog application. The newest version of Typo (which I haven’t upgraded to) supports themes, and they’ve been having a theme competition here.
So many nice looks to choose from! I need to get myself upgraded.
Posted in other | no comments
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Sun, 20 Nov 2005 08:00:00 GMT
I recently recommended
Jeff Hawkin’s new book
On Intelligence,
the best book I have ever read on the nature of intelligence and the human brain. If you are interested in this topic, this book is an absolute must read!
Now Nature has published a journal issue devoted the subject of sleep:
The fundamental truths of sleep are not difficult to master: one sleeps when one is tired — mostly at night—and awakens the next day usually feeling rested and refreshed.
So why put together an Insight on a topic that seems so straightforward?
Although it is often true in biology that things are more complex than they seem at first glance, it is especially accurate for sleep.
All of the articles in this issue are downloadable as PDFs:
- Sleep is of the brain, by the brain and for the brain
- Hypothalamic regulation of sleep and circadian rhythms
- Clues to the functions of mammalian sleep
- Sleep-dependent memory consolidation
- Insights from studying human sleep disorders
- What are the memory sources of dreaming?
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Posted by Curt Hibbs
Thu, 17 Nov 2005 08:00:00 GMT
Every now and then I hear a quote that just resonates with me and makes me think. That’s what happened this morning when I heard this in the audiobook
I was listening to:
Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
A quick Google search
confirmed that everyone has already heard this except for me!
Recently I have had a string of good fortune (professionally speaking) that I had, characteristically, chalked up to luck—being in the right place at the right time. I hadn’t really given myself credit for the fact that I was in a position to take advantage of these opportunities precisely because my past actions and choices had prepared me for it.
The next time this happens to you, remember to give yourself credit.
Posted in other | no comments
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Tue, 08 Nov 2005 08:00:00 GMT
I was going to ignore this when
Andy blogged about it.
But after
Lyle posted his nerd score,
I was compelled to find out my score.
You can take the nerd test
here.
My score was 92%—“Supreme Nerd”. That was less than Andy’s 96% but more than Lyle’s 72%.
So, what does it mean? I dunno… but like Andy, I’ll just take it as a compliment!
Posted in other | no comments
Posted by Curt Hibbs
Mon, 24 Oct 2005 07:00:00 GMT
If you are generally interested in the subject of intelligence, the brain, and intelligent machines, then run (don’t walk) to Amazon and pick up a copy of Jeff Hawkin’s (of Palm fame) new book On Intelligence.
You’ll only be sorry if you don’t! Seriously, its a seminal work destined to change forever the way we think about intelligence, the brain, and intelligent machines. From an amazon reviewer:
It is not very often that you encounter a book that alters, not simply what you think, but how you look at the world. On Intelligence is such a book. Jeff Hawkins develops a perspective on intelligence that makes sense of much of what I have discovered about learning over the past twenty years.
Audible.com also has it on audiobook so you can listen while you commute.
Posted in other | no comments
