Just worked my way through the Scala Tutorial (PDF). It’s an interesting language so far. It mixes my favorite parts of functional and object oriented languages in an elegant way. I’ll have to write something in it to see if the imperative aspects of the language ruin the functional aspects for me though. Next up: Scala by Example (PDF).
Character encoding is a bitch and internationalization is hard. I need to educate myself on how this stuff works. Yes, I have read Joel Spolsky’s rant on Unicode before, but it doesn’t get you very far in terms of actually doing it.
I’ve been really enjoying Zed Shaw’s posts on Mongrel2. It’s really interesting to read about how an experienced programmer designs and codes a complex piece of software. Definitely going to peruse the source when I get the chance.
Knuth announces iTex. Here’s one person’s notes on the conference. I can’t decide if this is for real or if he’s laughing himself to sleep right now… Was kind of hoping he proved P=NP or something to that effect.
A new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer was released today. I can’t wait for November!
Remember the paintball scene in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You
with Heath Ledger? I just discovered it was shot at Gas Works Park where I run to every day. Weird.
My Phone Is Off for You popped up in my feed reader today and it reminded me of what my high school band conductor would always say: Be where you are. He’s right of course and I make an effort whenever I’m with someone to put them first and my phone second. Hell, if you’ve been around me for any period of time you’ve probably seen me take my phone out of my pocket, hit the rocker switch to make it stop vibrating, and set it aside. I doubt I’m the only one who finds it annoying when the person you’re talking to is constantly checking their phone and answering texts. Then they lookup from their phone and realize you’ve stopped talking and say “Sorry (but not really)”.
This Gizmodo writer clearly doesn’t get it. It’s not a measure of respect or affection. It’s about being present and–as Mr. Egan put it so succinctly–being where you are. When you can access Facebook and Twitter so effortlessly from your phone, it’s easy to forget where you are and that there are people around you. Disconnecting from the ether is good for you and can actually be quite pleasant (this is one of the reasons I like camping).
I’m not asking you to turn off you’re phone. Not even I do that. But please, don’t check it every thirty minutes like it’s a bomb about to go off.
