...more recent posts
Joel on Software explains Unicode and character sets. There is something about his tone that usually turns me off (probably it's that he knows more than I do!) but he also writes some really informative articles. I've been wanting someone to explain this whole mess, and he has done a great job. Thanks!
Sort of geeky programmer stuff, but might be interesting to others as well. How exactly is text stored in a computer?
But still, most people just pretended that a byte was a character and a character was 8 bits and as long as you never moved a string from one computer to another, or spoke more than one language, it would sort of always work. But of course, as soon as the Internet happened, it became quite commonplace to move strings from one computer to another, and the whole mess came tumbling down. Luckily, Unicode had been invented....His insistence that "There Ain't No Such Thing As Plain Text" is a real mind blower. I mean, of course, but it had never really sunk in before.
Unicode was a brave effort to create a single character set that included every reasonable writing system on the planet and some make-believe ones like Klingon, too.
SMS Sender is a web app that lets you send SMS messages to most North American cellphones.
Two good articles linked from boingboing this morning:
Distributed web hosting system for spammers using cracked computers:
One group in Poland is currently advertising "invisible bulletproof hosting" in online forums for spammers. For $1,500 per month, the group says it can protect a site from network sleuthing tools used by spam opponents, such as traceroute and whois.
And Simson Garfinkle has an article explaining how peer to peer (P2P) technology can build a better internet.
I wish I could set Safari to open all links (single click) in a new tab, and use command-click to open links in the current window.
Is there a hack to do this?
Panther - Mac OS X 10.3 - will be available at 8 pm on October 24th in Apple Stores.
Software defined radio doing well in initial trials.
Researchers have successfully tested a system that can replace a cellular tower's room full of communications hardware with a single desk-top style computer, making the technology affordable for small, rural communities....
Vanu Software Radio™ is first of its kind to perform all functions of a GSM (a digital cellular standard) base station using only software and a non-specialized computer server. The servers run the Linux operating system on Pentium processors, further simplifying the technology and reducing cost.
The company successfully demonstrated the technology in two rural Texas communities: De Leon in Comanche County and Gorman in Eastland County. When the test ends, the technology will remain as a cellular infrastructure run by Mid-Tex Cellular, Ltd.
Interesting speculation about problems with google running out of unique IDs for web pages.
Huge review of the Sony Ericsson P900. Lots of pictures. Supposedly on sale October 25th.
I am convinced that I need a built in keyboard, so this combo phone isn't for me. But that's a personal thing. This phone (along with the current P800 model) is definitely at the top of it's class and worth a serious look.
There is a very large lack of information coming out of Sprint concerning the availability of the Treo 600. It's not in stores, but may be available for ordering (or not depending on who you talk to at Sprint.) It shouldn't be this hard. Either it's out or it's not out. Right?
I *am* trying to be patient.
If you are a super geek and have ever wondered why mp3 files have a fraction of a second of dead air at the beginning and end (insert complaint about ripping Dark Side of the Moon here) this article will explain it.