wp.jochen.hayek.name/blog-en

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  • brand new hot stuff: Using SQLite – O’Reilly Media

    Using SQLite – O’Reilly Media

    We (Aleph Soft Education) are going to teach you this tomorrow, if you want so!

    Look up, what else we have to offer!

  • my slides’ ToC had truncated section titles

    I asked on the mailing list docbook-apps, what I should do, and a helpful mate suggested to make use of . That was a pretty good suggestion, I was rather thankful for it, and I did that for a couple of presentations.

    Introducing  is a rather tedious process though (and remember: engineers are notoriously lazy, but as engineers they are also rather ingenious by nature), as you keep trying to replace the original long title by a fancy shorter one.

    Recently and just of the blue it came to my mind, that there ought to be a stylesheet parameter determining the width of the navigational ToC. Its name is toc.width, I set it to 500, and there is no more need to abbreviate section titles.

  • “off topic” posting on mailing lists, and getting bashed or not

    I am subscribed to quite a few mailing lists (“ML”), and procmail is my friend.

    A couple of minutes ago a V.I.P. posted absolutely O.T. on webscrapers@cool.haxx.se, and I bet nobody will complain. And I fully agree with that. There is a relaxed and professional atmospherere on that ML, and I like that.
    During the last couple of weeks I have been posting “off topic” a couple of times on Berlin related geek MLs, and that was for “good” and rather justifiable reasons. As I already knew, what usually follows is a series of bashings, and I can’t stand that any more after all these years, and I am not willing to either. So I usually ask people to refrain from bashing, and I also threat a little with involving my lawyer.
    I also usually tell them beforehand, they should make deliberate use of their Delete button, but that suggestion doesn’t get received well.
    It’s sort of funny to compare these different situations. I always, always reckoned, that there is a German tendency of dedicating yourself as the voluntary policeman, although one wasn’t asked to play that role and it’s not even paid. They just do that out of passion. I find that weird and sick.
    I can’t remember right now, that I ever saw any such bashing on a non-German mailing list. But it happens on (almost) every German mailing list or newsgroup or whatever.  Until recently I thought the German P3rl community is absolutely not like that. I got proven wrong. A couple of minutes ago I got a rather harsh (but at least private) and threatening e-mail from a German P3rl V.I.P. . Let me call him “SR“! That sounded like an ultimatum, and in way like “it’s either you or me“. I am old enough, to not react immediately but rather sleep it over. But still, I think I will tell him: you will go, not me. But you are not going to tell him, are you? I don’t think he will like that answer. But than what choices will he have? And what are his options? Getting sort of violent? I hate violence, but nowadays I do know how to counteract.
    This is just one of the many German features, that I don’t want to get identified with abroad. And such shame makes me turn into camouflage mode abroad and on the web to not get recognized as German. 
    And it also made me switch my Mac keyboard from German to Austrian mode, as I can’t stand my screen showing the German tricolor. I intend to work in Israel starting in the near future, so that’s essential, as you understand.

    BTW: not even immigrants in Germany are immune against that “play the policeman” syndrome.

    P.S. The incorrect spelling P3erl is quote on purpose for some reason, that I don’t want to get into here and right now.

  • GNU HURD – Altered visions and lost promise – The H Open Source: News and Features

    GNU HURD – Altered visions and lost promise – The H Open Source: News and Features

  • Microsoft’s IronRuby team ground down – The H Open Source: News and Features

    Microsoft’s IronRuby team ground down – The H Open Source: News and Features

  • COBOL – The New Age Programming Language

    COBOL – The New Age Programming Language

    Found this funny article through a tweet by Matz.

  • Programming in Lua

    Programming in Lua, Second Edition

    I came across Lua recently on my latest FRITZ!Box, where they use it as a compact and tiny scripting language.

    Now I decided to make use of my Lua competence and prepare a Lua course as well.

    The slides are already created. Where are the participants? Why do you hesitate? Speak up! Where in this world do you want me to present this course on Lua?

  • a SnowLeopard keyboard in “multi-country mode” showing the German tricolor

    The only period of time, that the German tricolor could ever, ever got seen on me was during my military service. I think, that’s more than enough.

    But … SnowLeopard uses the national flags to indicate, in which country mode the keyboard currently is. Now for a Germany/German keyboard that is the German tricolor.

    Now my question: can I replace that with something … different?

    Alright, currently I am testing the Austrian keyboard layout, next one will be Swiss German. But the latter still shows a tiny German tricolor. Poor Swiss!!!!!
    Looks like the Austrian may win, as there is a better matching regarding the number button overlays…

  • Google Wave to dissipate – The H Open Source: News and Features

    Google Wave to dissipate – The H Open Source: News and Features

  • O’Reilly Media’s “HTML5: Up and Running” is out – are you ready for HTML5?

    HTML5: Up and Running – O’Reilly Media

    This book appeared in their Up and Running series, which is not to be confused with their other series The Definitive Guide.

    Here is the text from the back page:

    If you don’t know about the new features available in HTML5, now’s the time to find out. This book provides practical information about how and why the latest version of this markup language will significantly change the way you develop for the Web.

    HTML5 is still evolving, yet browsers such as Safari, Mozilla, Opera, and Chrome already support many of its features — and mobile browsers are even farther ahead. HTML5: Up & Running carefully guides you though the important changes in this version with lots of hands-on examples, including markup, graphics, and screenshots. You’ll learn how to use HTML5 markup to add video, offline capabilities, and more — and you’ll be able to put that functionality to work right away.

    • Learn new semantic elements, such as 

      ,

      , and

       
    • Meet Canvas, a 2D drawing surface you can program with JavaScript<
    • Embed video in your web pages without third-party plugins>
    • Use Geolocation to let web application visitors share their physical location<
    • Take advantage of local storage capacity that goes way beyond cookies
    • Build offline web applications that work after network access is disconnected
    • Learn about several new input types for web forms
    • Create your own custom vocabularies in HTML5 with microdata

    Berlinians eager for a presentation can leave a comment here suggesting days, times, and locations. As soon as the figure is on a serious level, I am instantly going to set up a Doodle Poll, promised!

    I think, I can promise a couple of free copies of the book sponsored by O’Reilly.

    Who is going to join me in this effort?

    Visit Aleph Soft Education !

    Update / 2010-08-09:
    A huge corporation in the social networking business invites me to give the presentation on this book resp. on this top at an event, that they sponsor. I am very honored. Expect an update with more details on this!