Overheard: File “Mars Programming Language” under “D”

“Great, just what I need. Another D in programming.” Segfault comment

How did Mars get shortened to “D” instead of “M”?

According to the Digital Mars FAQ page:  “The original name was the Mars Programming Language. But my friends kept calling it D, and I found myself starting to call it D. The idea of D being a successor to C goes back at least as far as 1988.”

Overheard: Elton Mayo

“One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider our problems, can change our whole outlook on the work.” Elton Mayo

Overheard: 3G iPhone might as well be EDGE

I’m not so sure that all the usage won’t bog down the 3G network until it is little more than EDGE, at least for a while. Even with “regular” 3G phones, the system has encountered issues from intense usage, causing slow downs, crashes, and complete shut-downs. teddgcm, 3G iPhone, Will the Network Crash?

Overheard: Pirates of perchance

The only real limitation on your copying was the number of floppy disks you could afford! Graham Pockett, Why I Started CFS (or “Confessions Of A Software Pirate”)

According to the Business Software Alliance’s fifth-annual study on global software piracy, softlifting is still a big problem — especially in “emerging markets.” It makes sense to me. Back in the day, a lot of us were pirates of perchance — as in “perchance we can get this program for free from a friend.”

We used to call it Warez.

Interestingly enough, can you guess what software apps the BSA says are lifted most? Symantec’s Norton Anti-Virus, Adobe Acrobat, and Symantec’s PC Anywhere.

Overheard: The iPhone — death by monthly payments

We have had nearly 24 hours to jump out Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field and put common sense behind the announcements made yesterday – especially the company’s iPhone 3G. Christian Zibreg, WWDC 2008: Will the iPhone 3G kill the iPhone?

Christian Zibreg thinks the money iPhone users shell out to AT&T each month is the deal killer. It is for my family.
Just as I was posting this, Verizon called and offered my whole family free phone upgrades and extra minutes. Coincidence? LOL!

Overheard: Microsoft Sandcastle washed away

A number of people have alerted me in the last 24 hours that a Microsoft project called Sandcastle, located on Codeplex, used the Ms-PL and called itself “open source” yet never posted the source code. This is unacceptable and represents a violation of Microsoft’s Open Source policy. I take it extremely seriously. I have directed the project to be unpublished from Codeplex immediately, including removal of the project’s use of the Ms-PL. Sam Ramji, Sandcastle Removed from Codeplex

Isn’t it ironic that Microsoft picked Sandcastle as the name for their documentaion tool? Now, like a real sandcastle, it’s disappeared in a wave of indignation from the OSI community.

Overheard: Facebook is loving Hadoop

Over time, we have added classic data warehouse features like partitioning, sampling and indexing to this environment. This in-house data warehousing layer over Hadoop is called Hive and we are looking forward to releasing an open source version of this project in the near future. Joydeep Sen Sarma, Hadoop

Overheard: FOSS is the constructionist learning model in action

The culture that is embodied in the FOSS movement — a meritocracy that is built upon both collaboration and critique — is synergistic with some core principles of learning, so, where possible, I try to embrace that culture. Walter Bender, as quoted in Walter Bender Discusses Sugar Labs Foundation

“Constructionism” is a theory of learning pioneered by Seymour Papert. Papert first started developing the theory as a student of Piaget in the early 1960s. Over the course of more than 40 years of research and practice, Papert and his students found that children learn best when they are in the “active role of the designer and constructor” and that this happens best in a context where the child is “consciously engaged in constructing a public entity” — something “truly meaningful” for the learner. Further, the creation process and the end product must be shared with others in order for the full effects to take root.

Overheard: Agile project managers must be xenodochial

Most agile coaches move around from team to team and need to fit in with different groups. Not only do they have to be approachable by different people, but they also have to ensure that what they say and how they act doesn’t work to exclude people. Patrick Kua, The Agile Coach, from A to Z

Overheard: Why Bill Gates is like Mr. Burns

One unfortunate habit Bill Gates has is constantly bringing his finger tips together high across his chest while speaking. Often this leads to his hands being locked together somewhere across his chest. This gesture makes him seem uncomfortable and is a gesture reminiscent of The Simpsons’ Mr. Burns. Garr Reynolds,  Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic

Garr Reynolds does an excellent job explaining PowerPoint Zen by comparing the presentation styles of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.