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Showing posts from September, 2003

Font Hints: Do Not Use Arial

I don't know why I keep using Arial as a font but I do. Here's a warning: if you use Arial as a font and put the letter "W" into a button on a toolbar, the top left part of the "W" will go missing. It's terrible - it's awful. Chalk it up to simply bad font design.    

Comments on VFP Awareness Editorial

Message Here's a note from David Dee on my recent editorial in FPA about increasing VFP Awareness. Please add comments     From: David W. Dee [mailto:dwdcatalyst@ij.net] Subject: VFP Awareness I just read your comments about perceptions of VFP as a development environment.  It's something   that concerns a lot of people who've spent (years) using it and developing skills.   The direction that Catalyst Consulting has been taking is that VFP doesn't offer many advantages     when it comes to WWW development.  However, in a enterprise environment using Citrix and something     like HP's new blade-servers, VFP is absolutely perfect.  Citrix provides connectivity at a distance, while the new blade-servers (and their competitors) essentially offer a WAN\LAN computing environment where     VFP excels.   Besides it's overall excellence as an object-oriented development environment, the VFP database engine    

Help Design A New Version of Foxfire!

We're nearing the end of development of the new version of Foxfire! 8.0 and you might want to check it out by visiting our blog on http://www.foxfirereporting.com/livedesign/ffblog.htm   From there, you can download the latest beta, post comments on our recent posts and see why the new Live Design Surface area is really going to make reporting fun again!

9/11

My thoughts go out to all those who lost loved ones on that day - I know we all lost something inside.   It is hard to imagine that it was just 2 years ago that I was preparing my session at DevCon 2001 in San Diego when I first heard about the attacks. I woke up Trish with the words "the world has gone crazy". Those moments and the days that followed are etched in my memory forever.   I hope all have found some kind of peace inside.

Kids Playing...

What a great night yesterday... Trish and I actually saw children PLAYING by themselves, climbing trees, engaging in regular kid's play....T his was the first time in the 5 years we've been here that kids have not been "organized" by adults. We get regular soccer matches and the kids are always under regular supervision. Last night, this group of about 8 kids climbed a tree right to the top, worrying about falling...(ok, some had bike helmets on...)  it was really nice to see kids be kids again, in this age where everyone is worried about everything...

I Want An Interface That Works...

Enough about Longhorn (looks like Inductive User Interface taken to the next level - note: I do LIKE IUI)   Enough about a standard Linux GUI (one to make it look like Windows) - in fact, the more of these discussions I hear, the more I am apt to forego Linux entirely - it sounds too much like the Unix debacle...who wants an interface run by white coats, even when the white coats are really geeks spread out all over the world...   Where is the real next generation interface?   A few years ago, the guys and gals at PARC (the ones who originated the GUI) were experimenting with an interface idea called "Doors" (seriously!). Now what I saw of it wasn't that awe-inspiring but it still brings me to the main point...   Skins and themes are all very nice but they are all simply different variations of the same Windows "theme".   Some basic ideas that are still waiting around for something to click...   Pen-based com

Wired 11.09: The New X-Men

Great little item on Xtreme Programming... (which I would love to do but am loathe to let anyone work in my office when I can have them be a number of miles away)... Hmmm...anyone try it via a shared terminal server connection? Wired 11.09: The New X-Men

WhilBlog - Hey Whil!

And more join the blogging world... I must have been in a fog the last few days to have missed this....actually, no, we had company in and my time has been terribly eaten up (see musings) - it's incredible how much you miss those 20 hour work days when you can only work 10 of them... Hentzenwerke's Developers Studio Apartment

University of Michigan Hides Its Racist Policies

Go figure...gotta love "individual rights" policies... From: The Ayn Rand Institute [mailto:media@aynrand.org] Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 1:27 PM Subject: Letter to the Editor: University of Michigan Hides Its Racist Policies Welcome to the brave new world of college admissions. The Supreme Court ruled in the Michigan case that raced-based policies are constitutional as long as universities are not too obvious about it. The University of Michigan has announced that it has changed its procedures accordingly and these will no doubt be used as a model by other universities. Now instead of using race explicitly by assigning a certain number of bonus points for applicants of the right race, Michigan will use race implicitly--which means they can do whatever they feel like doing provided they do not say they are doing it! Instead of being above board and in the open, racism will now be hidden under the table. Consider the irony of this. For decades leftists and