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Ted's Radio Weblog
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Thursday, July 31, 2003 |
Don Box details his lunch with Ken Levy here. Glad to hear Ken is doing some work on getting a good XML editor into the Visual Studio box.
3:56:30 PM 
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Wednesday, July 30, 2003 |
Ever had a problem when compiling a VFP project of "Not a table" or "Cannot compile." I have, and wrote a short program demonstrating how to figure out Which One of the files was the culprit. (Microsoft has apparently added this feature to VFP 8, I haven't tried that yet.) Barbara Peisch took my example and enhanced it for her conference session "But what does that MEAN?" last year, and Mike Lewis has added a bit of explanatory text and posted the program on his web site here. It's nice when you see something you contribute getting used.
5:20:22 PM
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Caledonian Record article on my grant-aunt Virginia's 110th birthday. Wow.
3:57:58 PM
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Lee Gomes in the Wall Street Journal's Portal column posits that the web allows us to spot trends, "disintermediating" the trend setters and trend spotters. I've always felt that online forums (CompuServe, Wikis, bulletin boards) could give you more of a sense of the market, the "what's the man on the street opinion" but accumulators and search engines can turn this from an informal survey to a statistical analysis.
12:45:54 PM
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Roxanne Seibert of RoxWorld put on a great show entitled "Presentation Layer Finesse: A crash course in good website design for software developers" for the East Tennessee FoxPro User Group last night. Pictures and links to resources coming later today.
9:44:27 AM
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Tuesday, July 29, 2003 |
Tim's interviewed on Stage4, as linked from many sites on my blogroll. Always worth reading Tim's thoughts.
7:28:46 AM
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Monday, July 28, 2003 |
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Sunday, July 27, 2003 |
I like the idea of RSS as a web service. For slower, close-enough-to-real-time news feeds such as the FoxPro feeds I'm hosting at http://www.tedroche.com/RSSFeeds.html, hourly refreshes are good enough. For more of an on-demand site such as Amazon, with thousands of different requests, real-time response via and XML web service transformed to an RSS feed is the right answer.
Now, is there a way to transform the RSS 2.0 feeds that I'm producing to display the other dialects of RSS that a requestor might be interested, such as 0.91, 0.92 or 1.0? Or is there a core commonality that I could produce and then transform (on the fly through XSL, or more programmatically) to generate the desired feed? I don't want to discourage traffic by not providing information in the format requested. I've already run into one aggregator site that was interested in 1.0 only.
Here are some clues a Google search gave me:
radio.weblogs.com/0100887/stories/ 2002/03/18/anXsltTutorial.html
http://www.ecommnet.co.uk/articles/bloggerRDF.asp
Here's the opposite effect, consuming different RSS feeds via XSLT:
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2003/01/02/tr.html
10:33:40 AM
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Saturday, July 26, 2003 |
Bruce has some interesting observations on the Ideal Programmer.
8:56:08 PM
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Tide Turns Against SCO SCO shares fell nearly 10% Friday, after an IBM memo rejecting SCO's Linux claims turned up. Meanwhile, Andy Butler of Gartner said "Users should not start waving their cheque books" in apparent contradiction of earlier comments by his colleague George Weiss. GROKLAW lists several other analysts taking anti-SCO positions on Linux licensing. Form-4 filings with the SEC reveal SCO Executives have been cashing out stock. They made $398,833.90 in June, and $781,964.70 in July. Full stories with links at link above. From OSNews
6:14:55 PM
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Friday, July 25, 2003 |
C|NET summarizes this week's meeting between Microsoft and a series of financial analysts in a series of articles listed here. The impression I get is that Microsoft is starting to recognize that they are a large industry, and not a small, scrapy software developer, and trying to act grown up. This quote illustrates:
CEO Steve Ballmer will delegate much of the software giant's day-to-day financial operations to seven executives who will serve as chief financial officers...
So, the beancounters are left in charge. What ever happened to the visionary leaders? I suspect they've all cashed out.
4:45:53 PM
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My hope is that a swift resolution of this matter can elp restore balance to the industry... "Linux wars: Big Blue strikes back. IBM launches a counterstrike against SCO Group's attack on Linux users. It argues that SCO's demands for Unix license revenue are undermined by its earlier shipment of an open-source Linux product. On CNET News.com"
4:45:37 PM
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Thursday, July 24, 2003 |
I've seen this phenomenon at the last couple of FoxPro conferences: folks with laptops can be tuned in or way out of the presentation. At DevCon, I blogged the keynote live and made my one and only appearance on the Radio Top 100 blog list. OTOH, some folks tune out and miss the whole thing. Of course, they could do that with Solitaire, too. But now, with IM, they can join in a conversation... interesting. NY Times: In the Lecture Hall, a Geek Chorus. Mr. Aral discovered that he was not alone. The next day in the auditorium, which was outfitted with a wireless link to the Internet, a group of people booted up their laptops, opened their IM programs and spent the next three hours happily exchanging notes during the presentations. Link via Tomalak's Realm
8:42:28 PM
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BI, and closely related techno-buzzterms data mining and online analytical processing, are fields with lots of promise, documented paybacks for some big customers, and an exciting market with too many vendors, too many products, too many promises and too many buzzterms. A shakeout is occurring, with Business Objects purchaing Crystal Decisions, Cognos announcing new products, Hyperion buying Brio, and, as that second link points out, a lot of possible contestants - Microsoft, Oracle, SAS, PeopleSoft - still waiting in the wings. Going to be an interesting show to watch...
11:12:35 AM
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MS03-29, MS03-30 and MS03-31 puts Microsoft one ahead of the rate of one per week for the year.
MS03-29 lists a "Moderate" problem with a normally un-exposed function that could lead to a denial of service attack on Windows NT 4.0 Server only. Read more at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms03-029.asp
MS03-30 deals with a buffer overrun which could allow a malicious user to run code of their choice on your machine, from a malformed MIDI file, web page or HTML e-mail. Rated as "Critical" for all to patch. Read details at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-030.asp.
Finally, MS03-31, described as an "Important" cumulative patch for SQL Server, also patches three new vulnerabilities for SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, as well as MSDE 1.0 and 2000. While the patches seem to indicate that an attacker must have local logon access to execute these exploits, it's not clear if another executable the victim could be tricked into running might be able to exploit these. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-031.asp has details.
As always, there is the danger with patching your system that the patch process could go wrong, crippling your machine, or that the patch might not work properly on your particular configuration, or that the patch fails to fix the problem. Use care in evaluating whether these patches are appropriate for you, and take precautions (backups, images or restore points) to minimize the effect of a patch gone bad.
Be careful out there.
8:36:47 AM
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Wednesday, July 23, 2003 |
The Boston Area Foxpro User Group meets tonight, with me hosting an open-mike Q&A and brief review of DevCon from 6 PM to 7 PM, and Jack Brosch doing the main presentation, a demonstration of Web Services in Visual FoxPro, using the Google API. Should be a good show, open to the public. Click on the link above for more information and directions.
1:58:54 PM
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Tuesday, July 22, 2003 |
 Installed an IOGear GPSU01 print server, a cute little thing with power supply brick, Ethernet and USB printer connection, not three inches on a side. Successfully installed and configured it on two W2K boxes pretty quickly. WinXP took a bit more work, as I had to drop the native firewall (one W2K box had ZoneAlarmPro, and was cooperative about the setup) in order to broadcast and locate the server's IP address, but raising the firewall after that didn't prevent printing. Hope to take on one of the Linux boxes tomorrow, as the device supports IPP and LPR.
Retired the old print server, Antigone, who'd served long and well. Originally my hotshot consultant laptop when I joined Blackstone, a 486/100 beauty with 24 Mb RAM and 500 Mb hard drive. Win95 was still perky on it's 640x480 screen, but something went wrong recently, and network access to the shared printer queue wouldn't work. A short bit of troubleshooting made it clear a $60 print server was cheaper than continued work on the old dear. Off to the Elysian Fields with her.
9:20:19 PM
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Very cool! Wikis get 3 minutes of fame on NPR. "All Things Considered on wikis. NPR's All Things Considered ran a commentary of mine last night on wikis and social software. You can hear it by going here to launch the Real or Windows Media Player. Or, you can try clicking here to play it in the Real client...." from Joho the Blog
11:26:41 AM
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Monday, July 21, 2003 |
Perhaps I'm just reading this wrong, but does this dialog tell me that if I've set my security settings HIGH, the only way I can open a document from an author with working macros is to trust EVERYTHING that author writes? Isn't that backwards? 
9:01:19 PM
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If you follow any of the folks in my blogroll, you've probably seen debate about a new format being pushed to replace RSS, ultimately. Here's a little background that seems to be more impartial than most of what I've read. Oh, and skip to the bottom to catch a bit of news, even if you can't finish the articleUpdate: Debate flares over Weblog standards. Despite technical battles, Weblogs prepare to alter the collaboration and content management space [InfoWorld: Top News]
7:19:32 PM
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Wednesday, July 16, 2003 |
In this interview, Linux Torvalds says linux has no worries in the SCO-IBM legal dispute. Link from SlashDot
9:18:18 AM
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Monday, July 14, 2003 |
EastTennesseeFoxProUserGroup.
Tuesday, July 29: 6:00-6:30 or 6:45 Pizza and mingle, 6:45 Welcome to all by Curtis Jones, 7:00-8:30pm Main Presentation
Roxanne Seibert
Presentation Layer Finesse: A crash course in good website design for software developers
The world revolves around the browser in this day and age, and it probably is no surprise that user interface design isnít the same animal anymore. But who has the time to become a full-fledged web designer when there are so many rapid changes happening to technologies in the software development arena? This session will give software developers a crash course in good web design so that your browser-based user interfaces look polished without a lot of trial and error. Topics covered include an overview of best practices for web design, cascading style sheets and why we need them, how JavaScript can make your life easier in the middle-tier, tools of the trade, and commonly found browser compatibility gotchas.
8:59:37 PM
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Sunday, July 13, 2003 |
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Friday, July 11, 2003 |
There's an interesting topic on the FoxForum Wiki on a phenomenon that happens with large tables (close to two gigabytes when records are locked. "HighRangeLockingBug. There is apparently a problem with VFP's locking scheme, at least on Windows XP. I've always thought that VFP locked at (2GB + record number), which was one of the reasons that tables are limited to 2GB. This is wrong. VFP doesn't lock at... " from FoxForum Wiki
6:13:33 PM
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Thursday, July 10, 2003 |
Ernie's falling in love with his new machine. No surprise there. Here's hoping to a long honeymoon... "Switching to OS X - Preview 03. My new 12" Powerbook has arrived and I'll have more to say about the wonderful features it has later. But on the topic of OS X as an operating system here's the score so far. I have attached many "windows only" devices to it and they have all been recognized quickly by the Powerbook.... One thing you hear a lot from people who switch to Apple is how "stuff just works." I've got a pretty clear picture now of what they are talking about. [Ernie the Attorney]
6:39:58 AM
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David Pogue reviews battery-powered printers in this review. I'd been considering a portable printer for booth duty at various conferences I attend, but these printers seem a bit expensive and slow for what you get. Since the booths will already have AC power for laptops and projectors, battery power is probably not reason enough to compromise on quality, performance and price. Guess I'll look at buying an ordinary AC-powered printer... For Printing on the Run, Inkjets to Go. "Tiny new battery-operated printers from Canon and Hewlett-Packard may have you making hard copies on the road. How good are they?" By David Pogue. [New York Times: Technology]
6:27:02 AM
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Wednesday, July 9, 2003 |
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Tuesday, July 8, 2003 |
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Monday, July 7, 2003 |
Man, is Virginia big! Especially on I-81. Lovely scenery, but so much of it! Left the hotel at 6 AM, made too many stops for coffee and breakfast, arrived 1:15 PM. 18 Hours driving, averaging 57 mph and 35 mpg. That's including a one-hour, 15 mile bumper-to-bumper stretch on I-84 getting out of COnnecticut. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. Glad to be here in one piece.
4:20:09 PM
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Sunday, July 6, 2003 |
Made it to Woodstock, Virginia, in one long drive, around eleven hours. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia along the way. Getting out of Connecticut was murder. And, ten miles short of my destination, another nasty accident in the dark, wet roads resulted in a one mile backup. But, other than that, pretty smooth sailing, especially considering I was keeping the company of many amateur long-distance drivers on this holiday weekend.
Counted plates from every state along the east coast from Maine to Florida, along with D.C., Wisconsin, Minnesota and Alabama. Hoping for another uneventful drive tomorrow.
9:49:39 PM
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David Pogue reviews the new Tungsten C in this New York Times story. Not yet available on the street, it just might tempt me back into the Palm world. I gave up on the PDAs when the rate of innovation exceeded my budget, and two Handspring Deluxes in a row turned out to be lemons.
8:26:59 AM
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Saturday, July 5, 2003 |
From the Microsoft FAQ for Windows 2000 Service Pack Four:
Q. Are there new features in Windows 2000 SP4?
A. No. Customers have asked that service packs focus entirely on quality updates. Therefore, Windows 2000 SP4 does not include new features.
Q. Does Windows 2000 SP4 offer support for new devices?
A. Yes, Support for Wireless Protocol 802.1x and Support for USB 2.0 EHCI Host Controllers are included with Windows 2000 SP4.
5:54:10 PM
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On my way early tomorrow, driving from Contoocook to Knoxville. I-89 to 93 to 495 to 290 to 90 to 84 to 81 to 40. 985 miles as the crow flies, 1024 on my route. Layover in northern Virginia. Hope to arrive in time to get my broadband set up Monday afternoon. Wish me luck.
5:53:10 PM
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The Washington Post reports
Microsoft Corp. is taking too long to alter how much it charges competitors for technology that is necessary for their products to work with the software giant's systems, the Justice Department told a federal judge yesterday.
2:38:17 PM
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Friday, July 4, 2003 |
Enjoy Independence Day!
2:07:38 PM
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Thursday, July 3, 2003 |
Something's gone wrong in my email configuration, and I'm trying to chase it down. Currently, email sent to the tedroche.com domain seems to be disappearing into the ether, without a trace nor a bounceback. Those of you who know me know the alternate email addresses to contact me; those who don't can use the the little letter icon on the right. Sorry about that, folks.
TedRoche.com doesn't support their own mail server, as I've left that to others. Typically, the MyDomain.com server holds the MX record, and they provide the forwarding to one or the other of my ISPs. Today, however, mail is vanishing without a trace, and no one seems to be able to explain why. Very frustrating.
And just like that, with no warning, it's back. Go figure. Sorry if your mail got lost in the ether somewhere. Please resend.
1:49:19 PM
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7/4/1776: "We hold these truths to be self-evident." Linked via Scripting News.
The Hyperlinked Declaration of Independence, courtesy of Duke University. A wonderful document, with some interesting hyperlinks. Well worth reviewing for those interested in American history.
1:30:49 PM
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Tuesday, July 1, 2003 |
Whew! "Life is what happens when you're making other plans..." Time flies, and all that. Hope June was good for you, too. On the road, later today, so few posts until I'm back in the home office. Hope I can get out of town before the tropical storm peaks. Knoxville's forecasted for 3 or 4 inches of rain tomorrow...
11:20:48 AM
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