August 11, 2006
The Vietnam of Computer Science...
... is O/R mapping, at least according to this article by Ted Neward.
Having been through the O/R thing before (and even having written such a tool), I can definitely agree to the article. IMO, the worst problem with O/R mapping is the query mechanism. In any case, you'll end up with a query mechanism that's both less powerful and slower compared to raw SQL. You may get away with this in some applications, but if performance really is a key concern, keep your hands off automated O/R mapping tools.
August 10, 2006
Mindstorms is Back!
Good news! Something to do for me on the coming long and dark winter nights: LEGO Mindstorms is back. Now it comes with a 32-bit ARM7 microcontroller, 64K RAM and 256K Flash. And full Mac OS X support. Life is good!
(And finally, an excuse to buy me some LEGO bricks! As a kid, I spent hours with my huge collection of bricks, building lots of crazy things — and learning a lot about mechanics along that. At least until I got my first computer. Since then, computers of all kinds consume most of my time...)
August 02, 2006
What The Bleep Do We Know?
Last weekend Maria and I went to see What The Bleep Do We Know?, after getting a recommendation for the film from a friend.
The film tries to build a link between quantum physics, biology and religion. It does this by combining a story with interviews and computer animation to visualize things.
The core message of the film seems to be that your thoughts create the world around you, so be careful what you think.
Probably not a film for everyone (including Maria and me, there was a total of four people sitting in the cinema), but nevertheless a film that makes you think.