Most Linux desktop users are using the Gnome Windows Manager these days. It’s ok, but I’ve decided to make the switch back to the fvwm windows manager. fvwm is the more configurable (although its quite a bit harder to set up). One of the things I missed about the Gnome desktop however was its main panel/taskbar. So, after much research I’ve figured out how to add it to the fvwm setup :
AddToFunc InitFunction
+ I Exec exec gnome-settings-daemon –sm-disable
+ I Exec exec gnome-panel –sm-disable
+ I Exec exec nm-applet
+ I Exec exec xv -root -rmode -maxpect -max -quit $[fvwm_wallpaper]
so, there you have it.
Huge news this week .. Google has announced Real Time Market Data Feeds. Prior to this, stock feeds to the regular Joe were delayed by five minutes, giving Institutional Investors a distinct advantage over everyone else. Now, home investors will be able to create investment strategies based on speed and do algorithmic trading based a live market data feed. It’s HUGE
As a result, you can look forward to a new suite of market data tools from me. The software is nearly completed and will be posted at my OpenSource Software Site. I’ll make an announcement here when its posted
Ok, I’ve never seen the value in owning a blackberry before. I have a Verizon Voyager, that does a ton of stuff .. Text Messaging, Email, Camera, Phone, etc. What else could I want? Well, “The Firm” has issued me a Blackberry Curve 8310 Smart Phone. I have to say, it blows everything else away. It has a nice viewable screen, so surfing the web is better on the Curve then on the Voyager. There are WAY more free applications for the Blackberry (actually, there are none for the Voyager). So now my smart phone is all loaded up with all kinds of stuff.
So, I’ve had a project or two at The Firm that has required a little C programming. Being on the systems side of the company these days, you sometimes have to open up OpenSource code and make some alterations or add features. Most system code is written in C or C++. Anywho, With my C hat on, I was playing around over the weekend and decided to take a few minutes and learn how to program MySQL databases using the C API. After about an hour, I was able to get some stuff running. I decided that I needed bigger data sets then I was using to see how fast it would go, so I decided to do some queries against the telecom database that I’ve been writing my Java telecom application against.
Well .. let me help dismiss a myth. I ran my Java app agains my C app. The apps did the exact same thing. They ran the same queries and stored the same data. The C program whooped the Java program in terms of speed. It wasn’t even close. Same code, off the same server, to the same database, with the same queries and the same datasets. It wasn’t even close.
I have no allegiance to either language as a development platform. I use them both equally. There are a few articles that claim that Java is faster then C/C++, but its simply not true. I found this link to support my theory and dismiss the Java faster then C/C++ myth. I realize that a lot of Java developers will scream when they read this .. but too bad.
My test wasn’t a true benchmark test, but as a developer, I’ve noticed the difference (since I work with both languages). Sure development is quicker in Java, but if performance speed is an issue, its not something I would use. There’s a reason that no Operating Systems are written in Java, Its because its not fast enough.
http://parand.com/say/index.php/2005/11/27/why-java-is-slow/
I’ve been out of work a total of two days. It’s not so bad. I can kind of get used to this. I’ll be working next week at the telecom gig writing Java code for the new billing system starting Monday. I’ve been writing quite a bit of Java recently and have been getting fairly good at it. I’m picking up a ton of stuff along the way. It’s so much easier then C++. Threaded programming in C++ is kind of bogus to have to do, but in Java its a snap.
Threads in Java:
public class TwoThreads{
public static class Thread1 extends Thread{
public void run(){
System.out.println("A");
try{
Thread.sleep(10);
}catch(Exception e){
System.out.println("Sleep failed");
System.exit(1);
}
System.out.println("B");
}
}
public static class Thread2 extends Thread{
public void run(){
System.out.println("1");
System.out.println("2");
}
}
public static void main(String args[]){
new Thread1().start();
new Thread2().start();
}
}
see, it doesn’t get much easier then that.
I digress.
Anywho, I’ll keep you posted on the new full-time gig here next week. I should have some news in that area to announce soon.
Cell Phones - The Verizon Voyager and the Apple I-Phone seem to be the snazziest devices out there.
Computer Software: Windows Vista came out. It was awful, and it has really hurt Microsoft. MAC OS X and Linux appreciate the failure of Vista and have been gaining some market share as a result.
Computer Software: This was the year for open source software. Software communities made some big contributions.
Computer Software: Microsoft - I’m not found of the OS, but I have to hand it to Microsoft, they pour dollars into research and produce some interesting things outside of Operating Systems. Check this out: http://research.microsoft.com/displayArticle.aspx?id=1871 It’s hardware, but its also software .. I’ll pop it here for now.
Computer Hardware:
Laptops - This was the year of the cheap laptops. $100 laptops came out (they were actually $200 though and selling on ebay for about $600). There were several other inexpensive laptops that came out as well though. All were low powered and targeted at getting a laptop into everybodies hands.
Laptops - I’ve seen more MAC Laptops this year then ever before. They have a good Operating System and are reliable. Who doesn’t love that?
Hardware:
Gadgets: GPS - HUGE this year, I think everyone got one for Christmas.
Gadgets: IPOD/IPHONE/Video IPOD - Still big. I picked up a video ipod for Rosie, and she loves it.
Gadgets: More disk space fits on smaller devices.
Predictions for 2008:
1) longer lasting laptop batteries
2) Linux and Mac OSX will continue to gain popularity
3) auto automation (things like self parking, etc) will continue. I predict that cars will drive themselves within 12 years. All the technology exists to do it today. It’s only a matter of time.
4) price drops in computer hardware.
5) disk storage - small hand help devices and flash drives will start coming out that store 200 gigs of data. (expect this near the end of the year).
6) robotics - Honda and Toyota are developing robots for the home. I don’t think everyone will rush out and get them, but they are coming
7) google .. we all know that they have been doing research. It’ll be interesting to see what they come out with. Word is they are working especially hard on google cell phones and portable data centers
I generally leave my personal laptop at work so that I can get off the Bank Network to check my personal email during the day. This has worked out swell for the last few gigs I’ve been at, until very recently. The Quant group I work with was having a “Complience Review”. Anyone who works at a bank or insurance company knows that this is when company auditors come to your dept. and pick apart anything that they can find wrong.
Apparently my Laptop was not in compliance with company policy because it had the capability to email and send IM’s while I’m in posession of valuable trading information due to my job. I pointed out that the auditors blackberry had the very same capability, but it turns out that they don’t have a policy for that so it’s ok. *sigh* ..
At any rate, being the company man that I am, a agreed to leave my laptop at home. Instead I picked up the LG VX 10000 (Verizon Voyager)
I can now send IM’s, Email, and browse the web from an even smaller device. In many ways I thank the company auditors for introducing me to this device. It’s got a full QWERTY keyboard AND a touch screen (like the i-phone). Sending IM’s and checking email is simple with the full keyboard. When you gotta take care of some insider trading, the Verizon Voyager is the way to go. It’s stelther then a laptop ya know. If I get lost on my way to my broker, it even has a GPS to help get me there. The modem (yup you can hook it up to your laptop and it will give you broadband access for a little more each month) is not supposed to be as fast as the dedicated broadband cards. It’s supposed to deliver about 600kbps (from what I hear), so I’ve decided to keep my broadband card for Internet access from my laptop when I need it.
Overall I’m pleased with my purchase. The product seems to work well and has the option of using the touch screen (which is great for some things) and the keyboard (which I think is better for texting and sending email and IM’s). Web browsing is good and the screen is big enough to use for the most part.
More then anything I’m happy to be in compliance.
OK, if you’re not into the geek kinds of blog entries, just skip this one altogether.
just us geeks now!
<geekMode ON>
I guess the first thing on the agenda is Linux. I’ve just upgraded to the latest and greatest version of RedHat Fedora 8. I have only one issue with the whole thing. The “UPGRADE” option doesn’t work. It didn’t work on Fedora 7 either. Both times I’ve tried to go the upgrade route rather then the install route and it failed. To the non-geeks who continued reading despite the strong warning to do otherwise .. Upgrade means it would just upgrade the entire system .. install means that everything on the system (including my personal files) would be deleted and the whole new OS image would be put down. For me it’s not a huge deal because I back up all the important stuff, but it’s still a bit of a hassel.
Aside from that one thing, I like Fedora 8 overall. The look and feel are better then version 7, and it comes with a bunch of snazzy new features for software developers. They also have a new “Live Media” option at the download site. It means that you can just boot the cdrom, and run linux off the cd w/out having to install it on your system. It’ll give you an idea of what it’s like before making the decision to go the full install route.
Software Development. People always ask me what I use for software development. When I tell them, I typically get looks of disbelief. Yes, I’ve been using the VI Editor. It’s a bit difficult, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature. Here’s a good page to see what it’s about. While I still love VI for lots of things, I’ve decided to make the move to a more sophisticated development environment. I have VERY recently made the switch to Eclipse. The types of things I’ve been working on recently have changed quite a bit. I’ve been working a lot more with XML, Java, C++ and Database programming with SQL and XQUERY. Most of the development I’ve done in the past was UNIX Shell Programming, C/C++, Perl and a bit of PHP. The code was fast and generally failry light. These days the projects I’m working on have become a lot more complicatedand thus require flipping back and forth between a number of source files, classes, methods etc.. Also, I’m working on a lot more projects at once, so my snazzy new IDE is able to keep my projects seperate and better organized.
I choose Eclipse because it 1) runs on multiple platforms (any kind of UNIX and windows), 2) it’s become a development standard, and 3) it supports many different languages (instead of just being a Java IDE). There were a few runners up though. ULTRA EDIT is awsome, but the problem with it is that you have to pay for it *grin*, and it only runs on Windows. I probably would have sucked it up and made the purchase, but since it doesn’t run on my laptop (linux) it was pointless. TextPad was the other option. Its basically free (although you’re supposed to buy it at some point), but it also runs only on Windows. It’s not bad overall but it lacks a lot of the features that Ultra Edit has.
So .. it’s Eclipse.
It takes a little getting used to, and I’m not quite there yet, but I’m making the transition.
<geekMode OFF>
