RAD

As a programmer I've always preffered to use the good old emacs as an editor, with traditional programming languages such C and Perl. When I lost my job a few months ago, I had a look for jobs and find my way back into the workforce. I was surprised to find that most jobs were for PHP and C#/vb, which I had no experience.

Programming languages by market share.

Looking at the above graph from TIOBE software you'd think that most jobs would be for C and Java, which is what I had expected. I was surprised then to find that there were hardly any (one for C and four-five for Java) and that it was dominated by vacancies for vb and C#.

I recognise the fact that windows was not designed with programmers in mind, and hence has very weak environment for software development. That's one of the reasons why I only used windows when I had too (some assignments needed it). Now looking at the job market it seems I'll have to move to windows in order to get out my current low paying job and to somewhere I can work forwards. This is especially disappointing given the fact that I very much dislike Visual studio (which is what nearly all commercial windows programming is done on).  Alack-a-day!

Windows 7

I have an opinion on alot of things, and many of them could very well be incorrect, but windows is something I knew I was right about. A bit back a friend brought me his PC to repair it; he said he wanted mac os x installed because he kept getting viruses. I looked into it and found he didn't have compatible hardware so i just installed XP on it again (Vista is megashit), however within a couple of hours of a fresh install Kasperspy was already telling me it had caught a virus.

This is the kind of problem that makes me hate windows. Windows also has an "unpleasent" feel about it. It doesn't feel very well designed, vista wasn't much better than XP in that regard although they had polished over the ugly surface of XP. I was just happy that I had Mac os x installed and was free from this hellhole called windows.

Recently however, I decided to get 7 after reading many good reviews about it. As I sit here typing on this alien OS that feel totally different to my usual experience of Windows I have come to the conclusion they managed to get at least some things right.

The future looks brighter for  Micro$soft.

(sorry couldn't resist the dollar)

Overeating + awesomeness

For a long time I've been "pigging out", literally gorging myself every time I felt slightly hungry. Lunchtime lasts around half an hour, which is fairly typical, however when you take into account the fact that I eat around four lunches a day plus snacks it no longer looks so innocent.

Somehow I don't put on weight. Maybe it's my metabolism or something but no matter how much i eat I can't seem to get fat. Rest assured I am making the most of this while it lasts, I usually eat around 700 calories in one sitting so it's working out at quite a few thousand.

As for exercise? yeah i do a few hundred push ups but thats not exactly a calorie burning exercise, just for getting some muscles on my arms.

I can only hope my "luck" continues and I don't suddenly change into an obese blob ;-).

Runescape > WoW

I don't play games often, and when I do I play runescape even though it's graphics are super-shit when compared with WoW. "Are you retarded?"  I hear you asking, because its PvP is 150000% (thats ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND PERCENT) better than in WoW. Once you've killed a motherfucker in runescape you get all his shit, and you can feel very satisfied that he's pissed. You've got to watch out of course that you don't get killed yourself and let some fucker take all your shit and laugh at you, but thats one of the thing thats so good about it, there's a risk as opposed to WoW where you don't lose anything and all you get if you win are some shitty honor points.

RUNESCAPE FTW!

Mac os x on my (non-apple) laptop.

Mac os x is a beautiful OS, usually shipped on equally appealing hardware. Problem: I'm not willing to fork out $1500 for a computer, so I decided, after some research, to get a laptop with compatible hardware and install Mac os x on that. I chose to use the iAtkos S3 disc which is a modified version of 10.6.3, since it comes with lots of drivers and save me having to mess around with memory sticks etc.

I burned it to a DVD stuck it in and booted up. After reading the instructions I formatted my disk into three partitions (Mac, Windows, Debian) and proceeded to the driver selection screen. This was the toughest part, selecting drivers for my hardware, but I managed it without to much hassle and after ~30 minutes my computer booted up to the beautiful sound of mac os x playing to my ears.

Using it, I can't tell the difference in performance between this and a "real" Macbook pro. It was a fair bit of effort but now that I have a fully working macbook pro 12" for under $750, it seems worth it.

C++ vs Java

C++ is one of the most hardcore, awesome languages to have graced the computer world. It's raw power and speed combined with excellent OOP support, which makes it one of the best. But recently I've turned my eye to java. Java is alot of the things C++ isn't; it's slow, with automatic memory management, forced OOP and alot of other things that make it very different. I have, however been finding it to be very productive since I started programming in it.

I started out by making a (not so) simple program to check my mail and tell me if it's found anything. I was blown away at speed and ease in which I completed it. All the restrictions sucked, but my code looked plain awesome, which, coupled with it's short length in comparison to doing it in C++, had me hooked.

After completing a few more projects, I have come to the conclusion that Java certainly has it's place in my toolbox. I still enjoy coding in C++, and I prefer to do my work in that if it's not going to drag it out, but my old view (perhaps caused by ignorance) that Java was plain retared has definetly changed. 

Mac os x vs windows

Now there are many of these comparisons on the internet, which usually end up with the windows side saying macs cost to much blah blah blah. But thats not what I'm dealing with, this is Mac os x vs Windows and with no messing about, heres why mac os x is better (even on a pc):

No viruses:Typical response is that no one bother writing viruses for the mac. True, but that doesn't take away the hassle of having to deal with them on windows. +1 for mac os x

Great programming environment: This is one many people aren't concerned about, but mac os x with its unix foundation is MUCH better than windows for programming.+1 for mac os x

Smooth, resource efficient graphics: If any of you have had to disable aero because it's slowing the computer down, you'll know what i'm talking about. Mac os x is much quicker and doesn't feel as cumbersome as windows.+1 for mac os x

Ease of use: Now, this is where many windows fans say "well, we're not stupid we don't need it dumbed down". So what? You deliberately make things difficult to prove you're not dumb? The fact is, the easier the better. If its simpler I don't have to spend so much time on it, meaning i can actually get things done.+1 for mac os x

Total score:

Mac os x:   4

Windows:  0


So there you go, conclusive proof that mac os x is better, you can thank me for solving the mac vs pc debate later ;). Any objections?