Daniel Lemire's blog

Scalable Web Development

, 2 min read

Here is a list of slides of various major Web projects where scalability had to be addressed. I am starting to think about a course project where this would be addressed specifically. Since I am not into software engineering, Web programming is nothing but a technical task for me, but if you throw…

Web Development Bookmarklets

, 1 min read

These Web Development Bookmarklets are really great. I really enjoyed the JavaScript shell: you can actually “drop down to a shell” and write JavaScript code interactively. At last!

Digitalizing my old VHS tapes

, 1 min read

I started out a big project a couple of weeks ago. Using my MacBook, I decided to digitalize my stuff. I ordered from FrontierPC (probably the best e-commerce site for techies in Canada) an ADS PYRO A/V Link Analog to DV Video Converter. Several years ago, I had bought an earlier USB-based ADS…

Heh. Indeed.

, 1 min read

Stephen Downes cites Tom Hoffman: A lot of IT infrastructure is fragile rickety crap, and the people responsible for it aren’t smart enough to fix it so they make rules and place blame based on little more than superstition. You think this is false? Recently, Monday in fact, I asked a copy…

Trying out a new to-do list software

, 1 min read

I have now officially moved from taskfreak to gtd-php. Taskfreak is prettier, it is faster (in part due to its use of AJAX), and supports multiusers. However, gtd-php is far more GTD compliant. For one thing, with taskfreak, I continually felt overwhelmed since all of your tasks are visible all the…

Looking into buy a new PDA

, 2 min read

I am a to-do list freak. Everything I have to do must be written down, tagged and prioritize. I find that this is key to getting stuff done. I have been a PDA users since the first days of Palm and I am one of the odd people who find PDAs useful. My good old black-and-grey m505 is dying. The screen…

Why won´t to-do applications use mind maps?

, 1 min read

I have been using taskfreak to manage my to-do lists. It works well. However, it fails to provide a good visualization of what I have to do. I love lists, but lists work better when they are short and my to-do lists are always very long. Mind maps are far better to visualize complex data. Why…

UML and Web 2.0: a missing link

, 1 min read

There are Web 2.0 applications to do almost anything. But I just found out that there does not seem to be any UML Web 2.0 application out there. I must admit I am not a big fan of these types of software engineering techniques, but from time to time, you do have to sketch out the design of your…

YouTube scalability

, 1 min read

The amazing thing about this YouTube talk on scalability is that they use MySQL, Apache, and Python. One key comment he makes is that replication does not necessarily scale so well, not unless you also partition your data.

On Overabundance and Innovation

, 5 min read

Engineer and scientists are among the few professionals who work to make themselves increasingly obselete. Scientists try to capture as quickly as possible the most useful results. Engineers try to make product design and manufacturing so efficient that scarcity is irrelevant. For all purposes, we…

OLAP experts sought in Montreal

, 1 min read

Some recruiters are looking for OLAP experts in Montreal. Knowledge of MDX and other Microsoft OLAP technologies required. Knowledge of French probably a must. Get in touch with me. (No, I do not get a commission or any benefit whatsoever. I am just glad when there are jobs in an area where I do…

My wife and my sons (pictures)

, 1 min read

I’m far behind in sorting out my pictures, but here are two good ones. First, my wife and my son Lohan: This is my youngest son, Louka: I’m the luckiest man in the world!

My Fight Againt Comment SPAM: Spambots pass the Turing test!

, 2 min read

Ok. I’ve had it. Either the spambots pass the Turing test and have achieved strong AI, or there is an army (a very large one) of folks paid to spam blogs. Anyone who has posted a comment on my blog in the last few months knows it requires at least one full second, preferably two or three, to pass…

The Cafes » North and South

, 1 min read

Eliotte nails WS-* web services. There has been constant attempts from WS-* web service proponents to claim that there was one big tool shed and that people could pick their favorite type of web services. The hidden message is that there are various options, that WS-* might be best for serious work…

What is wrong with the software product economics

, 1 min read

I was looking for a piece of software to help me sftp to my office machine, with a nice drag-and-drop GUI. I found fetch. These folks did a fine job at designing a nice GUI. They sell it for $25 a piece. Nothing wrong with that. Except that I am not going to pay $25. And I will not use their…