Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

Browse by Tags

• .NET
• Business
• C#
• Innovation
• Intellectual Property
• Patent
• PDC05
• Programming
• Rants
• Security
• Software Development
• Technology
• Trademark
• Web 2.0

• If you can read a file, you can copy it

  Raymond reminds us that there is no "Copy" access mask because copying is not a fundamental file operation . Copying a file is just reading it into memory and then writing it out. Once the bytes come off the disk, the file system has no control any more over what the user does with them. Something to keep in mind when designing your web applications. Once you send something to the client, you inherently give up control over what can be done with that information. Posted Jan 09 2007, 09:42 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, Software Development, Security, AJAX, .NET

• Web 2.0 is more than a buzzword

  I hate buzzwords , but I agree with Kathy when she says that Web 2.0 is more than just a buzzword . It is not a meaningless term (or as Letterman might say, it's "not nothing"). Kathy makes the ever-important distinction between buzzwords (bad) and jargon (good). Ultimately, she says, Web 2.0 gives us vocabulary to discuss an otherwise complex and abstract idea and allows us to have more intelligent conversations about what's really going on. While this vocabulary does facilitate discussions, it also allows us to be lazy and gloss over what is really important. Much like architecture , the Web 2.0 principles are important as long as they are consciously applied and we don't lose sight of why the feature matters in the first place. Posted Jan 08 2007, 04:37 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Software Development, AJAX, Web 2.0, Innovation

• JSON and XML

  Back at the PDC, I mentioned that Microsoft chose JSON over XML in Atlas, its AJAX framework. The debate has reared its head again recently, prompted largely by Tim Bray's post . Tim says that JSON is great for its single intended purpose, "to put structs on the wire." Dare, who used to work on the XML team at Microsoft, say JSON is better than XmlHttpRequest because it helps work around browser security model limitations and is easier to program with . The cross-browser issues are a particularly big issue that people have tried to tackle in different ways - I mentioned before that Julien is using a Flash proxy to work around these issues , and I've seen other architectures which use a server-side proxy on the original server to handle the third-party request. The key here is that AJAX is not about the technology , but the experience. JSON may or may not be the "best" way to approach this, but the exercise at least highlights some of the limitations (and, to be fair, strengths) inherent... Posted Jan 05 2007, 09:44 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, Software Development, Security, AJAX, C#, .NET

• notch.es is hiring

  Notch.es is seeking ninjas . If you're a rock star, give Corey a call. I'm reposting the two job descriptions here. Don’t want to spend the next six months working under florescent lights on a corporate PC with no Internet access fixing someone else’s five year old code? Would you rather help build the next Digg or Delicious? Here is an opportunity to work in an exciting, fast-paced, collaborative early stage start-up with lots of room to flex your creativity and help shape the product. We practice iterative development; pair programming and have short milestones. We are looking for self-starters who are not afraid to voice concerns, take initiative and drive major subsystems. Corey will be at BarCamp NYC2 tomorrow. I have to work in the morning but I'm registered and will be there in the afternoon/evening. Posted Sep 29 2006, 08:32 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Software Development, AJAX, Innovation, Business, C#, .NET

• Interesting Developments with Windows Live

  Microsoft is embedding Live services within the operating system . This isn't really too surprising, considering it was one of the stated principles behind the effort from the start. (As a developer, it is exciting though). Microsoft appears to recognize that web applications are a complement, and not a substitute, for desktop applications. The goal is to deliver the richest experience available on a particular piece of hardware, and no matter how many times Steve Gillmor says it , that will never be in a browser. In fact, the example I use most often to illustrate the point above comes from Microsoft's Exchange Server. If I'm on a machine that has Outlook, I'm invariably going to choose that over Outlook Web Access - but I appreciate being able to use the rich OWA interface when I am on a machine with just a web browser. And if all I have is my mobile device, Outlook Mobile Access offers a simplified interface. The important thing is that, in each case, I'm accessing the same data. I think... Posted Jun 21 2006, 12:34 PM by Tim with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Software Development, AJAX, Web 2.0, Innovation

• More on the Web 2.0 Trademark

  Marty illustrates (quite literally) the problem with the Web 2.0 trademark. Marty argues, as I did before, that the mark is generic and thus unprotectable. He points out though that this was not just genericide, but "self-induced genericide". Before all of this happened, Alex realized the unifying theory of Web 2.0 is harnessing collective intelligence. This suggests to me that 1) the collective intelligence here is that Web 2.0 should not be protected, and 2) any brand / buzzword / etc which needs countless posts trying to figure out what it really means isn't really marketed and positioned too well. Tags: web 2.0 , web2.0 , web20 , Trademark , Law , Intellectual Property Posted Jun 16 2006, 10:53 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, Intellectual Property, Software Development, AJAX, Trademark

• The Significance of Google Spreadsheets

  Google Spreadsheet is, if nothing else, a very neat experiment. The UI is very slick. Some of the collaboration features are neat. But you have to wonder why Google is doing this. Do they really think they can compete with a desktop office suite? Office is not dying and it will never be replaced by something web-based anytime soon. This is true for a number of reasons: enterprises, the key drivers of this market, aren't going to go for it; it requires a LOT of trust for sensitive, confidential stuff; for publicly traded companies, there's the compliance and regulatory issues; and perhaps most important, we don't (yet) have truly ubiquitous access. Jeff discussed whether Google Spreadsheet will erode marketshare for the casual Excel user, and mentions that "[t]he perspective that gets lost in these debates is that Microsoft itself appears to be well along the way to delivering componentized Office (Live) that satisfies the needs of casual and advanced users alike." I disagree with the idea... Posted Jun 09 2006, 04:30 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, Software Development, Rants, AJAX

• Understanding AJAX

  It's become obvious that people really don't "get" AJAX, but then I guess this is the problem with buzzwords . I got a call the other day from a recruiter who was interested because of my experience in the application known as AJAX. I just read a review in PC Magazine revew of Mercora Radio that said "you open an Ajax-based browser page". AJAX itself is something many of us have been doing for awhile. The term, of course, was coined by Jesse James Garrett who described it as an "approach" to web applications. It is definitely an approach, not a single technology or really even a set of technologies. The general principle is that, instead of going back to refresh the page each time, you do more from the client. That's all. AJAX is about the user experience - it provides something closer to a desktop application in a web broser, something we didn't typically see. In that sense, it's a shame that the term includes "Javascript" and "XML", because neither of those are essential to the relevance... Posted Jun 08 2006, 06:42 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Software Development, AJAX

• Web-based word processors will not replace Microsoft Word

  I've said in the past that not everything belongs in a browser , and I think a "word processor" definitely falls into that category. AjaxWrite will not replace Microsoft Word , regardless of how many documents have been created . (How many of those are "real" documents, and how many are people just trying this thing out?). It's perhaps even more amazing that AjaxWrite isn't even technically an AJAX application , but rather a XUL application. In other words, it is not really web-based and will only run in FireFox. Last I checked, Internet Explorer still had a huge margin in marketshare. ( It's sort of like touting Windows Live as AJAX when it's really a bunch of ActiveX controls ). How incredibly lame. Posted Mar 31 2006, 05:06 AM by Tim with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Software Development, Rants, AJAX

• Google Finance launched

  Google Finance launched today (in beta, of course). Nicely done - I especially like the draggable charts. ( Unlike Google Maps, they are implemented in Flash instead of Javascript + images ). Posted Mar 21 2006, 05:50 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, AJAX