Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category
No silver bullet
No Silver Bullet is a classic known paper among software engineers written by Fred Brooks.
It strips down the nature of software development, or simply the art of programming.
In its history, programming brought to this world so many paradigms related to all activities involved in the process that mastering this art is object of discussion and observation in the Digital Era.
Certainly, it’s not as straight-forward as creating an application lay-out on Illustrator, or enhancing a picture in Photoshop or making that financial spreadsheet in Excel.
From designing the app, implementing chunks of code and make them interact, to debugging the process, the level of complexity raises in an attempt to transfer idea, concepts and the client needs into a digital medium.
The rise of the Internet led to very rapid growth in the demand for international information display/e-mail systems on the World Wide Web. Programmers were required to handle illustrations, maps, photographs, and other images, plus simple animation, at a rate never before seen, with few well-known methods to optimize image display/storage (such as the use of thumbnail images).
There is a constant demand for solutions to new ideas and more efficient communication.
However, software development does not happen in the same pace as hardware development.
New tendencies point to rapid-prototyping techniques turning programmers into heroes, so to speak.
Therefore, which methodology and approach used in a project must be carefully chosen.
“The complexity of software is an essential property, not an accidental one.” We observe that this inherent complexity derives from four elements: the complexity of the problem domain, the difficulty of managing the development process, the flexibility possible through software, and the problems of characterizing the behavior of discrete systems.”
Fred Brooks.
Vilém Flusser – A philosopher of design
Last year I read a really awesome book written by Vilém Flusser.
He has books published in English, Portuguese and German. Unfortunately the one I read I only found in Portuguese.
Flusser describes a world fundamentally changed by the invention of the “technical image” and the mechanisms that support and define industrialized modern culture. He argues that whereas ideas were previously interpreted by written account, the invention of photography allows the creation of images (ideas) taken at face value as truth, not interpretation that can be endlessly replicated and spread worldwide.
Really worth reading, specially for those that work in the interactive/design/web industry! 
Quick thoughts on Flash vs. HTML5
Posted by Fabricio in Actionscript, Business, Design, Misc on April 5th, 2010
Well, recently there has been a lot of discussion on the future of Flash or the web.
Just because some known websites and companies have chosen HTML5 as an alternative for their development.
I’d like to say this is not a biased statement, but I have to point out the pros and cons of each technology accordingly to my perspective and past experience.
First, I have coded, learned, failed and succeeded with both.
Back in the day I was so amused by the fact that we could code for visual purposes, at least for the web.
So, html came into play and it was fun understanding how all that could be wrapped with data and server-side processing.
From iframes to tables and later divs the language was evolving, slowly but forward.
And that is my point, it takes decades to something new get implemented in html, it took a long time to have a video tag!
Not to mention that html is an interpreted language, not compiled. It needs support form other technologies such as Javascript or back-end ones.
Now, the good part, it can be accessed from any browser, despite some incompatibilities, any app or device.
I am pretty sure that will evolve more in the short-term, new libraries and frameworks of all kinds will be more popular, useful and reliable.
On the other hand, Flash which is mistakenly know only as an animation program, or a way to “make annoying banners” for some (I am serious, I heard that so many time!s) is largely used for delivering digital content on the web, such as video (Youtube owes Flash a lot!), interactivity, 3d, etc.
From a basic prototyped language to a OOP version its language became a powerful resource for web development and adds that dynamic touch as if the webpage is another canvas itself.
There is a lot more to tell and discuss for both technologies, but to make my point clear, I am trying to say that both technologies are useful and there should be no need for such war. It reminds me of the Cold War, Coca-cola vs. Pepsi or Nike vs. Adidas, which means both sides, I mean both side supporters, are more concerned in attacking each other rather than providing better solutions for each technology.
When planes first came out, we didn’t loose cars, bikes or any other type of vehicles. Unfortunately, most people depend on cars more than anything else, but people support alternatives to that.
What about the user?Have we forgot it?To me this should all be about having a better experience on the web, whether it is done in Flash or HTML5. You also need a plug-in (runtime) for Java if you visit a webpage that contains Java apps or applets and still no one mentions that as a turn down for Java. Why do they do it for Flash?
Certainly, HTML5 will benefit the web and Flash use will decrease in the following years, but wouldn’t it be great if they both continue as the main technologies for front-end development? Who is the evil and the good guy here?
Behind this debate there are some many things we don’t know about it, corporations interested in increasing their profits and extinguishing competitors.
My advice for users is use both, don’t complain if it’s Flash the webpage you visit, you probably don’t know how much effort there is in order to bring you that information.
Also, don’t complain if that HTML5 site is killing your processor due to a canvas animation in the background. Eventually, you will have to choose one for certain apps, but don’t feel guilty in your decision, find a way to support both.
For developers, be aware of what’s going on, try them both, the more you understand both, the broader will be your options when it comes to use one technology for a specific project. You may like one more than the other, but coldly analyze what fits better your skills and needs for each app you work on.
Below is some good articles I read in the past few days. It’s more info for you to be wisely involved in this buzz.
Dan Mall post about the Cold War of the Web
Adobe Engineer explaining the nuances of Core Animation in Cocoa (MacOS)
Fourier Transform
Posted by Fabricio in Actionscript, Misc on April 5th, 2010
Recently I had to do some research on the Fourier Transform, a calculus technique which allows one to manipulate frequencies from a signal wave.
I could spend hours studying and discussing the Transform, but I just wanted to post a technical link from MathWorks.
They are the manufacturer of MATLAB, a powerful software for spectrum analysis which I used 6 years ago in school.
It is also widely used in all sorts of engineering, image processing, intensive computational tasks and so on.
More info : MatLab
In my case I have wave signal being the input and I want to sample data from the frequency spectrum.
The problem is that using a Discrete Fourier Transform, processing goes up to the ceiling.
The solution is to use a Fast Fourier Transform that makes a distinction between the window length and the transform length.
That decreases the computational complexity from O(n2) to O(n log n).
Let’s see if that helps me in my project.
I’ll make updates to this post.
Meanwhile, take a read:
Fast Fourier Transform
Google Chrome – now available for Mac too!
If you never used, or never heard of it, give it a try.
It is a very efficient browser with some new features in regards to performance (I liked the separate thread, separate process one).
Lately I have found almost all plug-ins and add-ons I use in Firefox.
Check out their comic book to introduce Chrome as well:
http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/
Savant
Posted by Fabricio in Interactive, Misc on November 3rd, 2009
Documentaries about the savants. If you never heard of ‘em, Wiki describes it as a rare condition in which persons with developmental disorders (including autism spectrum disorders) have one or more areas of expertise, ability or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual’s overall limitations. Treffert says the condition can be genetic, but can also be acquired.
Assim se faz um post de trampo. The way to offer a job placement.
For English speakers, my apologies. But I had to post this.
Gringo job offer for actionscript development. One can tell what they want, how they want and why they want.
A lot different from most job offers around there. Isn’t it funny when you a job ad asking for a developer that knows HTML, CSS, AS2.0, AS3.0, Java, JavaScript, C++, Ruby, PHP, .NET, Design Patterns, all kinds of APIs, ahhhhhhh…did I miss somtehing?. Well, I guess you got my point.
No wonder they are the best interactive, new media, web agency/company in South America.
Gringo rules!
http://blog.gringo.nu/gringonews/gringo-procura-programador-senior
