August 13, 2003
Perhaps it will be worth getting WiFi after all...

The idea of surfing over a coffee at Starbucks is an attractive one - but not at the prices they are charging.

One day, though, WiFi may be free. Charging for online usage would be like charging for salt and pepper.

Posted to The Internet by Simon Brunning at 02:16 PM
Eeek! Scary Java bug

BadMagicNumber's A Java bug worthy of your vote is one very good reason not to use Java 1.4.1. Apparently, one you have 2036 files open, subsequent file opens will actually delete the file that you were trying to open!

Posted to Java by Simon Brunning at 01:37 PM
Jail threat over racist word

Jail threat over racist word

It could be argued, I suppose, that this is the thin end of the wedge, and that freedom of speech might end up being unacceptably curtailed.

It could be argued, but not by me. I think the bastard deserves everything he's getting.

Posted to The Big Room by Simon Brunning at 12:21 PM
mxBase available for Python 2.3

Marc-Andre Lemburg has announced a new version of his essential Python package, mxBase. It works under Python 2.3 now.

This package includes mxDateTime - every date/time tool you'll ever need, and then some. Superb.

Marc-Andre has also released a new version of mxODBC, a Python ODBC Interface. This is also excellent, but be aware, commercial use of this is not free.

Posted to Python by Simon Brunning at 11:11 AM
10 Python pitfalls

Hans Nowak has written an excellent article, 10 Python pitfalls.

Points 2, 3, 7 and 8 apply to Java as well as to Python.

It seems to me that the difference between mutable and immutable objects, which is a crucial one, is not given due prominence in any of the tutorials that I've seen, either for Python or Java.

Update: According to the Java Language Specification, point 3 does not apply to Java, i.e. a = a + b is exactly the same as a += b in all cases. If I'm reading it right, that is. I haven't got time to try this out now, though.

Posted to Python by Simon Brunning at 10:39 AM