Monthly Archive for December, 2008

Obama’s new digg like website

Published on December 11, 2008 in politics and united states. 4 Comments Tags: politics, united states.

http://moderator.change.gov/?embed=http://change.gov/openforquestions#15/e=8&t=cf

The website allows United States Citizens to moderate up and moderate down issues or questions (I am not sure if they are going to get answered or anything) that they feel are important. Then the new administration will use this information to make sure their policy fits in? I really am amazed at how much the up coming president elect Obama is harnessing the Internet and technology in ways no president of the united states has before. It isn’t surprising since Obama is a self confessed comic book nerd.

It is going to be an interesting four years and I am looking forward to seeing how this change in leadership will effect the Internet and the way we communicate. Now if only the Australian population, media and government could embrace technology so willingly instead of trying to control and subvert the freedom of speech that we currently enjoy. We can only hope that Rudd will appoint an able Minster to manage the technology and communications portfolio, but at this point I am sad and surprised to say (considering the past ministers) that the only way is up (PLEASE let it be up).

Also: http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions

Daily Picks 11-12-08

Published on December 11, 2008 in links. 0 Comments Tags: links.

http://www.tellingmachine.com/post/2008/12/One-PowerShell-Script-to-download-them-all.aspx

“Yes I did it. I downloaded all 65,563,667,714 bytes and saved them as 407 files on my nice new WD Passport hard drive that I brought home from the PDC2008. … In this blog post I provide the metadata of all the files I downloaded and a PowerShell script that will help you automating the download process.”

Thoughts
Great example of how to use PowerShell, I have heard many good things about PowerShell but have yet to actually check it out, but I am guilty of writing quick little C# console applications to perform many annoying tasks. Compiled applications just do not have the same flexibility as interpreted scripts, so if your interested in a decent scripting language for windows definitely check out PowerShell and this article.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/120808-google-tests-activex.html

“Google has released new software designed to let Web developers write more powerful programs that can work directly with an operating system, rather than having to be run through a browser. “

Thoughts
I think Google really let a big thing slip (maybe it was intentional?) about a project called Native Client which will augment the browser and allow web application developers to harness the true power of the application they are running on. Could this be apart of Google’s larger strategy to move the power house that is Microsoft Office into the web (Google Docs etc) all things are pointing to yes. This new technology could really open pandora’s box for new technology and innovation that Silverlight, Adobes Air and other various platforms have been trying to achieve. Stay tuned I am sure there is more to come.