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News and commentary from the cross-platform scripting community.
cactus Mail Starting 6/6/97

From: bens@MICROSOFT.com (Ben Slivka);
Sent at 6/9/97; 1:01:32 AM;
Re:Where the Okies Went

I read Atlas Shrugged I think when I was in my early twenties (I'm 37 now). I seem to recall the phrase "To each according to his need, from each according to his ability" as a central theme of the future socialist(?) society Ayn Rand depicted.

The central thesis - which Ms. Rand drove home with exhausting prose - is that this is a very dangerous principle: it drives out the creativity and energy and zest for excellence in people. I thought the collapse of the Soviet Union several years ago was a very tangible demonstration of this danger.

So, I took away a very similar message to what Arun Gupta describes: the world is not fair, the world is not equal - that is its natural state. For the record, I grew up in Seattle, WA.

I wouldn't for a moment pretend to be a great social or political thinker, but I thought this was an insightful book.

From: dario@cling.gu.se

I tried the puzzle, and actually did not get 5000, but 4000... then i read the answer and found out it was supposed to be 4100. So I added it up again. And got 5000. Two times in a row. At the fourth try I got it right.

Of course I read it out loud in english, so that has to be the reason, right? (I am not a native english speaker, more like spanish-swedish). If that's not the reason, any psychiatric diagnose you throw at me will be accepted. Brent Simmons (Dario Lopez-Kästen );
Sent at 6/8/97; 1:12:57 PM;
Re:"Preston's amzing puzzle."

From: mjg@oms.com (Mark J. Gardner);
Sent at 6/6/97; 8:24:14 PM;
Java Web Server: First impressions

I'm playing with JWS on my NT box at work, and will also try running it on my SGI. (They say they've only tested it on Solaris, but hey, Java is (supposedly) Java, right?) I wonder if it works on Macs.

The admin interface is pretty nice, but requires a Java-based browser (of course) -- so there's no doing quick-and-dirty changes from a dumb text terminal. The servlet plug-in API looks neat, too, though I'd dispute the documentation's claim that it's "easier than CGI programming". But then again, I've always preferred the richer and more readable syntax of scripting languages to more "powerful" languages like C++ or Java.

It does support plain old CGI programs (through a CGI servlet, of all things). Plus, you can use servlets that exist on other websites, which has interesting implications.

I wish its server-side include servlet supported more than just including other servlets (i.e., an emulator of NCSA-style SSIs would really be choice), but I suppose that will have to be written by some enterprising hacker.

By the way, it's free for non-commercial use (like Netscape FastTrack is), so individuals can experiment without feeling too guilty.

More later as time permits.

http://www.oms.com/

From: alexhop@microsoft.com (Alex Hopmann);
Sent at 6/6/97; 4:01:18 PM;
math puzzle

I didn't have any problem getting the 4100 answer. And yes, I do typically do math left to right (not any special school, just the skills necessary to do well in math team back in high school).

From: raster@execpc.com (PJP);
Sent at 6/6/97; 3:49:18 PM;
Re:Preston's Amazing Puzzle

I approched this puzzle as a puzzle. Keeping in mind I'm pretty weak at mathematics, I added up the numbers carefully, and at first though it was 5000, but knowing it was a puzzle, and puzzles aren't that easy, I added the last number again, slowly, and got 4100...

From: benjamin@fyi.net (Benjamin Ragheb);
Sent at 6/7/97; 3:15:28 PM;
Two Versions of the page

To have both graphic page AND a text page is a good idea, but which do you make the default? If it's the graphic first, the people with slow links are just as mad, and have to look for a text only link (which is usually small and hidden), and if the text is first, most people won't bother clicking a link just to get the same info with more pictures.

You're a geek; you know how compression works. You can have big graphics, just use fewer colors... most designers know that less is more anyway.

Ben Ragheb

PS: I just realized a million people probably sent you a message like this.

PPS: As a 17 year old, I am making it a point to read Atlas Shrugged this summer. Thanks for the pointer!

From: randy@godin.on.ca (Randy MacDonald);
Sent at 6/6/97; 3:59:22 PM;
Where did the Okies go?

Well actually they're the Bores, former users of Borland software cast adrift after the fat lady (or not) sang, and are stuck reprogramming in COBOL to solve the year 2000 problem left to them by their fathers!

From: benjamin@netscape.com (Benjamin Feinman);
Sent at 6/6/97; 12:11:50 PM;
Re:Brains and Sex Appeal

This one struck home. As a writer first and a technologist second, it was the literary nature of the web that first pulled me into this mess we call an industry. As our website executive editor states whenever possible, "The Internet is a full employment act for writers and editors". Thank god we finally get to have our day in the sun...

From: marc@canter.com (Marc Canter);
Sent at 6/6/97; 11:37:56 AM;
Re:Brains and Sex Appeal

My vote for the best submissions so far....

I think it should be a democratic process - with Dave having final say!

1. http://www.macconnect.com/~bdaily/scripting/anim52.gif this gif is key to the marketing of Frontier 5!

2. I like how Chris Gorski expanded the content a bit - formatted content, excerpts, intros on articles. This is also a step in the right direction!

What I didn't see (I can't complain, I guess I'll have to do it myself) is that everything is still stacked upand down the page, justify left text. There actually can be cool dynamic data poured into shapes, sizes and animated, but also readable, clean and 'newspaper-like'.

Try it and post it Dave,

Just try to pour the headlines into 24 point text, put them on the top - w/ a little byline credits at 8 point - then followed with a 14 point body text. The whole thing wraps inside a frame, box, what have you area. Place the box to the right hand size of the page and combine with all the text stacked up stuff. Maybe put a background color (something subtle like yellow or light bue) and all of a sudden you have a breaking news - READ THIS - box.

It's simple! Even you can be a designer! Dropshadows help too!

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