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February 2005 - Posts

To FLOSS or not to FLOSS that is the question?
Michael Hensen [WebVize] is in a predicament - to FLOSS or not to FLOSS.. [sorry.. I just couldn't let that pass.. ;-)].

I had a post recently about James "Sherlock" Gosling's changing heart regarding the Open Source industry. The post includes my sentiments regarding the same matter (referring also to comments by Chris Chapman).

It is a difficult decision by individual developers who wish to incubate and grow a company. Most of my work are for clients and thus such decisions (or discussions) do not occur frequently. I am reminded of a philosopher, Jason Shaw's statement - "To learn how to think with your heart, think with your mind and then compromise the best answer for your soul."

Good luck & Good fortune WebVize.
Posted: Feb 25 2005, 11:41 AM by SB Chatterjee
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Some thoughts on BitTorrent, Podcasting & Groove
This is something I posted within a Groove space (in a discussion thread regarding BitTorrent, Podcasting & Groove). Posted here verbatim.


Regarding Podcasting -
Carl Franklin (an associate - we run the local .NET developers group www.ctdotnet.com) has a terrific 'video' on configuring Bittorrent clients (www.pwop.com/video/BitTorrentDemo/btTutorial.htm). Carl runs an online radio show, .NET Rocks that just celebrated its 100th show! (www.dotnetrocks.com). He also uses Bittorrent to distribute content (mp3/wma files). I also recommend taking a look at another client NIMIQ - www.nimiq.nl which uses .NET and is well suited for podcasting.

Regarding Bittorrent -
Bittorrent's original purpose is as a file-distribution protocol that "seeks pareto efficiency" (in an excellent economics paper by Cohen, the inventor of BT). It does this by ensuring pipelining, choking algorithms & tracking which also tracks "leechers" who download content but do little or nothing to upload which leads to the distribution inefficiency.

Regarding Groove+BT
A Groove+BT combination in the GFS may work (a seperate option as in the manual download perhaps) but am not sure what gains it will bring. This is partly, for the role & need of the Tracking/Relay servers in the architecture. The tracking, storage & forwarding mechanisms itself, will induce a complexity (overhead & the needed security layer) that may affect performance. In itself, GVO does have a BT-like distribution (e.g.,'fanning') so I am not sure if incorporating a BT-architecture will bring gains (perhaps marginal at best). The primary goals of GVO (IMHO) is security & P2P syncing - stability & currency within spaces and doing it with minimal or no external resource dependencies (e.g, relay servers, trackers, etc).

There are BT-clients out there that "cheat" - wrongfully reporting the upload statistics, thereby avoding "snubbing/choking" by other BT-clients.  There are situations where such "cheating" is needed - large-file distribution during emergency crisis (eg, Tsunami relief) where the end-user can only consume (download) and not upload especially over very low bandwidth like dial-ups. A seperate BT+GVO tool (3rd party development) may be worth exploring  and this was suggested before by a few Groove developers.

(Un)fortunately, as with all "commons" (commonly consumed resources) there will always be inefficiencies - be it in distributing content or bringing in content.

SBC

Posted: Feb 24 2005, 09:32 AM by SB Chatterjee
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XML Reader with Bookmarks [from MSDN]
XML Reader with Bookmarks - a great idea from MSDN, I can see its usage in traversing a XML tree with a 'breadcrumb' trail. This idea is a whole lot better than trying to make XML into a relational database.
Posted: Feb 23 2005, 01:02 PM by SB Chatterjee
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No Presentations without Code! Carl Franklin at the Connecticut .NET Developers Group meeting.
Carl Franklin gave a presentation last night at the Connecticut .NET Developers Group. It was held at the Microsoft Farmington CT office.
BlogMap

More details here...
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Posted: Feb 23 2005, 10:21 AM by SB Chatterjee
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James "Sherlock" Gosling the Father of Java, Chides Open Source Development Community

An Aussie Linux rag had this about James "Sherlock" Gosling - 'Father of Java chides open source developer community' [via Sadasivuni].

I am reminded about the  Holmesian (or Sherlockian) deduction -
"The word "Sherlock" has entered the language to mean a detective or nosy person; it is also commonly used in American slang to mean a knowledgeable person, as in the sarcastic phrase "No shit, Sherlock", uttered when someone says something obvious."

My sentiments about the Open Source "business" are given by Chris Chapman's statements -
"JUST SAY NO TO GPL! This control is NOT GPLed! No permission is given to allow any portion of this control to appear in any GPL/FSF or other Stallman/Raymond licensed application. Support capitalism and free, independent developers!"

The last phrase captures it all.
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Posted: Feb 22 2005, 12:17 PM by SB Chatterjee | with 2 comment(s)
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APRESS encourages book reviews for User Groups
APRESS encourages book reviews for User Groups. Got to get it for us at the Connecticut .NET Developers Group!
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Posted: Feb 21 2005, 03:56 PM by SB Chatterjee
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INETAA (INETA Academic)

This is certainly interesting - INETAA (Academic). I picked it up via MSDN Student Flash. Need to find out more as to how it would play here in Connecticut along with our Connecticut .NET Developers Group (which is an INETA member).
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Posted: Feb 21 2005, 03:38 PM by SB Chatterjee
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Wrapping SharePoint API calls for easier development

It looks like the development API calls to SharePoint still need some diluting - there are two efforts in that direction: Addy Santo's WSSDAL and Bil Simser's SharePoint Wrappers 0.10
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Posted: Feb 21 2005, 11:37 AM by SB Chatterjee
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CTDOTNET Event for Feb 22nd with Carl Franklin & more upcoming presentations
On Tuesday Feb 22nd (6-8PM) Carl Franklin will give a presentation on new .NET Developments. Carl is a nationally recognized speaker and author. Carl runs the very popular .NET Rocks online radio show that just celebrated its mileston 100th show! Carl runs a .NET weblog and was interviewed by the MSDN magazine as well. This event will be held at the Microsoft Farmington CT Office on Feb 22nd (6-8PM).
Visit our new website for more information - http://www.ctdotnet.com/  (Connecticut .NET Developers Group)

Please send an email to ctdotnet @  gmail.com if you plan to attend. We still need a pizza/soda count!

UPCOMING PRESENTATION (Tentatively March 22 or March 29) - Chris Bowen (Sr Architect @ Monster.com) on Agile Development with Visual Studio .NET 2005. Now tentatively set for March 22 or March 29 - more details forthcoming..

UPCOMING PRESENTATION (June 28th 2005) - Mario Cardinal on Enterprise Architecture and MSDN Enterprise Library - more details forthcoming..
Visit our new website for more information - http://www.ctdotnet.com/
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Posted: Feb 21 2005, 11:31 AM by SB Chatterjee
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MSDN Nuggets - short movies that show how!
MSDN Nuggets - A good idea! In about 10 minutes, view the technical know-how regarding MSDN topics. Works with a Media Player 9.
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Posted: Feb 20 2005, 07:47 PM by SB Chatterjee | with 2 comment(s)
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