Happy holidays

Happy Holidays to Jean-Louis, Dana, Roger, Michelle, Ash, Brent, and anyone else reading this! :-) I've got some pictures of the Himango gang and some of my brothers and sister too, enjoy and happy holidays!

My beautiful wife Kristin, my awesome son Connor, and me:
Happy Holidays from Judah, Kristin, and Connor!

Here's a bunch of silly ones of us and the family:
Family 15
Family 1
Family 2
Family 3
Family 4
Family 5
Family 6
Family 7
Family 8
Family 9
Family 10
Family 11
Family 12
Family 13
Family 14
Family 15
Family 16
Family 17
Family 18
Family 19
Family 20
Family 21
Connor on the floor
Connor running
Connor's running 2
Connor's favorite bed
Connor's favorite bed 2
Younger brother Aaron
Younger brother Aaron 2
Older brother Jesse
Both brothers
Younger sister Michaela

Rory's Birthday

A Frenchman? A poet? A geek? A Microsoft employee? Sounds like a good breeding ground for ambivalence, but apparently not so. Rory Blyth, the self-proclaimed short opinionated big-nosed man of French descent, who as of today is a new favorite blogger of mine thanks to his funny + elegant + melancholy writing style. Go give him a visit, and wish him a happy 27th birthday.

My last post (how very long ago that was!) promised some pictures of my place and my family. To my dismay, I can't find the USB cord to transfer anything from my camera to my PC. Perhaps by my next posting that'll be taken care of.

This demographic will click on shiny things

I updated some of my links on the left to be big shiny images instead. Looks better and less cluttered I think.

And speaking of images, I think I've finally figured out how to get my digital camcorder to create standard windows media videos and images. If by some miraculous chance I actually have figured it out, I'll be posting some shots of my house and family shortly.

Dennis Miller on Palestine

*edit* An anonymous, angry, and sexually frustrated Slashdot nerd corrected me on this one: It was Larry Miller, not Dennis Miller, who wrote this essay. Regardless of the author, this article is really to-the-point and dead on. Enjoy...

For those that don't know, Dennis Miller is a man of many talents: he was a stand-up comedian. He's had his own show on HBO. Last year he was an announcer for the famed Monday Night Footbal on ABC. This year he's got his own talk show on MSNBC. While neither Jew nor Arab, he's got some interesting insight into the Israeli situation, worth a read:

"A brief overview of the situation is always valuable,
so as a service to all Americans who still don't get
it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in
just a few paragraphs, which is all you Really need.

Here we go:

The Palestinians want their own country. There's just
one thing about that:

There are no Palestinians. It's a made up word.
Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years.
Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is
really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won
the land in the 1967 war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, the
West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no
"Palestinians."

As soon as the Jews took over and started growing
oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say
hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep
bond with their lost "land" and "nation."

So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word
"Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful
folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone
points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call
them what they are: "Other Arabs Who Can't Accomplish
Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In
The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And
Death."

I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN.
How about this, then:

"Adjacent Jew-Haters." Okay, so the Adjacent
Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one
more thing. No, they don't. They could've had their
own country any time in the last thirty years,
especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you
have your own country, you have to have traffic lights
and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and,
worse, you actually have to figure out some way to
make a living.

That's no fun. No, they want what all the other
Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel. They also want
a big pile of dead Jews, of course
--that's where the real fun is -- but mostly they want
Israel.

Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel - or
"The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it -- for the last fifty years
has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the
attention of their own people away from the fact that
they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and
tribally backward on God's Earth, and if you've ever
been around God's Earth, you know that's really saying
something.

It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits
waxes poetic about the great history and culture of
the Muslim Mid east. Unless I'm missing something,
the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since
Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for
that one.

Chew this around and spit it out: Five hundred million
Arabs; five Million Jews. Think of all the Arab
countries as a football field, and Israel as a pack of
matches sitting in the middle of it. And now these
same folks swear that if Israel gives them half of
that pack of matches,Everyone will be pals..

Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the
string of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the
constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew
into the sea? Oh, that? We were just kidding.

My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other
day: Just reverse the Numbers. Imagine five hundred
million Jews and five million Arabs. I was stunned at
the simple brilliance of it. Can anyone picture the
Jews strapping belts of razor blades and dynamite to
themselves? Of course not.

Or marshaling every fiber and force at their disposal
for generations to drive a tiny Arab State into the
sea? Nonsense. Or dancing for joy at the murder of
innocents? Impossible. Or spreading and believing
horrible lies about the Arabs baking their bread with
the blood of children?

Disgusting.

No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of
peace, the worst Jews would ever do to people is
debate them to death After September 11th our
president told us and the world he was going to root
out all terrorists and the countries that supported
them. Beautiful.
Then the Israelis, after months and months of having
the equivalent of an Oklahoma City every week (and
then every day) start to do the same thing we did, and
we tell them to show restraint.

If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City
every day, we would all very shortly be screaming for
the administration to just be done with it and kill
everything south of the Mediterranean and east of the
Jordan.

Yasser Arafat dead

I was fowarded this mail which originated from a couple in Israel named Ephraim and Ramona Frank, dealing with the death of Arafat and a possible cover-up by the French government regarding his death. I don't know that I agree with everything in the letter, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

Shalom Friends,

This is just a short note about what is brewing here in Israel in
relationship to the Yasser Arafat "carnival". As you know, the Islamic
holy days of Ramadan and their aftermath (Id el F'ter) are not quite
over. Thus Arafat who died last week was being preserved in a
condition
which the French news media called coma, even though totally on life
support. This is only one of the reasons why the dictator was kept in
some semblance of existence; another was the negotiation with Israel as
to his burial. Arafat of course wanted to be enshrined on the Temple
Mount, while Sharon deemed Gaza to be a more suitable location for that
purpose. The PA was demanding East Jerusalem with the approval of Left
wing Knesset (Israeli parliament) members of the Opposition. The
compromise reached was the compound in Ramalla, where Arafat was
confined for the past three years. A PLO spokesman announced that this
location would suffice until Jerusalem is liberated and the Palestinian
State is formed, at which time the cadaver will be transferred to the
Temple Mount. The third reason that Arafat's meeting with his Maker
was
deferred, was the wrangling for leadership within the P.A. The PA
leadership also met with the leadership of Hamas and Jihad. This
impromptu unity was only for the purpose of demanding from Israel that
Arafat be buried in East Jerusalem. Don't kid yourselves; there is no
love between the PA (PLO) and the other militant branches! The only
reason that Arafat wielded power over all of these was because he held
the purse strings to billions of dollars, fractions of which were
divvied out at his discretion. However, now none of the leaders of the
PA have this available to them to help control and build a so-called
unified government. What you see in one part of the Arab world you
will
find in another - one strong leader, or family, who have the most
cunning and are the most intimidating, is essential to keep the system
thriving.

The Palestinian militant Islamic factions will not cooperate with those
who bow to Israel, to the U.S. or to any other western nation, as to do
so would be giving into the great Satan and will result in brutal
deaths. To kill or be killed is the lingua franca that unites that
world. Sadam Hussein was responsible for the murder of scores of
people
in order to gain the power and respect as a leader in Iraq. Arafat,
like his colleague and supporter, made his way into the power struggle
with the same terror tactics. The spiritual nature of the Arab world
originates from the ancient biblical bloodline of Ishmael, Lot, Esau,
Amalek, Amman, Moav etc. There was no love lost between them and
Israel, as they struggled for the Abrahamic inheritance and birthright.
The religious spirit that is behind Islam propels all of this. They
all
have one objective in common, as the Psalmist so discerningly pointed
out: "They have said, 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a
nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more'. For they
have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy
against You (Psa. 83:4-5).

If the so called moderates of the PA (PLO) capitulate to Judah/Israel,
or to Ephraim/Israel these other factions will continue to use
terrorism
as their rightful weapon against an occupier of Arab land (and that
doesn't mean just the West bank and Gaza), as the whole Land of Israel
once was ruled over by an Islamic nation and once Isalm's always
Islam's. They will not recognize any other solution or compromise.
Terrorism has been one of the most successful tools in their hands to
date. Only extreme military force will subdue them and then only for a
time, unless Islam is completely wiped off the pages of modern history.
The symbol of Islam is the sword, and so is the temperament of the
spirit behind it. But we must also remember that YHVH used those
nations in the past to judge Israel when the latter went too far into
adultery and idolatry (iniquity and sin).

The Arab world, along with most of the rest of the world, is now paying
homage to one of the most evil men who have yet to stand in the hall of
the infamous. He not only has innocent blood on his hands, but was
also
known to be a pedophiliac (lover of children), as well as a
homosexual. The French Government will not release the reasons for
his
death or condition. It is to be kept a family secret. It does not
take
an expert to figure out what killed this man. The indications over the
weeks were that his immune system was defective and that he suffered
from some kind of virus. All the symptoms pointed to Aids (HIV). This
is
the only disease that disgraces and humiliates a person, and the only
one that someone would want kept secret. Why?

Paul, an Apostle of Messiah, points out a Torah principle in his letter
to the community in Rome: "Likewise also the men, leaving the natural
use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men
committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of
their error which was due" (Rom. 1:27).

The conflict now between the nation of Judah/Israel and her neighbors
is
poised to enter a new phase. The times of the fulfilling of YHVH's
latter day prophecies in regard to the whole House of Israel will
accelerate.

"Behold, the whirlwind of YHVH goes forth with fury, a continuing
whirlwind; it will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The
fierce
anger of YHVH will not return until He has done it, and until He has
performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will
consider
it" (Jer. 30:23-24)

These are times to have our lamps trimmed with the fresh oil of the
Spirit of Holiness.

Shabbat Shalom
Ephraim
Nov. 11, 2004

Would ya be mad if I axed ya 21 questions...

Some of my online friends (hi Michelle) put around these questions to everyone, revealing deep, dark secrets in all of us. Here's my answers:

1. First Name: Judah

2. Were you named after anyone?: Judah, one of the Biblical sons of Jacob.

3. Do you wish on stars?: nope

4. When did you last cry?: I cried happy tears a little bit after my wedding. I got a bit misty-eyed when Data died in the last Star Trek movie.

5. Do you like your handwriting? definitely no. One reason I love keyboards. :-)

6. What is your favourite lunch meat? roasted chickent

7. What is your birth date? 10/14/83

8. What is your most embarrassing CD? Don't really have much music I'm embarrassed about.

9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? I would hope so!

10. Are you a daredevil? When it comes to climbing cliffs and trees, yes. When it comes to everything else, no, hehee. :-)

11. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? I'm not supposed to tell.

12. Do looks matter? Of course a little bit for the initial attraction, but it's the person under the skin that's really important to me.

13. How do you release anger? Unfortunately, I swear when I'm pissed off. Try to get better at that.

14. Where is your second home? My brother's apartment.

15. Do you trust others easily? Even though I shouldn't, I tend to trust people.

16. What was your favourite toy as a child? Ooooh tough one. I liked dressing up as a cowboy, so probably my cap guns and my cowboy hat and holster.

17. What class in high school do you think was totally useless? Hmmmm...Illinois History? ;-)

18. Do you have a journal? I've got an online web log, http://judahgabriel.blogspot.com

19. Do you use sarcasm a lot? on the web when I'm being a snaught. In real life, almost never. Maybe jokingly.

22. What are your nicknames? Judes, Buddhaman

23. Would you bungee jump? like Michelle, I could be convinced

24. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? nope

25. What's the furthest you've been from home? I was in Florida not too long ago. I'll be taking a long honeymoon in a few months to either Rome or Hawaii.

26. Do you think that you are strong? No, trying to get stronger by going to the gym, but both my younger and older brother both dwarf me physically. I'm too skinny! :-( :cries:

27. What's your favourite ice cream flavor? Cookies n Cream

28. Shoe Size? : 15

29. Red/Pink ? red definitely.

30. What is your least favourite thing about yourself? I wish I was bolder and more relaxed.

31. Who do you miss most? Nothing really. My life is better than it ever has been at this point in my life, can't say I miss anything from the past.

32. Do you want everyone you send this to send it back? Considering I'm the recipient and not the sender, I'll just put N/A. :-)

33. What ccolourpants are you wearing? wwhite :-)

34. What are you listening to right now? my wife playing Age of Mythology on her laptop, with the TV playing a ADT security system commercial playing in the background.

35. Last thing you ate? My wife made some glazed turkey with little fried german potato things, the name slips my mind right now. They were both very good though. :-)

36. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? burnt umber

37. What is the weather like right now? freezurassoff kinda weather :-) Minnesota weather == teh suxors

38. Last person you talked to on the phone? British software guy

39. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Hair

40. Do you like the person who sent this to you? My favorite MGS buddy, Michelle, of course I do. :-)

42. Favourite Drink? Mountain Dew

43. FavouriteSport? NFL

45. Eye Colour? Hazel

46. Do you wear contacts? no

48. Favourite Food? anything mexican

49. Last Movie You Watched? Shark Tale, the kids movie

50. Your favourite Day Of The Year? New Years

51. Scary Movie or Happy Endings? happy endings

52. Summer Or Winter? summer

53. Hugs OR Kisses? depends on the mood. Hugs are sweet, kisses are sexy

55. What Is Your Favourite Dessert? French Silk pie from Baker's Square

56. Who Is Most Likely To Respond? Notta clue.

57. Who Is Least Likely To Respond? I'll concur with Michelle and say Ash :-)

58. Living Arrangements? I rent out the lower half of a house and live there with my wife and son

59. What Books Are You Reading? nothing, too busy!! Why do you think it took me more than a week to fill this out?!

60. What's on your mouse pad? "Belkin". Exciting, isn't it?

62. What Did You Watch today on TV? Law & Order SVU

63. Favourite Smells? My wife, the smell of a baseball game, the smell of a nice hotel

64. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Both are great, but I'll go with the Beatles.

65. Do you believe in Evolution or Creation? Creation

66. the longest from your family? I go to their Bible study almost every week, so it's never really more than a month or so I think.

67. who do you like? My wife, son, boss, family, online friends.

68. biggest problem? No real problems right now. I'm worried about me needing to finish college, but with a full time job and family it's gonna be difficult.

69. biggest fear at the moment? I have no fears, I trust the Lord for my needs, always have.

70. are you sad? I'm happier than I ever have been at any point in my life. :-D

71. are you sick? 100% healthy, except maybe a wrist that may have been fractured recently. And a chipped tooth from playing football recently.

72. are you happy? More than ever.

73. are you mad? Definitely not.

74. jealous? No, can't say I'm jealous of anyone right now. I have in the past.

75. pierced? No piercings.

Election 2004

Wow another close one it looks like. I got up at 5am this morning to make it to my voting place early. Put a big X on the spot for W. :-) Hope he wins.

Yankees lose! Yankees lose! Thahhhahahahahha Yankees lose!

Bring out the finest wines and cheeses throughout the land! The Yankees choked big time! Wooooo! :-)

Throwing grapes at the TV

It's been a tradition in my family to hate the New York Yankees. I know, I know, the tech reader is thinking, "what a stupid thing this 'sports'. I'll just go back to my debugging my Linux kernel." I know, I know, the casual gen-xer is thinking, "pfft. what's his problem? I'll just go back to my reading my e-mails, chatting the MSN Messengers, and browing the AOL internets." Or maybe, just maybe, you're someone that doesn't fit into any of the said categories (hi sanchita). In that case, continue reading.

When my grandpa was still alive, during the 1960s my Minnesota Twins were a fledgling franchise fresh out of Washington. In the late 60s we competed hard with the Yankees, who had, suprise suprise, their abundant supply of talent, including greats like Mickey Mantle (even you techies know this guy right?), Roger Maris (home run king before the steroid induced muscles of Bonds and McGwire), Whitey Ford, and a host of others cluttering the walls of Cooperstown. But throughout the 60s and 70s, the Twins, like most other American League teams, fell to the unparalleled talent of the Bronx Bombers.

As legend has it, old grandpa Himango would literally throw grapes at the TV every time those damn over-paid and over-talented Yankees beat our Twins.

My dad on the other hand, being a bit more forgiving and less violent, restrained himself from grape throwing, as far as I know. Still, his anger and hatred of the Yankees was deep and rooted in his blood, no doubt about it, yep.

Flash ahead 40 years. My Twins are STILL losing to the Yankees. Again. Last week in fact. Second year in a row. After winning the AL Central, we lose in the first round to none other than the overpaid pretty boy ballclub from New York. What can you expect - the Yankees, the Microsoft of baseball so to speak, buy out every home town talented player (Knoblauch), every local weary super star (Giambi), every crowd pleaser (ARod), every pretty boy make-the-girls-scream-star (Jeter). Oh yeah, money makes your world go around, Mr. Steinbrenner. There aren't many Jews I hate, but you are one.

That said, in retrospect and in honor of the family tradition, I hereby throw virtual grapes at my screen:

Woopsie

Being a user of the better, faster, cleaner, safer, most modern browser in the world (honestly, why are you people still using Internet Explorer?!), I just noticed that this blog rendered incorrectly in Internet Explorer because of my excessively large picture of of my beautiful wife. Turns out the links sidebar was displayed at the bottom of the page in IE, where Mozilla Firefox still rendered it correctly despite the giant picture. Go figure. I've scaled down the picture so now it links to kristinSmall.jpg, allowing the page to render correctly for those of you still running IE. You should see my links sidebar correctly to the left of this post, lucky you. :-)

The spyware problem

From the deep cellars of Slashdot, a Dell executive was quoted as saying 90% of all PCs are infested with spyware. So unless you're a super-geek wearing a tin-foil hat and monitoring your system 24/7, chances are you've got spyware on your machine.

Granted, apps like AdAware or SpyBot Search & Destroy claim to eliminate the problem. Sadly, I've heard many tech horror stories involving the installation of several spyware-killers due to one not being able to remove certain spyware apps.

The reason I'm blogging about spyware, however, is related to side-affect of the spyware problem: wrongful accusation of spyware.

One thing I've notices around not only online communities but also in reality, is that spyware instantly brings out the worse in everybody - if something is labeled spyware then you're automatically associated with the all the scum of the earth. All the evils of hell you are hereby equated with. Which brings me to the story I mean to blog about...

Not everything found by AdAware or SpyBot S&D is real spyware. A good example is when one of my favorite web-based game engine, WildTangent WebDriver, got bundled with AOL's Instant Messenger, AIM. Many web outlets, such as this one erupted with loud outcries of the "spyware" it installed. Being a hobbist developer and active member of the WildTangent developer community, I got involved in, and violently flamed, in such an online discussion because of my defense of this "spyware". My defense? That Wildtangent's software isn't spyware. How do I know this, you ask? I know this because I've been voluntarily using their software since 1999. I knew the background of the spyware accusations. I knew the basis for their argument which was false. I knew WildTangent was and is a legitimate company whose product is installed on all new HP, Dell, and Compaq machines, and even on some software discs from hardware vendor ATI. But most of all, I knew what the software was doing, unlike the accusers which based their arguments on whatever SpyBot told them.

Of course, any rational conversation and fact checking is not part of a spyware witch burning. No, these people were angry because SpyBot S&D showed them, in nasty red-lettered text, that WildTangent was installed and was spying on them. But the truth was a bit distant from their argument; the real truth was, and still is, that WildTangent does not spy one you. This article from Washington Post author John Gilroy explains it quite well. To quote from the article,

"I downloaded AOL Instant Messenger and ran AdAware 6.0, which identified a component of AIM, WildTangent, as a problem. But is it really spyware?

AOL bundled WildTangent's game software with its new AIM 5.5 program to entice IM users to do more than just chat. But this bundling isn't obvious; many users learn of it only when their anti-spyware utility detects the WildTangent software looking online for video driver updates (as any game would do).

That can resemble the actions of spyware. But AdAware developer LavaSoft took a second look at this situation and now classifies AIM's WildTangent component as non-threatening in AdAware 6.1."

Sadly, some software, including SpyBot S&D as far as I know, still classify WildTangent as spyware.

This is the problem facing many legitimate companies that distribute software over the web. I encourage you to read the privacy FAQ of any software you have questions about. There is a LOT of real spyware out there, just be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

JibJab and political satire

Most of us by now have heard about or seen the hilarious political satire on JibJab by now, in particular the "This Land" parody of George Bush, John Kerry and other honcho politicians making jabs at each other while singing to the tune of This Land by Woody Guthrie. And now back in fashionable time for the 2004 election, the brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis are at it again with another parody, Good To Be In D.C sang to the tune of the old song of the South, Dixie. Hilarious again, though not quite as good as This Land, but funny nonetheless. Go see it at JibJab.com.

Hello from sub_reb

Michelle, Ash, Jit, maswastage, roadrunner, squall, people of GT, welcome welcome to my little blog. You are probably the first visitors to this fine site, lucky you. ;-) Hope you enjoy & bookmark it. If you're into software, politics, gaming, spirituality or you're just a plain PLWNL member ;-), I think you'll find this blog occasionally interesting enough to hold your attention for a few seconds at a time. :-)

Enjoy!

A favorite psalm of mine

When I was young, playing little league baseball, I was usually one of the better players on my team. However, there was one infamous game around the time I was 13 when I was pitching for Skinner's Appraisals. Man was I getting pounded. Hit after hit after hit, we were losing so badly I started crying, right there on the mound. (hey I'm mature enough & man enough to admit I cried right? hehe :-)) The next event I'll remember for the rest of my life, my coach walked out to the mound and quietly quoted this psalm to me:

The Lord is my Shephard
He meets all my needs
He makes me lie down in green patures
He leads me by still waters
He restores my soul
He leads me along the path of righteousness
For His name's sake

Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
Because you are with me
Your rod and your staff comfort me
You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies
You annoint my head with oil
My cup overflows

Surely goodness and mercy
Will follow me all the days of my life
And I will live in the house of the Lord
Forever and ever

I remember I stopped crying on the mound, if not for the sheer uncomfort of having someone read you a Bible verse in public, but also because I felt a calm after hearing it. Ever since, I think of that psalm to calm nerves, silence fears, or feel grateful to God for everything he's given me.

This MP3 puts it to song pretty well.

Moved in

Wow...married and moved into a new place all in one weekend. What an amazing, wonderful year it has been. One year ago this would've seemed impossible. Now that it has happened, married life is awesome, I love Kristin so much; it's the best feeling in the world to wake up every morning lying next to someone you love. And becoming an instant father of this little buddy is great and wow, a challenge sometimes, if not a little overwhelming too. :-)

Still lots of stuff to clean up at the apartment...soon as we get a working camera I'll post some shots. Nice place, I've been blessed to have my boss give me the place at such a generous price. Ahhhh...life can't be better right now. :-)

At least they got one thing right

Wow, I can't believe this got passed as a story on Slashdot. Huge flamewar ensues...

From the story,

Here's the list of enhancements to the Java Language:

1. Generics (C# 2.0 already supports this)
2. Enhanced For-Loop (the foreach construct in C# 1.0, duh!)
3. Autoboxing/Unboxing (C# 1.0 already has this, everything is an object, even the primitives - not really, but they do it so well...)
4. Typesafe Enums (again C# 1.0 already implemented this, but I think they've added a little bit more twist in Java, that its actually a better implementation)
5. Varargs (C# 1.0's params construct, ellipsis construct in C++)
6. Static Import (I don't know if C# 1.0 has this, or C#2.0, but C# has a construct for aliasing your imports - which is way cooler. Static Import, actually promotes bad coding habits IMHO)
7. Metadata/Annotations (this is C# 1.0's Attributes, Sun's upturned noses just gave it a fancier name - also, C#'s implementation is better and more intuitive)

They've beefed up the API some, and integrated several packages with the regular JSDK that used to be a part of a separate package or installation ---in my NSHO, the Java API has become bloated...

At this point (even before Whidbey) the deciding factor (as always) for Enterprise work, when choosing a language platform, should be the support it has behind it, in terms of IDE, tools, api, and longevity of the vendor pushing it (forget the OpenSource crap argument, those guys are too in love with Perl, Python, and Ruby...) - right now that's C# and the .NET Framework ---

Wow! Something so truthful yet hurtful of the so-called "cause" of open source software made it past the Slashdot editors. Java loving comments ensue, beware the techno zealots, steer clear of the Java-r0x0rz-M$ sux0rz nut job slashbots.

Don't get me wrong, Java is a great language. Just as Java originally borrowed heavily from C++, C# likewise took the good things® from Java and on top of it, built great new stuff (value classes, enums, simple iteration, attributes & metadata, to name a few.) Since C# took Java and made it better, the next iteration of Java, 1.5 codenamed Tiger, is now attempting to play catch-up by adding simple iterators (C#'s foreach), annotations (C#'s attributes), autoboxing/unboxing, varargs, and other things already found in existing C# 1.0. And not to be forgotten, the new versions of both languages are implementing generics, a feature similar to C++ templates, that allows for parametric polymophism.

The point I'm trying to make is that C# and Java are both great languages and continue to improve. Yes, competition is good thing, at least the Linux zealots have that right. That said, I am looking forward to trying out the new Java Tiger release.

Finally

Woo finally got this up and running. If you're reading this, you must have searched for me on Google (and in that case I know you, and in that case, why are you snooping on me? :-))

Blogs and websites all over promise "Lots of updates coming" but honestly we all know that never happens. People are too lazy. So I'll update this site as I go along and see fit to do so, and of course when I feel the need to vent at some high-horse techno zealots or "progressive" left wing nut-jobs. :-)

Out.

My beautiful wife

I have been exceedingly blessed by this wonderful woman, my perfect fit for as long as I live. I love you babe! Mark October 1st, 2004 as the best day of my life, the day I married the only girl I've ever loved, Kristin Larson.

Blog created! I intend to use this blog as a place to post random stuff on programming, anything tech, and life in general. Hopefully I can devote some time to updating it regularly. :-)