Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Lockeed buys Titan for $1.8 Billion I would not care so much, but two of my ex-SAIC bosses Gene Ray and Jack McDougle (both very good guys) helped found Titan. Way to go! 1:15:11 PM

More thoughts on using multiple programming languages I have had the opportunity to use a few technologies for mixing and matching programs written in different programming languages in the last month: CORBA, SOAP, and the simple XML over HTTP (i.e., REST like RPC). Sure, it is a hassle using RPC compared to building large monolithic applications, but I find that not only are different programming languages best for some tasks, but often key utility libraries are available only for some languages. While I really like CORBA, and I have CORBA support in Java and Smalltalk, other languages which I find useful like Common LISP and Prolog either don't have CORBA support, or it is expensive. Although not a perfect solution, I keep coming back to writing HTTP servers that use URL encoding to specify a "function name" and arguments - usually returning an XML payload makes sense. In principle, SOAP is a better way to go, but XML over HTTP is much easier to implement. 1:03:38 PM

Well thought out editorial on Israeli Haaretz news site on Middle East problems The linked article seems well balanced and makes a lot of sense to me. I think that Haaretz is one of the better sourrces of news in Israel - and this article reinforces that opinion. There is a large minority of Israelis who strongly disagree with the actions of the right wing government - this article reflects this rational opinion. 12:43:04 PM

HP Semantic Web Research web site The link is to HP's web site for their free semantic web tools. Check out Jena. 9:25:10 AM

Fascinating: MSNBC Interactive history of Israeli settlements on the West Bank MSNBC has a fascinating interactive history of the Israeli settlements. I thought that the settlements were few and far between - I was wrong about that. The West Bank is covered with Israeli settlements (which, by the way, I think are illegal under international law). Anyway, check out the linked MSNBC site and watch the display while choosing: 1914 -> 1948 -> 1977 -> Present time. 7:19:21 AM

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