I have been working on a .NET based application using MVVM. All I can say is:  .NET seems like a very uncomfortable straitjacket to me.

So, in my spare time, I dream of making my escape. This time, I am playing with Node.js.  I won’t say much about it right now, except to say that I am playing with the idea of developing my own little library to make node code easier to write and maintain.

Code readability has become a big commitment for me. I work with so much code that is virtually unmaintainable and unreadable. It offends me. I do not mean to offend or unfairly criticize anybody that I have worked with, but I have grown frustrated by the fact that programmers do not know how to write clean, beautiful and elegant code. Bad names, bad functions, and poor architecture abound.

I like node, but the first thing I notice is that the code can get ugly pretty fast. Today, I am playing with tamejs, which makes it easier to write clean asynchronous code.  For now, I am calling my library GumMachine. More about that later.

It turns out that people are turning away from TV to consume news and entertainment on the Internet. Rogers and Bell are taking advantage of their near monopoly position by charging me a fee if I choose to watch movies and other programming using Netflix and/or Youtube. That’s not fair. I can watch as much TV as I want. Why are they limiting my Internet usage?

I invite you to speak up. Sign this petition: Stop the meter.

If you feel that you want to express yourself in your own words, visit the facebook group and have your say: Open Media Facebook Group.

We Canadians pay more to access the Internet, and we pay for an inferior level of service. Canada has some of the poorest-quality broadband among advanced countries. Our Internet services providers are making money hand over foot, but their profits are holding broadband adoption back.

Rogers and Bell don’t get it. Explain it to them.

Our current project uses the Prism framework. Only one member of our team can claim to be extremely versatile using this framework – the promise is that it allows developers to build applications that are easier to maintain.

Some members of the team are on a learning curve, but it seems to be a challenge for them. I experience the same thing a year ago on another project that was using Model-View-Presenter. In theory, the benefits are clear. In practice, not so clear yet. I find that I spend a lot of time learning and/or teaching, and I wonder what it will be like when we add new or different developers to the team.

I get tired of type errors in .NET – I have felt for a long time that the compiler is trying to protect me from making errors I would never make. But, I do not have have anything coherent to say about that right now. I just want to cite an interesting article that states that developers are more productive using Django than they are using .NET.

I have nothing to add – just want to say: I am feeling less productive in .NET than I used to. I like Python – I used it on a project over the summer. It felt great to deliver working code every day. Is it just me?

One of the keys to the way I use my computer(s) is that I usually store my data and programs separately. I can switch to a new operating system, or a new install at the drop of a hat. When I am working on a project, especially for a client, I often setup a virtual machine using VMware that I dedicate to the project. So . . . I need VMWare to work.

In the past, I have found it a problem to install VMWare on Ubuntu. In fact, it has just become easier to use the VMWare player rather than a full install of the server product. However, this time I had a problem.

However, I found a solution very quickly, I am posting it here for you edification. This worked for me. I don’t really care why it worked. Somebody should work to ensure that VMWare and Ubuntu play well together – they need each other. Some counselling perhaps?

The Natural Language Toolkit

The software I am writing for Dr. Kelly calculates a Flesch-Kincaid grade level for every assignment he grades. The formula is straight forward enough.

However, I was surprised to find that different implementations of this formula diverge dramatically from each other. The same text can have wildly different grade levels depending on the software you use.

For example, Microsoft word says that this blog entry reads at the grade 7  level, but another implementation says that it reads at a grade 9 level. Who is right? How does this happen?

It turns out that writing code to count the syllables in a word is not an easy thing. Early this summer, I tried to use the natural language toolkit to count the syllables in a word, but the code did not work. I threw the problem into the too-hard-basket for a while, and came back to it last week. A new version has been posted, and it works. It was patched by Alex Rudnick.

Here are two lines of code that show you how easy it is to count syllables in a word using the NLTK:

>>> from nltk_contrib.readability.textanalyzer import syllables_en
>>> print syllables_en.count("hello")

If you get the latest version of nltk_contrib, you will have no problems. However, I did find one small problem. This code insists that the word ‘the’ has zero syllables. The fix was easy enough, but I am not sure this how the maintainers would fix it:

Edit the file called syllables_en.py. It contains a list of so-called special syllables called specialSyllables_en. Add ‘the’ to the list, and specify that it has one syllable.

It is easy to see how this list works. For example “Mr.” has two syllables, but there is no easy way to figure out that “Mr.” is pronounced as “mister.” I may find other exceptions as I go.

However, having fussed with code, and having downloaded the latest version, I am pleased to report that the flesch-kincaid score I generate matches the score that is generated by Microsoft Word. My syllable count is correct, and the rest just follows.

My code will probably never agree perfectly with the score that is generated with Microsoft Word. It turns out that some English words are pronounced with a different number of syllables by English speakers from different parts of the world. Also, the code in the natural language toolkit is sometimes wrong. For example, it says that the word ‘calculates’ has four syllables. However, it is close enough in a great majority of cases. You should give it a try.

He is an interesting man, humble and soft-spoken. He is a natural listener, and he will listen to almost anything you have to say with a gentle and sympathetic smile. But, if you can stop talking and start listening, he will fill any silence you create with lovely stories about his grandfather, Peter Kelly, or Bill Reid, or any of his Haida relatives and friends. His soft-spokeness masks deep passions. One is teaching.

He has developed a system for teaching students to write well by identifying patterns that students can edit to improve their writing. I have written code that uses the natural language toolkit to read student’s assignments and to identify these patterns. Even I have learned to apply Dr. Kelly’s principles to create writing that is clear, lively and easy to understand. Here are things to watch for:

1. If you use Microsoft Word, use the grammar and style tools to check the Flesch Kincaid grade level.
2. Use the grammar and style tools to find and eliminate passive sentences.
3. Ensure that your writing is composed of words that have an average of about 4.5 characters.
4. Write paragraphs that have an average of about 2.5 to 3.5 sentences.
5. Write sentences that have an average of between 12 and 15 words per sentences.
6. Avoid using too many prepositions. Prepositions cause writing to become complex and hard to read.

I was able to improve this article by using our tool. The first draft of this blog entry read at the grade 10.5 level, and it contained several complexifiers. I was able to eliminate these words, and my writing improved. The draft you are now reading reads at a grade 8.6 level. As I use Dr. Kelly’s system, I see that it works.

Plain writing is important. People can find it hard to understand medical consent forms, legal documents, and privacy policies. Is it ethical to write important documents that ordinary people cannot understand? Is it smart?

In the next few weeks, I am going write about our tool. We call it WISE – Writing Instruction Software for Educators. Recently, we realized that we may have to call it Writing Instruction Software for Everyone. Who knows, if the code is easy to use, and if the principles can be easily explained, we may share the code with anybody who wants to try it. We have to get some legal advice first, but we hope to make a file available for download some time between now and Christmas.

Here is some general information about the new WordPress 3.0 features, and what they mean: tutsplus.

Some people like to read, but you also have the option of viewing the following videos: WordPressVideos. These cover some interesting topics, from how to use the admin features to how to use the menu manager. You can also use the videos to give clients a very good idea of what WordPress can do.

Happy blogging.

It is stupid to spend hours typing information on public websites and to then worry about keeping it private. Facebook was designed to share information. The Web was designed to make information widely available.

Deleting your Facebook account over issues of privacy is like boycotting the local grocery store because people gawk when you pull down your pants. Are you going to tell the grocery store owner that you refuse to return until he or she provides a means to control who sees your bum when your pants are down around your ankles? Or, are you going to refrain from pulling your pants down in public? Which makes more sense?

Facebook is a public place: govern yourself accordingly. Don’t be stupid! If you are having an affair, don’t talk about it on Facebook. If you lied to the boss, said that you were sick, and went golfing instead, don’t put the pictures on Facebook.

Of course, there are real privacy issues, but do not assume that nobody is watching you on the Internet. Break the word down: “Inter”, which means between, among or within; and “net”, which means to catch and ensnare. If your neighbors are laughing behind your back because they saw you naked in front of your window, it is silly to blame that on your landlord. The Internet is a public place. There are better places to be private.

Having said this, there is information that you share online, with a legal understanding that it will not be shared for any other purpose than the purpose you ascribe. That is a contract. Still, sometimes you need a contract, but other times, all you need is common sense.

I have met people who, at a young age, felt that they could learn everything they needed to know, and achieve some sort of enduring technical competence. They quickly learned that the cycle of learning and changing never ends.

This video makes a few things clear: change is massive, change is unrelenting, change is occurring on a fundamental level. Assumptions are changing. Keeping up with the technical aspects of change is hard enough, but understanding the effect and significance of it is mind bending. Let’s face it, the impact of the change is enough to knock some of us out of our orbits. I will let the video speak for itself: