Talk about Technologies, Software Architecture and Management

Visitors: analizing the world map

For some time I am using ClustrMaps service to track where people are coming from to my blog. Since last November it is close to 22K visits today. I would like to thank everybody for taking time and reading some of my postings. I see a lot of attention received when it comes to Delphi. But I also see a growing number of people coming to read some of my other posts which are not otherwise visible via DelphiFeeds.com and I always welcome everyone and value their opinions. What is interesting about the service is that anyone can easily see distribution of the visitors around the world – big continents and small islands, Internet is everywhere. I might missed a few spots on Read more

By Serguei Dosyukov, ago

CodeGear no more?

July 1st is around the corner and everybody is wondering what would happen tomorrow with CodeGear team… everything goes well as it seems. David I, Allen Bauer, Michael Swindell and Anders Ohlsson are talking about the transition and a new day at the new place: Today is my last official day as a Borland/CodeGear employee… The only difference will be that I will be employed by Embarcadero. We are not so much interested in Borland at this point, but CodeGear news are in focal point… No more Borland in Scotts Valley, as there is no more CodeGear. At least as an entity. Would CodeGear as a division keep its name associated with the products or would we see Embarcadero Delphi? Time will tell. New home, new Read more

By Serguei Dosyukov, ago

Preload images – AJAX, CSS or JavaScript

When it comes to designing your first web-site, you want it to be smooth, nice, and fast loading. One of the main things nowadays is hi-def images used for various elements on the page: backgrounds, logos, banners, menus, buttons, … some of them a few bytes in size, others are much bigger and require time to bring it from server. And here problem might appear. Few highly visible problems: layout of the page is resized while image is loaded, page content is not visible because background is dark and text is light and not visible on default white surface, no menu visible, etc. So many problems with such simple thing. There is one thing which might help – preload your Read more

By Serguei Dosyukov, ago

World is not that big when help is needed

If you are in California, you know about drought being declared. On another side of the mountains, Midwest states are affected by recent flooding. Result of new record rainfall rivers are record high almost everywhere. Fortunately, our area, Milwaukee, was not affected that much – in some cases basements are wet, or people who are living to close to the river now have a small pools in their backyards. Sadly, southwest Wisconsin, famous Wisconsin Dells area as an example, was hit along with Iowa and have some noticeable damage. There is a chance for you to help. Several agencies accepting donations for their efforts to help victims of flooding in southern Wisconsin. PS. I have received a nice email from CodeGear team offering help and assistance. Thank you! Read more

By Serguei Dosyukov, ago

Developing for Windows Vista

Two weeks ago we have discussed some of the implications and inconveniences developers and users faced when introduced to Windows Vista. What makes Vista so “unfriendly” for developers? As it had happened before, it is a new guidelines and requirements. It was true with Windows 3.x, then Windows 95, NT, and 2000/XP. Nothing is so different now – a new UI, the new user experience. As a result, the new approach in development is required. Microsoft pushes this new requirements through all possible channels and one of them, a primary for developers, is Windows Vista Developer Center. Developers could find many references and tips there, helping them with existing and new software to become “comfortable” in Vista environment. A very first item is “Why Develop for Windows Read more

By Serguei Dosyukov, ago

Windows 7 and multi-touch

As I mentioned earlier, Windows 7 is something to think about, in particular when it comes to support for multi-touch. My question was if SDK will be ready by that time or even earlier, since some models of the laptops support MT mode even today. BetaNews just published an article about Windows 7 multi-touch SDK being readied for PDC in October. From PDC 2008 agenda: Windows 7: Touch Computing In Windows 7, innovative touch and gesture support will enable more direct and natural interaction in your applications. This session will highlight the new multi-touch gesture APIs and explain how you can leverage them in your applications. Let’s keep watching for more stuff to come. Update: PDC video are available now.

By Serguei Dosyukov, ago