Registration Is Open for OSCON 2004 External link: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/os2004/

It is time once again for OSCON - O'Reilly Open Source Convention. If you are involved in Open Source then this is a great way to see where your peers are headed. If you are not involved in Open Source then you can check out the competition.

If nothing else its a software development geekfest. There are tracks on many different open source and related technologies, including XML and Security.

I know Ken Wilcox went to OSCON last year. He said it was great.

To top it off, User Group members who register before June 18, 2004 get a double discount. Use code DSUG when you register, and you'll get the 20% User Group discount on top of the "Early Bird" price.

Close encounters of the Bill Gates kind External link: http://bdn.borland.com/article/0,1410,32063,00.html

Sip from the Firehose: April 13, 2004 - Close encounters of the Bill Gates kind: "David I writes about Bill Gates visiting the Borland booth at VSLive in San Francisco and also about other close encounters with Bill."

I really like David's response of "because it’s better" to Bill's question about why Turbo Basic was so good (it out performed Quick Basic at Comdex). That was back in 1986, I think he handled himself a little more eloquently this time.

BDN Introduces Article Ratings External link: http://bdn.borland.com/article/0,1410,31905,00.html

Borland just unveiled article ratings for their Borland Developers Network articles.

This would be a great opportunity to go out and rate my article on Code Profiling with Non-Breaking Breakpoints. You will need a free BDN account to rate articles.

Good news for US Software Developers External link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4710299/

MSNBC - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

We all said it would happen eventually:

As U.S. companies move from exporting call centers to outsourcing more complex work like software development, they're finding overseas workers are often ill-equipped to deliver consistent, quality work.

Every so often the press starts talking doom and gloom in the tech sector. For those of us dedicated technology types we just ride the storm and things work out. It is a matter of weeding out the weak who jump ship at the first sign of trouble.

The important thing to realize is that one size doesn't fit all. There are some things that go really well with outsourcing, and some of those can even be outsourced over seas. But there are other things that really should be done in house, or at least close by. This is true in all industries, including software development. Right now we are in a transitional state as we try to find what works where. Grin an bear it and it will come out to everyone's benefit in the end.

10th annual TV-Turnoff Week

TV Turnoff Network: "Don't forget - the 10th annual TV-Turnoff Week will take place April 19-25, 2004!"

I personally watch very little television. I think the last television I saw was The Apprentice three weeks ago when I was actually watching it with Troy McClain, the local Boisian who should have won. I didn't see the episode when he was fired, but Trump fired him because he didn't have a college degree, even though he acknowledged that he was a better leader then the other guy. It surprises me how much stock people continue to put in that little piece of paper.

I am a big Star Trek Enterprise fan, but I haven't seen any episodes all season. Don't know if that disqualifies me as a fan or not. I would think I can still be a fan even if I don't get to see it.

Just in case any of the rest of you are Apprentice fans you will be happy to know that the turn off the TV week has been conveniently scheduled after the shows finale tomorrow.

Kill Internet Ads with PAC Files

A while back I covered how to stop banner ads and access to certain web sites with the HOSTS file. This article on O'Reilly Windows DevCenter (which contains banner ads) covers doing this with HOSTS files, and PAC files.

PAC files are Proxy Automatic Configuration files, which use JavaScript to tell the browser how to connect to specific URLs. PAC files offer a number of advantages over the HOSTS file. Most notably you can use wild cards, block specific paths (not whole hosts) and redirect to a different port. The down side is that PAC files only work with your browser. If you block a host in your HOSTS file then even ping will be redirected.

• The O'Reilly article: WindowsDevCenter.com: Kill Internet Ads with HOSTS and PAC Files [Mar. 30, 2004]
• A great resource with a starter no-ads PAC file and instructions: Bust Banner Ads with Proxy Auto Configuration

I plan to switch over to PAC files for the bulk of my filtering / blocking. Hopefully I will be able to provide some updated resources for this in the near future.

The Pure Software Act of 2006

The Pure Software Act of 2006: "100 years ago, Congress passed a law requiring honest labeling of food and drugs. Now the time has come to do the same for software."

The problem with regulations to protect users from unsavory software installations are the same as regulations to stop spam. The worst perpetrators don't care about the law and place their bets that they won't be caught. The Internet is less like a supermarket grocery store chain, and more like a booth in an open air market on the out skirts of a town in the old west with only one sheriff.

My dad always said that locking your door just keeps the honest people out. If someone really wants to get into your house, they will. Regulations won't stop the unsavory folks who infest our computers with backdoors, Trojans and ad systems. It will only irritate the honest software developers who are trying to provide useful software.

As long as customers are not scared away by a labeling system that alerts them to actual features of the software then maybe this might be a good idea. But the fact is that the real trouble makers won't honestly label their software. They are not honest in any of their other dealings, so why start now?