MyPerceptions ®

Learning programming languages is now becoming a mainstream requirement. What once, was considered as forte of a software engineer, has now become a necessity for a manager, an accountant or even a musician.This is mainly due to the proliferation of script-able software tools. Non IT-professionals, avoiding programming tasks are increasingly becoming aware of their restraint in leveraging the power of software tools, critical to their profession. Now, they are willing to  go an extra mile to learn programming.  There are several way in which they can learn programming.How they learn depends on variety of factors like age group, professional requirements, academic requirements etc. Their learning also depends on where they learn, from whom they learn and the teaching strategy.There is already a huge effort from educational Institutions and Software Industry to improve quality in teaching methods and learning environments. I would like to classify the Learning strategies f...

Second Life Second Life is a virtual world created by Linden Labs. A virtual world is a 3D world, which has 3D structures built in it. Virtual world tries to simulate the real world and thus has lakes, rivers, trees and even people in it. People moving around in the virtual world are called avatars. To be a part of this virtual world you have to create your avatar by registering with Second Life. After moving around in the virtual world for a while, you would get interested in building your own 3D artifacts.Second Life allows you to purchase a piece of land and construct 3D structures on it. Depending on your land size, you are allocated a fixed set of prims. These prims are your fundamental building blocks for creating your virtual world. For viewing, creating and manipulating your virtual world you need to install a special software called Second Life viewer. Second Life offers a rich set of 3D editing WYSIWYG ( what you see is what you get) features for manipulating the virtu...

Wanderer I want to know about White Rabbit? StoryTeller Adobe is releasing its new product  Photoshop CS5 on 12th April 2010, code named White Rabbit . It is setting a new benchmark in the space of image editing. Photoshop is now Content Aware . Wanderer What does it mean to be Content Aware? StoryTeller My digital camera picks up what it sees (WYSIWYG -- What you see is What you get) . It models the real world in terms of pixels. Greater the number of pixels ,better the approximation of real world. However , my camera doesn't  have a look behind feature . If I take a photograph of a brick wall, I will surely get the pixel representation of wall. However , I won't get a second layer of pixel representation of things behind the wall. Surprised !! . Thats what I call look behind feature.  That day in the garden, I met a very beautiful tree. As a token of love, I took a close-up snap, with the tree smiling right at the center of my photograph. I missed the lo...

Wanderer Blogosphere is buzzing with talks about Chrome, Google's new browser. What is so special about this browser? StoryTeller Browser is an indespensible tool. An average user meets the internet through browser interface. In fact, his browsing defines his internet experience. Google with its search service has redefined the browsing experience. Furthering its vision to organize knowledge on the net, Google developed services like Gmail, Calendar and now Google apps. However, this is all on the server side. Client side has traditionally not been a strong hold of Google. With release of Google desktop, Google declared its presence on the client side. Technologies like Google Gears are already in place to be used by the developers to develop offline applications, that automatically synchronize themselves online. To create a strong presence on the client side, Google needed its own browser. Chrome has finally emerged after gestation period of two years. As you know, Internet Explo...

Wanderer What is Second Life? StoryTeller Second Life is a virtual world created by Linden Labs. A virtual world is a 3D world, which has 3D structures built in it. Virtual world tries to simulate the real world and thus has lakes, rivers, trees and even people in it. People moving around in the virtual world are called avatars. To be a part of this virtual world you have to create your avatar by registering with Second Life. After moving around in the virtual world for a while, you would get interested in building your own 3D artifacts.Second Life allows you to purchase a piece of land and construct 3D structures on it. Depending on your land size, you are allocated a fixed set of prims. These prims are your fundamental building blocks for creating your virtual world. For viewing, creating and manipulating your virtual world you need to install a special software called Second Life viewer. Second Life offers a rich set of 3D editing WYSIWYG ( what you see is what you get) features for...

Wanderer There are so many open-source licenses being approved by OSI ( Open Source Initiative). On what basis should I decide on the license to be adopted for my new opensource project? StoryTeller There are some licenses that are permissive and some that are reciprocal. Generally, permissive licenses allow you to take the code , modify it or enhance it and sell it without any obligation. For instance, BSD is a permissive license. In a reciprocal license, if you make enhancements to open source code, you are suppose to give your enhancements back to the community. GPL (GNU General Public License), is an example of reciprocal license. That's all I can tell you now. Better consult your lawyer before you take any decision. Wanderer I heard Java is opensourced by sun, which license does java use? StoryTeller Sun has released Java under GPL( version 2).

Wanderer What is JavaFx? StoryTeller How many times have you seen a car dealer unable to sell a fully functional and robust car, for the want of a good interior? What are the prospects, if the car has a few visible dents and scratches? Wanderer It's substance that has enduring value ,but looks do matter. StoryTeller Java has proven its strength on the server side. Java developers can write powerful Web Applications using Java. Java has concentrated on substance for over a decade, but now its working on its looks. Great looking Internet ( Web) applications are dubbed as RIA ( Rich Internet Applications) . JavaFx technology enables Java Web Application Developers to develop RIAs. Next generation Java Web Applications will be powered by JavaFx technology. The current generation of Java Web Applications are Intelligent . The next generation will be Intelligent and Gorgeous . Wanderer Is JavaFx the only alternative for RIA? StoryTeller No, there are other technologies in RIA space...