So I'm working on a dot-net project right now, and we are supporting mobile devices. I figured I would just download some emulators for iPhone, Android, etc, and check out how things look.
First stop, Apple. Here, the only way to get the iPhone emulator is to download the entire 2.08 Gigabyte SDK after creating a developer account. I'm not very interested in either of those things, so I figured it would be easier to just find someone with an iPhone when we get it on a public server.
The Android SDK is much easier to obtain (only 186 Megabytes, no account required). After reading up on how to start the emulator, I found it will not connect to our internal servers by name or IP. Another failed attempt.
Moving on, I was happy to see Visual Studio has a bunch of Windows CE device emulators bundled. But try to enable "networking" for the emulated platform, and you'll get a message saying that Virtual PC is required, with a download link. That's right, Microsoft device emulators in Visual Studio cannot simulate a network connection without installing Virtual PC 2007. Again, I am not interested.
Why is this so difficult? Why not separate the emulators from SDKs for download? Why not write them to use the host OS networking transparently?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Inauguration, Power, and Consent
I just watched the inauguration and, like many others, I was moved to tears. I've generally been a little skeptical of Obama-mania, but he is the right person for the job, without question. His eloquence, confidence, and humility are truly remarkable.
But I want to comment on how many times I heard the commentators assert amazement at the "peaceful transfer of power" that the inauguration represents. They are astounded that our leaders cede power without violence. But is a violent refusal to yield power even within the realm of possibility? Isn't "peaceful transfer" pretty much standard for most of the world nowadays? England, Canada, El Salvador, etc etc, all see peaceful transfers these days.
In fact, I suspect we are being exposed to a propaganda assertion: "consider yourselves blessed and lucky that these people rule over you peacefully, without infighting." The comradery displayed between these potentially violent adversaries (Clinton and Bush Sr. smiling and hugging, Gore and Bush Jr. sharing a stage) confirms that familiar critique of American two-party politics: these are just two sides of the same coin, a single oligarchical class. Don't mistake me, there are real and profound differences between Republicans and Democrats, and I am very grateful that Obama is president. But everyone on that inauguration stage clearly belongs to the same club.
What else is happening on that stage? The tooting horns, the bunting and banners, the processional entrance -- it's just a good old fashioned pagaent, used by rulers throughout history to impress their majesty and power. The subjects / constituents are always taken right in.
But I want to comment on how many times I heard the commentators assert amazement at the "peaceful transfer of power" that the inauguration represents. They are astounded that our leaders cede power without violence. But is a violent refusal to yield power even within the realm of possibility? Isn't "peaceful transfer" pretty much standard for most of the world nowadays? England, Canada, El Salvador, etc etc, all see peaceful transfers these days.
In fact, I suspect we are being exposed to a propaganda assertion: "consider yourselves blessed and lucky that these people rule over you peacefully, without infighting." The comradery displayed between these potentially violent adversaries (Clinton and Bush Sr. smiling and hugging, Gore and Bush Jr. sharing a stage) confirms that familiar critique of American two-party politics: these are just two sides of the same coin, a single oligarchical class. Don't mistake me, there are real and profound differences between Republicans and Democrats, and I am very grateful that Obama is president. But everyone on that inauguration stage clearly belongs to the same club.
What else is happening on that stage? The tooting horns, the bunting and banners, the processional entrance -- it's just a good old fashioned pagaent, used by rulers throughout history to impress their majesty and power. The subjects / constituents are always taken right in.
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