Category Archives: Rants

Why I Still Won't Use The prototype.js JavaScript Library

Posted on January 7, 2006 by James McParlane

I was not prepared for the amount of responses I got to my last article. There really are two camps – and they sit around fires making pointy sticks. The most constructive was from Rob Sanheim with this post, which got me … Continue reading →

Posted in AJAX, JavaScript, Rants | 10 Comments

Why I Don't Use The prototype.js JavaScript Library

Posted on January 6, 2006 by James McParlane

When it comes to JavaScript there is one issue for which there seems to be two polarised camps, and that is the question of extending the inbuilt JavaScript Array and Object types via the prototype object. There are those who … Continue reading →

Posted in JavaScript, Rants, Web2.0 | 27 Comments

There Is No Problem That Can't Be Solved With Large Enough Hash Table

Posted on December 27, 2005 by James McParlane

I first used this quote when referring to the z-buffering used in ID first person shooter Castle Wolfenstein. While not strictly a hash table, its a philosophy of “the audacity of scale” that I have maintained since my demo coding days. Q: How … Continue reading →

Posted in Nostalgia for Misspent Youth, Rants | Leave a comment

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (or A Visit from St. Nicholas) by Clement Clarke Moore

Posted on December 24, 2005 by James McParlane

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the housenot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug … Continue reading →

Posted in Rants, Web0.0 | Leave a comment

God Save King Mike

Posted on November 3, 2005 by James McParlane

JERILDERIE, Australia (AP) — If Australian forklift operator Mike Hastings is, as genealogists contend, the rightful heir to the British throne, then he really needs to brush up on his tea-making skills. A documentary team from Britain’s Channel Four conducted … Continue reading →

Posted in Coolhunting, Rants | 1 Comment

What Was BSCAL?

Posted on October 31, 2005 by James McParlane

“In a digital computer, the instructions are in the form of COMMAND (ADDRESS) where the address is an exact (either absolute or relative) memory location, a process that translates informally into “DO THIS with what you find HERE and go … Continue reading →

Posted in Nostalgia for Misspent Youth, Rants | 1 Comment

The Brain-Slurping Abomination Of The "onclick" Listener On An Anchor Added With "addEventListener" – Return Value Hell

Posted on September 28, 2005 by James McParlane

If you add an onclick listener to an anchor with addEventListener, the return value is ignored and whatever is in the href is activated. I come across this issue every day and have written about it before, but its only … Continue reading →

Posted in JavaScript, Rants | 1 Comment

To ' href="javascript:f()" ' or ' href="#" onclick="f()" ' – That is the question.

Posted on September 28, 2005 by James McParlane

You see both of these methods being used so often that you have to wonder – which is correct? href=”javascript:f()” vs href=”#” onclick=”javascript:f()” The classic ill side-effect that can occur when using the javascript: within a href attribute is when … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtime, JavaScript, Rants | 4 Comments

Look What I Found

Posted on September 17, 2005 by James McParlane

Digging in some old floppy disks looking for src code to some of my old audio software (The Nanotech WaveTracer) – I found the original (rewitten) BSCAL code. Along with original documentation and the 1987 Amiga version of the classic factorial testcase. I believe … Continue reading →

Posted in Nostalgia for Misspent Youth, Rants | 1 Comment

And They Said I Was Crazy

Posted on August 9, 2005 by James McParlane

Just listened to a podcast on IT Conversations where Werner Vogels discussed scaleable systems that are inspired by biological processes. What he described is exactly what I was working on in the networking protocols and “Entropy” VM in the MetaWrap project, … Continue reading →

Posted in Meta-Narrative, MetaWrap Server, Nostalgia for Misspent Youth, Rants | 1 Comment