Danny is leaving Microsoft...
Kurt Bilde
leaving Microsoft to go on a new venture at CoolIris. He will be bloging
from his own site in the near future: www.dannythorpe.com
-Kurt
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
> Danny have posted that he's leaving Microsoft
Could this be the demise of Windows Live?
Sorry.. couldn't resist.. <g>
--
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
I.P. Nichols
> Kurt Bilde wrote:
>
>> Danny have posted that he's leaving Microsoft
>
> Could this be the demise of Windows Live?
Hmm - doesn't sound like Danny thinks so...
http://blogs.msdn.com/dthorpe/archive/2007/10/05/leaving-microsoft.aspx
"While I will be leaving the Microsoft payroll, I won't be leaving the
Windows Live arena. I'm moving from the service producer to the service
consumer side of the field. CoolIris will quickly need user logins, address
books, photos, and storage, and I will certainly make sure they are aware of
Windows Live's service offerings."
>
> Sorry.. couldn't resist.. <g>
Nor could I... <G>
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
> I'm moving from the service producer to the service consumer side of
> the field
I'm sure he's still on the consumer side of Delphi, too <g>
--
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
I.P. Nichols
> I.P. Nichols wrote:
>
>> I'm moving from the service producer to the service consumer side of
>> the field
>
> I'm sure he's still on the consumer side of Delphi, too <g>
"...my next gig will be at CoolIris, building browser plugins that are one
part eye candy an two parts antimatter disrupter."
So you think it's likely they use Delphi to build their browser plugins??
Robert Giesecke
> Live.
> Considering that they support Safari & Firefox, but not MS'
> interpretation of the word "browser". ;-)
Oh, I just saw that they do support IE, but Windows Live still doesn't fit into it.
Robert Giesecke
Cool! I just stumbled across a Safari plugin of them, yesterday.
It lets me watch all images on a site as a full screen slide show. Very cool, IMO. :-)
However, I cannot see them move to something as MS-depended as Windows Live.
Danny Thorpe
> However, I cannot see them move to something as MS-depended as
> Windows Live.
Why not? Using a particular vendor's web service does not require
exclusivity. We can show photos from Flickr or photos from Windows
Live Spaces, doesn't make any difference to us.
Convenience to the customer means using the service clouds that the
customer has chosen to affiliate with. That means it is in our
(Cooliris) best interest to tap into as many service clouds as we can:
Windows Live, Yahoo, Google, Flickr, PhotoBucket, etc.
-Danny
--
Discover More with CoolIris: http://www.cooliris.com
Robert Giesecke
> Robert Giesecke wrote:
>
>> However, I cannot see them move to something as MS-depended as
>> Windows Live.
>
> Why not? Using a particular vendor's web service does not require
> exclusivity. We can show photos from Flickr or photos from Windows
> Live Spaces, doesn't make any difference to us.
>
> Convenience to the customer means using the service clouds that the
> customer has chosen to affiliate with. That means it is in our
> (Cooliris) best interest to tap into as many service clouds as we can:
> Windows Live, Yahoo, Google, Flickr, PhotoBucket, etc.
>
Ok, makes sense. ;-)
btw: Do you work on PicLens/Safari, too? This seems to be a pretty awesome thing! :-)
Robert Giesecke
> ...a lot of cool stuff...
>
Will check on you guys regularly, then! :-)
Cheers,
Robert
Danny Thorpe
>
> btw: Do you work on PicLens/Safari, too? This seems to be a pretty
> awesome thing! :-)
Yes, I'm now working on core infrastructure for the PicLens plugin in
its plethora of browser/platform combinations: IE/Windows,
Firefox/Windows, and Safari/Mac. Firefox/Mac is on the horizon and
Firefox/Linux is on the wish list. We'll see how cross-platform
Firefox's plugin API really is when we start building the Firefox
plugin for Mac. If that goes as smoothly as we hope, then Firefox/Linux
shouldn't be too far out.
Safari will be a new one for me - new browser and new OS. The last
Apple hardware I wrote code for was the Apple II+! (in ApplePascal,
running on a Z80 add-in card, I think)
It's not a cold start, though, since the CTO is a Mac nut.
Work on the core is under way even while parts of the product's UI and
workflow are still being conceptualized and sorted out. Some services
you just have to have no matter what the UI is doing! ;>
-Danny
p.s. The new blog is up! http://dannythorpe.com
m. Th.
...but let's start a little 'short story' (dunno if you remember them) ;-)...
Danny Thorpe wrote:
> Robert Giesecke wrote:
>
>> btw: Do you work on PicLens/Safari, too? This seems to be a pretty
>> awesome thing! :-)
>
> Yes, I'm now working on core infrastructure for the PicLens plugin in
> its plethora of browser/platform combinations: IE/Windows,
> Firefox/Windows, and Safari/Mac. Firefox/Mac is on the horizon and
> Firefox/Linux is on the wish list. We'll see how cross-platform
> Firefox's plugin API really is when we start building the Firefox
> plugin for Mac. If that goes as smoothly as we hope, then Firefox/Linux
> shouldn't be too far out.
>
You forgot Opera. But, imho, you forget other thing, *much* more important:
You are a compiler guy. (At least from Delphi 1 since I know you, IIRC). God knows if
you are good or bad, but definitely you are a compiler guy, imho.
My son, WHAT are you doing out there??? Looked at cooliris.com - just cool, but
com'on Danny, browser plug-ins? Isn't, of course, something bad per se (in fact not
at all), but, again, AFAIK you, doesn't fit to your way of being. Some small
recommendations: 1. open your browser 2. type in www.codegear.com 3. Choose from the
menu 'About Us | Jobs' 4. Follow the instructions on screen. :-) I'm pretty sure that
there's something for you. (A R&D engineer perhaps? ;-) - as you were in D2
times?...) Then you'll find your peace of mind, imho. Or, more directly, speak with
Allen. Just my 2cents, you know...
Meanwhile, we have another 'short story' for you. :-) See the 'Delphi is Ranked #2'
thread where the discussion rapidly 'degenerated' in a mixin/traits discussion. Have
a look and drop some notes there... I know that you can do it.
> Safari will be a new one for me - new browser and new OS. The last
> Apple hardware I wrote code for was the Apple II+! (in ApplePascal,
> running on a Z80 add-in card, I think)
>
> It's not a cold start, though, since the CTO is a Mac nut.
>
Not a cold start?? :-) What about a Delphi cross-compiler for MacOSX? The guys around
here are very 'interested' in such a beast ;-)... And you'll leverage your knowledge
on ApplePascal, isn't? :-)
> Work on the core is under way even while parts of the product's UI and
> workflow are still being conceptualized and sorted out. Some services
> you just have to have no matter what the UI is doing! ;>
>
Yeah, right. What just I've told you? You are a core compiler guy at your very core.
> -Danny
>
> p.s. The new blog is up! http://dannythorpe.com
>
Yeah, wish you good luck!
Anyway, very good relief to see you back! The actual team is _very_ good (I humbly
hope that they don't read this <g>) but not very communicative sometimes and a little
bit scared by SOX & other things... OTOH, they are good at work and there are very
great ideas to implement and a _lot_ to work to do. Can you respond (at least
partial) to the provocation? :-)
All the best wishes,
--
m. th.
Robert Giesecke
>
> We'll see how cross-platform Firefox's plugin API really is when we start building the Firefox
> plugin for Mac. If that goes as smoothly as we hope, then Firefox/Linux shouldn't be too far out.
>
I always had a fairly pimped-up Firefox. I copied my profile from Windows/FF @home to Windows/FF @work.
A while later, when I switched to Ubuntu @home, I could copy my profile back and *everything* worked
just fine.
I am now a fairly fresh OS X-fanboy (@home), and again: copying the profile from Ubuntu to OS X went
just fine. (I am talking about some seriously bloated bunch of 40+ extensions here, btw *g* )
long story short: The Firefox side of things should be fairly straightforward in regards of X-Platform.
And since it seems that Apple has ported their whole Cocoa framework to Windows in order to get Safari
there, I wouldn't be surprised when Safaris plugin API is the same in Windows. (Cocoa/Windows might
still be a bit buggy, though)
Danny Thorpe
> First of all, Danny, I'm very glad to see you here... :-)
>
> ...but let's start a little 'short story' (dunno if you remember
> them) ;-)...
>
> Danny Thorpe wrote:
> > Yes, I'm now working on core infrastructure for the PicLens plugin
> > in its plethora of browser/platform combinations: IE/Windows,
> > Firefox/Windows, and Safari/Mac. Firefox/Mac is on the horizon and
> > Firefox/Linux is on the wish list.
>
> You forgot Opera.
It's a little difficult to build plugins for a browser that doesn't
support plugins, wouldn't you agree?
> But, imho, you forget other thing, much more
> important:
>
> You are a compiler guy. (At least from Delphi 1 since I know you,
> IIRC). God knows if you are good or bad, but definitely you are a
> compiler guy, imho.`
Your memory transcends delerium, or you have been grossly misinformed.
I did not begin dabbling in the Delphi compiler code until around
Delphi 5, after there was no one left to work on the compiler. I saw a
vacancy, and I stepped into it. While it is true that I had passion
and vision for where the Delphi language could be taken, and some small
success in working on the compiler, that is only a partial truth, a
selective filter in the eye of idolatry.
The whole truth is that I have worked on a wide variety of stuff in
Delphi and outside of Delphi, moving from one technology area to
another by "following my nose" ala Alice in Wonderland. For as many
areas as I have dug into in software, there are twice as many creative
outlets I tinker with outside of software: woodworking, metallurgy,
ceramic flux chemistry, cider making, and other fields that blend
science and art.
One of the worst things you can do to a creative person is brand them
with a label. A label is the kiss of death for cross-discipline
creativity.
I left Borland and Delphi not for lack of interesting things to
investigate next, but because I was no longer allowed to follow my nose
to explore new directions. In achieving small successes with the
compiler, I received the "compiler guy" label, and was suddenly too
valuable to the project to be allowed to work on anything else. At the
same time, Borland corporate made it clear that while the company was
burning down around us it had no interest whatsoever in investing in
Delphi to push the envelope and advance Delphi's thought leadership
postion in the tools industry. So even within the compiler coffin,
there was no room to breathe.
Even in a brief discussion concerning my getting involved with the
tools group spinoff later retracted to Borland subsidiary, the only
thing Borland brought to the table was the "compiler guy" label. Why
would I return to the cage I had just mustered the courage to escape?
>
> My son, WHAT are you doing out there??? Looked at cooliris.com - just
> cool, but com'on Danny, browser plug-ins? Isn't, of course, something
> bad per se (in fact not at all), but, again, AFAIK you, doesn't fit
> to your way of being.
I'm following my passion and fulfilling my need to grow and evolve.
Clearly, that does not fit the guilded cage you imagine for me.
Clearly, you don't know me.
> Some small recommendations: 1. open your
> browser 2. type in www.codegear.com 3. Choose from the menu 'About Us
> | Jobs' 4. Follow the instructions on screen. :-) I'm pretty sure
> that there's something for you. (A R&D engineer perhaps? ;-) - as you
> were in D2 times?...) Then you'll find your peace of mind, imho. Or,
> more directly, speak with Allen. Just my 2cents, you know...
An invitation to roll back time - you are truly generous! Ah, to be
20something again. To be a wide-eyed junior engineer working with
Anders and Chuck, Gary and Zack and even Philippe, redefining the
development tools playing field in perilous and exciting new directions.
Very tempting, your offer. Doubt it, I do. 20something, I am not.
Borland of 1990, Codegear is not.
Time marches on. So shall I.
-Danny
--
Architect of Disruption: http://dannythorpe.com
Rudy Velthuis [TeamB]
> > You forgot Opera.
>
> It's a little difficult to build plugins for a browser that doesn't
> support plugins, wouldn't you agree?
I'd call it a challenge. <g>
--
Rudy Velthuis [TeamB]
"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."
-- Joseph Stalin.
John Jacobson
news:xn0fcpkm...@newsgroups.borland.com...
> Borland of 1990, Codegear is not.
Alas, you can never go home. Especially in the world of software
development. Whenever a critical mass of unusually gifted individuals forms,
it is always dispelled as soon as second-hand executives and/or venture
capitalists get hold of the reins. I've seen that pattern repeated too many
times for it to be mere coincidence.
Nick Hodges (CodeGear)
> Very tempting, your offer. Doubt it, I do. 20something, I am not.
Tell me about it.
> Borland of 1990, Codegear is not.
Well, it's not for a lack of trying. ;-)
> Time marches on. So shall I.
Indeed.
--
Nick Hodges
Delphi Product Manager - CodeGear
http://blogs.codegear.com/nickhodges
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
> Time marches on. So shall I.
Amen!
> Architect of Disruption
Heh <g>
btw, Previews and PicLens rock!
--
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
Jon Shemitz
> An invitation to roll back time - you are truly generous! Ah, to be
> 20something again. To be a wide-eyed junior engineer working with
> Anders and Chuck, Gary and Zack and even Philippe, redefining the
> development tools playing field in perilous and exciting new directions.
In some ways it would be nice if life was like a game that way, redo
but remember what to avoid. But I suppose dwindling time and undoable
mistakes are what drive growth.
m. Th.
>> You forgot Opera.
>
> It's a little difficult to build plugins for a browser that doesn't
> support plugins, wouldn't you agree?
>
> Your memory transcends delerium,... <snip>
>
Yes, most of the time <g>
>
> An invitation to roll back time - you are truly generous! Ah, to be
> 20something again. To be a wide-eyed junior engineer working with
> Anders and Chuck, Gary and Zack and even Philippe, redefining the
> development tools playing field in perilous and exciting new directions.
>
...so, istm that you recognize that your fly it's a fly to death <g>
...One flew east,
And one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
(... http://www.filmsite.org/onef.html)
Good luck, Danny! I (really) don't want to put you in a cage or over a label, but now
springs in my mind a counsel which someone said:
There are ones who learn lesser and lesser things about more and more domains till
they'll reach to know nothing about everything.
And there are others who learn more and more things about less and less domains till
they'll reach to know everything about (almost) nothing. About a point. This is their
point of view.
- Sir Isaac Newton (for conformity)
...but personally I think that the middle road is the best, isn't?
I'm sorry if I harmed you with something or made you upset.
> Very tempting, your offer. Doubt it, I do. 20something, I am not.
> Borland of 1990, Codegear is not.
Yes, of course, it's a transformation. In fact, time isn't the consequence of
transformation? Good, bad, the Eternity will tell. Somewhere is written "Time no
more", but we aren't there yet. I just thought that you want to build on something,
to enhance a building that you know (at least in a part), not to start from scratch.
What's the use if someone has many half-finished houses? You aren't interested in
perfection?
>
> Time marches on. So shall I.
>
Yes, but where? Gone with the wind? <g>
Nae Ionescu was a Romanian genial philosopher but he doesn't used his extraordinary
talent to leave something to build on. (See for an analogy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James_Sidis)
Another great philosopher (Petre Tutea) said:
I must be essential.
I was very impressed by the ground from Nae Ionescu's grave.
hth
--
m. th.
m. Th.
>
>> An invitation to roll back time - you are truly generous! Ah, to be
>> 20something again. To be a wide-eyed junior engineer working with
>> Anders and Chuck, Gary and Zack and even Philippe, redefining the
>> development tools playing field in perilous and exciting new directions.
>>
>
> ...so, istm that you recognize that your fly it's a fly to death <g>
>
Please, don't overreact on this one. Isn't intended to say that your choice is wrong.
Not at all. You can do everything you want. Just that we all owe a death.
--
m. th.
Maël Hörz
it is a myth that everything is better when you are younger, at least
I hope (and expect) that I'll have more freedom when I am older.
Olivier Pons
That what I hoped too.
I'm 37.
Doing 2 jobs at the same time, with a (wonderful) daughter. The only time I
stop working for my jobs are when I have to work for my home (garden & other
exciting stuff) or when I have no choice but sleep.
I hope you'll have more free time than me ! Maybe I should consider the time
I spend with my daughter like "free" time... don't know.
Robert Giesecke
what a great post!
>
> I'm following my passion and fulfilling my need to grow and evolve.
> Clearly, that does not fit the guilded cage you imagine for me.
> Clearly, you don't know me.
>
Sometimes I'm more than happy to be wrong about a person.
Like right now, when I realized, that I always judged you as the compiler guy that you really never were.
I wish you much fun at cooliris, and even more after when you're done with what you wanted to do there
to seek for the next "adventure".
btw: I am quite happy where I am now, I have a lot of free hand in what I can do and how to contribute
to our company.
Be it designing complex services, optimizing the heck out of Oracle DBs or doing my part in the design
and process of clinical trials.
It really is fun, yet often hard work.
So I think, I can, in a way, understand your reasoning here.
(and I hope that my puny English doesn't make this sound showy...)
>
> An invitation to roll back time - you are truly generous! Ah, to be
> 20something again.
>
I am 20something, btw. 25 to be exact...
>
> Time marches on. So shall I.
>
Indeed, make PicLens even nicer and let us know what you're doing next after you accomplished whatever
iron cooliris has in the oven for you.
If it is something as fresh as your current endeavor, it might be interesting for some of us. (at
least for me, I guees :-) )
Phillip Flores
> Doing 2 jobs at the same time, with a (wonderful) daughter. The only
> time I stop working for my jobs are when I have to work for my home
> (garden & other exciting stuff) or when I have no choice but sleep.
> I hope you'll have more free time than me ! Maybe I should consider the
> time I spend with my daughter like "free" time... don't know.
Actually, I define free time as time spent doing something else not
doing nothing. Spend as much time as you can with your daughter, time
goes by very quickly especially when they start going to school. I'm
talking from experience here...my daughters are now 14 and 12 years old
and it wasn't long ago that I was holding their hands standing on the
beach, now I watch them use the boogie board.
--
Cheers,
Phillip Flores
"VeriTime - Helping you manage your time better."
http://www.pcfworks.com
Danny Thorpe
You'll have exactly as much happiness and freedom as you make for
yourself. Don't wait for life to come to you, get out there and find it.
I make no claim that everything is better when you're younger. High
school is hell most of the time.
But from the perspective of someone well past 20 who spent all weekend
clearing brush and building fences, being 20 would make getting out of
bed Monday morning a little less painful... ;>
-Danny
--
Danny Thorpe
> I just
> thought that you want to build on something, to enhance a building
> that you know (at least in a part), not to start from scratch. What's
> the use if someone has many half-finished houses?
Every homeowner knows that a house is never finished. Most rennovators
have also encountered structures that are beyond repair.
My preference is to build the house to a point of completeness where it
will stand on its own and serve its occupants well. After that, the
best use of my time is to build something different. Sometimes that
means adding onto existing structures, sometimes that means new
structures because the old structures are more restrictive than
supportive.
> You aren't interested in perfection?
No. I'm interested in utility.
You can find perfection in a dewdrop hanging from a leaf.
Perfect or not, you'll curse it just the same when it drips down the
back of your neck!
-Danny
--
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
> But from the perspective of someone well past 20 who spent all weekend
> clearing brush and building fences, being 20 would make getting out of
> bed Monday morning a little less painful... ;>
What?? You mean you actually spend time away from the computer?
Next thing you'll be saying you've been on safari, snowboarding,
dogsledding, spelunking and bridge climbing.
--
Dave Nottage [TeamB]
David Erbas-White
I'd love to be twenty again, but I insist upon having the
knowledge/insight/maturity (or lack thereof! <G>) of fifty...
Or I'll settle for LOOKING twenty. I had the most horrific experience
of my life a couple of weeks ago -- when I bought my lunch at my local
burger joint, the sum wasn't quite right (a bit low) and I (helpfully, I
thought) told the clerk this -- he told me it was correct, he HAD given
me the senior citizen discount...
David Erbas-White
Craig
When you are older you may have higher income and job experience and
so have more freedom to pick and choose what you want and when, but
you will (possibly) have the much greater responsibility in terms of
family, children and house mortgages. The time to take risks when
literally losing the house (i've done that) is when you are young. I
won't take risks that will put my family in risk now.
Craig.
Olivier Pons
This one is the good one :
http://bp1.blogger.com/_a7jkcMVp5Vg/RxrSt2GGZMI/AAAAAAAACLk/kEDjSkoVSFM/s1600-h/fifty.jpg
!!!
Olivier Pons
>
> Next thing you'll be saying you've been on safari, snowboarding,
> dogsledding, spelunking and bridge climbing.
>
When I was 15, my parents decided I should stay away from a computer.
They quickly changed their minds when I stayed a 15:00 for 3 hours in my
dark room, with my clothes on, trying to get some sleep because I didn't
know what interesting thing to do. I mean interesting to me.
This were the symptoms of a real nervous breakdown.
That's what the doctors (with an 's') said and so they decided to buy me
another computer.
Since then I don't know what I'd do without computers...
It could be me but with 37 written :
http://bp3.blogger.com/_a7jkcMVp5Vg/RxrSEWGGZEI/AAAAAAAACKk/hP3ty7eO3V8/s1600-h/lover.jpg
Regards,
Olivier
Mike Orriss
> But from the perspective of someone well past 20 who spent all weekend
> clearing brush and building fences, being 20 would make getting out of
> bed Monday morning a little less painful... ;>
Don't knock it. There will come a time when you wish you were capable
of spending a weekend building fences.
--
Mike
Pete Fraser
I never get to see my daughters (19/17) - one's at
university several hundred miles away and the other would
rather spend time with her boyfriend than us.
Make the most of the time you get with them - it goes
quicker than you'd like.
I once heard someone say this:
I don't know of anyone on their deathbed who said 'I wish
I'd spent more time at work'
Cheers, Pete
"Phillip Flores" <pfl...@zip.com.au> wrote in message
news:471d20d9$1...@newsgroups.borland.com...
Wayne Niddery (TeamB)
news:471d...@newsgroups.borland.com...
>
> Next thing you'll be saying you've been on safari, snowboarding,
> dogsledding, spelunking and bridge climbing.
Or visiting yet another continent. <g>
--
Wayne Niddery - Winwright, Inc. (www.winwright.ca)
Maël Hörz
> yourself. Don't wait for life to come to you, get out there and find
> it.
simply because you live in a society and you often can't just choose the
way which fits you best. It is a compromise, first get those
preliminaries to be able to be really independent later. There are
always limits, and I know you have obligations/problems all the time,
but there are some very fundamental ones which will go away, like
(unwanted) insomnia. This is why I expect that I'll have more freedom
and be happier when older.
Though fascination and passion is the driving force in live, IMO more
than age.
> But from the perspective of someone well past 20 who spent all
> weekend clearing brush and building fences, being 20 would make
> getting out of bed Monday morning a little less painful... ;>
Ah, thanks, I feel much better now ;-) You made me think of Tom Sawyer
(the character of Mark Twain) when painting fences. In fact I think his
way of saving energy is applicable at all ages, being older though he
may not have been cheeky enough to do it.
Anyway, I really liked that story of Mark Twain, so thanks for evoking
good memories.
Wish you all the best and a happy time exploring your apparently varied
interests.
Regards, Maël.
Danny Thorpe
LOL!