Introducing the Google APIs Explorer

Introducing the Google APIs Explorer: "

Google is always looking for new ways to make it easier for developers to get started with our APIs. When you come across a new Google API, you often want to try it out without investing too much time. With that in mind, we are happy to announce the Google APIs Explorer, an interactive tool that lets you easily try out Google APIs right from your browser. Today, the Explorer supports over a half dozen APIs – and we expect that number to grow rapidly over the coming weeks and months.

By selecting an API you want to explore, you can see all the available methods and parameters along with inline documentation. Just fill out the parameters for the method you want to try and click “Execute”. The Explorer composes the request, executes it, and displays the response in real time. For some APIs that access private data you will need to “Switch to Private Access” and authorize the Explorer to do so.

To get you started, here are some sample requests; follow the links and press “Execute”:

• Expand a goo.gl URL using the URL Shortener API
  
• Translate a phrase to French using the Translate API
  
• List your personal Buzz posts using the Buzz API (requires private access)
  

The Explorer makes it easier for developers to discover what APIs we offer and get started using them within minutes. If you have any questions or comments, visit the help page or the support forum. We’d love to hear your feedback.

Happy exploring!

By Anton Lopyrev and Jason Hall, Google Developer Team

"

Frases Famosas sobre Programação

Frases Famosas sobre Programação: "

Caros leitores do JornalJava. Passeando pela internet mundo afora, me deparei com um artigo muito interessante sobre frases famosas sobre programação, e sendo do interesse geral dos leitores do nosso estimado blog, repasso na integra!

Não garanto a fonte, ou a veracidade das frases. Só garanto boas risadas que somente nós nerds da programação vamos entender.

1. “A programação hoje em dia é uma corrida entre engenheiros de software tentando fazer programas maiores e melhores a prova de idiotas e o universo tentando fazer idiotas maiores e melhores. Até agora o universo está ganhando.” – Rick Cook


2. “Andar sobre as águas e fazer software a partir de uma especificação é simples se ambas estiverem congeladas.”- Edward V Berard


3. “Uma linguagem de programação é de baixo nível quando exige atenção com o irrelevante.” – Alan J. Perlis


4. “Um programa em C é como uma dança rápida sobre chão encerado, executada por pessoas segurando navalhas.” – Waldi Ravens


5. “Eu sempre desejei que o meu computador fosse tão fácil de usar quanto o meu telefone; meu desejo se tornou realidade pois eu não consigo mais usar o meu telefone.” – Bjarne Stroustrup


6. “O estudo da ciência da computação não consegue transformar qualquer um em um excelente programador, da mesma forma que o estudo de tintas e pinceis não transforma qualquer um em um excelente pintor.” – Eric S. Raymond


7. “Não se preocupe se não funcionar direito. Se tudo funcionasse, você estaria desempregado.” – Lei de Mosher da Engenharia de Software


8. “Certo, Java PODE ser um bom exemplo do que uma linguagem de programação deve ser. Mas as aplicações escritas em java são um bom exemplo de como as aplicações NÃO DEVEM ser.” – pixadel


9. “Considerando o triste estado dos programas de computador, o desenvolvimento de software claramente ainda é uma arte obscura que ainda não pode ser chamada de uma disciplina de engenharia.” – Bill Clinton


10. “O uso de COBOL deteriora a mente; o seu ensino deve, portanto, ser considerado uma ofensa criminal.” – E.W. Dijkstra


11. “A versão orientada a objeto do ‘código espaguete’ é o ‘código lasanha’ – camadas em excesso” – Roberto Waltman


12. “FORTRAN não é uma flor, mas sim uma erva daninha – é dura, raramente floresce e aparece em todo computador.” – Alan J. Perlis


13. “Por muito tempo eu não entendi como algo tão caro pudesse ser tão inútil. Aí eu percebi que os computadores são máquinas estúpidas capazes de fazer coisas incrivelmente inteligentes; enquanto que os programadores são pessoas inteligentes capazes de fazer coisas incrivelmente estúpidas. Em resumo, nasceram um para o outro.” – Bill Bryson


14. “Na minha opinião egoísta, os programas em C da maioria das pessoas deveria ser identado 6 pés para baixo e coberto de terra.” – Blair P. Houghton


15. “A evolução das linguagens: FORTRAN é uma linguagem não tipada. C é uma linguagem fracamente tipada. Ada é uma linguagem fortemente tipada. C++ é uma linguagem cuja utilidade é fortemente exagerada.” – Ron Sercely


16. “O bom projeto adiciona valor mais rápido do que custo.” – Thomas C. Gale


17. “Falar é fácil. Mostre-me o código.” – Linus Torvalds


18. “A perfeição é atingida não quando não se tem mais o que colocar, mas sim quando não se tem mais o que tirar.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


19. “C é excêntrico, defeituoso e um enorme sucesso.” – Dennis M. Ritchie


20. “Na teoria, teoria e prática são iguais. Na prática, não.” – Yogi Berra


21. “Você não consegue um grande software sem uma grande equipe, e a maioria das equipes de software se comporta como famílias disfuncionais.” – Jim McCarthy


22. “PHP é um mal menor criado e executado por amadores incompetentes, enquanto que Pearl é um grande e perversivo mal executado por profissionais habilidosos mas pervertidos.” – Jon Ribbens


23. “Pearl – A única linguagem que parece a mesma antes ou depois de ser criptografada.” – Keith Bostic


24. “Eu inventei o termo ‘orientado a objeto’, e garanto que não tinha em mente o C++.” – Alan Kay


25. “Aprender a programar tem a ver com desenvolvimento de software interativo tanto quando aprender a datilografar tem a ver com a escrita de poesia.” – Ted Nelson


26. “Fique atento para bugs no código acima; eu apenas provei que ele está correto, eu não o testei.” – Donald E. Knuth


27. “Análise de sistemas é como criar uma criança; você pode fazer um estrago imenso mas não pode garantir sucesso.” – Tom DeMarco


28. “Não me interessa se roda na sua máquina! Nós não estamos entregando a sua máquina!” – Vidiu Platon


29. “Medir o progresso de um programa por linhas de código é como medir o processo de montagem de um avião pelo peso.” – Bill Gates


30. “A complexidade de depurar é o dobro da de escrever o código. Portanto, se você escrever código os mais inteligente possível, por definição você não será esperto o suficiente para depurá-lo.” – Brian W. Kernighan


31. “A maioria dos softwares atuais são como as pirâmides do Egito, com milhões de blocos empilhados um em cima dos outros, nenhuma integridade estrutural, feita apenas pela força bruta e milhares de escravos.” – Alan Kay


32. “O problema com os programadores é que você nunca consegue saber o que eles estão fazendo antes de ser tarde demais.” – Seymour Cray


33. “Em duas ocasiões [os membros do Parlamento] me perguntaram: ‘Diga, Sr Babbage, se eu entrar na máquina números errados ela conseguirá sair as respostas corretas?’ Eu não sou capaz de entender a confusão mental capaz de gerar este tipo de pergunta.” – Charles Babbage


34. “Codifique sempre como se o cara que for dar manutenção seja um psicopata violento que sabe onde você mora.” – Martin Golding


35. “Existem duas maneiras de construir um projeto de software. Uma é fazê-lo tão simples que obviamente não há falhas. A outra é fazê-lo tão complicado que não existem falhas óbvias.” – C.A.R. Hoare


36. Matemática simples: qdo um programa está 90% concluído, significa que os outros 10% restantes vão gastar o mesmo tempo que os 90% anteriores
    
    


37. Vc não termina um programa. Vc desiste dele e as vezes ele teima em funcionar


38. Um dia, se tudo der muito certo, a computação vai se transformar em uma ciência exata

Para completar, recomendo uma olhada nas maiores figuras históricas da computação através da memorável Smashing Magazine: http://media.smashingmagazine.com/cdn_smash/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/aboutprogramming04.jpg

fonte: http://www.junauza.com/2010/12/top-50-programming-quotes-of-all-time.html

traduzido por: http://dqsoft.blogspot.com/2010/12/lista-35-frases-sobre-programacao.html

Ficou faltando alguma? Mande a sua frase pra gente nos comentários!

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7 Tips for Productively Working from Home

7 Tips for Productively Working from Home: "

There are a lot of benefits of working from home, from being able to see more of your kids to a flexible schedule and more. But it’s also very dangerous if you’re easily lured in by procrastination and the numerous distractions that can present themselves and hamper your work and productivity. If you’re going to work from home, be it a day here or there, or full-time, you’ll want to plan it out. Here are some tips for successfully working from home:

1. Make yourself an office, or at least a work “station” area. This will be the spot that you do your work. If you don’t have a room that you can turn into a home office, you can set up shop at the kitchen table, although this is not ideal. Taking your laptop and plopping down on the couch in front of the television will present many temptations. You’ll want to make sure that your home office has everything that you need, and that may even mean getting an extra phoneline, be it a landline or a Skype account where you can be contacted at. Invest in a good desk, chair, and computer so you’ll be comfortable working, but not so comfortable that you’ll be tempted to slack-off.


2. Try to set aside long periods of time for work. Working from home can give you much more flexible hours, but if you’re constantly interupted it’s going to be a lot harder to get things done. Try to make sure you get a few large blocks of time. For example, if you need to get in 8 hours of work, make 3 blocks of 3 hours, 2 hours, and another 3 hours. If you need to run errands or take care of other things, do them outside of the blocks of time during your “breaks.”


3. Try to leave the house each day. Nothing will drive you crazier faster than being at home 24/7. It’s a great opportunity to go for a walk outside, clear your head, and get your bearings.


4. Create a to-do list for the tasks you need to accomplish each day. Because it is so easy to get off task while working from home, having a checklist of the things you need to get done will help you visualize your progress. I’m not typically a list person, but I have found this to be very helpful, and when I’m slacking off it’s clearly visible by the lack of things checked off.


5. Minimize distractions and set limits online. If the bulk of your work is done on a computer, you probably know all to well the distractions of the internet. It’s easy to fall into the trap of Facebook or other sites if you keep it open on one of your browser tabs all day. Allow yourself to check in before you start your work and on breaks only. When it’s work time, close any non-work related tabs and websites. If you keep Facebook open, you will undoubtedly keep flipping back to it to see if there’s anything new posted.


6. Don’t procrastinate. Look at your to-do list and actually do everything on it. Don’t do 90 percent of it and tell yourself that you’ll just make it up and do it tomorrow. You’ll create a cycle of constantly pushing things off to another day that is very hard to get out of. There will be days when an emergency interrupts your work, as there would be if you were going into the office each day. If you’re already behind it can really put you back further.


7. Take care of yourself. Make sure you eat a good breakfast so you don’t have to stop working when the hunger pangs kick in, and schedule yourself a reasonable lunch break. Some also find it helpful to dress as if they were going to work. It’s not necessary to put on a suit, but something more than sweatpants and a tshirt might help you feel more on-task. Schedule a lunch date to maintain social connections outside of your home.

Working from home takes discipline. If you’re just starting out, it may take you a little time to find your groove, but if you follow the tips above you’ll find it a lot easier. The key is to keep a good work-life balance, establish boundaries, and take care of yourself.

"

Android Becomes Number One in U.S. Smartphone Market Share

Android Becomes Number One in U.S. Smartphone Market Share: "

Today Nielsen is reporting that Google's Android mobile operating system has beat out RIM BlackBerry and Apple iOS to become the number one mobile OS in terms of consumer market share. Android has now reached 29% market share, compared with RIM's 27% and Apple's 27%. However, that's only one way to slice the pie.

Nielsen also notes that when looked at from a different angle - manufacturer market share, a way to break up the market by the handset makers' individual takes - it's Apple and RIM (each at 27%) who are clearly ahead. HTC is in third place using that metric, with devices running Windows Mobile/Windows Phone (7%) and Android (12%).

Sponsor

This isn't the first time headlines touting 'Android is #1' have been seen recently. In January 2011, analyst firm Canalys reported that Android reached the number one spot in terms of shipments worldwide, finally displacing Nokia from its longtime throne. Competing analyst firms questioned those numbers. They said they were seeing the same overall trends, but didn't believe Android had reached the number one position just yet.

Canalys had also previously claimed Android had reached the top position in the U.S. back in Q3 2010.

But all these numbers were tracking handset shipments, not consumer market share - that is, market share based on the phones actually purchased and used by end users. It's yet another way to slice the market share pie.

And there's a fourth way as well: profits. As independent mobile analyst Horace Dediu of asymco points out, with RIM and Apple, the two handset manufacturers that also make their own operating systems, 'not only are the volumes higher, but so are the margins and hence the profit share.'

Android More Popular with Young Consumers

In addition to general market share numbers, Nielsen also looked at buying trends among various age groups and found that those in the younger demographic were more attracted to Android. As always, Nielsen doesn't speculate as to why that is. But it could be something as simple as the more affordable prices of Android phones, at least in some cases. There are several mid-range to low-end Android handsets on the market that make for a decent enough 'first' smartphone for feature phone/messaging phone upgraders.

Discuss

"

Developing Android Applications with Java, Part 1 - In Partnership with ...

The Top 6 Alternative Firmwares For Your Router

The Top 6 Alternative Firmwares For Your Router: "

Something that many consumers do not really think about is that hardware you buy in the store actually has software running on it as well. Any router you get – that’s the device that distributes the Internet coming into your house or business to multiple computers – has software running on it. Although “officially” the major companies will only support you and any problems you might have if you run their software, you can actually run software from other sources if it was designed to work on your device.

Let’s run over this list of alternative firmware for routers (firmware is just another name for software that runs on specific hardware) to see if you would benefit from the extra features it provides.

Why Use Alternative Firmware?

First of all, if you are not comfortable with voiding warranties, this article is not for you. Installing custom firmware can and will cancel that warranty, so if you have sunk all of your money into a new $150 router then it might be safer just to keep your manufacturer’s firmware on the device. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. There is also a chance you might brick your router.

If you are still reading this, I’ll assume you are cool with that and are willing to roll up your sleeves.

Turn A Regular Old Router Into An Enterprise Class Device

The first and main reason you might want to install alternative firmware is that you are adding features that although are possible on the consumer-grade hardware you purchased, the manufacturer decided not to add for a variety of reasons. They want to keep it simple and easy for Joe-consumer to configure and also because they sell much more expensive hardware to people who want those features. Luckily for you, people have been working on ways to get the fancy software on this plain hardware!

Some features that these alternative firmwares offer are:

• QoS – Quality of Service – Allow some types of traffic to take priority over others.
• Wireless Bridging.
• Ability to Turn Into A Hotspot.
• Adding SNMP (Monitoring protocol).
• Detailed Diagnostic Tools.
• And More…

Which Routers Will Work With Alternative Firmware?

This question greatly depends on the make and model of your router. By and far the largest consumer manufacturer of wireless routers is Cisco (formerly Linksys). Most of the alternative firmwares are made for these models since there are simply more of them out in the wild than any other kind. But, that being said, the chipsets which are the brains behind the routers are also used in other models, so sometimes you will see a crossover even to some brands that hardly anyone uses. But you are safest with one of the tried and true models that have been tested with each particular alternative firmware.

Bottom line is that you should check with each firmware to see which models it supports.

Let’s continue on to the different firmwares that are available:

DD-WRT

DD-WRT is by and far the most well known, distributed and tested of the alternative firmwares. It has been in development for a number of years now and is very stable. It is easy to install from your firmware upgrade page and include all of the features listed above. It is free and available for a number of routers – in fact probably the widest number of routers compared to other firmwares.

You can check to see if your router is supported by visiting their router database.

Tomato Firmware

Tomato works just like DD-WRT, is easy to install, and is under active development. Tomato isn’t quite as feature-rich as DD-WRT but makes up for it by being very user friendly while at the same time giving you advanced features like QoS and a shell.

Tomato is also not available on as many routers as DD-WRT. Check their homepage to see if your router (and version number, that is important as well) is listed as being compatible.

OpenWRT

OpenWRT is billed as the open router platform. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, they have built a platform that others can then build packages onto. OpenWRT has a package management system that allows you to expand your router in any way you can think of, should you have enough knowledge and time to program it.

OpenWRT itself does not have a GUI (Graphical User Interface) built in. X-WRT is the extension which adds this functionality, and includes the ability to monitor your router as well as perform maintenance tasks over the web interface.

FreeWRT

FreeWRT is a fork of OpenWRT. It focuses more on having an open platform that experienced developers can build upon. It only has a command line, so it is not really geared for consumers. However if you have a need for a cheap remote access point, this might work for you.

Chilifire

If you want to run a Hotspot, Chilifire is the firmware of choice. This professional firmware allows you to offer for-pay or free hotspot access from your consumer router. The downside? They have a free version which supports limited methods of access and up to 10 users per month. If you want to offer more than that, or a pay version of a hotspot, they take a percentage of your revenue.

In return, you get a very professional firmware which will take the headache out of managing such an enterprise. Their firmware is available on many different routers, check their website for full compatibility information.

Gargoyle

Gargoyle is another firmware which adds bandwidth management quotas and network access rules to WRT54G and other routers. The web interface looks a bit dated, but the functionality is all there. It is a good alternative if you are looking for something different.

Whatever Works For You

Each package has its pros and cons. Obviously you are limited to what hardware you have or are willing to buy, but beyond that the choice is yours. If you are looking for firmware that is easy to use, check out Tomato. DD-WRT definitely has the most features and the most community support so is a great choice as well.

Do you have another alternative firmware for routers that you think would be good to share with our users? Let us know below!

Image credit: jaygooby

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