BigBlueHat

Resource Description Framework (or RDF) is something that’s long held my interest. RDF stores things like we thing in triples. Triples are very similar to sentences. They have subject (resources), predicates (traits or aspects that express relationship to the object), and objects.

Without going into to much more technical information, imagine that your computer had access to data stored in a similar method that your mind stores information (once you know a language anyway). Applications could then create relationships between things that have similar subjects, predicates, or objects–”if the sky is blue, what else is blue?”

In the book, Practical RDF, I picked up this “rule of thumb” for when to use RDF:

Use RDF if “the data is of interest, descriptive, and not easily discovered by any other means.” — page 11, Practical RDF

That said, RDF seems to be best suited for data that’s not available in the document, but that the computer may need to know about (now or later). Things like “last modified,” “program used to create,” “mood of author upon creation of piece,” or whatever.

As the “Semantic Web” (or “Web 3.0“) finally begins to become a reality, you may run into the letters, RDF, as you wonder around the web. In any case, RDF will likely form the backdrop for many programs you use. If you’re using Mozilla Firefox or Thunderbird, it already does.

I personally hope to see RDF take a bigger role in our data processing and distribution as the web becomes more open and useful for more than just browsing.

A bite-sized case study of declaring fonts in a PDF document:

Zend_Pdf (from the makers of PHP no less):

$mainstyle = new Zend_Pdf_Style();
$mainstyle->setFont(Zend_Pdf_Font::fontWithName(Zend_Pdf_Font::FONT_HELVETICA), 9);

FPDF (open source project last updated 3 years ago):

$fpdf->SetFont(’Arial’,”,9);

FPDF wins.

Well, Brad and I have successfully installed and upgraded (respectively) our laptops to Ubuntu 7.10. Overall the process was satisfying. There are a good bit of “nifty” features: visual effects (better than Vista, promise), window list reordering, and a new icon set. Additional in brings better power consumption management and restricted (non-open source) driver managing.

All told we’re happy with it. As with any upgrade the process, there were issues, but we’re both up and running now, and glad we made the move. If you’ve not tried Ubuntu, download a Live CD, restart your computer with it in your CD drive, and enjoy a harmless trial of the OS. You may be very glad you did.

Here at the BigBlueHat central industrial headquarters, we make use of the operating system of champions, Ubuntu. The next release hits this month, and if you haven’t yet tried Ubuntu as a supplement/replacement for Windoze, now is the time.

I won’t list all the advantages of this Linux distribution here—you can check out their site for the goods—but I’ll mention a few favorite features:

1. ease of installing software and keeping them all up to date
2. very quick boot-up time
3. development tools aplenty
4. free (open source) programs that do all the common tasks (internet, document editing, image editing, media playback, etc.)
5. snazzy effects without being a memory hog

Take the plunge, won’t you?

There are several web development environments available and twice as many heated debates about which is the best. Here at BigBlueHat we’ve thrown our lot in with the Eclipse crowd.

Eclipse was original developed by IBM primarily as a Java development Integrated Development Environment (IDE). A good amount of forethought went into the building of Eclipse, and it has grown far beyond merely a Java IDE. Eclipse can be extended via plugins and with the proper plugins in place Eclipse can become anything from a business reporting tool, a project management system, or a multi-language IDE.

The plugins we use most:

• PDT (PHP Development Tools or phpEclipse
• WTP (Web Tools Platform)
  
• Subclipse
• MyNotes

Plugins we’re dabbling with or considering using in the near future:

• Mylyn
• BIRT

Two other notable, Eclipse related projects that have our interest:

• Aptana
• haystack

What IDE’s or Eclipse plugins do you use?