The Philosopher's Stone

Go For Windows

Go For Windows from Newquist Solutions is the premiere tool for developing software in the Go language on Windows platforms.

Go is a fast systems programming language. Go runs in native (not managed) code, but is type safe, memory safe, and garbage collected. Go provides built-in support for concurrency through the use of lightweight goroutines.

Go For Windows Features:

• Go Compiler
• Linker and Librarian
• Fully native win32 compilation and linking - No custom environments (such as Cygwin or MinGW required)
• Link compatible with binaries produced by Microsoft Visual C++.
• Fully compatible with Microsoft Visual Studio's IDE

Go For Windows will be entering public beta test in early 2010 and will be available in Spring 2010.

The Go Language Comes of Age

Newquist Solutions, Inc. celebrates the Go language’s first birthday with the launch of the first public beta test of erGo™, the first Go compiler written in Go.

The erGo™ compiler is a 100% Windows native executable, bringing Go to the Microsoft Windows platform. erGo™ does not require any custom Unix-like environment to compile Go binaries. All erGo™ compiled binaries run natively under Windows. Libraries compiled by erGo™ are 100% linker compatible with Visual Studio, allowing erGo™ developers to tap the vast array of C and C++ code already written and developed for Windows.

As the first full featured Go compiler capable of compiling itself, erGo™ brings a level of maturity to the Go language by demonstrating that both erGo™ and the Go language are ready for major applications in production environments.

 

Debug erGo™ provides native debugging for the Go language within the Visual Studio 2008 IDE. IDE integration featured by Debug erGo™ allows debugging across Go and C/C++ function boundaries. All Go data types are supported including channels, functions, interfaces and maps. Debug erGo™ makes Go a first class language, leveraging the Visual Studio 2008 debugging environment to support professional Windows development.

Public beta testing for both erGo™ and Debug erGo™ begins on November 10, 2010. Go programmers interested in participating in the beta should sign up at http://www.newquistsolutions.com/ergo.

For more information, visit www.newquistsolutions.com, e-mail press@newquistsolutions.com, or call 706-352-9101.

Newquist Solutions Inc. is now accepting applications for PowerGo beta testing.

Newquist Solutions, Inc. is now accepting applications for public beta testing of PowerGo for Windows. PowerGo brings the speed and security of the Go programming language to Windows platforms. PowerGo is 100% Windows native - it does not require any custom environments such as MinGW or Cygwin to run. Furthermore, it is linker compatible with libraries generated by Microsoft's Visual Studio, allowing it to tap the vast array of C and C++ software already available for Windows. It is also fully compatible with the Visual Studio debugger, allowing developers a fully integrated solution for developing and testing Go programs on Windows.


As the first Go compiler capable of compiling itself, PowerGo represents a major milestone in the maturity of the Go language, demonstrating that both PowerGo and the Go language are ready for production environments.


Round 1 of beta testing will begin in July, followed by additional rounds as needed to provide the best possible product. Developers interested in participating in the public beta test should fill out an application at the PowerGo web page. 
For more information, visit www.newquistsolutions.com, e-mail press@newquistsolutions.com , or call 706-352-9101.

‘Clunkers’ boosts Ford, not Chrysler and GM

So says MSNBC. Toyota and Honda were also the big winners.

Call me a bad person, but this just makes me cackle.

I am not a fan of the auto bailouts. I am not a fan of the way GM and Chrysler's bankruptcies were handled. I am not a fan of Cash for Clunkers.

Personally, I have no intention of ever buying a GM or Chrysler car again. Ever. I find it reassuring that a large portion of the carbuying public agrees with me, at least in part.

Save UAH Hockey

The 2012 Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

Quite possibly the best video I've seen in ages:

Blackberry Storm

President Obama and I have one thing in common: we both love our Blackberrys.

I just got a new Blackberry Storm in today, and I completely love the thing already. A few of its nicer (for me) features:

In addition to the phone, it has a built in MP3 player and GPS that, while less than perfect, are both quite serviceable. No need to buy a separate GPS or iPod!

In addition to desktop synchronization with Outlook, Google has an app to synchronize my contacts list and calendar with the ones I have saved in Gmail and Google Calendar (which I use FAR more than Outlook). I'm completely in love with this part, as I FINALLY have one stop contact synchronization along with a "server" backup. Gmail is now my official contact list storage - and I can sync it to my Blackberry and from there sync it to Outlook. Hallelujah! Oh, and no more re-entering contact info with a new phone. I'm done with that crap.

While I'm on the subject, I would like to comment on Google and mobile devices: rock on, guys! Here's just one of the many nice touches: instead of having to go to "mobile.google.com", their web site for mobile devices is "m.google.com". That may seem like small potatoes - until you have to type it on a stupid mobile device's keyboard.

With that said, however, the "landscape" version of the Blackberry's keyboard is actually quite usable. It's the first mobile device I've ever said that about, too. It's not perfect, but I can live with it, and with "two thumb" typing I can actually achieve a decent typing speed even without much practice.

The device isn't perfect. Here are a few issues I have with it:

For power reasons, the GPS doesn't stay synched unless you're using a GPS app. It's not the end of the world, but it can be annoying at times.

Speaking of the GPS, the built in Navigation app (Verizon's VZ Navigator) requires a monthly service charge. Um, no thanks. Enter Google maps! Nowhere near as nice (it doesn't have a friendly voice to give you turn-by-turn directions), but it's FREE. One more score for Google.

The touch screen really needs some kind of calibration tool. I'm getting used to it, but I'd far rather make IT get used to ME.

Theoretically I should be able to set it up so that personal e-mail gets sent to the Blackberry even though I don't have a Blackberry Enterprise Server to connect to. I haven't yet figured out how to do this, and I'm kind of good at this sort of thing (to put it mildly). If this functionality actually exists, they've made it too hard. If it doesn't exist, it should

Despite these issues, I'm quite happy with it. Based on what I read, I hear the iPhone is perhaps a notch better... but it also A) costs a lot more, B) requires that I switch to AT&T, and C) would require me to purchase a Mac in order to do custom application development (something I fully intend to play with). Any one of those is a deal killer for me, and all three combined... yeah. This is working out quite nicely, however.

Time to go bust out the development kit and see what kind of trouble fun I can get into.

Update: I got my e-mail integrated with the Blackberry. It was quite simple, I just had to look a bit to find it.

Chrysler to file for Bankruptcy

All I can say is thank god they're going this route rather than becoming a branch of Uncle Sam Motors.

US Preparing Chrysler for Bankruptcy

And it could come as soon as next week.

About bloody time.

An Interesting Graph of Job Gains and Losses

Slate today has an animated chart showing job losses and gains over roughly the past 2 years. I clicked through out of a kind of perverse curiosity, but found it to be far more informative than I expected. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is no exception.

On the chart, blue areas represent net job growth and red areas represent net job losses. Watching those changes over time reveals (or to some, confirms) some very interesting patterns and trends.

The biggest thing is that this chart clearly shows a typical business cycle of gains and losses for most of 2007 and even the early part of 2008. Toward the end of 2008, however, jobs take a clear nosedive - and by November 2008, the job loss is clearly a nationwide problem.

I'm not sure it's meaningful, but I find it interesting that the worst job losses occurred after the government bailout programs were approved.

Medical Marijuana Requests Climb

Dispensers say that more people are requesting medical marijuana. I can't help but wonder if doctors are accepting "depression due to unemployment" as a medical conditioning warranting its prescription now. Maybe Greenspan could track this statistic instead of the men's underwear index.