A new open source project from FaceBook, HipHop for PHP, could bring big improvements for PHP developers.  From the description on Facebook’s Developers site HipHop for PHP will translate PHP code into C++, reducing cpu usage by as much at 50%.  And for a big site like FaceBook, written in PHP, this is a pretty significant improvement.  The ease of writing in PHP, with the performance benefits of C++ — sounds like a great combination.  There is nothing except an announcement so far, but expect more very soon.

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I have held my tongue as far as comments on Apple’s iPad — there is more than enough other chatter from other quarters.  But a recent article in the New York Times, The Media Equation – To Deliver, iPad Needs Content Providers on Board – NYTimes.com caught my eye in a comment on book publisher’s response to the platform: Read the rest of this entry »

Packt publishing has a new WordPress book out:  WordPress MU 2.8: Beginner’s Guide.  WordPress MU, especially with the BuddyPress set of plug-ins, is a powerful and flexible framework that power a company blog or social networking site.   Just check out SUNY’s new Academic Commons for a fantastic example of what can be done with this combination.  WordPress MU 2.8: Beginner’s Guide overall is a good introduction to these tools, and even for an experienced WordPress person I found some useful tips and valuable additions to my WordPress ‘tool belt’.  But the book is also not without its flaws.

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In a recent post and at a session at last weekend’s WordCamp NYC Jim Groom questions how much commercialization belongs in the WordPress community.  A post on the WPMU.ORG blog, holds that WordPress’ future is in premium, purchased plug-ins, a point Jim takes great exception to.  He points out that the strength and quality of WordPress is a direct result of the active, sharing community, and if increased commercialization displaced this shared ethos, then WordPress might well suffer.  And while I agree with Jim, I also wonder if this isn’t an inevitable phase in the growth of WordPress and other active open source projects.

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In an increasingly commercialized world where does individual effort and initiative fit in?  Every Walmart looks the same — even high class/high touch places like Starbucks are basically all interchangeable.  And as many of these ‘advances’ are made possible by information technology, it might seem that a high-tech approach removes the opportunity for individual effort or contributions.  But individual effort is as important, if not more crucial, than it has even been.  Innovation comes from individual effort, and it is crucial that our communities include practitioners of craft.  And this craft can range from spinning and knitting locally grown wool into a new sweater as it is a programmer creating a new internet driven employee application.

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Apps to save money on textbooks, apps to replace the paper textbook, and a new service to allow people to write their own apps.  An iTouch or iPhone is starting to look more and more like the must-have college accessory.

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