Java vs Ruby on Rails

Blowin' in the wind by Bob Dylan

It is just an old song. I listened it for long time ago. But I still like it whenever I listen it again. This time, I like Bob Dylan's vocal and his singing style so much.

Bob Dylan - Blowing in the Wind


Blowin' in the wind by Bob Dylan

How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand
How many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they are forever banned
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

How many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

How to uninstall Windows service manually

A very basic, ground-level tutorial for the Ruby beginner

Learn to program in Ruby here!

Try Ruby in your web browser

Try Ruby Here!!!

You can try the basic of Ruby Language in your browser there. You don't need to install anything. Just go there and type "help" to start the tutorial.. It is somehow like the ML language I learned in a class. Have fun!

Sun is going to open-source Java soon

Sun Microsystems launched a portal site for its Java programming language on Tuesday as the company inches closer to making the Java code open source, a company executive said. It is a great news for all Java programmers. I think Java EE development trend will be changed a little bit then. Hoping it to be easier in future, otherwise, Java will lose its market share. Java programmers noticed the strength of Ruby language and some are even trying to switch to Ruby. Ruby is getting well known in U.S and I noticed that everybody is talking about Ruby here.It needs 10 to 15 lines of code to write a function to read a file in Java, about 3 lines of code in PHP and only 1 line in Ruby. But as I see it, this is not a weakness of Java. This is the differences between Interpreted languages and Compiled languages. I really don't think that Ruby can knock Java down. But I'm interested in Ruby too. :D

Pluralism in the social sciences

In the social sciences, pluralism is a guiding principle which is designed to permit the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles. Unlike totalitarianism or particularism, pluralism acknowledges the diversity of interests and considers it legitimate for members of society to work for their realization, to represent them and to articulate them in a process of conflict and dialogue.

Pluralism is connected with the hope that the process of conflict and dialogue will lead to a definition and realization of the commin good that is best for all members of society. This implies that in a pluralistic framework, the common good is not given a priori. Instead, it can only be found out in and after the process of negotiation ( a posteriori) what the common good is.

Consequently, the common good does not coincide a priori with the position of any one group. Still, one group may eventually manage to establish its own view as the generally accepted view, but only as the result of the negotiation process within the pluralistic framework. This implies, that, as a general rule, the "operator" of a truly pluralistic framework, i.e. the state in a pluralistic society, must not be biased: it may not take sides with any one group, give undue privileges to one group or discriminate against another one.

Proponents of pluralism argue that this negotiation process is the best way to find the common good: Since everyone can participate in power and decision-making (and can claim part of the ownership of the results of exercising power) there can also be widespread participation and a greater feeling of commitment from society members, and therefore better outcomes. By contrast, an authoritarian or oligarchic society, where power is concentrated and decisions are made by few members, forestalls this possibilty.

For pluralism to function and to be successful in achieving the common good, all groups have to agree to a minimal consensus regarding both shared values, which tie the different groups to society, and shared rules which obtain in conflicts between the groups.

The most important value is that of mutual respect and tolerance which are necessary so different groups can coexist and interact without anyone being forced to assimilae to anyone else's position in the conflicts that will naturally arise out of diverging interests and positions. These conflicts can only be resolved durably by dialogue which leads to compromise and to mutual understanding.

As to the shared rules, the most important ones are those of non-violence and of sticking to the established rules, even if dialogue is of limited reach, the other groups are hard to understand and there is no compromise in sight.

In ultimate consequence, pluralism thus also implies the right for individuals to determine values and truths for themselves instead of being forced to follow the whole of society or, indeed, their own group.

Illiberal democracy

An illiberal democracy could be any democracy that is not a liberal democracy. However, the term is almost always used to denote a particularly authoritarian kind of representative democracy, in which the leaders and lawmakers are elected by the people, but tend to be corrupt and often do not respect the law.

Illiberal democracies are found primarily outside of the West, in newly democratizing countries that do not have a history of pluralism. Without such a tradition of different ideas co-existing peacefully, the ruling party or leader—after winning multi-party elections that are mostly free and fair—behaves in a manner that violates the constitutional rights and liberties of the general population. (It was like the condition of Burma when it was in 1948 to 1962 and also until now pluralism still cannot be applied in burma as well as in opposition groups)

There is a spectrum of illiberal democracies: from those who are nearly liberal democracies to those that are almost dictatorships.

An illiberal democracy is marked by the tension between how a government is selected and how that government behaves. Illiberal democratic governments believe they have a mandate to act in any way they see fit, disregarding laws or the constitution if they desire, as long as they hold regular elections. They often centralize powers both between branches of the national government (violating the seperation of powers) and between different levels of government and private associations.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liberal Democracy

Liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy where the ability of elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law and moderated by a constitution which emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and minorities (also called constitutional democracy and constitutional liberalism), and which places constraints on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised.

These rights and freedoms include the rights to due process, private ownership of property, privacy, and equality before the law, and freedoms of speech, assembly and religion.

Liberal democracies also tend to be characterized by tolerance and pluralism; widely differing social and political views, even those viewed as extreme or fringe, are permitted to co-exist and compete for political power on a democratic basis.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia