Google Dart, or ‘how we lost the ECMAScript 4 battle so we decided to create our own language instead’.
Introducing Dart, Google's second shot at ECMAScript 4.
So what do you do if you lose a public battle to change the face of JavaScript?
If you're Google, you decide to go it alone, implement what you want to anyway, and then tell the world that it is going to replace JavaScript.
You might be starting to notice that Update isn't a regular conference. It kicks off with the Royal Banquet at a palace (for which there are still a few tickets you can buy to attend), continues in the premier concert hall in Brighton, and ends with the A Night at the Museum after-party at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. It is a tightly-scripted experience, with 18-minute inspirational talks punctuated by Geek Ninja Battles, tech beats, and live/interactive music and visualization acts. And, unlike other conferences, we're approaching sponsorship differently too.
Update 2011: call for sponsors
We're crafting a beautiful mobile conference this September in Brighton. Here's your chance to be part of the magic.
For the vast majority of people who will buy Android phones, "open" is an illusion because now that Google has abandoned their direct sales model, Android firmly puts the final decision making power for the overall experience of the phone back into the hands of the traditional carrier/vendor relationship that ruled the space before the iPhone came out. Apple, unlike other phone vendors, is capable of going toe-to-toe with the carriers and is willing to do so to fight for a better user experience. That's why we don't have AT&T branding all over our iPhones. That's why we don't have the mandatory 15-second spiel before voicemail that Verizon users have to suffer through. Apple is at least an equal partner with the carriers who sell it. Most of the other phone vendors, to put it bluntly, are the carriers' bitches.
Google says “no” to China
Google refuses to censor its search results and may pull out of China altogether.
I lost quite a bit of time trying to get the PyAMF shell up and running on the <head> web site this week.
I started out by downloading the source for the shell app via a link on a post on the PyAMF blog. Unfortunately, the link was to the wrong version of the shell app (I've since informed the PyAMF team and Nick's fixed the link.)