ECMAPlasm: An ECMAScript Platform

ECMAPlasm strives to be a fully compliant ECMAScript Platform.

When we say 'platform,' we mean that, while ECMAScript alone is great, it could be so much more with the addition of a rich set of run-time libraries.

Such run-time libraries would allow ECMAScript to compete with other scripting languages in performing many system-level tasks. They would also allow web developers to leverage their skills in a variety of environments and to tackle new and exciting problems.

Unfortunately, ECMAScript on its own can't perform many of these functions, and so one must rely on a host environment to provide them.

Goals of the project:

• Support all standards related to ECMAScript 3rd Edition (ECMA-262, ECMA-290, ECMA-327, and ECMA-357)
• Support all proposed features of ECMAScript 4th Edition
• Attempt to be fully compatible with Adobe's ActionScript implementation
• Implement an ActionScript-compatible Bytecode Compiler
• Implement an ActionScript-compatible Virtual Machine
• Support optional Just-in-Time Compilation of Bytecode
• Implement an ECMAScript Native Interface for access to platform-specific features (used by run-time library)
• Develop a suite of APIs for performing tasks not traditionally associated with ECMAScript (threading, sockets, system calls, database access)

The project is being hosted at Google Code, and is just getting under way. You may find it at code.google.com/p/ecmaplasm/. The project's home page will ultimately be anchored at ecmaplasm.org.

The project is licensed under a liberal OpenBSD-style license.

Technorati Tags: ActionScript, ECMAScript, JavaScript, Open Source, Programming

Poll puts Clinton, Obama in Granite State dead heat

Poll puts Clinton, Obama in Granite State dead heat - BostonHerald.com: Sometimes politicians and their ridiculous tactics infuriate me.

In a Dec. 2 memo titled “Obama tries rewriting history again...” Clinton staffers seek to debunk Obama’s assertion that he is “not running to fulfill some long held plans” to be president. The evidence: “In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I want to become President,’” the memo reads before going on to quote Obama’s kindergarten teacher.

When I was in kindergarten in the Boston Public Schools, I'm pretty sure that I wrote no essays. In fact, I don't remember anyone in kindergarten writing essays. Most of us were lucky we could even spell our own names, much less write an essay about our future hopes and dreams.

I seem to recall that back in kindergarten, I wanted to be an astronaut, a ninja, a pirate, and a speed skater. Today I'm none of those things. I also wanted to become President. This was back when being President was actually a cool thing. It would have been especially cool to be a speed skating ninja President, but it apparently wasn't in the stars for me. I doubt many children today are proclaiming that "When I grow up, I want to be just like George W. Bush."

The question I'm really asking here is "Who hasn't said they want to be President as a child?" I'd be willing to bet that the majority of children have made such statements, but considering their race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation, we've certainly limited them in their options, haven't we?

If Barack Obama has had long-term plans of becoming president, then bravo for him. He's part of the very small percentage of Americans who can actually set a goal for themself and follow up on it without becoming distracted by money, NASCAR, tractor pulls, wrestling, or little shiny things on the sidewalk. He should be applauded for it rather than criticized.

Not that I'm going to vote for him, but shame on the Clinton campaign for even making this an issue.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Politics