Matisse is a new Java GUI builder for the NetBeans IDE. I already use NetBeans to lay out most of the Java GUI I do, but Matisse looks like a nice improvement to the existing code. Be sure to check out the Flash demo, if you are interested.

Matisse is still rather new, so no information seems to be available on the more important GUI builder aspects:

• What is its round-tripping strategy? It is great that you can quickly copy Netscape's e-mail prefereces dialog, but what happens when you need to modify an already-functioning GUI? Does Matisse annotate the code, use custom JavaDoc, etc...
• How does Matisse store its completed GUI components? Is it pure-Java code (text), a classfile format (compiled code), a serialized object graph, etc...?
• How does Matisse handle custom GUI components? It is great to be able to sling around the base button and field classes, but many of us have built large libraries of custom widgets over time? How does one add a custom widget to Matisse's palette?
• Does Matisse have (or support) and MVC strategies? Roughing out the GUI is often the easiest part; binding the controls to behavior, event propagation, adding higher-level validation, and loading / unloading the GUI with data from the model tends to be somewhat harder.
• Does Matisse require the GUI to ship with any Matisse-specific libraries?

I'd love to read more about the implementation of Matisse.

FeedLounge. Really nice web-based app.

Jonathan Miller, AOL Chief Executive, shares some of his wisdom:

The intent, Mr. Miller said, is to differentiate AOL.com from Yahoo by having a distinctive "voice" tuned to popular culture. The site's main screens are meant to have the chatty personality of a morning talk show or women's magazine, focusing on celebrities, health topics and the news of the day, drawing users to participate through instant polls and links to AOL's chat rooms.

"The day I thought we nailed it was the day that Terri Schiavo died," Mr. Miller explained. Yahoo and most other portals highlighted the story with headlines copied from news agency obituaries that read something like, "Terri Schiavo dead at 41," he recalled.

"The AOL headline was, 'Terri Schiavo's sad story comes to an end,' " noted Mr. Miller, who said the AOL version better reflected the emotion of the case. [via The New York Times]

If there were any intelligent, competent people left at AOL, they just quit.

Bruce Schneier has a nice post about the gutting of HIPAA following a Justice Department ruling. HIPAA was a bill originally intended to protect patient privacy in the healthcare industry.

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant

Ha ha ha! I'm totally making an "Attaboard" for my office.

Mayor Bloomberg asks 5th Avenue businesses to respect the Puerto Rican Day Parade by not boarding up their windows.

Eric asks Puerto Rican Day Parade attendees not to fuck up the city. Or, if they must, go home, break their own windows, and grope their cousin's breasts.

I have an Earthlink account that I keep around just in case I need dial up access from somewhere. I never use it. I don't think I have ever sent an e-mail from the account; I certainly never give out the Earthlink address.

From May 27 to this morning, I received 1054 e-mail messages at this account.

1054 messages, all of them spam. Absurd.

Back from vacation. I'm in that ambivalent state where I'm happy to be back in familiar surroundings, but sad to be away from responsibility-free vacation time. One upside is that sitting in the office has a kind of novelty this afternoon. Soon to wear off, I'm certain.

At the risk of sounding like one of those hipsters who says he just hates Los Angeles, Rome, Florence, and Venice were just crawling with American tourists, and American tourists really seem to bother me.

Those most annoying seem to stand out. To a fault, obese, elastic waist pants-suits covering their ham-like buttocks. That, or dressed in a ratty tee shirt and shorts, a baseball cap covering their cheap, Super Cuts hair. Often loud.

Also, I immediately hate anyone boarding a train with a sack of food from McDonalds.

I'm sorry, but it really bothers me.

POTD

click for high-res