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The short-form week of 10–16 May 2010

17 May 2010; last modified 13 Mar 2011

The week in review, 140 characters at a time. This week, 64 messages in 55 conversations. (With 8 favorites.)

This document was created automatically from my archive of my Twitter stream. Due to limitations in the Twitter API and occasional glitches in my archiving system, it may not be 100% complete.

Monday at 04:06am

Fun! RT @lizfraley RT @ndw "For some reason, when I write something in a Docbook XML editor, it works" @georginalaidlawhttp://bit.ly/dbD0v0—@livetechdocs

In a conversation that started on Monday at 04:12am

Whoever invented RDF vocab URIs using a hash? Seems like a bad idea. http://post.ly/fRPj—@kitwallace
@kitwallace Re: hash URIs: about ten years of arguments about the nature of reality? See W3C TAG issue httpRange-14.—@ndw
@ndw @kitwallace :-) and it seems like each new generation wants/needs to revisit the debate...—@skwlilac
@skwlilac wow, first time I've been called 'new generation' in a while :-)—@kitwallace
@ndw not sure what it has to do with the nature of reality? just engineering isnt it—@kitwallace
@kitwallace There have been long, tedious debates about whether a URI w/o a # /MUST/ identify a "document" or may also identify a thing.—@ndw
@ndw if you start small with #, you are stuck when the tags get large and you want to do something server-side - / more flexibile as you say—@kitwallace
@kitwallace The 302 redirect is a compromise. I've never really believed the only-#-for-things argument, and scale is why I stopped #-ing.—@ndw

Monday at 06:14am

Do intermediaries always have to suck? RT @violetblue it looks like bit.ly is playing dirty pool with ... your credibility http://vb.ly/28xk—@ndw

Monday at 07:20am

Words on dead trees may be the only viable future for information consumption: http://bit.ly/cwhro6—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Monday at 12:00pm

Googling 'debugging javascript ie7'. Shoot me. Shoot me now.—@ndw
@ndw Re debugging on IE7, the best I found is IE8, setting in the Developer Tools the Document Mode to "IE7 Standards".—@avernet
@avernet Good to know!—@ndw
@ndw firebug lite?—@ruidlopes
@ndw if you use IE8, you can goto Tools->Developer Tools, and they've ported firebug to IE (run in compatibility mode for IE7ness)—@peteaven
@ndw but sometimes, the javascript reqd for IE is just different, which sucks, big time. Good Luck!—@peteaven
@ndw I'd recommend the visual studio debugger if you need to really debug in IE. It's worth paying for it in terms of the time you'll save.—@eedeebee
@eedeebee thanks. Visual Studio Express seems to have gotten me far enough. Not hoping to make a habit of it.—@ndw

Monday at 12:17pm

I feel your pain. :( RT @ndw: Googling 'debugging javascript ie7'. Shoot me. Shoot me now.—@jasoncbooth

Monday at 12:25pm

Thinking of it, google "aptana studio". I recall them having an ie debugger. It's an eclipse plug-in. RT @peteaven: @ndw ie debugging—@jasoncbooth

In a conversation that started on Monday at 12:32pm

@ndw #xsltforms has many Javascript instructions for compatibility with different browsers and different versions ;-)—@AlainCouthures
@AlainCouthures yeah. We consciously chose not to use xforms in this context. Though I've got a couple of #xsltforms bugs for you, too.—@ndw
@ndw please send your #xsltforms bug list to Micah and Brian. I can't hardly wait to fix them, probably using those marvelous debuggers ;-)—@AlainCouthures
@AlainCouthures already filed. Soon to be on the way to you, I'm sure!—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Monday at 02:10pm

JSLint reports 'Bad line breaking before '+''. But '\' causes problems. How do you do multiline statements in JS?—@ndw
@ndw Buy a wider monitor—@abdelazer
@abdelazer I'll get the wider monitor if you figure out how to make my peripheral vision wide enough.—@ndw
@ndw I switched to more oval glasses. JavaScript's single lines get even prettier when you do HTML5 DBs and SQL—@abdelazer
@ndw lol! That's a lot of JS!—@peteaven
@ndw example? pastebin?—@nicferrier
@nicferrier Thanks, Nic. It was just JSLint being pedantic. My style is to put the op on the beginning of the next line, not end of 1st—@ndw
@ndw Op on new line is a bad idea, JavaScript inserts a ';' at the end of the line if it looks like a complete statement.—@ed_davies
@ed_davies Blech. Good to know, thanks Ed.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 03:48am

Help! Im a software dev about to buy my first #macbook pro, do I get the 15" or the 17"??? Like the real estate of 17", but is it portable?—@adamretter
@adamretter The 17"mbp is smaller than a previous 15"Dell but right now I would consider also the 15"mbp high-resolution 1680x1050—@georgebina
@georgebina Do you find your 17" too big to be truly portable?—@adamretter
@adamretter The 15" high res is smaller and the res is close to the 17" so for me that will be an alternative to consider to the 17"mbp.—@georgebina
@georgebina So... if you were to buy a new mbp right now, would you go 15" or 17"?—@adamretter
@adamretter I found difficult to fully open the screen for the 17"mbp in a plane, but otherwise no other noticeable size issues.—@georgebina
@adamretter In my case I will probably go for the 15" high res antiglare - in the office I have an additional monitor I plug the mbp in.—@georgebina
@georgebina Thanks George, good to know :-)—@adamretter
@adamretter I do the same. I don't get the point of a 17" portable computer - on the road, too bulky, in the office, still too small.—@martin_probst
@martin_probst Hmm okay now the split of opinion seems about 50/50 - im more confused than ever!—@adamretter
@adamretter Only sometimes, for ex. I always find difficult to fully open the screen in a plane but otherwise I had no problems.—@georgebina
@adamretter I carry the 17" around w/o difficulty. Even on airplanes. Even in coach.—@ndw
@ndw @adamretter By contrast, I went 15", and am happy to not have the extra bulk. Norm is 17" tall for every 15" tall I am.—@abcoates
@abcoates hmm good point im not as tall as @ndw—@adamretter
@ndw Perfect, that was what I was hoping. Think the 17" is on the cards!—@adamretter

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 09:56am

♺@xproc XProc: An XML Pipeline Language is a W3C Recommendation: http://www.w3.org/TR/xproc/—@ndw
@ndw Congrats on XProc making it to Rec status!—@bobdc
@ndw Blech. I wonder when the encoding bug was introduced, and where.—@ndw

Tuesday at 09:59am

RT @xproc XProc: An XML Pipeline Language is a W3C Recommendation: http://www.w3.org/TR/xproc/—@ndw

Tuesday at 01:04pm

oh oh XProc is a Rec (An XML Pipeline Language) http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/REC-xproc-20100511/ congrats @ndw and wg—@karlpro

Tuesday at 01:11pm

and if you are looking for an example of (silly but cool) use of XProc http://norman.walsh.name/2010/04/13/flickrWithXProc by @ndw—@karlpro

Tuesday at 01:35pm

#Balisage paper reviews done, only a few days late. If my review subset is indicative, it's going to be a knock-out! (Which it always is!)—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 05:35pm

Locke is now the voice of a subset of the audience who believes that when Lost is all done, we will have wasted six years of our lives..—@DaveO
@DaveO that was sort of inevitable when they got extended past their orig story arc and had to start making stuff up, no? And no spoilers!—@ndw

Tuesday at 09:51pm

Hey, #telcos: our dirt, our rules. Don't like #NetNeutrality?Put your wires in someone else's ground http://tinyurl.com/25r2unn—@doctorow

Wednesday at 06:13am

And I thought an iPad couldn't be more tempting. RT @chneukirchen iPad with Emacs: http://brizz.ly/adi3gD—@ndw

Wednesday at 07:07am

RT @doctorow #telcos: our dirt, our rules. Don't like #NetNeutrality? Put your wires in someone else's ground http://tinyurl.com/25r2unn—@ndw

Wednesday at 07:13am

Giving the FEBE Firefox extension a try. Sounds good, but 45 minutes in it's still running and hasn't done a thing. I suspect #fail.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 07:32am

I've just got too many irons in the fire. So hard to choose that I end up not choosing. Can I have my discipline back, please?—@ndw
@ndw know exactly what you mean ... when confronted with this feeling I tend to delete stuff ...—@xquery
@ndw Guess it's a good time to ask for review of the OPDS Catalog spec draft then... http://bit.ly/9KECvL :-) thanks!—@abdelazer
@abdelazer Sigh. I do care. I'll put it on the list.—@ndw
@ndw If there were other people that understood good specs & HTTP & Atom &... you are uniquely qualified (probably vaguely good for ML too)—@abdelazer
@abdelazer Flattery will get you ... well, I'm not sure it'll do much good, really, but I'll do my best.—@ndw

Wednesday at 08:21am

A namespace for CALS tables? http://norman.walsh.name/2010/05/12/calsns—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 08:24am

Dear @att, couldn't you please combine multiple numbers/accounts/devices onto a single bill?—@ndw
@ndw Please DM your contact info. I'm with AT&T and I can help you with your account. Thanks!—@ATTNicole
@ATTNicole If you're really an official AT&T channel, it would inspire more confidence if you got a verified account. I'm just sayin'.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 10:44am

Hey @xquerywebappdev , great post! But the founder & chief architect of #MarkLogic is Chris Lindblad http://bit.ly/cSJq6p #lindbladnation—@peteaven
Chuckling at @peteaven's #lindbladnation hashtag.—@ndw
@ndw i totally want shirts made for the Eng. team. #awesome—@peteaven

Wednesday at 11:03am

RT @ndw @chneukirchen iPad with Emacs: http://brizz.ly/adi3gD - any sign of #LaTeX?—@docum3nt

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 11:19am

Everytime I finish doing expense reports I think: (1) good, I get my money back, and (2) now, can I have that hour of my life back, please?—@ndw
@ndw *That* hour? You must handle admin tasks more often than me ;-)—@fgeorges
@fgeorges My better half doesn't let me slide; I do 'em once or twice a month. At least I don't have to mail paper anymore. #smallvictories—@ndw

Wednesday at 11:36am

The Venn diagram for elegant JavaScript code and cross-browser DOM scripting is two different circles.—@jeresig

Wednesday at 12:35pm

Indeed! RT @shelleypowers Now, this is clever: easy hack to organize computer and electronic cords and cables http://is.gd/c62gt via...—@ndw

Wednesday at 12:37pm

UPS (as in power supply, not package delivery) just saved my bacon^H^H^H^H^Hserver.—@ndw

Wednesday at 12:43pm

I've decided that I need *two* external monitors. I am not joking.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 12:44pm

I've decided that I need *two* external monitors. I am not joking. http://tinyurl.com/yaba96r—@ndw
@ndw The only surprise here is that you don't already have 2 external monitors...—@JeanKaplansky
@JeanKaplansky Laptop + one external has been good enough until now.—@ndw
@ndw does it count as 2 external if they're on different machines, but back to back? Does the ipad count, too? All this and the laptop, too.—@JeanKaplansky
@ndw We use Matrox DualHead2Go. That gives us 2 screens each with 1920X1280 on Macbooks. Wish could figure out how to move the top menus.—@dmccreary

Wednesday at 12:48pm

The problem with FB? The walled garden was a bad idea to start with. And now, they're struggling to open it. Me, I'll just point&laugh.—@olivierthereaux

Wednesday at 12:59pm

Looks like the movie 'Swordfish' ;) RT @ndw: I've decided that I need *two* external monitors. I am not joking. http://tinyurl.com/yaba96r—@jasoncbooth

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:25pm

The style panel in #Firebug would be more useful if it was actually correct...—@ndw
@ndw didja file a firefox bug? I rely on that and it mostly works for me. You could try the one in chrome, too. It's decent.—@eedeebee
@eedeebee No, not yet. Can't tell if it's a bug or I'm an idiot. The style view seems inconsistent with the computed view (which is right)—@ndw
@ndw Try Dragonfly in Opera. That's always worked well for me for understanding which CSS style came from where.—@abcoates

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 03:52pm

Damn straight! RT @shelleypowers Not one penny of taxpaper money should go to Gulf clean-up. It should _all_ be paid by BP.—@ndw
@ndw Their costs could be capped at $75 million after legislation passed after Exxon-Valdez. Hopefully they'll man-up. #notholdingmybreath—@bsletten

Wednesday at 04:12pm

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 06:48am

I bet I don't want to know why it's /TR/xslt20 and /TR/xslt-21. That's gonna be a PITA, I can just tell.—@ndw
@ndw [xslt20 ant xslt-21] same reason why we have xpath20 and xpath-21, xquery and xquery-11 #howSaussagesAreMade #standards #w3c—@innovimax
@innovimax And that reason is?—@avernet
@ndw Because of xpath-21 and xquery-11, maybe?—@fgeorges
@ndw but hyphens make EVERYTHING better! *eyeroll*—@TheRepoRat

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 07:18am

Does anybody use Mac OS X Dashboard? I can't see the point.—@james_clark
@james_clark If find the OS X Dashboard to be a great way to access the dictionary / thesaurus, a calendar, and time in other timezones.—@avernet
@james_clark I have a timer and a package tracker on it. And a deep sleep widget. But I don't use it very often.—@ndw
@james_clark no dashboard is somewhat useless IMHO ... I disable it via terminal which also reclaims a little bit of RAM—@xquery

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 11:22am

Web app development: Oh! The endless pointing and clicking!—@ndw
@ndw don't complain. I have to mow 3000 sq meters of our garden and my garden hw has no point and click UI for this. Better then gym ;-)—@jirkakosek
@ndw Selenium—@abdelazer
@ndw I've never noticed that problem developing #webapps in #emacs :)—@david_megginson
@david_megginson Really? I'm doing it in emacs. Change CSS/JS. Click to reload for caching. Click to open form. Click to test. Click to...—@ndw
@ndw: Ctrl-TAB to switch to browser; Ctrl-shift-R to force reload; tab to form field; RET to submit; Ctrl-TAB back to emacs. :)—@david_megginson
@david_megginson Fair enough. Part of the problem is in the app itself, I'm testing code in a popup so there are a couple of clicks.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 03:59pm

Everytime I see that JS has '=', '==', and '===' (plus '!=', '!==', and '!===') I think something must have gone horribly wrong somewhere.—@ndw
@ndw some things are more equal than others? ;)—@TheRepoRat
@TheRepoRat Equal, more equal, and even more super duper equal, I guess.—@ndw
@ndw XPath does even better than JavaScript. While JS has two kind of comparison operators (==, and ===), XPath that has 3 (=, eq, is)!—@avernet
@ndw It's easy. Never ever using anything other than '===' or '!==' ever.—@abdelazer

Thursday at 04:03pm

@ndw: Crockford's js conventions http://is.gd/c7TRS . don't leave home without it.—@dckc

Thursday at 04:36pm

Public Image Limited is playing locally this weekend. Might be fun, but we've got conflicting plans.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 05:05am

How stable is DocBook 5 as a spec?—@al3xbrown
@al3xbrown DocBook 5 is an OASIS Standard. I consider it very stable, bigger changes and cleanup was made between 4.5 and 5.0—@jirkakosek
@jirkakosek so does DocBook 4.5 == DocBook 5 (in public review at http://is.gd/c8HOV ?)—@al3xbrown
@al3xbrown Well OASIS page is quite obsolete. Both 4.5 and 5 are OASIS Standards. I have to push for web-site update—@jirkakosek
@al3xbrown DocBook 4.5 != 5.0, but I'm not sure I understand the question. What can I help you with? :-)—@ndw
@ndw I'm trying to reference an OASIS page which states what the latest *standardized* version is—@al3xbrown
@ndw cool - thanks!—@al3xbrown
@al3xbrown And DocBook 5 is different from 4.x branch -- new namespace and so on. See http://www.docbook.org/docs/howto/—@jirkakosek
@jirkakosek @al3xbrown Getting all the relevant pages in all the relevant places updated is on my list. My long, long fscking list.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 08:24am

You know what would be cool? If the OPDS Catalog spec was available in a form I could d/l to my Kindle, that would be cool. I'm just sayin'—@ndw
@ndw I haven't looked. Did they pub. It in epub?—@JeanKaplansky
@ndw I'll do that once 0.9 is finished b—@abdelazer

Friday at 09:27am

@ndw oh. HTML. So much for highlighting or margin notes...—@JeanKaplansky

In a conversation that started on Friday at 10:10am

As someone who cares about the future of publishing, I sometimes wonder if rejecting the iPad is "cutting off my nose to spite my face?"—@ndw
@ndw I don't think it'll matter. apple's closed model will likely fail but some sort of pad will succeed. why resist it?—@nicferrier
@nicferrier In protest of Apple's closed model and cavalier attitude. cf. @doctorow et. al.—@ndw
@ndw but it also means you are living by your principles, unlike the rest of us who now have to feel guilty about the evils of DRM.—@JeanKaplansky

Friday at 10:15am

@ndw yes, rejecting the ipad is cutting off your nose. Love it or hate it, I predict it will be a "game changer" the way iPod and iPhone are—@DALDEI

Friday at 12:49pm

@ndw I guess I just hope (and expect) a gPad to make myself feel better—@aspyker

Saturday at 11:09am

Curated computing: Don't bother your pretty little head, we'll take care of what you see.—@timbray

Saturday at 11:09am

Curated computing: Admire the beautiful murals on the garden walls.—@timbray

Saturday at 11:10am

Curated computing: Freedom is over-rated.—@timbray

Saturday at 11:50am

Spreadsheets: because every piece of data in the universe is ultimately a stupid string in a 2-D box, manipulated by an idiot.—@tommorris

In a conversation that started on Saturday at 03:38pm

but... Steve, WHY? I think we'd all really like to know why. > Steve Jobs Offers World 'Freedom From Porn' > http://vb.ly/2968—@violetblue
@violetblue because it's His platform and He knows best, I assume. No independent thought required. Or allowed. Conform. Or else.—@ndw

Sunday at 06:06am

And another thing: people saying that atheists 'know nothing about religion'. I've got a degree in the subject. Yeah, fuck you.—@tommorris

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 11:57am

Why does BP get to dictate who will evaluate of the severity of the spill? http://bit.ly/aIEZgm BP denying access to scientists #oilspill—@dhmspector
@dhmspector how else are they going to hide the true impact until their money is safe?—@ndw