The short-form week of 21–27 Jun 2010

28 Jun 2010; last modified 13 Mar 2011

The week in review, 140 characters at a time. This week, 40 messages in 39 conversations. (With 3 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.

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 05:15pm

http://is.gd/cWQIQ login vs log in—@gcarothers

@gcarothers Language is what's spoken, like it or not. I can't find the original comic, so this will have to do: http://bit.ly/cFrYFs—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 05:32pm

Tired of endless waiting for tea to steep? Eat it instead; embedded in Breakfast Circles http://kfahlgren.com/photos/circles.jpg (for @liza)—@abdelazer

@abdelazer Those look yummy. Recipe?—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Monday at 07:07am

The Twitter API design requires that parameters are passed encoded in the URI even for POST requests. Does that seem weird to anyone else?—@ndw

@ndw Weird, yes - but they might be doing something cunning with regards to the parameters and load-balancing requests?—@benosteen

@benosteen Maybe. Or maybe the OAuth params go in the POST body if you're not using the Authorization header? I dunno.—@ndw

Monday at 11:13am

"This is an HTML email, please use HTML format to open it!" No.—@ndw

Monday at 12:24pm

Inconceivable! And I do know what that word means! http://bit.ly/clKyNb—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Monday at 12:25pm

Today I learnt about the expensing system and filed an expense report. Sigh.—@jpcs

@jpcs It beats the alternative, but just barely.—@ndw

@ndw Butting in, but that's a big 10-4.—@shelleypowers

@ndw @jpcs What's the alternative? Paying for it yourself?—@abcoates

@abcoates Yes, exactly. Deal with the expense reporting application (and they've all sucked, at every company) or deal without the money :-)—@ndw

@ndw @abcoates Or no job AND no money...—@shelleypowers

In a conversation that started on Monday at 01:18pm

If someone happened to debug the #emacs XQuery mode so that it didn't get confused by XML comments, I'd be pleased as punch.—@ndw

@ndw I actually took a shot at that about a year ago, but it turned out my emacs-fu was way insufficient for the task.—@jsulak

@jsulak So many things to do. So few hours in the day.—@ndw

@ndw you ever done an open source bounty? We were just talking about wanting to do one this morning...where to start/post?—@abdelazer

@abdelazer Nope, not I. Not sure where to start, either.—@ndw

Monday at 03:17pm

Happy solstice? No, I'm not happy at all about the days starting to get shorter again. But thanks anyway.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 04:29am

just been sent an Open Office template. Having to find SSD space so I can install Open Office, again. I don't do Office.—@psd

@psd I mocked up the template in HTML+CSS last year. Might do that again this year. 30 minutes of hacking and productivity goes way up.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 06:55am

Okay, quick poll: What do you call the small portable storage devices you plug directly into your computer's port?—@anildash

@anildash a "USB flash thumb memory drive key disk sticks" of course.—@ndw

@anildash Jump drive. Also that fucking thing. As in where is that fucking thing.—@zeldman

Tuesday at 08:05am

Attempted to build DocBook V5.1b1. Build script doesn't like something about nesting in assembly.rnc. Drat.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 08:10am

Oh good f'ing grief! How long indeed! RT @shelleypowers ...how long will the #W3C allow this absurdity to continue? http://bit.ly/9xtO1r—@ndw

@ndw @shelleypowers A new heuristic: a WG and chairs greet the editor they deserve or will tolerate.—@kendall

Tuesday at 08:12am

RT @abcoates RT @ianvisits This is brilliant - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Daleks http://j.mp/dcszSd—@ndw

Tuesday at 08:26am

This is brilliant — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Daleks http://j.mp/dcszSd /via @ndw—@gridinoc

Tuesday at 09:19am

RT @martin_probst Brilliant: John Cleese rants - Soccer vs Football http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo—@ndw

Tuesday at 09:25am

RT @ndw: RT @martin_probst Brilliant: John Cleese rants - Soccer vs Football http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo—@jirkakosek

Tuesday at 12:05pm

Activating wireless device in VMWare XP box because I will not install your 3rd party crap on my laptop.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 12:40pm

After I terminate mobile service on my iPhone, will it still be a useful wifi gadget, or will it be a brick, I wonder?—@ndw

@ndw should be useful as an iPod touch if you have a 3G. Don't know about the 1st gen—@JeanKaplansky

@ndw It'll be in essence an iPod Touch. My kid has a decommissioned iPhone he uses that way.—@hunterhacker

@ndw: If it's a brick with #iOS, you can always install #Android on it.—@david_megginson

@david_megginson Can you? That's an interesting idea. I'm expecting to replace it with an Android phone in a couple of months.—@ndw

@ndw take out the sim card and you have a useful wifi device.—@hadleynet

@ndw I have an iTouch and love it. My guess is "useful wifi gadget."—@TheRepoRat

@ndw In my experience you can still use the phone as an iPod touch without phone service. (You can just try, removing the SIM card.)—@avernet

@ndw iPhone will turn into an "ipod" once you terminate cell service—@DALDEI

Tuesday at 02:38pm

@ndw you can alwys experiment by simply taking out the SIM—@DALDEI

Tuesday at 03:05pm

Google voice now open to everyone (in the US). I hope this means an official API is coming soon. http://bit.ly/dzPpwR—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 02:17am

Libertarianism: we need less government. Because the one thing toxic oil spill-causing multinationals need is less oversight and regulation.—@tommorris

@tommorris yes, less collusion with governments that limits liability to $75M—@iand

@iand Hell yeah. BP should take the full shotgun blast of responsibility. As should the bankers who caused the recession.—@tommorris

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 07:49am

My fav 'least common iPad complaint' from Billy Kimball in New Yorker: 'Time-travel app does not automatically adjust for Julian calendar.'—@ndw

@ndw Yeah, the timelag on those trips to ancient Rome is a bitch :)—@docum3nt

Wednesday at 08:57am

Playing 'whack-a-bug' with a colleague. Neither of us are enjoying the game.—@ndw

Wednesday at 09:22am

Dog is barking at the mailman and I'm all "Dog, why do you have to be so cliche'?"—@textfiles

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:57pm

Suggestion that named graph is an information resource. Graph uris identifiy "RDF knowledge" #semtech—@ldodds

@ldodds Whee! httpRange-14!—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 03:22pm

Trying to decide if I should be flattered or frightened to see "static const uint64_t evtDebugNormsProblem ..." in the source.—@ndw

@ndw flattered since it's a uint64_t imo—@eedeebee

Wednesday at 03:33pm

RT @MarkLogic: Invite: @hunterhacker & Forrester's @nyuhanna upcoming webcast: RDBMS Alternatives #NoSQL #XML http://bit.ly/bCD22C—@ndw

Thursday at 01:42am

You link therefore I am—@psd

Thursday at 07:12am

RT @ndw: RT @MarkLogic: Invite: @hunterhacker & Forrester's @nyuhanna upcoming webcast: RDBMS Alternatives #NoSQL #XML http://bit.ly/bCD22C—@StephenBuxton

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 09:32am

@codinghorror I have been using an android phone. Tell me more about why iTunes/iPhone combo is a failure.—@timoreilly

@timoreilly "how about making iTunes just manage music?" (via @wilshipley) see this 'functions of itunes' link http://j.mp/cdyShx—@codinghorror

@timoreilly Does there have to be more to it than the total, unmitigated suck fest that is iTunes?—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 10:40am

Decent IRC client for OSX? was juggling LimeChat and Colloquy recently, former crashy, other disconnecty. Others?—@danbri

@danbri XChat-Aqua?—@dckc

@danbri I use Chatzilla but charitably it can barely be said to suck a bit less than the others.—@robinberjon

@danbri I've been using Linkinus—@ndw

@danbri XchatAqua—@karlpro

@danbri irssi on another machine that you SSH to. Ideal for conferences when you shut your laptop!—@tommorris

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 11:42am

The #oreillymedia Sebastopol office has vastly superior coffee compared to the Cambridge office. The stuff in Seb is rocket fuel.—@adamwitwer

@adamwitwer Order Rocket Fuel at A'Roma roasters over in Santa Rosa. Mmmm, mmmm, good.—@ndw

@ndw Only 10 mins away, says G Maps. I'll try it; thanks for the tip!—@adamwitwer

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 03:30pm

Increasingly clear the best ebook readers will combine a powerful web rendering engine w/affordances fr long-form reading (TOC, nav, bkmrks)—@abdelazer

@abdelazer That squares exactly with my expectations.—@ndw

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

Oh, and Thursday June 24th? You can kiss my ass. #crap #crap #crappyday—@ceri

@ceri +1 to that. Yesterday was craptacular from start to finish. #herestoabetterday—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 04:06pm

My next book will be a self-published eBook on *drum roll* HTML5! (Seriously, is anyone surprised?) Hint: it will be...unique.—@shelleypowers

@shelleypowers Will it be e-published in HTML5? Or in PDF? Or in Flash?—@abcoates

@abcoates Hee...Flash...that was a good one—@shelleypowers

@abcoates I'm going to try a store front and sell it as DRM free ePub, and then DRM free versions at B&N, Amazon, and other places—@shelleypowers

@shelleypowers Where can I pre-order?—@ndw

@ndw I'll holler as soon as it's ready for download -- finding it difficult to be disciplined on writing when no editor with whip—@shelleypowers

In a conversation that started on Friday at 09:48am

there is an unwritten law that states that the code written on a Friday won't work—@gridinoc

@gridinoc Alas, it's subtler. Code written on Fri works perfectly on Fri. On Mon, it's clear that it couldn't possibly ever have worked.—@ndw

@ndw I guess I'll have to wash out the idea I was trying to implement today with a well aged single malt solvent.—@gridinoc

In a conversation that started on Friday at 11:24am

Windows Live Writer doesn't like my AtomPub service document. Grumble. Anyone know of a public server it does like?—@ndw

@ndw any wordpress site can be an atompub service (configuration option to turn on).—@abdelazer

In a conversation that started on Friday at 03:15pm

Never say never. At long (long!) last, I've published my #marklogic AtomPub server code: http://github.com/marklogic/atompub-server—@ndw

@ndw whoooo! Thanks—@gcarothers

In a conversation that started on Friday at 09:54pm

Is OS 4 designed to make 3G iPhones so painfully slow that you beg for a hardware upgrade?—@xmlgrrl

@xmlgrrl do you want the Steve Jobs one word answer to that? Could be worse. You could've upgraded to the anti-lefty friendly model.—@JeanKaplansky

@xmlgrrl Uhm. Yes?—@ndw