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The short-form week of 20–26 Sep 2010

27 Sep 2010; last modified 13 Mar 2011

The week in review, 140 characters at a time. This week, 33 messages in 30 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 Monday at 03:03am

Dawkins, in full-on attack mode, doesn't let little things like Godwin's Law get in his way. Ouf. http://is.gd/fj79e—@timbray
@timbray Yeah, but the Godwin's Law card had already been played.—@ndw

Monday at 11:42am

RT @timbray Romulan warbird decloaking: http://abstrusegoose.com/303—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Monday at 01:46pm

Matt on the new 2factor authent: http://is.gd/fjUQd I use a little plastic fob because I'm always reflashing my phones. Important!—@timbray
@timbray It's not clear how your little plastic fob fits into the outline you pointed to, but I'll assume that it does. What's the fob?—@ndw

Monday at 02:14pm

Booking more international travel (W3C Tech Plen), insert usual rant about calendars and timezones here.—@ndw

Monday at 04:02pm

jQuery plugins for Google Maps and Google Charts are definitely going to make my life easier. Sweetness!—@ndw

Monday at 04:09pm

There's really only one thing to say to rich Americans who bitch about ruinous tax cuts expiring: STFU. Seriously, just STFU.—@kendall

Monday at 05:37pm

Sure, @shepline @hildjj. I found http://bit.ly/cD0sPe and http://bit.ly/aX9QvMM. jMapping looks good for my app. Haven't dug into charts yet.—@ndw

Tuesday at 06:32am

I thought github being down would be a trending topic. Not that I can tell from twitter.com this morning. http://yfrog.com/7d80421182j—@ndw

Tuesday at 12:40pm

The English language version of the putatively official web site for LYS is identified as a "Reported Attack Page!"—@ndw

Tuesday at 02:05pm

Claiming God told you so doesn't mean I'm not going to tell you when you're stupid. It's not religious persecution. You're just stupid.—@kplawver

Tuesday at 03:03pm

Digging through a maze of twisty Makefiles, all inscrutible.—@ndw

Wednesday at 08:17am

Arrgh! I let another dev build expire. Good thing I can set the clocks back on these boxes.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 11:32am

@ndw you call that a *messy* desk ? I'm too embarrised to post a pix of mine :)—@DALDEI
@DALDEI To the right of the laptop is much worse, but not as artistic.—@ndw
@ndw Oh good, I feel better. For a minute I didnt you you qualifed as a real geek—@DALDEI
@DALDEI Here's a clue: my better half refuses to enter my office. I guess I'm lucky she let's me set foot in hers.—@ndw
@ndw I *try unsuccesfully* to keep my better half out of my office and install some of those "vault doors" in the cheezy sci-fi with steam—@DALDEI

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 12:31pm

Oslo's been thru 6 radiation treatments, 5 vinblastines & 4 weeks of Palladia. I've wanted that call for most of the year now! #thankyou—@peteaven
@peteaven Congrats, Pete! And a new chew toy for Oslo!—@ndw
@ndw yes! tonight I'm cookin the O-man a special chicken dinner!—@peteaven

Wednesday at 07:01pm

Chez Albert. Lamb dinner. 'nough said. Mmmmm Mmmmm.—@ndw

Thursday at 07:19am

Updated xprocbook.com; no diffs (yet) but mostly Chapter 3, I think.—@ndw

Thursday at 09:54am

Got my Twitter backups working again with http://github.com/ndw/XQuery-OAuthh. Should blog that library, I suppose. Maybe document it first.—@ndw

Thursday at 11:12am

RT @ndw: Updated xprocbook.com; no diffs (yet) but mostly Chapter 3, I think.—@vojtechtoman

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 03:49pm

Note to self: when recording a screencast, turn off your phone. Grrr.—@ndw
@ndw Work it into the act. "Who? Mr President?! It's an honour, sir. Can I call you back later. Thanks."—@abcoates
@ndw What are you using to do your screencast? Been trying to find some good software...—@JeniT
@JeniT I got Snapz Pro X as part of a bundle a while back. It seems to do the job.—@ndw
@JeniT If you are on OS X, ScreenFlow is the way to go. It is an awesome app which I use almost daily.—@avernet
@JeniT I use Camtasia Studio, and haven't found any serious issues with it—@azaroth42

Friday at 12:39am

"Install 2,3 repeat, spank, vomit blows". This really is the best email ever http://tinyurl.com/2vggznk—@abdelazer

Friday at 05:52am

Why GNU grep is fast: "The key to making programs fast is to make them do practically nothing." http://bit.ly/9UtWXX—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 08:41am

A simple law to predict developer agility: http://tinyurl.com/mccreary-law—@dmccreary
@dmccreary Note the typo in http://bit.ly/dch8o77, s/in inversely/is inversely/.—@avernet
@dmccreary Comments appear to be broken, but all I was going to say is: avoiding that transformation cost is one of the great wins of XRX.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 09:44am

Need a word for the time you spend waiting to figure out if a process is hanging because you broke it rather than just taking a long time.—@liza
@liza limbo. Or purgatory. Depending on one's mood.—@JeanKaplansky
@liza I thought that was called "oh, comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon" Maybe that is a little awkward phonetically.—@ndw

Friday at 06:01pm

#awesome NYMUG returns w/ @ndw sep 30th! http://bit.ly/aF5Hbj—@peteaven

In a conversation that started on Saturday at 03:11pm

I have joined the HTML Working Group. May the fates have mercy on my soul.—@ndw
@ndw I will bet good money you will have a lot more success then you think, make sure you call on your xml brethren to shout when needed—@xquery
@ndw Oh, Norm... whatever possessed you?—@JeniT
@JeniT you should help him!—@roessler
@JeniT Madness, I'm sure. I sincerely want HTML5 to play nice with XML. I can't rail against the result if I don't attempt to help.—@ndw
@ndw best of luck Norm!—@al3xbrown
@ndw @roessler I have the greatest respect for everyone who attempts to engage with that process. I know what it would do to me.—@JeniT
@ndw Do you perceive HTML5 not to play nice with XML now? If so, what part?—@hsivonen
@hsivonen I'm most immediately concerned about the srcdoc/markup-in-attributes issue.—@ndw
@ndw That one seems to be a general “escaped markup inside markup is distasteful” kind of thing than a “doesn’t play nice with XML” thing.—@hsivonen
@hsivonen Unescaped, it's more than that. Escaped, maybe it's just a matter of taste. Depends what underlying model it encodes, I think—@ndw
@ndw: the WG's mission statement, "lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate", didn't give you a clue?—@david_megginson
@david_megginson Luckily my dad prepared me by instructing me "illegitimi non carborundum"—@ndw
@ndw: "Some people called the 'Romanes', they go 'house'??" Pls correct the grammar, then write it 100 times on the Harvard library.—@david_megginson
@ndw Had to look that up, and Google led me here: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Illegitimi_non_carborundum—@JeniT
@david_megginson @ndw I'm guessing that's "abandon all hope, all ye who enter", yes?—@abcoates
@ndw you'll need every bit of patience you have, but you can achieve something. Good luck!—@laurendw
@ndw best of luck!—@ldodds
@ndw It is a far, far better thing you do than you have ever done. It is a -- um.—@RepoRat
@ndw what @JeniT said... I wish you the very best of luck.—@skwlilac
@ndw Good luck! I think they are beyond help in many ways, but it is noble of you to try.—@james_clark
@james_clark would be really great if you could share your views on what is wrong with "HTML5". Cheers!—@annevk
@annevk My biggest complaint would be the process: excessive deference to major browser vendors, plus the dual WHATWG/W3C specs cc @ndw—@james_clark
@james_clark presumably not liking the process has something to do with the result of it? Can I persuade you to write a blog post?—@annevk
@annevk It's not about the result: I haven't studied the result closely enough (yet) to form a view about the result.—@james_clark
@ndw re: HTML5. admirable. Let me know if there are ways I (we) can help. Wish I had the time for similar endeavor.—@aspyker
@ndw Great, HTML WG really needs some new blood to defend reasonable positions.—@jirkakosek
@ndw It's not too late to go back.—@timbray
@timbray It may be a short lived foray, but I have to be honest and I have to be able to say I tried.—@ndw
@ndw joining the HTML 5 WG?!?! Tell me you're also taking up deep meditation. I never did figure out how to manage the stress.—@dckc
@ndw @JeniT says what I think. It sounds crazy, but they certainly do need help.—@larsga
@ndw hope the fun is worth the purgatory!—@roessler

Saturday at 03:26pm

@ndw Fight the good fight!—@bsletten

Saturday at 03:30pm

RT @ndw [...] I sincerely want HTML5 to play nice with XML. I can't rail against the result if I don't attempt to help.—@roessler

Saturday at 11:01pm

RT @ndw: I have joined the HTML Working Group. May the fates have mercy on my soul.—@ebruchez

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 07:21am

Pulled four casual, brown shoes out of my closet randomly. Did not make a single pair. ETOOMANYSHOES—@ndw
@ndw You are the Imelda Marcos of XML.—@abcoates

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 12:21pm

Is the DoD going to burn my Kindle as well? http://bit.ly/dtT3Pl—@ashooner
@ashooner no, but if you turn on the wireless, the folks you're renting it from might just turn it into the redacted version.—@ndw