The short-form week of 6–12 Dec 2010

13 Dec 2010; last modified 13 Mar 2011

The week in review, 140 characters at a time. This week, 42 messages in 47 conversations. (With 5 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 04:15am

I keep trying to zoom my paper map with my thumb and index finger, but it seems to be stuck at one resolution. Stupid reality.—@ndw
@ndw :)—@gazdovsky
@ndw touch-sensitive flexible e-ink maps might not be too far away. until then, there's maplets, which is touchable *and* GPSified.—@dret
@ndw i admit i've done this, too.—@eedeebee

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 01:24am

Guess I must not expect #wildlife support from @NDW RT @renosparksnews: Panel establishesNevada's first bear hunt: http://dlvr.it/9ksSD—@DesertPlaya
@DesertPlaya I don't think I'm the @ndw you meant to send that too.—@ndw
@ndw thanks—@DesertPlaya

Monday at 03:52pm

Shall we make today "International Check Your Backup is Working Day"? Nah, let's do it tomorrow.—@avon

Monday at 03:54pm

Best. Street art. Ever. http://bit.ly/h03Bl8 (cc @stephenfry for his pal Hugh)—@ndw

Monday at 04:01pm

Back in the US. IAD now, BDL later. Then home proper. Fsck! I've got a sh*t load of work to get finished this week.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Monday at 05:49pm

Is there some theory of ads that says you news to broadcast two of your ads during each commercial break? See that a lot.—@cote
@cote I heard a while back that studies had suggested two back-to-back 15s spots were more effective than one 30s spot.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 11:48am

Having not yet bought a Galaxy Tab, do I now choose to wait for the "Honeycomb" tablet instead?—@ndw
@ndw life's short. Get the toy and have fun!—@JeanKaplansky
@ndw or you could wait ten years, six months at a time, continually waiting to see what the next upgrade cycle brings...—@laurendw
@laurendw Oh, I understand that. That's why I'm not fretting about the new G phone. Still, if I'm five months and two weeks into a cycle...—@ndw
@ndw if we only knew how long the cycles were... 6 months? 7? variable around a mean of xx?—@laurendw
@ndw The 8-ball says make like a bee and wait for the honeycomb. It's a larger 8-ball than normal.—@TerrisLinenbach
@ndw I chose to wait, because Galaxy Tab doesn’t work well in the landscape orientation.—@hsivonen
@hsivonen Because of the keyboard issues, or something deeper?—@ndw
@ndw Keyboard forced to bad full screen editor. The four Android hardware buttons end up under either palm and get pressed accidentally.—@hsivonen

Tuesday at 02:59pm

Must write important document. Deadline imminent. Brain. Will. Not. Focus. Fscking brain. #postvacation #jetlag—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 04:43pm

I like that large chunks of HTML5 are no more about HTML than Javascript is about Java.—@kendall
@kendall You like that, do you?—@ndw
@ndw Actually, I hate it... -insert sarcasm char here-—@kendall

Tuesday at 04:48pm

@ndw especially considering the slimeballs are the alleged creators of jobs and Everything—@TerrisLinenbach

Wednesday at 08:53am

Spent 20 minutes with Jolicloud (under VMWare). Interesting.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 09:27am

"XML community seen as a bunch of sanctimonious old men, antiquated poseurs, & apostates. XML is the devil incarnate." http://bit.ly/e425bW—@simonstl
@simonstl I'm inclined to agree with Kurt even if it makes me seem like a sanctimonious, antiquated old man.—@ndw
@ndw @simonstl XML has always had a bit of the revenge of the 30-/40-somethings aura about it.—@james_clark
@james_clark @ndw @simonstl ... extending that analogy would imply we are having a mid life crisis over XML ...—@xquery
@simonstl BTW, loved Kurt's response.—@shelleypowers
@james_clark I wish my experience didn't confirm Kurt's account. Though Mozilla a bit more interested.—@simonstl
@simonstl Trying to figure out whether I fall in the sanctimonious or poseur category (or both) :-)—@james_clark
@james_clark Dunno. I won a nice iPod at an Ajax conference in a trivia contest for knowing you edited XSLT, so you may be exempt.—@simonstl
@james_clark @simonstl There really isn't any point in being a poseur if you can't be sanctimonious about it.—@robinberjon
@simonstl Should comment: No, seriously, tell us how you REALLY feel—@shelleypowers
@shelleypowers I was just quoting Kurt Cagle... full content even more interesting, I think.—@simonstl
@simonstl Most definitely agree -- I was just chortling at his comment—@shelleypowers

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:22pm

sorry, make that 20,929 lines of xsl #idcc10 (not that anyone cares) #humorme—@edsu
@edsu Oh, so just a weekend project then :-)—@ndw
@ndw yup, it's amazing how quickly you can do that amount of damage with the right IDE...—@edsu

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:48pm

Oh fer cryin' out loud! How many USB ends are there!? I know there are at least four because none of the three at hand fit! #standards—@ndw
@ndw Archie can think of 6. I know of A, B, AB, mini B, and micro B. Apparently there's also a micro AB. I have no clue what the ABs are for—@JeanKaplansky
@ndw LOL it's a conspiracy I know...I am fine at work as I can direct policy but at home, anarchy of the USB reigns.—@gregghoulden

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:50pm

@psd Fantastic!—@ndw

Wednesday at 02:51pm

"200 years of cheap abundant fossil fuel energy has transformed this country into something completely different." - http://bit.ly/hHiIBl—@simonstl

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 03:06pm

#YouKnewThisWouldHappen and #RunAwayScreaming: YAML / JSON files are invalid the only indication are cryptic random failures #XML—@TerrisLinenbach
@TerrisLinenbach I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Who could have imagined such a thing?—@ndw

Wednesday at 03:32pm

@ndw USB the standard to end cable incompatibilities :)—@DALDEI

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 03:53pm

You cannot DM someone who isn't following you. But I thought he was. Oh well. No DM for you, pal.—@ndw
@ndw It must be stalkers beware: If u r not following another, either u do not know the person or s/he is not important to get DMed from ;)—@umityalcinalp
@ndw Logic tells me he didn't see your tweet. :)—@hunterhacker
@hunterhacker S'awright since he'd have had no way of knowing it was addressed to him anyway.—@ndw
@ndw I've had random unfollows happening to me this week, FWIW—@webmink

Wednesday at 05:11pm

The challenge of international street art: funky art or horrifying political association?—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 07:22pm

Meanwhile, #ebook sales continue meteoric rise http://bit.ly/oH21b—@timoreilly
@timoreilly Any clue if they're being read any more or less than traditional print books?—@ndw
@ndw nah, our Printalytics account is on the fritz :)—@andrewsavikas

Wednesday at 09:59pm

"The plural of anecdote is not data." Harriet Hall, Skeptical Inquirer, Jan/Feb 2011.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 09:25am

RT @der42: "Hash" of course should be "octothorpe" <- have you been listening to @ndw—@skwlilac

Thursday at 10:29am

RT @bexmith: RT @ndw: "The plural of anecdote is not data." Harriet Hall, Skeptical Inquirer, Jan/Feb 2011.—@AChamplin

Thursday at 10:38am

Just refilled my stapler. I wonder if my box of staples dates back to the 90's or the 80's. Still half full.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 01:41pm

Dear LazyWeb: Good OS X screencast options?—@timbray
@timbray I was technically successful with Snapz Pro X. I say technically because artistically I was a disaster. Not s/w's fault though.—@ndw

Thursday at 04:43pm

RT @textfiles ALL of "Connections" online for free! All! You MUST watch this. http://bit.ly/flfyRv—@ndw

Thursday at 05:21pm

A must see. World Transformations http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/james-burke-connections/ via @ndw—@karlpro

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 05:38pm

freezing night and the central heating picks this time to pack up...new gas valve required. looks like a cold start tomorrow...—@docum3nt
@docum3nt That's always the way. Stay warm!—@ndw

Thursday at 06:27pm

Cool! RT @ndw: RT @textfiles ALL of "Connections" online for free! All! You MUST watch this. http://bit.ly/flfyRv—@StephenBuxton

Thursday at 10:56pm

RT @willkurt: rather than a laptop which is essentially just a web browser, I've always wanted a laptop that is essentially just emacs—@windley

Friday at 06:12am

While I'm mildly curious about Edd's http://oreil.ly/eIT2Mg I don't think I've ever had a 'gem install' command succeed.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 06:24am

sudo apt-get install rubygems1.9.1; sudo gem install twitter => ... requires RubyGems version > 1.3.6. Screw it. I wasn't that interested.—@ndw
@ndw System ruby can get messed up real quick. If you're truly interested, look into RVM (virtualenv for ruby essentially).—@pfhawkins
@ndw I think that with a recent Ruby you don't need rubygems — maybe that's the problem?—@robinberjon
@ndw same if you try to install gems to get gl-tail to run #ruby #gems #fail—@docum3nt
@ndw 1.9 is the version of Ruby. The latest version of Rubygems is 1.3.7. Just do a "sudo gem update --system" and then install twitter.—@bnjmnbck

Friday at 07:53am

RT @textfiles ALL of "Connections" online for free! All! You MUST watch this. http://bit.ly/flfyRv (via @ndw) // Yes! This is great stuff.—@ronhitchens

Friday at 09:27am

Ways to tell if it's cold: if the frost on your windshield sublimates when you drive, it's freaking cold.—@ndw

Friday at 10:39am

I wholeheartedly endorse the first comment on this post: http://www.tor.com//blogs/2010/12/coming-soon-dirk-gently-trailer—@ndw

Friday at 10:55am

YEAH! RT @ndw: I wholeheartedly endorse the first comment on this post: http://www.tor.com//blogs/2010/12/coming-soon-dirk-gently-trailer—@semantosoph

Friday at 02:22pm

That quote I just retweeted is from Charlie Stross' great rant: We've been invaded by aliens http://bit.ly/hASFRh #whatswrong—@timoreilly

Friday at 11:38pm

In a conversation that started on Saturday at 04:39pm

Vacation photos sorted. Captions and metadata, then I can publish. Not tonight, I don't think.—@ndw
@ndw Since when do you get a vacation ! Isnt your soul sold to XML ?—@DALDEI
@DALDEI Even the soulless get a vacation.—@ndw
@ndw More of your fantastic trees in silhouette? http://norman.walsh.name/2007/03/16/trees I had loved those.—@lawouach
@lawouach Yes, in fact, a couple!—@ndw
@ndw cool. Looking forward to see them.—@lawouach

Saturday at 04:52pm

Working on converting my Google Maps V2 code to V3 instead of captioning pictures.—@ndw

Saturday at 05:21pm

I wonder what happened to the Google Maps V2 "GLog" functionality in V3. Can't find any trace of it...—@ndw

Saturday at 05:29pm

V3 maps: check. Bounding box: check. Airports: check. Great circle arcs: check. G&T kicking in: check. More coding: erm, not so much.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Saturday at 05:39pm

Caption: Rooster Testicles Stew. No, I am not kidding.—@ndw
@ndw tastes like chicken...—@molodyets

Saturday at 05:40pm

Now you've got my attention. RT @ndw: Caption: Rooster Testicles Stew. No, I am not kidding.—@windley

Sunday at 03:12pm

Paying the price for failure to adequately separate data from code.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 04:18pm

Luminaries say what's been clear for years: XML is a poor data language. @ndw: http://bit.ly/bUVVdG @james_clark: http://bit.ly/iaF9nd—@toddjonker
@toddjonker Uhm. I think that's a pretty significant overstatement of what I said. I have no trouble with XML for all my data.—@ndw
@ndw Sorry, you're right. Would you agree with "XML isn't always the best-choice structured data language"?—@toddjonker
@toddjonker No, all I said was some folks are using JavaScript instead of XML and I'm not losing any sleep over it.—@ndw