The short-form week of 23–29 Jan 2012
30 Jan 2012
The week in review, 140 characters at a time.
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 Thursday at 11:21am
@kstirman If you want to upgrade me to London next month, I won’t resist :-) Hope the new gig
is a blast!—@ndw
@kstirman Email me your new email address and I’ll happily do it. :-) Oh, hell, it’s UA 918
on 5 Feb, http://t.co/9PYwmg55—@ndw
Monday at 06:50am
Good work tends to happen only at the end of day: when the fear of accomplishing nothing
finally exceeds fear of doing it badly.—@alaindebotton
Monday at 10:47am
RT @JeniT, @AndySeaborne, et. al., The 700-block of HTTP status codes should totally be a real thing. https://t.co/WaKYIOCm—@ndw
Apologies for the noise. I'll try not to do this too often. Just
testing my Google+ archiving script.
→
Google+ Postings
Nice epitaph: Beyond the universe there is nothing and within the
universe the supernatural does not and cannot exist. Of all
deceivers who have plagued mankind, none are so deeply ruinous to
human ha...
Google+ post
Monday at 12:52pm
Surely the primary reason for rich people to pay more taxes is because they have more
money. Is this really complicated?—@kendall
In a conversation that started on Monday at 12:55pm
Amtrak announcement: "In the event that you need to shout at someone on your phone
because you are important, please move to the vestibule."—@liza
In a conversation that started on Monday at 02:00pm
Is "email is dead or dying, a relic of an era before social networks"? Could and WOULD
you ditch gmail for Facebook? http://t.co/Aeqa7Wlg—@DolphinBrowser
@DolphinBrowser NO.—@ndw
@ndw Thanks for your input - I would say Dolphin fans largely agree. Sure we like social
media but it can not be everything!—@DolphinBrowser
In a conversation that started on Monday at 02:29pm
Am I the only one who has pretty much stopped using the iCal app on Mac Lion? They
messed it up bad. Google Calendar taking over.—@xmlgrrl
@ndw Yes, I do. Is that a new source of extra performance hits? I also hate the new interface
and loss of functionaltiy, though.—@xmlgrrl
Monday at 02:44pm
HTML5 Please: Use the New and Shiny Responsibly - http://t.co/kixcSqq5 . Easier to say online than in print. Will it be controversial? -SSL—@OReillyMedia
In a conversation that started on Monday at 03:43pm
Yes, it bugs me just a bit that the Google+ preview for links to
pages on norman.walsh.name
include the QRCode that otherwise only appears in the print
view.
I just don't know if it bothers me enough to do anything about it.
Google+ post
In a conversation that started on Monday at 05:48pm
@JeniT @robinberjon I booked ages ago and got a good rate at the Boscolo. I'm arriving Thu at 6:30ish
pm if anyone wants to share a ride.—@ndw
@ndw @JeniT I arrive Friday at 16:25 and have my trip to the Ariston booked if you're interested.—@robinberjon
@JeniT That said: I have no idea if the Ariston is good, I just picked it from someone else.
@ndw—@robinberjon
@robinberjon If you're there, it's bound to be good ;)—@JeniT
@JeniT Awwwwww! If you're there too it'll be double-good!—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @JeniT @ndw Ariston is probably the closest one. In past few people attending XSLT WG F2F were
there quite satisfied.—@jirkakosek
It's still inexcusably rude, even if the performer is clever and
funny.
→
Violinist Responds to Concert Interruption by Cell Phone With
Improvised Nokia Ringtone Song
http://youtu.be/uub0z8wJfhU When a cell phone ringtone interrupted
his viola recital, Slovak musician Lukáš Kmit responded by
improvising his own classical version of the Nokia ringtone. The
v...

Google+ post
Speaking of Google APIs, how about a Google Voice API? Guys? Is
this thing on?
Before I enabled two-phase authentication, I was sometimes/mostly
successful with the pygooglevoice. Not so much since. And it really
was handy.
→
pygooglevoice
Python Bindings for Google Voice "API"
Google+ post
Holy cow!
"On September 1–2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm
occurred. Aurorae were seen around the world, most notably over the
Caribbean; also noteworthy were those over the Rocky Mountains that
were so bright that their glow awoke gold miners, who began
preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning. ...
'people in the northeastern U.S. could read newspaper print just
from the light of the aurora.'"
For context: I saw reference to a "Carrington event" on another
page and that led me to the Wikipedia article linked here.
→
Solar storm of 1859 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] History. Ice cores contain thin nitrate-rich layers that can
be used to reconstruct a history of past events before reliable
observations. These show evidence that events of this magnitude—as
m...

Google+ post
Tuesday at 11:33am
Tuesday at 11:44am
Oh. Dear. $DIETY. RT @gridinoc, @aral, @WadeWegner RT @ganson: We're doomed. #walmarthttp://t.co/BUWmb0oQ—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 02:37pm
So. If we're going to have the Web platform fully compete with native, we're going
to have to integrate with DRM at some level. Discuss!—@robinberjon
@robinberjon No.—@ndw
@ndw Discuss!—@robinberjon
@robinberjon It’s pointless. It frustrates legitimate users, guarantees that your data is ephemeral,
and doesn’t even slow down illegal use.—@ndw
@ndw I know that DRM sucks. But I also know that the Web should take over the world. Hence
the question.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon It might be that development of the Web platform will be so slow that DRM will be
obsoleted at that time.—@jirkakosek
@jirkakosek It could be, but I would hope not. I'm thinking a two-year time frame tops.—@robinberjon
@jirkakosek @robinberjon give an example of successful DRM in any computing context (thats not just obfuscation/compilation)—@xquery
@xquery Define successful? For instance, AFAIK Netflix uses it. Or the Kindle. @jirkakosek—@robinberjon
@robinberjon well, then you could say iplayer from BBC (prob the best of the whole lot ... written
in Perl I may add)—@xquery
@xquery Yes, inlayer is cool. But people will reply that the BBC is "special".—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @jirkakosek the prob I have with DRM is the enourmous waste of energy (as in burning fossil fuel)
it represents, its criminal—@xquery
@xquery That's definitely a real argument. And from users' POV, battery life is also important.
@jirkakosek—@robinberjon
@robinberjon Big Content licenses movies for DRMless DVB-T (in SD). Thus, if the Web is big enough
a platform, they'll go DRMless eventually—@hsivonen
@hsivonen Do you have a pointer for that?—@robinberjon
@robinberjon The channels marked in blue at http://t.co/3EDeJwZH are unscrambled. You can see movies in the schedule: http://t.co/EJZpw11t—@hsivonen
@hsivonen Very interesting, thanks!—@robinberjon
In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 03:52pm
In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 04:01pm
To further that thought, I wonder if by excluding DRM we aren't maintaining the ecosystem
that sustains it.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon How could including it do any less to maintain it?—@ndw
@ndw If it's a reason to stick to native apps, it doesn't bring those apps into the web,
and therefore may shelter them from disruption.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon I’m sort of hoping they’ll all get disrupted together. DRM would require UA collusion
so would maintain shelter I think.—@ndw
@ndw I think UAs would most likely link to lower-layer implementations (if only for licensing
reasong).—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @ndw DRM industries are in the process of killing themselves right now anyway. Solving
their problems seems unnecessary.—@tabatkins
@tabatkins I wish I were so convinced. I don't want to solve their problems, I just want world
domination. @ndw—@robinberjon
In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 04:02pm
Whereas by bringing it in, we could perform some clean and simple disrupt and destroy
operation the likes of which the Web's good at.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon oh and I think DRM is pointless, the problem is that we need new business models
(and possibly new forms of doing business)—@xquery
@xquery *Exactly* But I'm wondering if those may not be given birth to by bringing DRM into
a disruptive environment.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon perhaps all we need to do is redefine the term DRM and associated expectations—@xquery
@xquery Yes, I think that that could be a useful step.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon wondering which of those is ripe for disruption—@xquery
@robinberjon if we redefine DRM, then it follows that we redefine our 18th century notions of
copyright, patents & property ownership—@xquery
@robinberjon Ah. Well, I don’t see how. But I’m willing to accept that you have better ideas than
I do.—@ndw
@ndw I don't think that I have better ideas than you do :-p It's just a question that
I think deserves better than outright rejection.—@robinberjon
Remember to dance, everyone. Dance!
...
So it is, and so it must be
When so much depends on chance
But…
Since the music plays so briefly,
Can you blame me if I dance?
Follow the link for some wonderful verse from Cuttlefish.
→
An Atheist Is A Man Who Believes Himself To Be An Accident | The
Digital Cuttlefish
My apologies for repeating myself, but when the foes of atheism
repeat themselves, what am I to do? This past week, I have seen the
phrase which is this post's

Google+ post
In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 04:48pm
Cool visualizations. RT @TripIt "Reverse Time Machine" travel data...by @gem_ray and see all your trips in a tree map: http://t.co/664gdBhY—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 08:29pm
Hibari 1.5 is here! Multiple accounts, new notifications & shortcuts, block/mute from
timeline, t.co link support: http://t.co/srfHCghs—@HibariApp
Wednesday at 02:49am
Le Journal de mes abonnements is out! http://t.co/Y2xhmyXq ▸ Top stories today via @writebuzz @ndw @fabsintes—@dominiquepere
In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 10:36am
Okay, whoever thought that DocBook should use <para> instead of <p>, you're not very
popular with my fingers right now.—@robinberjon
@xquery Whoa, an article about someone using Emacs! In the XXIst century! That's *so* steampunk!—@robinberjon
@robinberjon Yeah. We almost changed that in DocBook 5, but decided it was a bridge too far. Heh.
No pun intended.—@ndw
@ndw Maybe we should have a DocBook / HTML convergence task force!—@robinberjon
@kiphampton I think that if I stopped trolling @ndw about DocBook he'd be a bit disoriented. There's value in consistency.—@robinberjon
@ndw I have to admit that so far I haven't come up with a decent DocBook s(n)ide-comment
for XML Prague. I'm worried. @kiphampton—@robinberjon
@robinberjon I have every confidence in you, Robin.—@ndw
@robinberjon, what do you think about whoever thought we should use DocBook instead of XHTML
then?—@evlist
@evlist Why even use XHTML? We could go with HTML5 + ReSpec, it'd rock! ;-)—@robinberjon
@robinberjon I feel your 'para'-pain, and raise you 'emphasis' vs. 'em'.—@adamretter
@adamretter At least there's a value in "emphasis" which is that you're not going to overuse
it ;)—@robinberjon
Wednesday at 12:30pm
I wonder if there’s any hope that I can put something together for this: http://t.co/uaUEpP6d—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 12:49pm
Knuth’s “Computer Musings” lectures require Silverlight!? [expletives deleted -ed]—@ndw
Wednesday at 01:12pm
Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.—@kendall
In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 03:34pm
In a conversation that started on Thursday at 05:15am
New book (http://t.co/rbKwKuLSS) launches today - along with ad campaign to reposition atheism. http://t.co/dCyDmrb9—@alaindebotton
@alaindebotton I doubt it. I fear the best bits are inextricably tied to woo, repression of critical
thought, etc. Nice architecture, though—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Thursday at 07:56am
"I think there's just too much XML processing in there for this day and age." -- Looks
like I have just found the right #Scala book to buy.—@vojtechtoman
@vojtechtoman Which one?—@ndw
@ndwhttp://t.co/GPYUU17SS, but I think I'll go for Odersky's "official" one in the end.—@vojtechtoman
@vojtechtoman I got the O’Reilly one. Worked for me.—@ndw
@vojtechtoman :), but the Odersky book is better than Subramaniam's—@inigos
@inigos I just liked that quote. But I think you are right.—@vojtechtoman
Thursday at 11:04am
In a conversation that started on Thursday at 12:41pm
I love http://t.co/s4o25xua although a version where it would make whizzy "I'm hacking your bank account" graphics
would be better.—@tommorris
Thursday at 03:09pm
Thursday at 04:43pm
Thursday at 04:46pm
Like the time I lost change behind the sofa cushions. Romney says omitting $3M from
financial disclosures was "trivial" http://t.co/bqKq0HnQ—@ndw
Bloody heck. My better half finally enters the 21st centuray and
gets smart phone: T-Mobile myTouch.
Why the hell doesn't it have an option to limit which groups of
contacts sync with the phone?
(I've looked around on the web, but not yet found a technique that
appears to work for this phone. SIGH)
Google+ post
Friday at 01:11am
Friday at 01:11am
In a conversation that started on Friday at 03:30am
Question is: could non-believers learn from some (note some) of the best practices
of believers? Religionforatheists.com—@alaindebotton
@alaindebotton of course, such as the capacity to allow awe—@JohnDobbin
@alaindebotton I suppose if they happened to have some practical skill independent of their belief
in imaginary things, they could teach it.—@ndw
Friday at 04:57am
Xml Techno is out! http://t.co/uKBUc9XK ▸ Top stories today via @arth2o @ndw @assuran_coding @czantany @raphox—@dominiquepere
In a conversation that started on Friday at 07:54am
Here's what I want to know: wd Twitter censor #occupy tweets in NYC? Davis? Oakland? Play this game & you lose. http://t.co/du1k05hu—@mikeloukides
@mikeloukides Yes, they would. They will if pressured sufficiently. There’s no other interpretation
of the changes.—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 08:01am
"Nothing gets the ladies hotter than software development analogies." - Dr. Leonard
Leakey Hofstatder, #tbbt—@mollydotcom
@mollydotcom *chuckle* Love those guys.—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 09:34am
Dressed as a member of the buttoning class for three days in a row. What is the world
coming to?—@abdelazer
Friday at 09:55am
I can hardly run away fast enough. RT @macappstorm Is iOS the Future of the Mac? http://t.co/GiOIZcJb—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 11:01am
@hibariapp Any chance we’ll get the ability to change API endpoints so that Hibari can be pointed
at, for example, http://t.co/VM3IeXfGG?—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 11:36am
Newt is factually wrong to call gay marriage "pagan"; but even if you showed him that
he's wrong, he wouldn't stop saying it.—@kendall
Friday at 12:51pm
This is a galaxy. http://t.co/66IZWVg2—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 01:25pm
I swore I’d never fly them again after encountering them. Not that I think my boycott
had any impact. http://t.co/uZbOiMlg—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 01:51pm
Grrr, annoyed that 0 is falsey in Python—@edd
In a conversation that started on Friday at 01:53pm
What if you could go back to Nixon's 71 declaration of War on Drugs & explain the
disaster that prohibition would entail?—@doctorow
@doctorow thousands of lives would've been saved in Mexico—@gabrielsaldana
In a conversation that started on Friday at 03:16pm
Fast survey: Is your main development PC a laptop, desktop or tablet? Is your main
pointing device mouse, trackpad or touch screen? Thanks.—@petecordell
@petecordell A PC with a trackpad.—@ndw
@ndw Ah, an exception (so far). Thanks Norman.—@petecordell
Friday at 03:18pm
Maybe.—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Friday at 03:50pm
Saturday at 04:50pm
Found six bottles of my Imperial Stout in the basement. Aged for ~16 months, it’s
really quite good. #ifidosaysomyself—@ndw
In a conversation that started on Sunday at 03:32pm
Oh my God. Check where CNN has put London on the map. http://t.co/TRg2hP9V—@mrlukerobinson
@benosteen @mrlukerobinson LOL. I had no idea my mom lived so close to London. That’s going to make the commute
next Monday so much nicer!—@ndw
Sunday at 05:02pm
Sunday at 05:36pm
Odd. Stopped following someone and days later they’re *still* turning up in my tweet
stream. And still wrong, but that’s not surprising.—@ndw