The short-form week of 30 Jan–5 Feb 2012

06 Feb 2012; last modified 09 Feb 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 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
@ndw Did you get answer to your question? 'Bad line breaking before '+''. But '\' causes problems. How do you do multiline statements in JS?—@sonmez_nyt

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 On review, I was an exception because I answered incorrectly. I use a laptop with a trackpad.—@ndw
@ndw That still makes you an exception Norman! Seems most developers attach a mouse if they use a laptop, which is what I wanted to explore—@petecordell
@petecordell Ah. No. Nothing that takes my fingers off the home row. I prefer(red) the stick, but I’ve gotten used to the trackpad. Mostly.—@ndw
@ndw Am I right in remembering that you're an Emacs man? What about Eclipse, VStudio etc?—@petecordell
@petecordell Emacs all the way. Well, most of the way. I finally caved and switched to IntelliJ for Java development. Everything else: emacs—@ndw
@ndw Ah ha, thanks. I used to be able to work vi, but modern IDEs have dumbed me down!—@petecordell
@petecordell A PC with a trackpad.—@ndw
@ndw Ah, an exception (so far). Thanks Norman.—@petecordell

In a conversation that started on Monday at 05:24am

Jikes, only 10 submissions! RT @xmlprague: submit your @MarkLogic demojam http://t.co/lov7qnco at #xmlprague win ipad2 !—@grtjn
@xmlprague @grtjn Eight slots left. Shout if you want in #XMLPrague #DemoJam —@ndw
@ndw @xmlprague @grtjn I have to find out if my talk is Sunday AM before I sign up ;-)—@adamretter
@adamretter its Sunday, half past 1100 currently but could change ;) as its not quite finalized—@xmlprague
@adamretter Sure. Because it’s *giving the demo* that will make Sunday morning so difficult. Heh.—@ndw
@ndw Im just worried that I might be too sober when im giving my talk!—@adamretter
@ndw Still pondering about the topic, but sign me up anyhow. Better safe than sorrow.. :-P cc: @xmlprague @adamretter @wcandillon —@grtjn

Monday at 09:00am

@ndw, @Virgil_O, @annajayne, @dshevchenko_biz, @snikulov, @NitinPathak, @VenkLampard Re survey: Mix desktop & laptop but most devs use mouse—@petecordell

Monday at 12:25pm

#xmlprague #marklogic demojam deets at http://t.co/CekPoNcF - hit up @ndw to enter—@eedeebee

Monday at 01:09pm

Via @ndw: #WSJ accepts global warming critique from non-experts, rejects correction from experts. http://t.co/XlsM1j9d —@noahmendelsohn

In a conversation that started on Monday at 03:35pm

Unsubscribed from all my Mac-related Atom/RSS feeds. No point looking forward in that ecosystem.—@ndw
@ndw +1—@vogella
@ndw Out of curiosity, are you doing the same for Google? (ala: http://t.co/EKr3BtXdd) We're all losing allies in the good fight.—@soypunk
@soypunk No. I haven’t gone there. Yet.—@ndw

Monday at 04:05pm

Just realized I have to write the presentation for @hunterhacker’s XML Prague talk. Glad I remembered that *this* week.—@ndw

Monday at 05:03pm

I’ve been building monthly calendars for years with SVG+Photoshop fiddling. Why the hell haven’t I just been doing it all in SVG? #blush —@ndw

Monday at 05:06pm

If focus is in your VMWare session and RedHand activates the screen saver, you’re screwed. ssh+ps+kill are your friends.—@ndw

Monday at 05:32pm

That time when I said it was never too cold outside to grill? I was full of ....!—@ndw

Monday at 08:19pm

RT @ndw: Unsubscribed from all my Mac-related Atom/RSS feeds. No point looking forward in that ecosystem.—@karlpro

Tuesday at 12:59pm

You do realize Skynet is Emacs, right? All this iPhone stuff is just a smokescreen.—@edd

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 01:45pm

Going...going...there are now six slots left for #demojam at @xmlprague —@ndw
@ndw couldn't get approval to go to xmlprague. Sorry I'll miss you all and the DocBook day. Hoping for Balisage at this point...—@shudson310
@shudson310 DocBook day isn’t happening, so you can feel better you’re not missing that.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 02:07pm

If I fear that Yahoo are slowly killing Flickr, do I move my photos to another service or host them myself?—@ndw
@ndw Both (kinda). http://t.co/8Pw6VnWg —@lmorchard
@lmorchard @ndw I assure you that no one here at Flickr is going to let anyone kill Flickr.—@dokas
@dokas FWIW, I still have a Flickr Pro account, but interested in hedging my bets—@lmorchard
@lmorchard @ndw Understandable! I’m just doing my part to assure folks that despite how blogs frame it the sky is not in fact falling.—@dokas
@lmorchard Oh, very cool. Thanks!—@ndw
@ndw I think it's early days yet, for that service. But, it's open source and its founder quit Yahoo! to start it—@lmorchard
Anyone got an openphoto.me invite code to share? /cc @lmorchard —@ndw
@ndw Hmm, I have no openphoto invite codes, but I got my invite about 5 days after I requested one—@lmorchard
@lmorchard Cool. I got email suggesting one would be on the way. Thanks!—@ndw
@ndw several people have moved to http://t.co/wcK2wzP2 I have an account there but still use Flickr for the moment—@tug
@tug Yeah. The 500px site seems to strongly suggest you only upload really good shots, not all of them.—@ndw
@ndw @al3xbrown yes that's one of the resons I'm sticking with Flickr for the moment - a couple of the groups are useful too.—@tug

Tuesday at 02:09pm

RT @ndw: If I fear Yahoo is slowly killing Flickr, do I move my photos to another service/host them myself? #digitalcuration —@TAC_NISO

Tuesday at 02:15pm

Hiring tip. If you think you need Ruby programmers, you're wrong. What you need are _programmers_. The language is irrelevant.—@unclebobmartin

Tuesday at 02:42pm

@tug @ndw hway, but if 500px is for your best work, where to put family snaps etc? (for me, flickr)—@al3xbrown

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 02:53pm

@xmlprague flight booked - now need to avoid Czech Republic tweets that could be misinterpreted: http://t.co/jFv8hyAL —@inigos
.@inigos If you’re arriving Thursday afternoon at about 6:30p, I’m game to share a ride. #xmlprague #openinvitation —@ndw
@ndw sadly I'm arriving Friday afternoon instead. See you there!—@inigos

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

What is this "super" bowl that people are talking about?—@mnot
@mnot Not sure, but I think it involves an oblate spheroid made of animal hide.—@ndw
@ndw Oh - footy!—@mnot

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 03:27pm

Yay - Hotel and Flights and now booked for Prague :-)—@adamretter
@adamretter Not that you waited until the last minute or anything.—@ndw
@ndw When your a one many show - thats how you roll ;-)—@adamretter
@adamretter Because you don’t have to get anyone’s approval for the more expensive air fare and hotels? Sweet. Business class <ducks/>?—@ndw
@ndw Dude - er… whats business class? I thought it was just a rumour that big companies use to draw in new people ;-)—@adamretter

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 03:44pm

this thing is stuck in my head http://t.co/9LrXTDYm —@psd
@psd I’m glad that link didn’t take me to a pic of a railroad spike. :-) That said, I have no idea how to interpret what it did take me to.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 05:58pm

I used to think that #refactoring other peoples code made me stronger, now I just think it slows down my productivity and makes me :-(—@adamretter
@adamretter You saw this today, I assume? http://t.co/plqVlMVF —@ndw
@ndw I have now :-)—@adamretter

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 06:28pm

Remember my comment about SVG Calendars. This. https://t.co/CSpRhulM—@ndw
@ndw Looks interesting, but the host http://t.co/pkmQMcv9 is not found for me.—@larsga
@larsga Oh, that’s a total typo. You want http://t.co/7zbshaUr —@ndw
@ndw Thanks! :)—@larsga

Wednesday at 12:47pm

#XProc and #MarkLogic, two great tastes that go great together! RT @philipfennell Tomorrow I'll be presenting at MUGL http://t.co/ipqBXuvA —@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:35pm

“The worst app on my [phone] is this thing called “Phone” where I have to speak synchronously with other humans” /via @jahendler —@ndw
Amen "@ndw The worst app on my [phone] is this thing called “Phone” where I have to speak synchronously with other humans” /via @jahendler —@armitage__

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 01:55pm

RT @joshbloch: 2/1/12 is palindrome day! "A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal -- Panama!" -- Guy Jacobson—@ndw
@ndw 2/1/12 - so last month :-)—@jorabin
@ndw: FWIW, we've already had 21/1/12.—@MenteaXML

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 02:32pm

My wireless router just “goes away” for hours at a time. When it’s gone, is there any sort of debugging I can do to figure out WTF!?—@ndw
@ndw -- isn't it cheaper these days to buy a new router than debug that one?—@patrickdlogan
@patrickdlogan Not several times a year!—@ndw
@ndw -- that's v.bad luck with routers!—@patrickdlogan
@ndw "Have you tried switching it off and back on again" #ITCrowd —@svgeesus
@svgeesus *Snort* Yes. And that usually fixes it for “a while”. But seriously, WTF?—@ndw

Wednesday at 03:06pm

For all your earworm needs: http://t.co/1dJgYiz7 —@ndw

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

Because you can never have too many wireless problems: no my Linux laptop has decided not to connect. Everything *else* does...sigh.—@ndw
@ndw I have sometimes had trouble with Linux (fedora) and 802.11n. Try disabling it at the ÂP perhaps.—@mistysj
@ndw I've had this a couple of times,and running Windows once fixed it. Seems some Linux drivers don't completely reset hardware.—@mvahowe
@mvahowe I power-cycled the laptop thinking that might be the problem. But I’ll give it a try ... I think the linux drivers are just borked—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 04:56pm

Come on, @linuxjournal! Is it so hard to make an .epub file? What’s the most important characteristic of a unique identifier? Go on, guess!—@ndw
@ndw @linuxjournal They send me links to epub, mobi, Android, iPhone, and pdf. Strangely, the pdf is at the top & others hidden @ the end.—@cramerdw
@cramerdw @linuxjournal The problem is the epub is borked.—@ndw
@ndw @linuxjournal Ah, I use the Android app and haven't had any problems.—@cramerdw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 05:00pm

I’m finding it hard to justify the @linuxjournal subscription renewal when they make reading the magazine so damned hard.—@ndw
@ndw @linuxjournal Which format are you reading in?—@cramerdw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 07:56pm

To all XML lovers who like their "contracts" - XML has no data types. JSON has. You're at the mercy of DTDs and schemas for types.—@sallamar
@sallamar And such rich data types too! Dates, URIs, signed and unsigned integers and floats. It's a veritable pot pourri!—@ndw

Wednesday at 10:09pm

Must. Have. http://t.co/hNHxgvru —@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 10:17pm

Wher do Christian dating services, wacko conspiracy theorists, and gene sequencing technologies appear side by side?—@ndw
@ndw Wher do Christian dating services, wacko conspiracy theorists, and gene sequencing technologies appear side by side? <-- Facebook?—@mvahowe

Thursday at 04:57am

Xml Techno is out! http://t.co/uKBUc9XK ▸ Top stories today via @ndw @jonasingvar —@dominiquepere

Thursday at 05:44am

Nothing makes me laugh more bitterly than watching the studios and labels pretend that things like #SOPA are about "protecting artists"—@kiphampton

Thursday at 05:55am

the MPAA claiming SOPA "protects artists" is like KFC claiming the 12-piece bucket "protects chickens"—@kiphampton

Thursday at 06:57am

Facebook’s probably true too, though I was thinking of the algorithm generated advertising on skeptic/reason weblog pages.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 07:13am

Must. Watch: RT @ndw Must. Have. http://t.co/19LDb7dY —@hadleynet
@hadleynet Ordered.—@ndw
@ndw You are a brave man. In lieu of in-person participation, please post before, during and after photos ! Maybe save a sample for #xmlss ?—@hadleynet
@hadleynet Lol. Sure, I’ll plan to bring some to #xmlss. I’ll leave them in a little bowl in the college bar.—@ndw

Thursday at 08:21am

"Not being in a state to deploy is a matter of liability. It's like having the only fire exit blocked. You ignore it at everyone's peril."—@kellan

Thursday at 10:46am

Wish I could filter out every Facebook mention from my Twitter timeline for the next few days #WeGetItFacebookIsHavingAnIPO —@Carnage4Life

Thursday at 11:14am

Was going to rent a movie on my Android tablet, just to try the experience, but Groundhog Day isn’t available. Oh, well.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 11:30am

Good photog advice (I need to do this better): http://t.co/DV7IlBtl —@sincladk
@johnsonch @sincladk Me too. I keep way too many.—@ndw

Thursday at 12:27pm

As soon as the GOP finishes their war on women, they should work on our crumbling roads and bridges; a zygote could get hurt. #p2 #p21 —@pari_passu

Thursday at 01:47pm

@ndw happiest in a world where only None and False are falsey—@maulanadm4

Thursday at 01:47pm

@ndw couldn't get approval to go to xmlprague. Sorry I'll miss you all and the DocBook day. Hoping for Balisage at this point...—@mauriciozk8

Thursday at 01:47pm

@ndw -- isn't it cheaper these days to buy a new router than debug that one?—@passs4

Thursday at 04:29pm

I really enjoy the Math Notes at Futility Closet, http://t.co/qCZpLgRZ —@ndw

Thursday at 04:31pm

It’s a dumb meme, but this one was cleverer than I expected. Sh*t programmers say: http://t.co/ghiFj8QR —@ndw

Thursday at 06:08pm

Friends don't let friends use PHP. In fact, friends kidnap friends who use PHP and lock them in the basement for counterprogramming.—@zarfeblong

In a conversation that started on Friday at 07:28am

Hey, @philipfennell, how’d the #MUGL talk go last night? Any slides/notes/random thoughts published anywhere for those of us an ocean away?—@ndw
@ndw The 'XProc with MarkLogic' talk went Ok. Have a look on Github: http://t.co/bOLWOhPY I've put slides and code in xproc-libraries.—@philipfennell
@philipfennell Cool. Thanks.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 08:05am

Alfred 1.1 second development release: http://t.co/ZJeiOwRr - looking good for pre-release as early as Monday :)—@alfredapp
“Install and Relaunch”? Click! Life on the bleeding edge! Alfred 1.1 /via @alfredapp —@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 10:18am

Poll for #xmlprague: would you prefer the HTML/XML panel to be more inflammatory or cooperative?—@robinberjon
@robinberjon cooperative.—@karlpro
@robinberjon inflammatory like the vi vs emacs debate ;-)—@adamretter
@adamretter @robinberjon Lovely.—@ndw

Friday at 10:42am

Further proof (as if it was needed) that #Emacs is #the #awesome. http://t.co/mKpEi3Tr #git #magit /via @jzawodn —@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 11:37am

Hey, @robinberjon, have you given the presentation for our session any thought? (He asks, busily trying to bang out a different one)—@ndw
@ndw Nope! I can bang some slides together, but we have to agree on a split of some kind.—@robinberjon

Friday at 12:44pm

Nice work! RT @philipfennell: @ndw The XProc with MarkLogic talk went Ok. I've put slides and code in xproc-libraries. http://t.co/4BZ8L243 —@grtjn

Friday at 03:59pm

I *love* my Pygments extension, http://t.co/UYFBnPPj —@ndw

Friday at 04:18pm

Some people see a problem and think "I know, I'll use Java!" Now they have a ProblemFactory.—@Lonnen

In a conversation that started on Friday at 10:32pm

Dr Strangelove stands up well 40+ years on. Still funny because the characters could so easily be true. Well, most of them.—@ndw
@ndw Rewatched Strangelove last year. Still brilliant. Amazingly, my son (16 at the time) got it. Yee haw!—@walterunderwood
@ndw All of them!—@joskoui

In a conversation that started on Saturday at 04:35pm

Leaving for Prague soon.—@muratamakoto
@muratamakoto glad that you can make it! safe travels—@xquery
.@muratamakoto See you there! I leave tomorrow. #xmlprague —@ndw

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 08:48am

Mom says 3" of snow near Norwich, but I'm sure my LST-NRW train will run fine tomorrow, right? (He asks without any particular optimism.)—@ndw
@ndw I should think the trains will be okay tomorrow, barring more snow ...—@al3xbrown
@al3xbrown @ndw depends on what your baseline of 'ok' is .. the trains in the UK have been far from 'ok' for many years in my grumpy opinion—@xquery
@ndw it's not looking good: http://t.co/QqWJOIDy —@savs

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 02:27pm

From the gloating by the anti-labor folks I follow, looks like the Superbowl will see the first deployments of the Right Wing's Big Lie ads.—@whump
@whump One more reason to be glad I don't have to suffer through it I guess.—@ndw

Sunday at 07:05pm

Just a reminder to my American friends and followers on Twitter, your government supplied the 210 tons of tear gas we're now sniffing #Egypt —@RashaAbdulla

Sunday at 07:57pm

Finally boarding UA 918. Next (scheduled, if I was being pedantic) stop LHR.—@ndw