The short-form week of 13–19 Aug 2012

20 Aug 2012; last modified 21 Aug 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 Sunday at 01:35pm

At Dorval airport, waiting to board a plane to JFK.—@sgmlguru
@sgmlguru Paris seems like a strange connection between Montreal and New York!—@ndw
@ndw ???—@sgmlguru
@sgmlguru Brain cramp. Dorval is not Charles de Gaulle. :)—@ndw
@ndw Ah. And here I thought I had missed something obvious. :-D—@sgmlguru

Monday at 12:51am

Or, I can't decide whether to drive my $2.5 billion robot east or west today. #fourthworldproblems—@marsroverdriver

Monday at 04:02am

Liven things up by substituting "Cloud" with "Clown". "Our infrastructure runs on the clown" "I'm a clown expert" "This is clown based"—@edent

Monday at 09:43am

GOP governance: 1. Do awful thing over strenuous objection of yr opponent; 2. wait a while...; 3. blame opponent for effects of awful thing.—@kendall

In a conversation that started on Monday at 12:13pm

i blame hotel wifi. might have to get my own uplink. suggestions? MiFi?—@peteaven
@peteaven MiFi works in the US. Tethering your Android mobile also works.—@ndw
@ndw do you use MiFi? It gets mixed reviews on the intertubes. I'm guessin you tether the droid- which is NOT innuendo for anything btw :)—@peteaven
@peteaven I have a separate Verizon MiFi device. It’s worked fine for me everywhere I’ve tried it. Verizon gets good US coverage.—@ndw
@ndw I'm glad to see that our MiFi is working for you! If you have any questions for us, @peteaven, let us know! http://t.co/AneZwP6P ^AE—@VZWSupport
@ndw cool. thanks. i'll check it out.—@peteaven
@ndw @peteaven +1 on Android tethering. My Droid Razr is fast in LTE areas and can receive calls when tethered (not true with prev phone).—@jclip
@jclip @ndw Good to know, thanks! I'm currently rockin the iPhone, but my requirement is a level of online access I can rely on.—@peteaven

Monday at 04:19pm

non fuquiter: Profanity unconnected to the current public context.—@kplawver

Tuesday at 02:58am

RT @apb1704: @ndw 's XQuery-OAuth with minor changes for #basex https://t.co/zq9hA41S—@micheee

Tuesday at 03:24am

RT @apb1704: @ndw 's XQuery-OAuth with minor changes for #basex https://t.co/zq9hA41S—@xquery

In a conversation that started on Tuesday at 11:00am

In openjdk 1.6.0, javax.xml.stream.XMLOutputFactory doesn’t have the documented newFactory() method? Say what? #java—@ndw
@ndw #openjdk #just-doesnt-work ... sorry :(—@DALDEI

Tuesday at 11:01am

RT @ndw In openjdk 1.6.0, javax.xml.stream.XMLOutputFactory doesn’t have the documented newFactory() method? Say what? #java—@jQueryJavaBot

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 05:52am

I wrote my first app with @angularjs — it's very much amazing. I highly recommend JS geeks give it a spin.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon re @angularjs ... any reasons specifically why (like binding controller to a specific html element ?)—@xquery
@xquery It handles data binding very smoothly, you don't get lost in layers of weird syntax as with Knockout.—@robinberjon
@xquery It manages models in a far more JavaScriptish manner (you just set attributes) than Backbone, with smart deferreds.—@robinberjon
@xquery And Inversion of Control rocks my socks.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon cheers!—@xquery
@xquery I also think that it would be very easily to generate code exposing a CouchDB, at least for the basics of a CouchApp, with it.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon All those ng-* attributes don't look like standard HTML5… ?—@JeniT
@JeniT Also, there are alternative syntaxes that you can use if validity is important (something I never much agreed with ;)—@robinberjon
@robinberjon Just adding data- at the start of each of the attributes would do it. Doesn't seem too big a barrier.—@JeniT
@JeniT The question is: why require that of everyone?—@robinberjon
@robinberjon I think you know the answer.—@JeniT
@JeniT I honestly actually don't! I don't think that document-based validity is a useful constraint on applications.—@robinberjon
@robinberjon It means those attribute names are forever reserved, and standards wonks have to know about them to avoid them.—@JeniT
@JeniT That's only a genuine problem if such usage is on a slippery slope :-D—@robinberjon
@robinberjon ie it's fine for Google to do it here, so long as no one else does it too (and no one would, because no one copies Google)?—@JeniT
@JeniT HTML's extensibility should not be limited to W3C/WHAT, and yet namespaces are out. So what else is there?—@robinberjon
@robinberjon Is the only objection to data-* the burden for developers of typing of five additional characters per attribute?—@JeniT
@JeniT data-* is great for a few small parameters but it's not an extensibility model. HTML must be extensible by all.—@robinberjon
@JeniT Partly yes: language ergonomics matter a whole lot! But also, using data-* only solves the collision issue for standards, not devs.—@robinberjon
@JeniT it's the XML vision done differently, who knows maybe even right :-) Cross-pollination and all that!—@robinberjon
@robinberjon you're saying that putting ng- instead of data-ng- or ng: at the beginning of an attribute name is extensibility done right?—@JeniT
@JeniT @robinberjon HTML extensibility/validity stories always make me want to go back to bed and cry. Or get a job digging ditches. %#$#@!—@ndw
@ndw Going to TPAC? I'll explain why it rocks. Both HTML DE and a job digging ditches ;-) @JeniT—@robinberjon
@robinberjon Are you buying the drinks?—@ndw
@ndw Am I ever not? Either way, I think you'll be wanting to buy me at least one by then ;-)—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @ndw ummmm ... me too (doing both drinking and buying) ... have you folks booked TPAC hotel yet ?—@xquery
@xquery Not yet, I'm waiting to confirm new Mission() before booking anything. But I'll be there no matter what! @ndw—@robinberjon
@xquery @robinberjon Hotel. That’s a good question. Uh. I have airline tickets. :-)—@ndw
@JeniT If you know of a way of getting ng: I'm all ears. Then ng- and data-ng- are just the same. So given a component model with which...—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @JeniT ng- can be made formally valid if you write "applicable specification" for this. Kind of DE backdoor in HTML5—@jirkakosek
@jirkakosek And adding Web Components to the mix you get a front door to DE. That's what NG is experimenting towards, and nicely too. @JeniT—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @JeniT Still it seems that some HTML5 folks are completely against this distributed extensibility https://t.co/gehDddzI—@jirkakosek
@jirkakosek What I'd like is for Components to be identifiable in such a way that they can be later supported directly by the UA... @JeniT—@robinberjon
@jirkakosek …in such a way that the UA does not need to load the code if it's a recognised component. This gives DE + evolution. @JeniT—@robinberjon
@robinberjon @JeniT But angular uses unprefixed custom elements - this will not scale and can easily create conflicts with other custom elms—@jirkakosek
@jirkakosek @robinberjon @JeniT Yes, but it doesn’t require any formal acknowledgement of DE, so it’s better. It’s better. It must be.—@ndw
@ndw That's actually unfair, Angular works with ng: namespaces if you want it to! @jirkakosek @JeniT—@robinberjon
@jirkakosek Unless you were given a declarative way of spawning these elements to life within the context of a page. @JeniT—@robinberjon
@JeniT ...to declare things, yes, it's the best model I can think of. Alternatives welcome!—@robinberjon
@JeniT More importantly, given declarative component bindings you can discover what is extended such that no one is tied at all.—@robinberjon
@JeniT The problematic impact depends in part on how widespread it is, yes (though that's independent of whether it's Google). Libs converge—@robinberjon
@JeniT Applications are bundles — they are by nature meaningless if you remove some of their resources.—@robinberjon
@JeniT Right, in the maybe five times that I checked it out and wrote it off as a bad idea that was one of the red flags.—@robinberjon
@JeniT But they make a good case that component-extended HTML is the future and that's an idea that I fully agree with.—@robinberjon

Wednesday at 08:25am

Curiosity is sending us hi-res photographs of *another planet*.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 08:57am

Can I cfg a (linux) laptop, on the network wirelessly, to extend that network over it’s wired connection to another device?—@ndw
@ndw yup. I have done it before. Takes 5 seconds on a Mac… a lot longer on Linux :-)—@hungarianhc
@ndw do you mean “is it physically possible?” or “do I know the magic words?” It’s definitely physically possible. Dunno about the magic.—@fidothe
@fidothe If it’s physically possible, then yes, I want the magic words :-)—@ndw
@ndw you want bridging: mostly the brctl command. exact setup depends on your distro - there are many howtos of varying quality...—@fidothe
@ndw Needs to be a router or switch? Ignore the wifi aspect Norm?—@dpawson
@dpawson @pdxleif I want the device on the wired connection to be on the same subnet, not double NATed, so that broadcast protocols work—@ndw
@ndw You could bridge or NAT them.—@pdxleif
@ndw Yes you can, in a theoretical sense. Damn fiddly and hard. Buy a network bridge instead - I have one one in my home office.—@jpcs

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 03:04pm

looking at "#JSON Patch" http://t.co/v2yXJyUF ; anybody having seen that for #XML and/or interested in having the same kind of thing?—@dret
@dret there is an rfc; see refs. However, am not finding implementations. Yet.—@mnot
@mnot maybe the step from RFC 5261 (iff it is a good starting point) to an actual "#XML Patch" media type would be a rather small one?—@dret
@dret maybe. I have to take a good look at it. XML is going to be a lot more complex...—@mnot
@mnot #XML patch is more complex than #JSON, but maybe all that's required is a media type wrapping RFC5261 into a well-defined format.—@dret
@dret I hear you. Just not sure they take a good approach (need to look). The potential win is big, tho. Work with me? :)—@mnot
@mnot @dret Not sure I saw the whole thread, but it sounds interesting. If you’re looking for another interested party...—@ndw
@ndw @dret let's do it. Github? I have an org we can use...—@mnot
@mnot @ndw sounds like a plan to me. first order of business: find RFC 5261 implementations and possible formats they may have invented.—@dret
@mnot we need "#XML Patch", so we might as well do it well. iff RFC5261 provides the right feature set, i'd like to start such a draft.—@dret
@mnot there's http://t.co/y29fwXdm but it's a framework and not an actual media type you could implement/use in an interoperable way.—@dret

In a conversation that started on Wednesday at 06:49pm

I think http://t.co/pdKz50uo is one of the nicest things I’ve found online in a while. Don’t remember who it came /via. #zenpencils—@ndw
apparently we-re not ready for that RT @ndw I think http://t.co/CQA6Rqy4 is one of the nicest things I’ve found online in a while.—@davidpflaherty
@davidpflaherty I have no idea what you mean.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 03:58am

I can't even procrastinate well today.—@sgmlguru
@sgmlguru Put it off for a while, come back to it later.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 06:27am

I have a question about vegan dating: what happens when you want to get kinky? Hold the whipped cream, cover yourself in hummus?—@tommorris
@tommorris I was going to suggest Cool Whip, but apparently that now has actual milk in it. Who’d have guessed?—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 07:15am

Study Shows Bill Nye Was Right About CNN's Climate Coverage http://t.co/8KH2uSHI—@shelleypowers
@shelleypowers I’m shocked.—@ndw
@ndw Yeah, whoda thunk it? Their coverage is so fair...and unbiased...and stuff—@shelleypowers

Thursday at 08:09am

The real losers here are readers of LeCarre. His stuff will be so much less tense now I know you can just toggle embassy status on and off.—@mattgemmell

Thursday at 08:10am

“So be careful. Be nice to each other.” https://t.co/CNI5AHkr We’ve never met, but I’m glad you’re better, @tomcoates—@ndw

Thursday at 08:21am

Wikileaks—what used to be common journalistic practice is now a war crime. Exposing the banality of people in power is branded as terrorism.—@iA

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 08:44am

Banner at the top of the browser “Could not load Shockwave Flash”. That’s a feature, right?—@ndw
@ndw What is this, 2001? Lucky we don't need shockwave for Napster. w00t!—@peteaven

Thursday at 08:51am

Chrome on Android: “Please wait…Recalculating splines…” Really?—@ndw

Thursday at 08:56am

RT @ndw: Banner at the top of the browser “Could not load Shockwave Flash”. That’s a feature, right?—@bsletten

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 09:49am

The wrong people are in charge.—@kendall
@kendall I admire your command of understatement.—@ndw

Thursday at 10:19am

Those notes you wrote on that paper you put through the shredder? They’re gone.—@ndw

Thursday at 11:01am

#Android uses Google Calendar for it’s calendar data, right? So how the f* does it get so utterly out of sync for some appointments?—@ndw

Thursday at 04:25pm

I hate the word homophobia. It's not a phobia. You are not scared. You are an asshole.—@MorgonFreeman

Thursday at 05:04pm

Whoever named rice cakes knows nothing of cakes and must've grown up in a terrible, cakeless home.—@swalks

Thursday at 05:07pm

RT:A byte walks into the bar. The bartender asks, “Hey, what’s wrong?” “Parity error,” he replies sadly. “Yeah, you do look a bit off.”—@jjx

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 05:24pm

that awkward moment when u try to scroll down a page with C-n and a new browser window appears #emacs—@gabrielsaldana
@gabrielsaldana Surely, C-n just moves the cursor down one line.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 05:59pm

I’m having trouble seeing how the CrashPlan+ unlimited plan isn’t obviously The Right Thng(™) for backups. Goodbye TimeMachine?—@ndw
@ndw Hmm that does look good. Have you used the service yet?—@tug
@ndw re: Crashplan+ Unlimited - I love it. However, time machine is great for incremental backup / local restore - I use both!—@hungarianhc
@ndw I'm a long time @crashplan customer. Never had to do a restore (knock wood) but cus serv is great and love the seeding—@anthonyallen
@ndw thanks for the hint. I'm trying @crashplan for my big family photo mess. Dirt simple to start, onsite/offsite, cross-platform. Yay!—@dckc

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 07:27pm

@ndw #CrashPlan+ Online backups are great but ... how fast is your upband speed ?—@DALDEI
@DALDEI Part of the appeal of CrashPlan is that it can do local and/or cloud backups.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Thursday at 07:30pm

Looking at screenshots of #windows8 ... Why would I want this ?—@DALDEI
@DALDEI Was the “8” really a significant part of that tweet?—@ndw
@ndw yes unlike my geek politically correct friends I admit I like #windows xp and 7—@DALDEI
@DALDEI Nothing to do with political correctness, son, I was forced to use that thing for a couple of years. It’s just awful.—@ndw

Thursday at 07:44pm

I don't want a "consistent experience". I want the messy, adaptable service that I fell in love with. The one Twitter users helped create.—@Glinner

Thursday at 09:50pm

Amazon instant video would be a lot more interesting if it worked on (recent) #Android devices. I’m just saying.—@ndw

Friday at 05:42am

RT @ndw: Amazon instant video would be a lot more interesting if it worked on (recent) #Android devices. I’m just saying.—@isofarro

Friday at 03:35pm

I am amused to discover that "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan" is an anagram of "My Ultimate Ayn Rand Porn".—@andrewducker

Friday at 07:10pm

Nationalism. If you were born in a country, congratulations! We have a fantastic political ideology for people who were born in countries.—@flying_rodent

In a conversation that started on Friday at 07:16pm

Does anyone understand how Lucinda Williams makes her voice cracking sound like the truth of the universe?—@kendall
@kendall No, but she sure does!—@ndw
@ndw Have you seen her live? Next time for me will be the 4th. Totally besmitten with her. :>—@kendall
@kendall No, but I’m sure she’s awesome live.—@ndw
@ndw She’s in Boston on Sunday. You should see her in Austin if you can. A truly great show.—@kendall
@kendall I will keep an eye out.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 08:53pm

"Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me." - Martin Niemöller responding to inaction at Hitler's rise.—@mollydotcom
@mollydotcom Yeah, that's about the size of it.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Friday at 08:59pm

You may say I'm wrong, you may think I'm a fool, you may express to me freely all of those thoughts. I've expressed mine. Thank you.—@mollydotcom
@mollydotcom Rock on, Molly.—@ndw

Saturday at 04:00am

Philosophy and science require reason and evidence. They aren't a box of crayons for you to draw pretty pictures with.—@tommorris

In a conversation that started on Saturday at 08:00am

What is the right data model for PLM? http://t.co/cf7q1pPF #PLM #Data—@olegshilovitsky
@olegshilovitsky What about NXD like xDB for @SemanticWeb? Different than XML enabled RDB. @mpelikan @JamieXML @KellBlog @JeniT @NDW @AFALK—@avwikinomics
@avwikinomics what is xDB and NXD (sorry, I prob not familiar with this TLAs) @SemanticWeb @mpelikan @JamieXML @KellBlog @JeniT @NDW @AFALK—@olegshilovitsky
@olegshilovitsky NXD = Native XML dB that support XPath, XQuery, XQJ and XSLT @SemanticWeb @mpelikan @JamieXML @Kellblog @JeniT @ndw @afalk—@avwikinomics
@avwikinomics thanks! new TLA :). XML is an important technology. But I think RDF is a better model for data abstraction. @SemanticWeb—@olegshilovitsky
@olegshilovitsky RDF is a framework, the persistance layer would be NDX @SemanticWeb @mpelikan @JamieXML @KellBlog @JeniT @NDW @AFALK—@avwikinomics
@avwikinomics framework=model to me. you're right. Persistance storage vary @SemanticWeb @mpelikan @JamieXML @KellBlog @JeniT @NDW @AFALK—@olegshilovitsky
@olegshilovitsky Posted note on BeyondPLM, hopefully wont offend Hakan Karden @SemanticWeb @mpelikan @JamieXML @KellBlog @JeniT @NDW @AFALK—@avwikinomics
@avwikinomics @olegshilovitsky Sorry, a PLM is what when it’s at home?—@ndw

Saturday at 08:39am

So this bug happens after the process has been running for about an hour. Lovely.—@ndw

In a conversation that started on Sunday at 11:54am

“Invalid node structure” on a disk with whole-disk encryption. I don’t think this story has a happy ending.—@ndw
@ndw ya, whole disk encyrption takes far too much 'hope/faith/leap of imagination' for me to contemplate doing it #goodluck—@xquery
@xquery I’ve had no trouble at all except the one kernel update that caused a little kerfluffle.—@ndw
@xquery @ndw I switched on the whole disk encryption on my MacBook a year ago, no problems yet, lets hope I dont see any...—@adamretter
@adamretter @xquery @ndw Anyway you all have full backups, right?—@ebruchez
@ebruchez @adamretter @ndw robust rsync all the way, but I dont know how incr backup works with a fully encrypted volume, suspect it doesnt—@xquery
@xquery @adamretter @ndw In previous tweet ML == Mountain Lion, not MarkLogic ;)—@ebruchez
@xquery @adamretter @ndw Backup decrypted data to an encrypted backup. Only way (?) to do proper incremental. What Time Machine does in ML.—@ebruchez
@ebruchez @adamretter @xquery Redundantly, in multiple locations.—@ndw