posts brought to you by the category “daml”
Das eez kaput! Sometime around 2002 I spaced the entire database
table that mapped individual entries to categories. Such is life.
What follows is a random sampling of entries that were associated
with the category. Over time, the entries will be updated and then it
will be even more confusing. Wander around, though, it's still a fun
way to find stuff.
Graph Stylesheets (GSS) in IsaViz
Tomer Hanuka has some fine lines.
Dominic Mitchell : Class::DBI::toSAX.pm
Happiness is finding a new chocolate maker in the
neighbourhood.
Me : Net::ITE.pm 0.05
Subject: Re: dc language in rss
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 08:24:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Aaron Straup Cope
To: Bill Kearney
Subject: Re: dc language in rss
On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Bill Kearney wrote:
> That would indeed be a problem. You could actually mark up those
sections, even
> down to the paragraphs or even words with span tags. I shudder at the
thought
> of what most environments would DO with that data, but it's certainly
possible.
If I were a better person, I(would(learn(lisp))) and write an Emacs
minor-mode to do that. (Sadly(,(lisp(scares(me))))).
> Well, the problem is what does that element mean? What purpose is it
being used
> for? I daresay outside of Syndic8's listing of feeds by language, not
much is
> paying attention to it. So my question to you is what would you have a
reader
> program DO with multiple languages?
The short answer is : I have no idea.
The longer answer is : Who cares?
There are two issues here :
The first falls into the Foofy Grand Unifying Principles category - the
people who invented the Internet didn't know what it was going to be used
for. Why should RSS, and its tool set, presume the samething as basic and
often controversial as language?
The second falls into the Dueling Shakespeare category - RFC 1766 states
that :
"In some contexts, it is possible to have information in more than one
language, or it might be possible to provide tools for assisting in the
understanding of a language (like dictionaries).
"A prerequisite for any such function is a means of labelling the
information content with an identifier for the language in which is is
written."
But in the absense of multiple language tags, the correct answer when
prigs like me start pussing is :
<quote src = "rfc1766">
The information in the subtag may for instance be:
- Country identification, such as en-US (this usage is
described in ISO 639)
- Dialect or variant information, such as no-nynorsk or en-
cockney
- Languages not listed in ISO 639 that are not variants of
any listed language, which can be registered with the i-
prefix, such as i-cherokee
- Script variations, such as az-arabic and az-cyrillic
</quote>
Which doesn't solve everyone's problem, but can be adapted to deal with
the problem of Quebec. I chose en-quebecois, because I like the sound of
it. Sovereigntists, on the other hand will probably opt for 'en-qc' since
it implies nationhood.
Then, of course, there is the question of how to deal with representing a
weblog written by the province's allophone population (translation:
persons whose mother tongue is neither English nor French and who, in my
limited experience, often speak upward of 4-6 languages). What then?
qc-allophone?
Me : XML::Handler::RSS.pm 0.2 (nee amphetasax)
The dictified dictionary.com word of the day is : corroborate
Corroborate \Cor*rob"o*rate\ (k?r-r?b"?-r?t), v. t. [imp.
& p. p. {Corroborated} (-r?`t?d); p. pr. & vb. n.
{Corroborating} (-r?`t?ng). ] [L. corroboratus, p. p. of corroborare to
corroborate; cor- + roborare to strengthen, robur strength. See
{Robust}.] 1. To make strong, or to give additional strength to; to
strengthen. [Obs.] As any limb well and duly exercised, grows stronger,
the nerves of the body are corroborated thereby. --I. Watts. 2. To make
more certain; to confirm; to establish. The concurrence of all
corroborates the same truth. --I. Taylor.
web1913
corroborate v 1: establish or strengthen as with new
evidence or facts; "his story confirmed my doubts"; "The evidence
supports the defendant" [syn: {confirm}, {sustain}, {substantiate},
{support}, {affirm}] [ant: {negate}] 2: give evidence for [syn:
{validate}] 3: support with evidence or authority : make more certain
or confirm; "The stories and claims were born out by the evidence"
[syn: {underpin}, {bear out}, {support}]
wn
The dictified dictionary.com word of the day is : busker
busker n : a person who entertains people for money in
public places (as by singing or dancing)
wn
Me : XML::Filter::XML_Directory_Pruner.pm 1.1
All I have to say is : What is the deal with the nipple-shirt?
The dictified dictionary.com word of the day is : polyglot
Polyglot \Pol"y*glot\, n. 1. One who speaks several
languages. [R.] ``A polyglot, or good linguist.'' --Howell. 2. A book
containing several versions of the same text, or containing the same
subject matter in several languages; esp., the Scriptures in several
languages. Enriched by the publication of polyglots. --Abp. Newcome.
web1913
polyglot adj : having a command of or composed in many
languages; "a polyglot traveler"; "a polyglot Bible contains versions
in different languages" n : a person who speaks more than one language
[syn: {linguist}]
wn
From the "I don't have time for a fancy website" department : OTLML
1.1b1
Pinging through Teddy
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is : insanal
The next step up from anally retentive is insanally
retentive, where one sees obsessive-compulsive behaviour sufficient
to cause actual brain damage.
ex. Josh's habit of individually vacuum-packing used
cigarette butts, and then filing them in a diary of cigarettes
smoked, was so insanally retentive it caused a brain embolism in
several of his flatmates.
The dictified dictionary.com word of the day is :
incontrovertible
Incontrovertible \In*con`tro*ver"ti*ble\, a. Not
controvertible; too clear or certain to admit of dispute; indisputable.
--Sir T. Browne. -- {In*con`tro*ver"ti*ble*ness}, n. --
{In*con`tro*ver"ti*bly}, adv.
web1913
incontrovertible adj 1: impossible to deny or disprove;
"incontrovertible proof of the defendant's innocence"; "proof
positive"; "an irrefutable argument" [syn: {irrefutable}, {positive}]
2: necessarily or demonstrably true; "demonstrable truths" [syn:
{demonstrable}]
wn
The Art of Eating Quarterly
The random pseudodictionary.com word of the day is : adunyaha
A variation of "duh," to be used only under extreme
circumstances.
ex. A. Neil Armstrong went to the moon. B.
Adunyaha.
Jon Udell : The Event -Driven Internet
"If you and I happen to be monitoring that topic
in our browsers, the paragraph element will change interactively. But
nothing says that the parties interested in that topic are always, or
only, people running browsers. Of more general interest is the notion of
a computing fabric in which processes subscribe to events, are notified
of changes, and then take appropriate actions."
Tim Berners-Lee : "The Semantic Web is really data that is
processable by machine.
That's what the fuss is about."
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is popinjay
| source : web1913 | Yaffle \Yaf"fle\, n.
[Probably imitative of its call or cry.] (Zo["o]l.) The European green
woodpecker ({Picus, or Genius, viridis}). It is noted for its loud
laughlike note. Called also {eccle}, {hewhole}, {highhoe}, {laughing
bird}, {popinjay}, {rain bird}, {yaffil}, {yaffler}, {yaffingale},
{yappingale}, {yackel}, and {woodhack}. | source : web1913 | Popinjay
\Pop"in*jay\, n. [OE. popingay, papejay, OF. papegai, papegaut; cf. Pr.
papagai, Sp. & Pg. papagayo, It. pappagallo, LGr. ?, NGr. ?; in which
the first syllables are perhaps imitative of the bird's chatter, and the
last either fr. L. gallus cock, or the same word as E. jay, F. geai. Cf.
{Papagay}.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The green woodpecker. (b) A parrot. The pye
and popyngay speak they know not what. --Tyndale. 2. A target in the form
of a parrot. [Scot.] 3. A trifling, chattering, fop or coxcomb. ``To be
so pestered with a popinjay.'' --Shak. | source : wn | popinjay n 1: a
vain and talkative person (chatters like a parrot) 2: archaic
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is gustatory
| source : web1913 | Gustatory \Gusta*to*ry\, a.
Pertaining to, or subservient to, the sense of taste; as, the gustatory
nerve which supplies the front of the tongue. | source : wn | gustatory
adj : of or relating to gustation [syn: {gustative}, {gustatorial}]
A couple of years ago, I painted buildings.
Hunter S. Thompson : "This is going to be a very expensive war, and
Victory is not guaranteed
-- for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as
baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the
war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been
chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now. He will
declare a National Security Emergency and clamp down Hard on Everybody,
no matter where they live or why." via
doc searls
Francois Pinard : pymacs
"allows for using Python as if it were part of
Emacs LISP. I merely revisited a good idea from Cedric Adjih, who
published `pyemacs' about three years ago, and spiced with a few
simplification ideas on my own. It seems to work!"
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is skulduggery
| source : wn | skulduggery n : verbal
misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way [syn:
{trickery}, {hocus-pocus}, {slickness}, {hanky panky}, {jiggery-pokery},
{skullduggery}]
The Spread Wide Area Group Communication System
"Spread is a toolkit and daemon that provide
multicast and group communications support to applications across local
and wide area networks. Spread is designed to make it easy to write
groupware, networked multimedia, reliable server, and collaborative work
applications. ... Spread currently has programming API's for C, Java,
Perl and Ruby."
Ladies and gentlemen, the Anti-CRAP
William Gibson : "Understanding otaku -hood,
I think, is one of the keys to understanding the
culture of the web. There is something profoundly post-national about it,
extra-geographic. We are all curators, in the post-modern world, whether
we want to be or not."
The dict-ified dictionary.com word of the day is flaneur
| source : web1913 | Flaneur \Fla`neur"\, n. [F.,
fr. fl[^a]ner to stroll.] One who strolls about aimlessly; a lounger; a
loafer.
Tim Waugh : The Selfdocbook
"is a self-documenting introduction to DocBook
DocBook book. It includes its own DocBook SGML source in the appendix,
and so can be used to learn DocBook by example. ...if you see something
that you want to know how to do, you can simply flip to Appendix A to
find out how it is done."
A List Apart : Using XSLT to Transform XML
Pierre Dittgen : PalmLib
"is a set of functions that allow you to convert
text or HTML documents into 3COM PalmPilot documents. PalmLib is written
in PHP3 and can be used to provide on-the-fly document generation on Web
sites."
bibelot.pl
"is a Perl script that formats and converts text
documents into compressed PalmDoc .pdb files, suitable for reading on a
Palm or Handspring device with any standard PalmDoc reader. It was
written primarily for formatting book files from the Project Gutenberg,
but works well for most text files."
CBC : Artist Trading Cards sweep Calgary
This is pretty cool, but don't beleive the hype.
Artist trading cards have been around for a lot longer than 1998. Not to
mention the bit about "breaking down the hierarchy of the art world"
being your basic boilerpot crock of shit...
Julian Midgley : Agnostos
"is a simple web-based task management system,
allowing you to maintain a set of todo lists for a number of people,
departments and workgroups. ... The system is designed for ease and speed
of use, and is primarily intended for small companies or project groups;
it's designed simply to overcome the mental stack overflow I often
experienced working as a project manager in a small company."
RSS 1.0 Specification Proposal
mod_xslt
"is a simple Apache module to serve XML based
content."
Also in the Go Forth and Make Money department :
why has no one announced -- even as vapourware --
a cell phone
module
for my Visor?
Claude Lalumiere : A Short History of American Comic Books
I haven't seen or spoken to Claude in years, but
he used to run one of the very best comix shops ever and for that he is
The Man (not to be confused with
the man
.)
Jeffrey Simpson on The Rant
"The ad, trying to be distinctly Canadian, is
more American than the Americans. Can you imagine how high Canadians
would ride on their horses of moral indignation if an American ad ever
did a similar riff on the United States versus Canada? But then it would
never, ever occur to an American ad agency to bother, since Americans are
already convinced theirs is the best country in the world, and the
fastest way of losing an American audience is to mention the word
'Canada.' " Meanwhile, The World wonders
what are those wacky Canadians getting so excited aboot?
(real audio)
I love the randomcam.
Alan Paller : Notes from the White House
"Witt Diffie stole the show with his analogy of
DDoS attacks to the "breakdown of democracy." He said, "It's as if, Mr.
President, you lost an election, not because people voted against you,
but because someone stole votes and cast them in favor of your opponent.
... Throughout, the President asked many follow up questions and told us
how he looked at the problem (like an arms race where some people develop
weapons and other people develop defenses and the goal is to make the
time between new weapons of your enemies and the applicable defenses as
close to zero as possible)." Mr. Paller is the Director of Research at
the
SANS Institute
Norman Nie
"No one is asking the obvious questions about
what kind of world we are going to live in when the Internet becomes
ubiquitous. No one asked these questions with the advent of the
automobile, which led to unplanned suburbanization, or with the rise of
television, which led to the decline of our political parties. We hope we
can give society a chance to talk through some of these issues before the
changes take place." see also
Jon Katz : How
many hours did you work this week?
You've Got News!
Let me just say how fucking happy I am that AOL
now owns CNN. We can only hope they will make news as palatable and easy
to swallow as they've made the Internet. (In fairness, CNN was doing a
pretty good job already.)
The Global Film School
"As the film and television production community
embraces digitization, it is our obligation as teaching institutions to
ensure that the next generation of storytellers are able to work freely,
creatively and efficiently in any environment whether that is physically
on a film set or virtually at a computer terminal." I'm normally not a
big fan of "distance-education" but, at a glance, online film and
television studies seems like an endeavour that could become greater than
the sum of its parts. What I really want to know, howver, is how the web
designers for this site talked their way into using "lateral scrolling"
(ick!)
Electronic Privacy Information Center : Surfer Beware III
"For the purpose of this survey, we looked at
several elements of the Fair Information Practices, including the ability
to find the privacy policy of an e-commerce site, whether personal
information is collected and used with the consent of the consumer,
whether the consumer is able to access and correct such information,
whether the information is limited to those uses for which the
information was given, and whether the purposes for which information
will be used are specified."
View Source : The JavaScript Tree Component
"The free-to-the-public JavaScript Tree component
enables you to build customized tree hierarchies made up of pure
cross-browser Dynamic HTML (DHTML) using object-oriented JavaScript. By
providing the tree hierarchy that's common in most graphical user
interfaces (GUIs), this component can improve both the navigation and the
real estate of your web pages." It looks pretty cool, although it
requires that Java be enabled, which seems like a sure-fire way to make
JavaScript even more annoying than it already is.
Richard Martineau : La barbarie à visage humain
"...[Lafond] interroge le rôle des médias à l'ère
des génocides organisés. À quoi sert un réseau comme CNN s'il ne peut
stopper les massacres? Vaut-il mieux fermer notre télé? L'aide
humanitaire est-elle en train de devenir un spectacle?"
Grappa
Friends are great, but friends are better when
they enjoy drinking grappa with you. A word of advice to those who still
play drinking games: grappa should never ever be your weapon of choice
unless you are supremely confident of victory. (I speak from experience,
having weathered a particularly ugly and painful defeat at the hands of a
backgammon wizard.) It does, however, make for <a href =
"http://aaronland.net/weblog/grappa_cake.shtml">excellent
chocolate cake</a>.
The other day
Jeff sent me some kind words about the
aaronland
site (thanks!) He commented that it had a "nice anti-technology" feel to
it. I guess I can understand why, but I would like state publicly that I
am not anti-technology. Witness the bicycle. What I do have a problem
with is the idea that technology (these days it's The Network) somehow
springs springs forth from our brow, fully formed, ushering us to greater
and greater salvation. If the old saw goes: "Technology doesn't kill
people, people with technology kill people", then I want to know why so
often we let ourselves be led blindly by it and are so eager to erase the
past lest it offer some good reason to tread lightly. I do not accept
that it is without consequences we may regret, nor that simple blind
enthusiasm will see us through whatever Utopian blunder we dream up next.
Thomas Friedman : Was Kosovo World War III?
Road Tripping
Josey Vogels reviews the Bad Girl's Guide. "The
BGG tells you how to come up with a road name by combining what you had
for breakfast with the name of the last place you peed by the road. If
Waffles Minnesota doesn?t suit, try your homemade porn name. Combine the
name of your first pet and your mother's maiden name (Uh, that?d make me
Mandy Koks, not bad). " Meanwhile, This American Life
debunks the myth
of being On The Road
.
wtf?
-
dude, where's my car
This document uses
CSS
kung-fu and a small amount of JavaScript for rendering its
contents. Efforts have been made to separate the form from the
content so if you are viewing this in a text-based browser it
shouldn't be an issue.
On the other hand it may look funny if you are viewing it in a
browser with incomplete
CSS
and/or JavaScript implementations. Internet Explorer 6 comes to
mind.
It's not that I don't love you. However, my time is limited and
I no longer feel very good about spending it working around any one
browser's inconsistencies with little, or no, confidence that they
will ever be fixed or otherwise made more inconsistent at some
later date.
On the other hand, if something is down-right
unreadable
please let me know and I will endeavour to fix it.
-
yes, we have no bananas
This page may not validate. It's not that I don't care, it's
just that I'm not aware of it yet. Part of the reason that I
rewrote the entire back-end for managing this site is that the old
stuff made it too easy for these kinds of mistakes to slip through
the cracks.
See also :
W3C::LogValidator.pm
-
it's the software, stupid
Use the source, Luke.
