dsandler.org

After several weeks of heavy hacking on my research project, things are finally starting to fall into place:

“I love it when a plan comes together.”

The upcoming software upgrade works along those lines. When fast-forwarding through a batch of ads, some commercials will sprout a pop-up window with a logo. If a viewer finds herself intrigued by the big GM logo that popped up, she can request more information via the remote control.

Just got some trackback spam:

Website: Liebig Axel (IP: 204.134.103.6 , dots.nmsbvi.k12.nm.us)
URI : [redacted]
Excerpt:

Trackback spam.

Sure enough, it is! Thanks for the tip, mister.

[It turns out that the page that got spammed was entitled Trackback spam, and so the spammer used the title of my post in an attempt to defeat content filters. A happy coincidence.]

Atom version 1.0 is finished and nearly an IETF standard. What is the Atom syndication format, you ask? It’s a flexible XML-based news feed specification, like RSS, but the result of a standards-body process and open for all to use and extend. Many feed readers already support Atom feeds (based on the 0.3 draft of the spec), and even Longhorn ❤ Atom. Still confused? Here’s how to tell your RSS from your elbow.

Dumbledore’s death, as sought by the Guardian, in the manner and style of HP Lovecraft, George Lucas, Jane Austen, William Carlos Wiliams.

August 2002 - Just like how old people start sleeping in separate beds, PalmSource and Palm Solutions move to separate campuses.

(Even the official website can’t quite get it straight)

Air conditioning’s still out. Current temp: 87°.

I think something may be seriously wrong with the air conditioning in our apartment.

P.S. Did you know you can get an Atom feed of just my sketchbook pages?

Podcasting is still very, very new. As in like still dripping-wet new. …

There are several signs, in fact, that Apple’s podcasting features were rushed to market …

Apple couldn’t have come up with a better name for this phenomenon if they’d gotten to choose it themselves.

From Is That a Podcast in your Pocket?, which might also be entitled “Apple Owes Adam Curry a Big Sack of Cash.”

[Also please see my own beef with iTunes’ podcast support: Atom feeds need not apply.]

Guy1: Yeah! Play again? C’mon. Alright, who do we play next?
Me: (walking up) Me.
Guy2: You got a partner?
Me: I don’t need one.
Guy1: You’re that good?
Me: Yes.
Them: (Noises indicating unsuredness of me and the situation)
(They foose, I immediately pass from 5 to 3 and score on an angle.)
Guy1: We’re so screwed.

Wow, I guess this is what you get when you run Software Update but forget to reboot:

CoreGraphics server version 256.0 not compatible with client version 256.5; log out or reboot needed

I was disappointed to discover that while it has no problem interpreting podcasts distributed as RSS 2.0 with <enclosure> tags, iTunes completely ignores Atom feeds with <link rel=”enclosure”> elements. In fact, it’s pretty darned insensitive when it comes to parsing feeds in general. (Boo-urns, as Chris would say.)

See for yourself with my simple demonstration podcasts (don’t get used to it; this is the only podcast I’ll ever do):

Podcast (Atom) / Podcast (RSS)

Hey, if you’re out there, operating a weblog that sends trackbacks, care to send one to this URL? (Yes, I know this means you’ll likely have to create a throwaway blog post to do it. But it’s for Science™, so perhaps you’ll indulge me.) Update: Pings have been turned off. See trackback.cs.rice.edu to see what became of the research.

It’s a good thing I didn’t put my shiny new NIN DualDisc into my car’s CD player or my PowerBook: apparently the extra-thick disks can get scratched by slot-loading CD players and jammed in slot-loading CD-ROMs. Thanks for breaking our stuff, Sony!

Also, the DualDisc ripped at about 1.5x. A normal CD rips at about ten times that speed. What gives?

[TODO: thoughtful selections from personal music history, in manner of Jason Kottke’s 13 favorite albums. It’s the personal stories that make it more than a lame list of overplayed records.]

I already slotted this into my del.icio.us bookmarks, but it is provocative enough (with the distinct whiff of truth swirling lazily about it) that it demands a wider audience. Jon Stokes of ArsTechnica isn’t lying when he says, “If you’ve been following the Apple-to-Intel transition, you’re going to want to read this whole article.”