Home | Blog Roll | Link Roll | Colophon/About


Archive for October, 2005

XML, Why and How TO

Monday, October 31st, 2005

I was recently asked “Why XML, rather than a .CSV (Coma Separated Values) file”, and no one had an answer beyond “It’s what we do now”.

(After stalling for a few seconds) I answered “flexibility”.

When, in a CSV file, you add a new element, or changed the order even slightly, any application reading that file would have to be changed or it will fail. Using XML, when you introduce a new element for such and such a purpose, any existing applications (should) ignore that element and continue working on the data it knows about.

This will allow you to produce 1 file for multiple uses, as opposed to a different file for each use, and allow both gradual changes and re-use as needed. Since so much work starts as ad Hoc and temporary, but stay around for a long time (Zombie systems! just in time for halloween) , this is not a minor issue.

Tim Bray - co inventor of XML - talks about Why XML Doesn’t Suck and mentions other reasons including: Internationalization, Interoperability, and Longevity, which are additional kinds of flexibility (flexible People to People Communications, flexible Machine to Machine Communications, flexible Future usages), with some self documenting.

HOWTO Avoid Being Called a Bozo When Producing XML, is a great guide when writing your own XML documents, before you make the common mistakes, and cause all of us grief.

China Rising 2 : Is Canada Missing the Boat?

Saturday, October 29th, 2005

Here’s the Front Page on Saturday Oct 29th’s Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail Front Page Oct 29 2005
(view the image to see it larger)

Last Year the G&M did a major set of Stories on “China Rising”, so this is a interesting followup. Also keep in mind China is increasing looked at as an alternative market, in the context of our issues with the USA, Softwood lumber and NAFTA. A bit more balance the last months Hong Kong is Booming again, but it’s democracy languishes., although it looks like politics and human rights did not get a mention.

Staring with : The Canada Syndrome (with a side bar with links into the orther related story) : It doesn’t amount to much. Of all the countries that invest in China, Canada is a bit player, with roughly 1 per cent of foreign direct investment. But it doesn’t have to stay this way. Companies of all sizes must develop strategies to profit from the opportunities China offers — even the smallest player needs to be aware of its place in the competitive landscape. Take it from David Anderson, president of Phoenix Performance Products, a small hockey equipment manufacturer in Mississauga

Canada’s New World : Report on Business flash presentation

Battle for the brains grows more intense : Staffing another challenge Nortel faces in China

For Nortel, it’s veni, vidi, build strong R&D, then vici : THE CHALLENGE Create competitive presence in China THE LESSON Enter for the lower costs; stay for output quality; expand for innovation.

Business “FACTS”, and where we are at , a statistical portrait of two countries, and two economies.

Is trade with China mission impossible? : Try as it might to crack the booming Chinese market, Canada only seems to be falling behind. (Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sets off on a trade mission to China on Friday)

Canada: Nice place, but a tad too boring. : Despite a lengthy history of warm relations, most Chinese know very little about the country that gave them the heroic Norman Bethune

I still miss Second Cup coffee‘ : The “reverse culture clash” is perhaps most daunting for people returning to China who don’t actually come from here.

Mystic river :
The Yangtze River delta is now China’s most vital and contentious economic region, with a mega-dam displacing over a million people. JAN WONG took a queasy ‘five-star’ cruise to see (and smell) its miracles and misery first-hand. by China Cheerleader, Comrade Jan Wong

No longer the conquering hero : They used to be called ’sea turtles’ — young Chinese who earned their stripes abroad before coming home to show the locals how it’s done. Now, the money is drying up and they’re mocked as ’seaweed.’ The Chinese government is getting worried.

A diplomatic exchange : When The Globe’s JAN WONG meets new Chinese ambassador Lu Shumin, she discovers he has a long history with Canada — and, in particular, with her.

Mao’s ‘hundred schools’ in a hurry : Soon China will have as many university students as Canada has people — which has sparked an unprecedented expansion of its education system. Not only are billions being poured into bricks and mortar, JAN WONG reports from Hangzhou, new joint ventures are taking flight, one of them with a Canadian partner.

I wanted a challenge‘ : Cynthia Lee and Will Staiger are preparing to help reverse the flow — slightly — of a major brain drain. Every year, thousands of Chinese students come to Canadian colleges and universities, but next spring Ms. Lee and Mr. Staiger will head the other way.

More Facts.

Updates :
  • Simon’s World has inculded me in his Daily linklets of October 31st
  • The China Digital Times and Andrea at T-Salon also noted the Globe and Mail: China Rising - “Are We Missing the Boat?” special issue. She found it unlinkable, which is not true - the links are just very very well hidden. The best places to start - apart from my own posting - is the sidebar in The Canada Syndrome story. Andrea also has her own, fair and true, remarks. Part of the problem of having the USA market (and culture) so close is we frequently do not bother to look to other markets like Europe, China or India (even with all of Canada family ties to these regions).
  • Interesting connection : Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sets off on a 10-day trade mission to China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Nanjing). In Jan Wong’s interview with new Chinese ambassador Lu Shumin, she missed the fact that he and 2 other Chinese exchange students boardered at the McGuinty house! This is mention in the G&M column Premier to highlight old ties on China visit (which might be behind the paywall, or try this pdf). No memtion of the position of the 2 boarder, or where the 3rd one is.

A tale of Taramissu / Tiramisu

Tuesday, October 25th, 2005

I miss-spelled , but in doing so became the top link in Google for Taramissu. (french spelling?) Such are the dangers of spelling by search engine!

Also known as Tuscan Trifle or Zuppa Inglese, Tiramisu’ means “pick-me-up” in Italian, the literal translation of “tirami-su” due to the strong espresso coffee.

I was recently introduced (Thanks Nadya!) to a lighter Summer Tiramisu, with berries. yum yum.

Checkout the Wikipedia and it’s external links for more.

Wong Kar-Wai calendar

Thursday, October 20th, 2005

Via Lossless and wongkarwai.net, we have the Wong Kar-Wai calendar, Wong Kar-Wai being the Hong Kong producer/director/writer of 2046, In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express - my favorite - , and many more.

In the Mood for Maggie Cheung
Image of Maggie Cheung - who was amazing in Clean - and the thrilling Tony Leung Chiu Wai - go see Infernal Affairs - via http://www.wongkarwai.net/

Sweethearting : A Ping for the One I Love

Wednesday, October 5th, 2005

Jason Kottke has a cool idea : Sweethearting:

Here’s a feature I would like on my mobile phone: the ability to “ping” someone with 2 or less keypresses (something that takes around a second to do), even if the keypad is locked. The idea is that when I press a couple of buttons on my phone (say, 1#), a tiny content-less message is sent to the person corresponding to that key combination. On their end, they see something like “Jason pinged you at 7:34pm” with the option to ping right back. You’d have to set up what pings mean beforehand, stuff like “I’m leaving work now” or “remember to pick up milk at the store”.

in part 2 Jason mentions SMS.

here’s my idea of how this might work:

the “easiest” way to do something like this would be if you could store/save a SMS message and destination.

for example
#4 send a text msg “Gone 2 Lunch “to the phone number of my wife
and #5 “Back from Lunch”
and of course #69 “call me when you can” to my mistress’s phone number….(just kidding)

so 2 keys # and a number - plus maybe a confirm? - and I have a set of
quick ping messages.

Doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to implement it on top of a celphone standard SMS service.

Questions :

Do any of the texting services allow anything like this?
could you write, and install on your own cel anything like this?
and how to get a service to implement anything like this?

Music Label tells you how to break their own DRM

Tuesday, October 4th, 2005

Story on CNN, about the problem regular people are having with DRM crippled music, and how angry they are.

So what does Sony Music do?Fans who complain to Sony BMG about iPod incompatibility are directed to a Web site (http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp) that provides information on how to work around the technology.

Question : Are the Labels then in violation of DMCA?

Sweet Serenity

Saturday, October 1st, 2005

Yep, we saw in its Toronto opening, to a packed house.

Joss Whedon ( as per the PVP tee shirt : Joss Whedon is my Master Now) did not disappoint. The Cast acted their Hearts out. Things were Reveled, and No Punches were pulled. There was much blowing up. Friends will be greatly missed. And they made a Difference. It was intense. ‘I Am A Leaf Of The Wind, Watch Me Soar’

This is how it’s done.

Now I can enjoy the spoilers, browse the FireFly Wiki, re-read the Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon Time Magazine Interview, and watch (Via SF Signal) again Mosquito, a

fan parody of Firefly, called Mosquito. This 10 minute film takes the form of a behind the scenes documentary of the short lived TV series, Mosquito. Very funny, especially the part about the Canadians and Ukranians being the ‘meek’ who inherit the Earth.

For more see category and LinkBlog

No Power In The ‘Verse Can Stop us Now

quick links:

and a Linkback to Julian at the mighty NsfTools.com

Update Oct 7th : Via Uk based (where the movie just opened) Big Dumb Object we have his own spoiler free review, news that the First 9 minutes of are Serenity online (! what a great marketing idea! ) and Gary Westfahl’s review from Locus Online.

also : Lee @ Mnemosyne links to the brilliant (and full of SPOILERS) Serenity in 2000 Words or Less. “Whedon, you bastard!”

Update: Just in Time for Xmas! the Serenity (Widescreen Edition) is now available for shipping December 20, 2005!

  • Format: Ac- , Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
  • Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
  • Commentary by: Writer/Director Joss Whedon
  • Deleted scenes and outtakes
  • Future History: The Story of Earth That Was
  • What’s in a Firefly
  • Re-Lighting the Firefly
  • Joss Whedon Introduction

Dec 6th update via SFSignal we have Serenity with Hand Puppets ..LOL madness : “We always knew those Japanese commercials screwed with your brain!”…”This isn’t the Firefly crew you’re looking for.”…”Run like hell now, strangle Joss Whedon later!”…”Did I say dying? I meant kicking reaver ass from here to Tuesday!”….


Close
  • Social Web
  • E-mail
E-mail It