Chaos Magnet

Scratch: programming for kids and other non-programmers

Now that I have my laptop and it's clear that I'm not going to be switching back and forth between it and the laptop, the lowest-ranking computer has been granted to the kids, but since it's in the bedroom, there will be no internet connection. But I still want them to do more than just play video games, so it was nice to find Scratch, a programming environment that lets kids build interactive games, art, etc.I haven't actually built anything yet, but from that I see, it seems pretty much like natural language programming. I may use it myself. :)

Introduction to XSLT

I've been slacking on blogging my pieces as they get published on IBM's developerWorks, but Introduction to XSLT is being featured on the home page this week, so it reminded me. :)

So here it is...

Introduction to XSLT

The need to transform XML is so common that Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) is considered one of the basic XML specifications. This tutorial explains how to create XSLT stylesheets. It also covers the basics of XPath, which enables you to select specific parts of an XML document. Finally, it gives you a look at some of the more advanced capabilities that XSLT offers.

This tutorial is for developers who want to use Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) to transform the XML data into other forms without the need for to program in Java™ or other languages.

Objectives

* The basics of XSLT

* Using simple templates

* Propagating data

* Controlling spaces

* The basics of XPath

* XPath functions

* Looping and conditional statements

* Extending XSLT

* XSLT variables

Read/Write Web

Now that I'm keeping up wtih my favorite feeds via email, I'm developing a notion of what's worth reading and what's just worth checking once in a while. Read/Write Web is definitely in the first category. Commentaries are consistently well thought out and cover a wide range of technologies involved in web development, from mobile to throwaway identities to Ajax to OpenId and lots more.

Back in the saddle

Last year, we sold a bunch of stuff on eBay, but come December, we were so swamped, we took a break for about a month. We started up again this week, with just five items:

• Ateco 105+ Piece Set of Cake Decorating Tools/Case VGC
• Emenee Sunburst Tiger Plastic Guitar GC
• Guardian Service 13" Platter Gc
• Staffordshire Blue Ironstone Candlestick
• Copeland Spode Bowl w/ Handles in the Rhine Pattern EC

Creating glassy looking buttons

OK, I have no artisitic talent, I admit that. But every once in a while I need something that looks nice for a project, and I've always been in awe of those glassy looking buttons. Especially now, with the new Vista interfaces, I knew I was going to have to figure out how to do that, or really regret it. Fortunately, I just found a tutorial on making those glassy looking buttons.

How to market your blog in 2007

I am determined to get it together this year. (Yeah, just like every other year.) One of the things I need to do is decide what to do with this blog. The last couple of days, while researching stuff for work, I added a whole bunch of posts, and circulation took a nosedive. I choose to believe this is because you all are just not interested in so much technical stuff, rather than believing it's just that you are not interested in what I have to say. (Hey, you're reading this, aren't you?) So while I try and figure out the direction this thing should take, here is a list of 41 ways to market your blog in 2007.

Chaos Magnet now publishes full feeds

Okay, everybody, I'm trying an experiment. For the life of this blog, I have published an RSS feed, but it has been a "partial feed", on the premise that people should come to the site to read the actual post. However, I'm beginning to think this is not such a good idea. Part of it stems from the fact that I have finally discovered a good way for me to keep up with all of the feeds I want to read - RSS2Email -- and I've discovered I personally prefer full feeds. That means the whole posting is in the feed, or in my case, the e-mail. After reading Why I publish full feeds? at chilibean my mind was made up to at least try it. if you hate it, let me know. If you love it, let me know that too.

A little science humor

Centrifugal Force

Malicious Code Injection: It's Not Just for SQL Anymore

A company I know has discovered that all of the sites it built in the late 1990's and early 2000's are vulnerable to SQL Injection attacks, where a malicious user can obtain the contents of the database (or do other nasty things) without much effort. Every single one. I recently found (and patched) a similar problem in Syfy Portal's code. (No, I didn't write it, thankfully, but I could have.)

Turns out that SQL injection isn't the only way to perform this attack.

Good advice here.

Business without managers

Over at Backstop Media, the four of us are pretty much equal. We reach consensus on decisions, and so on. I like it. We're all motivated to make things a success. Apparently it can work in large organizations as well. Witness How do you run a business without managers.

Vista Ultimate launched

When I worked on Special Edition Using Microsoft Word 2007, they gave me a copy of Vista to install, and I really did kind of like it. I still have it installed, anyway. But I was disappointed that the Does that Ultimate site, which is supposed to have all kinds of extras was not available. Well, apparently is now.Windows Vista Ultimate site with extras launched

A couple of items for the reading list

Here are a couple of interesting pieces for those of you want to delve into some of the more difficult topics:

Defining SOA as an architectural style
Understanding the Model Driven Architecture (MDA)

Certainly not light reading, but how else are you going to take your skills to the next level?

Virtual PC

For months, my installation of Microsoft Word wasn't working, and I didn't have the wherewithal to reinstall it. (Yes, I did have the CDs, just not the patience.) I was pretty sure that it was irrevocably corrupted, and I didn't wanna think about it. So imagine how surprised I was when I uninstalled some garbage I had no use for (half of which I don't even know how it got installed) and suddenly Word started working again.

I'm wondering if it might not be a good idea to look at Virtual PC, now that Microsoft has decreed that it is free, and start installing things that way so they don't conflict with each other. What started me on this? A nice piece about how to test with IE 6 when you have already installed IE 7.

Java skill levels

Ever been frustrated trying to decipher somebody's code? Of course you have. Check out Daniel Spiewak's look at Java skill levels. Heheheheh...

Are you Mobi Ready?

Here's an interesting little test. You can test your site for acceptability for mobile platforms.

King of the attack ad

Now the the election is over, I'm having a blast listening to this audio clip from NPR about how voicover artists sound so menacing in those attack ads. Stick around for the nursery rhyme readings. It's a scream.

Painless Functional Specifications

When I first started at Site Dynamics (a million years ago, I think) my first action was to insist that projects actually had a specification. I know, I know, I'm a little anal that way. But funny, I just coouldn't bring myself to watch people work on projects for months at a time while the client constantly changed his mind and added features. Silly of me, huh?

Anyway, this morning I ran across a very good series of articles on Painless Functional Specifications. A must read for anybody involved in development in any way.

[UPDATE: Also check out Painless Software Scheduling.]

Jedi Trainer

My son Sean just turned me on to Jedi Trainer. Man, that is one seriously addicting game.

Electable vs. Marketable

Here something to think about, from Seth Godin:

It's easy to get the two confused, but if you do, you'll probably regret it.

To be marketable, you must be remarkable. Marketing isn't about getting more than 50% market share, it's about spreading your idea to enough people to be glad you did it... 3% of a market may be more than enough, especially if you have a local business or an expensive service.

The temptation of the marketer is to try to get elected. To be beloved by everyone.

It's a new year. Do you want to be remarkable, or electable?

I would like to think that I opt for the door number one, but business is a little slow right now, so I know I am airing on the side of caution.

But I know that's the wrong strategy.

The Gobbledygook Manifesto

Yesterday, I confirmed my attendance at this years Microsoft Book Publishing Summit in March -- let me know if you're going! -- so I'm reminded of the work I did for them a few years ago.

I'm especially reminded by The Gobbledygook Manifesto -- Cutting Edge! Mission Critical! An analysis of gobbledygook in over 388,000 press releases sent in 2006. The winner?

"Next generation," with 9,895 uses, followed by over 5,000 uses each of "flexible," "robust," "world class," "scalable," and "easy to use."

The thing is, I remember using lots of gobbledygook on those Microsoft papers, because it just seemed right at the time. (Note that the Client accepted those papers.) But I wonder, how else do you say these things without seeming too casual, another whitepaper crime?

Steam Trek

OK, you know the genre of science fiction that's pretty much epitomized by Jules Verne? Advanced technology powered by steam? Picture Star Trek like that. Kind of a cool idea, actually. Steam Trek - Voyages of the HMAS Dauntless goes ahead and does it, combining the story with a play by email game, so if you've got the time, it should be interesting. Looks fun, anyway.

Best practices for mobile web development

Sooner or later, I was going to have to deal with mobile phones. I still don't have a cell phone with a decent browser, now that Sarah found my old one and took hers back. (Hers charged for web access anyway, so there.) But Mike over at Syfy Portal is starting to talk about "WAPping" the site, which I guess means making it available on mobile phones, which apparent does NOT actually mean WAP anymore. Confused yet?

I was. Here's a history of WAP, from the beginning to today. The short story: development is now aimed at XHTML Mobile Profile instead of WAP 1.0 (or WML, as the case used to be).

So of course with all of that change, how do you know how you really should think about doing things? Thankfully, I also found Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web, which seems to do a pretty good job of distilling what you should be thinking about -- and doing -- when creating content for mobile devices.

God, Inc.

Sean sent me over to YouTube to find something specific, but I can never do that without getting sucked in. Some winners today:

God, Inc. -- Episode 1 and
God, Inc. -- Episode 2, which is like "The Office" but, well you get the idea. Very funny.

And I am just plain... disturbed... by Patrick Stewart on Extras. In case you haven't seen it, it's the new show from Ricky Gervais -- the guy who created and starred as the boss in the original British version of "The Office", by coincidence. But considering this and his "Erotic Bakery" sketch on Saturday Night Live, I am beginning to wonder if Patrick Stewart has a great sense of humor or a real need for choosing his projects a little more carefully. Once is very funny. Very, very funny. But too many times... Well, I'd just be careful if I were him.

Bush says feds can open mail without warrant

So Bush has decided that he can open mail without a warrant. Not email. You probably already know that. We're talking about first class, postal, physical mail.

Here's my favorite part, emphasis mine:

Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a 'signing statement' that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it.

Having just received a call from my son about when his unit will be going to Iraq, this is NOT a good time for me to hear this.

Why the hell do we even MAKE laws when the President can just issue a "signing statement" that basically says he's not going to obey them? Check the record; Bush has issued more of these signing statements than, well, anybody.

These people will decorate anything

The kids didn't believe Sarah when she said that if it stands still long enough, Clevelanders will decorate it for Christmas. But a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History proved her right: