Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - Posts

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 10:44 PM

• XML DevCon 2004 - #8 - Sam Ruby - "XML: An attractive nuisance"

  Sam Ruby is a special breed of human.There is a certain type of minutiae from which my brain winces and runs. I think Sam Ruby thrives on this stuff.UTF-8 vs. Unicode vs. ASCII vs. this vs. that... I understand the problems, but I don't have the kind Read More Rory | 6 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

• XML DevCon 2004 - #7 - Whit Kemmey - "Using XML For Navy Missile Systems"

  Whit:- "I'm not a vendor. This stuff isn't for sale"Good way to begin :)While talking about the "safety concerns" of his software, he offhandedly mentioned "Nuclear Explosions" in the same way I might tell you there's a 30% chance of rain.His software Read More posted Wednesday, October 20, 2004 9:32 PM by Rory | 7 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 8:49 PM

• XML DevCon 2004 - #6 - Don Box - "WS-Why?"

  Don:- "I'm on an airplane, we're about to crash, my head is down between my legs [Note from Rory: saucy] and the captain has said that I can take five XML specs with me."- "Which ones?"1. soap2. ws-addressing3. ws-mex4. xsd5. wsdlI think I got the list Read More Rory | 7 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

• XML DevCon 2004 - #6 - Bathroom Report #2

  [Note: This is the dorkiest post I've ever written, and it might stay that way until the day I die.]Just got back from a horrific look at the bathroom.You know that scene in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" when Kirk and Bones go on board Chancellor Read More posted Wednesday, October 20, 2004 8:00 PM by Rory | 2 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 6:41 PM

• XML DevCon 2004 - #5 - Scott Hanselman and Patrick Cauldwell - "XML Schema and Financial Systems"

  Scott and Patrick are the first "real world" speakers today.What's interesting is that the whole of their talk (object/relational mapping) was poo-pood in earlier discussions.Isn't that odd? That the academic talks poo-pood the stuff that Scott and Patrick Read More Rory | 2 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

• XML DevCon 2004 - #4 - Chris Anderson - "Developers hate XML"

  Chris:- "XML is cardboard - you can shape it, ship it..."- "I don't think XML is the important part - I think what you're transferring with XML is the important part"Chris is really stressing the point that XML is just the middle-man.There was a friendly Read More posted Wednesday, October 20, 2004 5:45 PM by Rory | 1 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 4:55 PM

• XML DevCon 2004 - #3 - Bathroom report

  Low OCD-Friendliness quotient.No wastebasket near the door. If you see wadded up paper towels on the floor next to the door, it's because I had no place to throw them after using them to grab the handle.Also, it stinks in there.It's almost like people Read More Rory | 8 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

• XML DevCon 2004 - #2 - Tim Bray

  Tim (co-creator of XML):- "I'm not sure if I'm happy to be here"- "I'm from a different planet"- "This is a different ecosystem than what I'm used to"- "Alt? My Mac doesn't have an alt button!"True, Tim, but it does have that weird button with the squiggly Read More posted Wednesday, October 20, 2004 4:45 PM by Rory | 4 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 3:54 PM

• XML DevCon 2004 - #1 - Rebecca Dias

  Rebecca Dias, a member of the Indigo team, has the following going for her:- Good brain- Good hair- Good (OK - great) jacket- Good shirt- Nice beltI can't see her shoes from here, and that bothers me, but these things happen.Rebecca basically just welcomed Read More Rory | 18 Comments Filed Under: Enter the Nerd

• Starbucks run

  Got to the location of the MSDN event this morning, checked in, and then did what I always do after arriving: immediately left to go grab my tea at Starbucks.Today, though, word got around that I was going to Starbucks, and I was volunteered to be the Read More posted Wednesday, October 20, 2004 4:28 AM by Rory | 20 Comments Filed Under: General

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 4:21 AM

• A note on being a tight packer

  Note to self:Before you pat yourself on the pack in a wildly congratulatory fashion for having done such a magnificent job of packing (my bag was strangely light for this MSDN trip), make sure to check the following before you hand yourself the "World's Read More Rory | 4 Comments Filed Under: Stupidity