XML and Modern CGI Applications

:

“Borrowing heavily from the Model-View-Controller pattern, CGI::XMLApplication provides a modular, XML-based alternative to traditional CGI scripting. The typical CGI::XMLApplication project consists of three parts: a small executable script that provides access to the application, a logic module that implements various handler methods that are called in response to the current state of the application, and one or more XSLT stylesheets that are used, based on application-state, to transform the data returned by the module into something a browser can display to its user.”

[ via
aaron

]

perception and self perception. yesterday i went to the eye doctor and found out that, while i’m not going blind, my eyesite has taken a turn for the worse. and not just a little turn for the worse. the optometrist was kind enough to point out that, in the year-and-a-half since my last eye examine, my eyesite has degraded to the point that i would no longer be able to pass the illinois driver’s exam. with my contacts in place. and if that weren’t enough positive news, he also pointed out, in an oddly cheerful tone that my right eye, “…seems to have a little trouble focusing.” jeez louis.

in not-so-related new – via
nick denton

i discovered the online polical test
political compass

and discovered that, while i might perceive myself to be a centrist with mild liberal leanings, that i’m actually a rather strong liberal-libertarian [ -5.63 liberal/ -6.26 libertarian]. and that’s after self-moderating a few of my answers. i’m honestly surprised by the results. i guess it might go a long ways towards explaining why i’m the odd man out during family holiday dinner discussions.

so, everybody knows that
knowledge management

is over used and under understood, but that doesn’t stop the latest
ibm systems journal

from having a worthwhile mix of articles. they lose points for the vacuous intro blurb:

“The business environment is rapidly changing, and intellectual capital is a key asset of the enterprise. By managing its knowledge assets, an enterprise can improve its adaptability and increase its chances for survival. The papers in this issue of the IBM Systems Journal deal with various aspects of knowledge management: supporting technologies, products, and social aspects.”

despite the goofy title,
the xml revolution

is a pretty beefy tutorial:

“This slide collection provides an introduction and overview of XML, Namespaces, XInclude, XML Base, XLink, XPointer, XPath, DTD, XML Schema, DSD, XSLT, XQuery, DOM, SAX, and JDOM including selected links to more information about each topic.”

don’t mind me, just testing the cron job.

regular visitors will now notice that i started an
ex machina rss feed

[ it’s also available for all the “sections” ]. undoubtably, there will be some goofyness that will occur, so any
feedback

is appreciated. because of my general disregard for any rules of punctuation and grammar, i had to go with the somewhat-unelegant approach of just chomping the descriptions at a defined number of characters. and i’m none-too-pleased with the current placement of the xml icon, but i spent far too long debating about it. hi. ho.

so, if you’re aggregation then start aggregatin’.

thanks brig’s linking to the social security administration’s name distribution data, i now have an answer to one of the questions that tends to keep me awake at night – just exactly how popular is my first name?

i mean, i’ve known an “eric” or two over my life and many people i know claim that they’ve also happened upon other “eric’s”, but how close has the name come to capturing the most popular name award? inquiring minds now know.

i messaged the ranking data to output a “popularity index” which shows how close the name has come to capturing the top spot over the past century. sadly, the name appears to have reached it’s popularity zenith in the 70’s and has been steadily losing ground over the decades.

it may be a statistical fluke, but the data appear to show a decrease in popularity from the 1900’s to the 1910’s – perhaps the the name was actually coming off a huge wave of popularity in the late 1800’s? yeah, i’ll bet that’s it.

but alas, it looks like there’s no hope from recovering anytime soom from the hegemony of jacob, michael, josua and matthew. and who says we’re a nation of infidels – by the looks of the popular names, we’re a nice lot of old-school, god-fearin’ folks.