Lately I’ve been playing with some more advanced XQuery. One thing nearly every XQuery engine supports is some kind of eval() function. MarkLogic has several, but my favorite is xdmp:eval. It’s lightweight because it reuses the entire calling context, so for instance you can write let $v := 5 return xdmp:value(“$v”). Not too useful, but…
Author: mdubinko
Kurt Cagle has a thorough review of MarkLogic 4.0, worth a read itself. But check out the comments: one poster says he interviewed with the company and didn’t get reimbursed. The MarkLogic CEO responds personally with an offer to make it right. Why can’t more companies be like this? -m
So, Yahoo! is looking for a new CEO. Bill Gates just retired. Hmm. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
To celebrate the unlamented demise of Valleywag, use as many of the ten insulting words you should know (along with any other appropriate words) as you can in a single short paragraph. Post in the comments below. This site is for geeks of all ages, so keep things PG. All right, PG-13. My favorite will…
I’ve successfully completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge–to write 50,000 words during the month of November–for three years running, and now I have three draft novels sitting around. At some point, racking up mere drafts gets to be pathetic, so this November I’m picking one to dig into with a heavy editing pass. I’m…
I won a bronze medal (white ribbon actually) in the Mixed Styles category for my Dusseldorf Altbier, the first non-mead-related beverage I’ve ever entered. It’s a deep copper-colored ale made with a special Alt yeast and with a strong balance of clean malt and hops. There are very few bottles of it left at this…
I got a call today from a pushy recruiter. That’s nothing new. What’s different is that she was not looking for the usual resume, but rather desperately trying to place candidates. (Or maybe it was just social engineering…) Is anyone else seeing a reversal in recruiter cold-call strategies? How flooded is the tech job market…
A special comment. My most vivid memory of my late Grandpa. Even after retiring, Grandpa needed to do small jobs around town to make ends meet. One was cleaning a small sporting goods store. Once, with all the excitement of visiting family from out of town (that would be us), he forgot to clean one…
I was asked offline for more details about what I have in mind around XiX. Take a simple piece of XML, like this: <root><a>3</a><b>4</b><total/></root>. An XForms Model can be applied, in an out-of-line fashion, to that instance. This is done through a bind element, with XPath to identify the nodes in question, plus other “model…
An alphabetized CD collection is a sign of a diseased mind. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
I’m pondering implementing the computational parts of the XForms Model in XQuery. Doing so in a largely functional environment poses some challenges, though. Has anybody tackled this before? How about in any functional language, including ML, Haskell, Scheme, XSLT, or careful Python? I borrowed the book Purely Functional Data Structures from a friend–this looks to…
There exist two kinds of geeks in the world. Those that see a backwards E, and those that see a 180-degree rotated E. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
Another mead class is scheduled for November 15th in Los Altos. Come join me! Mead, honey wine, “the nectar of the godsâ€. Whatever you call it MoreFlavor Los Altos is sponsoring a class to help you learn more about this wonderful fermented beverage and equip you to brew your own. Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 2:00…
I’ve been playing lately with this site, and it’s a fantastic resource. The word carboy probably comes from Persian qarabah “large flagon.” Who knew? -m
Haven’t mentioned here that RDFa is a W3C Recommendation. I’m thrilled that something that I’ve been thinking about for a while is ready for prime time. Also, as of this writing the first page of results at Google still prominently links to a terribly outdated draft of the spec. The first page of results at…
On a Mac keyboard, why is “caps lock” in lower case? Flickr photo by catcubed. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
Polyhedra: n. (plural) – Sketches done by an artist of the male gender. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
I haven’t seen this anywhere else: jEdit doesn’t start up under the recent Mac Java 1.6. It bounces in the dock a few times then goes away. The solution: manually run the main jar with java -jar path-to/jedit.jar, which will work. Go to the plugin manager and delete the MacOSX plugin. Java integration is good…
I tend to be pretty conservative about new hardware. The day-to-day G4 processor machine I’m writing this on was purchased back in 2004. But with all these new models coming out, I couldn’t resist…buying an older one. After all, we are in a downturn. On Amazon, previous-generation MacBook Pros are pretty cheap, and have a…
The Penrose is mightier than the thorn. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
This weekend I’ll be judging organic homebrew at the Seven Bridges Cooperative in San Jose. Yes, not only is this beer carbon-based, it’s certified. :-) If you’ll be there too, be sure to look me up. -m
Tough economic times? Take 1.2 volt, 2.5 Amp/hr NiMH batteries (technically “cells”). Call it 3 W/hrs of energy each. The going electricity rate here is about $0.15/KW-hr. Thus fully charging four batteries with a 50% efficient charger costs approximately $0.0036. More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
Without any exception I can think of: every top-notch software developer I know is also a skilled technical writer. Technical writing requires skill in choosing words, constructing sentences and paragraphs, and putting together the pieces in the right order to most effectively present the material. In contrast, narrative writing requires an eye towards the bigger…
I haven’t tried this, but these guys claim to have a solution where The form definitions are saved and exchanged as XForms, and the data as XForm[s] models. The data can be exchanged over http (if the phone users can afford GPRS and have a data connection) or over compressed SMS messages. Sounds like they…
Debates are boring. Host your own through the magic of RPG. GURPS character sheets for the 2008 US Presidential candidates: Obama: ST:10 DX:11 IQ:14 HT:10 Advantages: Allies (Wright, Ayers) [0 point advantage], Charisma, High Fatigue Threshold, Unfazeable Disadvantages: Elite, Pacifism, Stuttering, Pronunciation of “Pakistan” [quirk], Skills: Administration:14, Computer Operation:12, Diplomacy:12, Enthrallment:11, Law:13, Politics:14, Public Speaking:15,…
I’m upgrading to a bigger and better internet service plan. Some possible downtime in the near future… -m
GeekDad to 7-year-old: “You need to include a bibliography in your report.” 7-year-old: “What! I’m not putting naked pictures in it!!” More collected Geek Thoughts at http://geekthoughts.info.
I know what it’s like to be laid off, I’ve been through it twice. If you need help connecting up with a new gig, whether at MarkLogic or a hand-off to one of the zillion headhunters that constantly harry me, let me know. Send me email and I’ll do what I can. -m
Who is this guy anyway? Be sure to hit the link for the equivalent terms in 80+ countries. There’s Jos Bleau in Canada, Jah D in Jamaica, Joe Borg in Malta, and Joe Bloggs in New Zealand. Based on the economic indicators and other predictions, æ— åæ° might be popular soon too. More collected Geek Thoughts…
A determined spambot has been submitting the XForms contact form on XForms Institute. OK, so it’s probably more Flash-aware than XForms-aware, but still. -m