XML, and What You Can Do

March 4, 2007 · 4 comments

Extensible Markup Language or XML describes the more meaningful features of an electronic document. If you know HTML or XHTML (the stricter sibling of HTML) then XML will look familiar in that they are both markup languages. An even better example is a blog feed, which is actually a more specialized type of XML.

Applications of XML

Each <tag></tag> pair that encloses each set of text in the document came from XML feed specifications agreed upon by its governing working group. But XML is so generic that it can be applied practically anywhere. Just look at how many XML markup languages are out there. These are just some of the diverse applications of XML:

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Are You Blogging A Virus?

March 1, 2007 · 8 comments

The Storm Worm recently hit computers around the world with its attention-grabbing subject line “230 dead as storm batters Europe” last January. Yes, viruses and other malware attacking the masses are hardly worth my while these days. For one thing, I’ve had zero hits with GMail’s no-executable file allowed policy. Second, I’ve been surfing the Internet long enough to tell if an email is suspicious, i.e., too good to be true or not. (Corollary: I’m not a guy.) But a recent strain of the Storm Worm takes it further. It’s this part that has me worried. Dmitri Alperovitch of Secure Computing warns that it’s taking over the blogosphere and the rest of the WWW:

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Two Ferris Wheels and a Cafe (Honey & Clover)

February 27, 2007 · 4 comments
Hachikuro ferris wheel

From the Honey & Clover II finale. How pretty is that?

Hachikuro is the more endearing term for the slice-of-life (read: romantic but nothing much happens) series Honey and Clover, obtained by combining its Japanese equivalent: Hachimitsu to Kuroba. It’s not for everyone, but it’s really easy on the eyes, despite recurring themes of unrequited love and coming of age. The art (just like the music) is as pleasant as spring, just look at it.

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406 Not Acceptable and Apache mod_security

February 21, 2007 · 15 comments

Maybe you saw my YM status rant a few days ago—406 Not Acceptable. (With “WTF! WP 2.1 sucks!” appended.) Or maybe not. Either way, I tried looking up why I was getting that error, but found no real clues except a hint at a certain .htaccess fix. And I didn’t see the connection between an HTTP response code and an .htaccess edit, especially when you read something like this, so I ignored it.

Today, I had the same unacceptable problem on a non-WordPress site and this worried me more. It’s a corporate site. If I couldn’t figure it out I’d probably die of shame and/or ignorance. Maybe because the chances of finding support for that type of problem were lower than if you were addressing a WordPress-related one, given its large community and all.

I couldn’t find anything substantial. I found a PHP bug report. I saw something on Drupal. Not helpful either. Several more email discussion lists on various topics. Now something’s fishy here. There’s no clear common denominator in any of these leads!

I gave up, did other work, checked my mail, and Googled once more. Then I found Urban Giraffe’s entry.

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Procrastination, Dissected, Theorized

February 17, 2007 · 12 comments

I’ve been putting off writing this, but I know I have to at one point simply to protest some of the things I’ve read in procrastination-related articles.

First things first: yes, I’m a procrastinator. A crammer, to be precise. One day I found myself cramming a major project for Christian Living. That was probably the first time I stayed up way past my bedtime. I was in sixth grade then.

I don’t remember know how late it was. Late is relative now—lately I sleep through the afternoon, wake up at night, and stay up until morning. Sometimes it’s the opposite. It’s not really consistent anymore.

Now, why do we procrastinate?

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Project Grow

February 10, 2007 · 4 comments

Teddy Hwang’s proposal is simple: he’ll create websites for you, for free. No cash (though donations are welcome), just acknowledgment that he did it for you. Project Grow has three phases, so check out which one you’re eligible for.

It’s not everyday I find someone politely asking people to have work thrown one’s way, much less for free. He says it’s to better himself, perhaps having found the most amazing CSS tip ever.

Good luck, Teddy! I’ve never met you, nor have I seen your site until now, but there’s nothing wrong with blogging about it, right?

PTB vs. PWiT: Philippine Crab Mentality Online

February 5, 2007 · 8 comments

Okay, I don’t understand why people have to create something out of nothing, i.e., pit Pinoy Tech Blog against PWiT.

(Backtrack: Pinoy Tech Blog is the Philippines’ Premier Technology Blog while PWiT stands for Philippine Week in Tech: Current News, Views and Reviews. A mere parroting of their taglines? I’m avoiding any subjective descriptions here. An added note though—PWiT is obviously a play on TWiT, which stands for This Week in Tech, a netcast turned network of netcasts headed by Leo Laporte. It is also a play on the Filipino word for “ass”.)

The trouble with PWiT is that is reads like a mainstream media blog, like say Engadget. Or CNET. The writers are from mainstream media – just check the blogroll which links to a mix of personal blogs and MSM websites. So, why is the PWiT crew writing for this blog and not for their own publications? Some have blogs of their own, such as Hinge Inquirer and Summit Media?

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Firefox Slowdowns With Memory Leaks and Browser Juggling

February 3, 2007 · 4 comments

If you’re all too familiar with the foxy browser (turned DCS mascot), you should also be aware that it’s all too prone to memory leaks. It’s the primary suspect when people complain about its hang-ups and slowdowns after extended periods of usage. I’m an unhappy victimcustomer, too.

Firefox Leak Monitor Alert

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