Blue Sky On Mars

So, here I am, writing this post up in Markdown style using TextMate with my Hipster PDA close at hand. Feeling like a Merlin Mann stooge, I can kind of understand the
“Damn you, Merlin Mann” sentiment.

Instead, though, I’ll just say, “Thanks!” Merlin’s tips have been helpful, his posts interesting and so far Getting Things Done has been helpful.

MacOSXHints points out that you can use iPhoto Buddy to mount network-attached iPhoto libraries. That’s a very handy tip, given that we have a couple of Macs and a Linux-based fileserver that currently does backup duty. It would be nice if our fileserver would serve up the library live, rather than just on a backup basis. iPhoto Buddy is free

For my current project, I have integrated a few different open source Python projects that give me power at least equivalent to that of Rails. The pre-packaged integration is only one part of it, though: the Rails guys are good at marketing their ideas. Not only are they good at marketing to Ruby audiences, but they also have done a great job of getting Java folks to write about it. Here’s an example: Ajaxian Blog: Ruby on Rails 0.11 includes native Ajax support.

Rails 0.11.0 is out on the street and I’m especially proud of the Ajax support we’ve been able to include. Instead of trying to soften the blow of doing client-side Javascript libraries as many others are doing, we’ve gone ahead and more or less removed the need for hand-written client-side javascript entirely.

This is done by off-loading the creation of DOM elements to the server side, which returns complete constructs that are then injected live through innerHTML. While this method is slightly more verbose than just peddling data across the wire, it’s immensely easier to develop.

For those who have been following Python web frameworks, you might remember that Woven and now Nevow have both offered a LivePage feature which does exactly this. It does more, in fact, allowing you to easily call the client side from the server whenever you want, and not based on an explicit request.

Subway might help, but for anyone who has read Seth Godin’s Purple Cow aiming to be “similar to Ruby on Rails” is not a likely way to gain mindshare. To be sure, Subway will help people who want to quickly put together a Python webapp, but don’t expect it to heavily increase interest in Python web development the way Rails has for Ruby. To do that, there would need to be startingly cool new features.

In one sense, Rails had it easy marketing-wise, because web development in Java is a pain in the butt. To outdo a dynamic system like Rails is more difficult.

Of course, I don’t need convincing, because I’m already a Python user. But, as far as convincing other people go, Python does have some advantages: Python apps can be nicely packaged up as Windows exes and Mac apps, generic functions are an important feature for certain types of problems, and Python is already entrenched in a number of places.

The title of this post is a bit over-the-top, I know. There is plenty of room for a variety of successful tools. But, successful marketing, more than anything else, has made Rails what it is today.

We have a child. We live in Michigan. We also like camping. Combine these three things, and you’ve got a pretty good recipe for someone (probably Crysania) havnig a run-in with poison ivy. If that happens, we probably wouldn’t complain about paying overnight shipping for Zanfel. That is assuming we’re not clever enough to order it beforehand.

Update: Since quite a few people seem to have landed here, I thought I’d provide a handy link to Amazon for this item.

Previously, I wrote about a form you can fill out for the Direct Marketing Association to get off of random junk mail mailing lists. It’s been three months since I sent that in, and I have recently noticed a significant drop in the number of credit card applications arriving. In short, it works! If you want to reduce your incoming real life spam, just write to the DMA. (Of course, this only applies in the US. I can only hope that folks in other countries aren’t plagued by the huge number of credit card apps that arrive here.)

It’s been a good couple of weeks for automated functional testing tools. First, there was Selenium for webapps, and now there’s Windows Application Test System Using Python (WATSUP) for Windows applications. I’ve found that automated functional tests for anything with a GUI can be quite challenging, and these tools look like a good way to help.

Ain’t It Cool News got a tour of Pixar and posted some neat pics: (The ncredibles At Pixar). Take a look at the workspaces they have there! Definitely not a cube farm. Via Boing Boing, of course.

Tired of the point and click drudgery of XML Spy? Take a look at: XSH: Interactively Manipulate and Analyze XML Data. XSH is a perl script that lets you interactive cd to different nodes of the document, ls to see whats there, and run perl snippets with easy XPath goodness baked in.

Cory Doctorow, ever a good watchdog when it comes to DRM issues, has brought to light that iTunes 4.7.1 reduces your ability to stream music. The five streaming limit is not a problem for me, but that’s not Cory’s point. Cory has shown, time and again, that the real problem is the changeability of the restrictions. If all of the music is DRMed, then there can be increased tightening on the terms until the time comes that all notion of fair use has been erased by technology.

Hey, and AllOfMP3 is still legal!

Seth Godin writes about the Long Tail, and rather than focusing on the how interesting the phenomenon is, he sums up what it means to work within a world that is Long Tail-based, rather than mass market. Not every product area can support a 50-person, venture capital-backed business. But, there’s now a greater likelihood than ever that a market can be found for a small business (like a Micro ISV). There’s an interesting take on the software aspect of this

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner