After months of delays the article Andy and I wrote about XML and Relational Databases for Dr. Dobbs Journal will see print. Here's a sneak peak at next month's cover and TOC showing our article being the odd man out in an issue whose theme is algorithms. We were aiming for the XML themed issue but didn't get the article to them in due time. So if you are interested in algorithms and the relationship between XML and relational databases you should pick up a copy of next month's Dr. Dobbs Journal when it hits the news stands.

More below on Wrestlemania XIX and how recent developments in the RSS world affect RSS Bandit.

 

 

I should be getting ready for work but I just noticed the following quote on Cafe con Leche as the Quote of the Day.

when you nest one XML document inside another, you should nest it directly, without using CDATA. XML is specifically designed to allow such nesting. CDATA is saying "the angle brackets in here may look like markup, but they aren't". So if they are markup, why put them in CDATA?

--Michael Kay on the xsl-list mailing list, Fri, 7 Mar 2003

Michael Kay's claim is true in the general case but to extrapolate and say that XML is specifically designed to allow such nesting is bogus because it explicitly prevents this.

More below on nesting XML documents, XQuery in SQL Server and an update on RSS Bandit.

Poll: Should I Start Writing For K5/Slashdot Again?

 

 

I'm back from Spring Break. Panama City Beach was no Girls Gone Wild video (although according to the girl who sat next to me on the plane Daytona Beach was) it was still quite fun. I assume our trip mirrors the typical Spring Break story so I won't bore folks with the details. Anyway hearing tales of how other people drank all day, had sex on the beach and got kicked out of clubs probably isn't what K5 diary readers want to read anyway.

A bunch of bunch of rambling thoughts below on MSN advertising tactics, Miguel De Icaza's blog, Mix CDs and rediscovering my favorite blog from a few years ago.

 

 

This is probably my last blog entry until I get back from Florida so I decided to talk about two do post thoughts on the two topics that have been occupying my mind all day before I forget about them and never get around to posting.

Poll: Favorite Mechanism for Processing XML?

 

 

I'm Published.

 

 

It's two birds with one stone time again. I've been using RSS Bandit on all 3 machines I use regularly and have decided that having a config file that stores my subscription information and tracks read/unread items is insufficient. Even though I just have to copy a file over from my Tablet to my home or work machine this has begun to get tedious. Part of me thinks I should write a quick and dirty Perl script to automate this while my XML buzzword compliant inner self is whispering something about retrieving and storing my feed file on a single server which is accessed via an XML Web Service.

Given that it is highly likely that I'll be talking at TechEd about XML Web Services in it seems like I should be dogfooding the B0rg XML Web Services technologies. More below on learning about WSDL, Jon Udell's recent entry on querying XML in databases and a run down on car shopping this weekend.

GOOGLE BOMB: french military victories

 

 

This time next week I'll be right here with old friends. I wonder if it'll compare to the last crunk Freaknik before the the Atlanta city government killed it.

Kirk Allen Evans asks What is an XmlNode and what does node() return?, a question I can't help answering. More on what constitutes exactly is an XML node below.

 

 

I have been having my share of Dilbert Moments in the past few months. Unfortunately my blog is not anonymous so I won't be sharing them but it is amusing to suddenly think to yourself "So this is how Dilbert feels."

Some thoughts below on "Release Early, Release Often" vs. "Better Together", yet another update RSS Bandit and what is old is new again.

Poll: How often do you have Dilbert Moments?

 

 

Exhibit A

 

 

I've spent more time than I planned this weekend working on RSS Bandit and even then I didn't the feature I most wanted in there done; autoupdating the GUI. However I did add resizable panels and feed categories which were the two features people asked for the most. I especially like the fact that WinForms enables me to support stuff like dragging and dropping a feed from one category to the other quite easily.

I have to finish reviewing Michael's XQuery book (buy it when it comes out, it's hot) so I'm probably done messing with RSS Bandit for the next few days. More on RSS Bandit and an explanation for why I'm no longer providing an updated version of Tantek's feed.

 

 

Whoa, it seems a lot more people liked RSS Bandit than I expected. A glance at Technorati shows dozens of links to the article from various blogs, I've gotten quite a few emails about it and already have half a dozen people signed up as co-developers on GotDotNet. Not a bad reception for sample code. Special shoutouts go out to Don, Joshua and Andy for showing the B0rg love and linking to it.

More on Scalable APIs (again), Joel Spolsky's recent subscriber only article and RSS Bandit futures.

 

 

What D&D Character Are You?

Poll: What is your alignment?

 

 

Posts like Robert Scoble's recent Open Letter to Bill Gates remind me that there is a difference between people who know how to run a successful business and technology people who like to be armchair business men but lack financial forsight.