While I Was Out.

The holidays (and associated downtime) are over and its back to business. This is a summary of the interesting and noteworthy news and posts that where made while I was out.

MT: Simple and Powerful Text Formatting

To allow both more control and easier formatting, we're adding a new feature in the next version of Movable Type: Text Formatting. This will replace the current "Convert Line Breaks" option. Or, rather, the current "Convert Line Breaks" will simply be one of the available text formatting options, along with (hopefully) many other options, from POD to XML to Wiki. [SixLog]

I'm looking forward to this new feature. It couldn't have better timing. (OK I could be have come out over the holiday, but you get the idea.) I'm starting up on a project for a client who needs a content management system. I recommended MT and they took my recommendation. Now the issue I face is that the know nothing about web development or (X)HTML markup. What little web development they've done has been with FrontPage. In order to save them from learning and then struggling to publish their content and news with (X)HTML markup, I considered some alternate text formatting system. I've examined a couple different Wiki formats, Zope's Structured Text and Textile. While all are a step in the right direction, they are a bit more cumbersome and obtrusive for a non-technical user. I'm now nearing a first draft of a text formatting system that is based on the text formatting conventions commonly used in email. I hope this is simpler and easier to learn. Watch hear for more on that.

MTAmazon TrackBacks

The MTAmazon site is now running MT. It’s quite amazing to me that a free service like SourceForge would provide CVS space, download servers and bandwidth, AND Web hosting that supports MySQL and Movable Type. [Adam Kalsey]

This is an intriguing use of weblogging tool. Makes complete sense though I have seen very little of it happening. MTAmazon's use of TrackBack to create a list of MTAmazon will be interesting to watch as a similar discussion has begun on the mt-dev mailing list.

The LazyWeb

Ben Hammersley announced the creation of the LazyWeb using TrackBack links. "If you have something you'd like made, or invented, or written, write about it on your blog, and then trackback to the LazyWeb site (trackback url: http://blog.mediacooperative.com/mt-tb.cgi/1080 ). The rest of us can watch the site or feed and see if we can help out."

Shelley Powers comments "I think we're seeing a new form of open source development, based on technology developed for the community and its immediate, expressed needs. A case of community searching for technology rather than technology on the hunt for a users."

Trackback Threading

Sam Ruby notes on Greg Reinacker's call to action: "So, everyone, how about implementing TrackBack and/or Pingback on your weblogs - and let's see where it takes us?" Sam points out that the next logical step is trackback threading though issues may exist. I think we've only begun to scratch the surface of TrackBack's potential. Its an area of thought that I'm going to be giving considerable thought and attention to in the coming months.

Blosxom 0+6i BETA 1 released. 0+7i already on deck.

Aside from some basic cleanup, the big deal here is -- yes, it's true! -- STATIC RENDERING. [Rael Dornfest on the blosxom mailing list]

This is a much awaited feature. Much of the code (about 137 lines) is display text. In lurking on the mailing list it would seem the script are generally modified from its original form. Makes me think. In his announcement Rael also said "I've already started work on 0+7i's actions and pluggability (woohoo!) which I'll put into beta over the next couple-three weeks or so."

Software, Jim, but not as we know it

As we boldly explore the new universe of service-oriented architectures, we should not be surprised if software begins to assume unfamiliar, alien forms. [Phil Wainewright]

Agreed Phil. To quote a famous philsopher "you must unlearn what you have learned." We must forget what software is/was and seek out what it is becoming. Phil pointed out the recent example of Jon Udell's LibraryLookup as an example.

Udell's BYTE.com archive restored.

Early in December, Jon Udell reported that his former employer CMP had chosen to make the entire archive of BYTE.com a subscription only services. Just before Christmas Jon announced:

The 115 columns I wrote for BYTE.com are now restored to the public Web. I took this step reluctantly, and would have preferred that the original namespace remain intact, but so be it. Those columns that have continuing value can now weave themselves back into the fabric of the Web.

Great. I agree with Jon that those columns have value. I have a deep appreciation for many of his insights and the elegance in which he expresses them. Here are some of the articles that I’ve been going back to lately:

• The Universal Canvas
• The Universal Canvas Revisited
• The power of the URL-line
• The Event-Driven Internet
• Website API discovery

Microsoft ordered to distribute Java.

CNET (amongst many others) reports "A U.S. district court judge on Monday ordered Microsoft to include Sun Microsystems' version of Java with the Windows operating system, citing the software giant's history of undermining the platform-neutral programming language." Of course, Microsoft is appealing.

I have mixed feelings about this ruling. On one side I'm glad because I was highly disappointed with the DOJ's settlement with Microsoft after being declared a monopoly. Now that great injustice is in the books all that is left are civil suits. So I'm glad to see some momentum the other way. At the same time I am disappointed that Java is being forced onto users. If Java on the desktop was well done and useful I would expect a significant number of users would have opted to install it. Java on the desktop and in the browser is rather poor and demonstrate Sun doesn't get it -- or perhaps they are too stubborn and blinded by their own hatred of all things Microsoft.