Random Stuff

October 22, 2001

Here is an interesting discussion about the on-going debate regarding binary XML. The paragraph about MPEG 7 is particularly interesting. This article is a brief overview of what's new in Windows XP. Interesting to see how far behind Microsoft is wrt to some things, and how far ahead they are on others. For example, the author is excited about three customizable views and NTP time syncronization, when we've had that stuff forever. On the other hand, XP and OSX.1 are busy refining translucent window support, while we're still trying to figure it out. I also stumbled across Directron, an online hardware vendor with a bazillion different cases, and Kernel Trap, an interesting Linux kernel news site.

I picked up a DVD-ROM drive this weekend, but I'm still fighting to get it playing CSS-scrambled disks. If I have any luck I'll post the results here. I tried the preeptible kernel patch, but it failed catastrophically with my SMP box. It looks like he corrected a few SMP-related mistakes, so I may give it another shot in the next few days.

I'd be interested in knowing how this page renders in various browsers. I've checked it out in Mozilla, Galeon, Konqueror, and Opera, and I'd like to know how it renders in Internet Explorer (Windows and MacOS), ICab, etc. Screenshots or email welcome.