HACKERS & PAINTERS 

There's an interesting old essay here about the comparisons between hackers and painters. I kind of like this. I also like the arguments against it here.

I like this as I am a painter, and I was first called a 'hacker' by an impressed boss, back in 1993, after I figured out that our 'high-tech business-to-business advertising agency' should start doing websites and CDROMs for our clients, when we had Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Texas Instruments and Orange on the roster. I formed their first multimedia department, in a corner on my own, where I used to sit for hours working out how to write html and code in Shockwave Lingo, in between blowing away the demons of 'DOOM I' .

I paint, I sculpt stone, carve wood. I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid. In a way, I think I am that now.

The way computers work and the systems I program in my head, before building them, is very much like the way I would visualise something I wanted to paint or draw. I like structure, despite needing a certain amount of chaos. Controlling that 'chaos' in code to harness a platform's abilities is just like controlling any medium in art, imho.

One of the articles talks about architects and engineers being different people, with the architects telling everyone what to do. I get this alot at work, where editorial say they control everything, yet they require we engineers to say yes or no, then build it, if we can.

The trouble with this, is that very few editorial people are very 'web2.0'. Not enough truly understand what is possible when they make their suggestions, in my experience. I think that blurring the line between the architects and engineers, editorial and developers and designers is a good thing, and needs to happen for great things to happen. Take the rough with the smooth.

When we're all the same page, we can sing. But some people need open the book!

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SPOTS AWAY! 

Check out this interesting optical illusion. Nice!

XML PATENT KERFUFFLE AHOY! 

It seems like a small company called Scientigo in North Carolina think they have a good case to 'monetize' a patent they own covering the transfer of 'data in neutral forms'. They argue that this would cover XML and they will be chasing/talking to people via a third party.

The patents are No. 5,842,213 and No. 6,393,426

So, pull up your chairs, grab a bowl of popcorn and coke, because I think some people are going to have alot to say about this!

Do Scientigo have a case, or are they simply Patent Trolls?

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OPML IN RADIO AND MANILA 

There's a new post up up the Userland blog which explains a little about Radio and Manila's OPML editing and rendering abilities.

It reminds me of when DW showed me the Radio outliner for the first time. Very cool.

But that was the first time I said we really needed a way to view and edit attributes - an OPML bugbear for some - without having to 'program' the editor.

This was back in the 'dollar-a-question' days.

I wonder when and if we'll get hold of a server product to enable our own rendering styles for these blogs.

I am being asked this at work, since showing the editor to my managers.

I wish Radio supported SecureFTP. It seems as if people have been asking for a while, if you search around.

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