Monthly Archives: December 2007

ODF vs. OOXML in New York State

New York State’s Office for Technology released a Request for Public Comment on selecting an XML-based office data format. The choices are OASIS’ ODF and Microsoft’s OOXML. Responses were due by 5 p.m. today, Dec. 28. My response is below, … Continue reading

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Critical Mass

Dan Weinreb posted common Complaints About Common Lisp. My personal complaint is in there — the lack of libraries that are well-documented and regularly updated. I think it’s a critical mass problem: so few people are using Common Lisp in … Continue reading

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XO-1 Laptop: Second Impressions

Further thoughts on my new XO-1 Laptop: It is possible to type on it, albeit not as fast as on a regular keyboard. It’s a real Linux installation — Redhat — on an x86-compatible processor. You can run “yum” in … Continue reading

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Blogging XO Style

Just got my XO-1 laptop today, and I’m using it to write this post. First impressions: It’s light–weighs about as much as a hardback book. The screen is sharp and readable, with or without the backlight. The built-in rubber keyboard … Continue reading

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The Definition of Scripting

Larry Wall writes about scripting, “I can’t define it, but I’ll know it when I see it.” So I thought I’d throw out my idea of a definition. A scripting language is a programming language that relies on and is … Continue reading

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