Author Archives: David Megginson

Getting the point of Skype and chat

Posted on May 16, 2006 by David Megginson

I signed up for Skype a while ago, put EUR 10 into my account, and made a few calls. It was cute, it worked, but after a couple of experiments I couldn’t see the big deal. After all, Skype lags … Continue reading →

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Giving thanks

Posted on May 15, 2006 by David Megginson

Over on XML.com, David Peterson gives Microsoft some well-deserved thanks for implementing and popularizing the XMLHttpRequest object that’s so useful in modern web development. He also thanks them for not charging for it, but of course, if they had tried … Continue reading →

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Mobile Web at XTech

Posted on May 10, 2006 by David Megginson

Michael Smith has a short post about the Mobile Web Morning at XTech 2006 next week in Amsterdam. I’ve been excited about the mobile web for a long time — granted, it’s been slow taking off, but with mobile phones … Continue reading →

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How many environments?

Posted on May 2, 2006 by David Megginson

Assume that you are a lone developer, maintaining a small web site in a shared hosting account. How many software environments do you need from development to production? One environment On the simplest level, you could develop directly in your … Continue reading →

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Announcement: The XML Scholarship

Posted on April 26, 2006 by David Megginson

In conjunction with the XML 2006 conference from 5-7 December in Boston, IDEAlliance will be awarding the first XML Scholarship. This scholarship is open to anyone who is enrolled as a student in a diploma or degree program at a … Continue reading →

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XML 2006 website

Posted on April 24, 2006 by David Megginson

The first draft of the website for the XML 2006 conference (Boston, 5-7 December) is now online at 2006.xmlconference.org (xmlconference.org redirects to it). This site will grow as the conference gets closer and will eventually get a proper logo, but … Continue reading →

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Tired of frameworks

Posted on April 23, 2006 by David Megginson

I’m tired of software-development frameworks — they seem always to be optimized for the way someone else works, or for the way someone else thinks I should work. Granted, it’s fun to write frameworks, and it’s almost as much fun … Continue reading →

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A breath of intellectual-property sanity

Posted on April 7, 2006 by David Megginson

As most of you probably already know, Dan Brown, author of the (unintentionally) hilarious novel The Da Vinci Code, has won a copyright-violation case suit brought against him by authors of one of the books he used as a source … Continue reading →

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XML and Flash sell SUVs

Posted on April 1, 2006 by David Megginson

Take a look at this SUV commercial parody, sent to me by an acquaintance (quickly, before GM pulls the link). General Motors has a new online marketing campaign for the Chevy Apprentice, where you can design your own TV commercial … Continue reading →

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The slow, painful death of television

Posted on April 1, 2006 by David Megginson

Statistics Canada has just published statistics about Canadian television viewing in Fall 2004 (via CBC). I loved TV once, and as I sit by its deathbed, I’m torn between wanting to hold onto it just a little longer and hoping … Continue reading →

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