Name: Dan York
Member since: 2000-05-10 03:42:38
Last Login: 2011-01-21 18:49:24
Homepage: http://www.danyork.com/
Notes:
I am one of the co-founders and former president of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). I am now employed as the Director of Conversations for Voxeo Corporation. Previously I was employed by Mitel Networks in Ottawa, Ontario, after Mitel acquired a startup called "e- smith" in June 2001. Before that I was employed by Linuxcare .
Occasionally I find some time to dabble with code and have written several small apps, primarily in python. I used to participate in OCLUG and also help Dave Whitinger maintain the LinTraining directory of Linux training resources. I used to travel around writing and speaking about Linux-related subjects and did in the past regularly write articles for various (usually Linux or training-related) magazines and websites. My wife and I also have a daughter Chloe who makes an appearance from time to time in my entries.
OpenPGP info: Key id:
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Fingerprint: 3514 635F F655 7E0D E77D
3CC9
B559 39E7
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Most of my writing these days can be found on my blog sites:
EFF’s Coders’ Rights Video: Do It For The Kittens!
Sooooo… the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), of which I am a member, sends out a promotional video for their Coders’ Rights Project that involves… kittens???
While I support the Coders’ Rights Project and applaud their creativity, this video feels a bit forced… kind of like “everyone loves kitten videos, so we just need a kitten video!”
What do you think?
Contrasting Mercurial vs Git: Two Opposing Blog Posts
Which should you use for a distributed version control system (DVCS) – git or mercurial? That was the question taken up recently by two opposing blog posts on Atlassian’s blog:
Admittedly this is a bit of a “religious” issue with adherents on either side being extremely passionate about the topic. In my own case, my writing here (as well as my Github account) definitely show that I fall down on the side of git… but I’m also always interested to learning more about the various tools.
The two blog posts are written by passionate advocates for each tool and so naturally have that flavor. Regardless, they make for interesting reading. I don’t see myself switching to Mercurial any time soon… but it’s interesting to see the pros and cons of each. We still don’t have the “perfect” tool… but will we ever?
Given that I started working with version control systems back when RCS was the only option I had… and then CVS was a huge step forward… and then SVN was viewed as excellent… all I can say is that we’ve come a loooonnngg way and it’s greatto see both git and mercurial out there.
P.S. I should note that both of these articles are part of Atlassian’s “DVCS Guide” that has some other useful pieces about why distributed version control systems are worth investigating and using.
White House Summer Jobs Code Sprint Deadline is Monday, April 16, 2012
Interesting to see that the White House is sponsoring its first ever code sprint… from the announcement back on April 2nd:
Today we’re announcing the first ever White House Code Sprint. This is a call to developers around the country to use the Summer Jobs+ API to build job search apps for your favorite browsers, social networking platforms, smart phones and feature phones. Submit your apps using this form by Monday April 16th at 8 a.m. EST, and we’ll pick the most innovative ones to feature on WhiteHouse.gov.
The Code Sprint web page says a little bit more:
The White House and the Department of Labor have just released an API opening access to thousands of summer internships, training and mentorships opportunities through their Summer Jobs+ Bank. We’re challenging the developer community to build apps that reach kids throughout the nation on their browsers, Facebook, Android, iOS, SMS or any other platform.
This is the first ever White House Code Sprint and we’re excited to see what innovative apps you build over the next seven days. There is no ideal app, but keep in mind that our goal is to share opportunities in our job bank with as many youth as possible.
It’s good to see the White House seeking to tap into the energy and passion of the developer community… I don’t personally have the time to participate in this event, but I hope they do get some interesting application submissions. My one comment is that they didn’t allow much time… they issued the notice on April 2nd with a deadline, then, of April 9th. Not much time to publicize it and get interest… but we’ll see.
If you are interested, the deadline has been extended to this coming Monday, April 16th.
An Excellent Collection of Node.js Links
Want to learn more about Node.js, a topic I’ve frequently written about here? If so, a friend recently pointed me to an excellent collection of Node.js-related links compiled by Stanislav Stoyanov:
It’s a great collection of companies, tools, games, platforms, frameworks and more all associated with Node.js. While Joyent also maintains a list of Node.js resources, this list from Stanislav Stoyanov contains many excellent pointers for those looking to learn more and get started with Node.js.
Great work!
O’Reilly Offers 50% Off On Git Ebook And Videos Through Feb 8th
Being a huge fan of the git version control system, I was pleased to see that O’Reilly is offering 50% off on their git-related videos and ebook. I haven’t seen the videos, but the “Version Control with Git” book is quite good. More info on O’Reilly’s site:
P.S. I have no financial motivation to post this info, i.e. I am not being compensated through any kind of referral links or anything else. I just think this is an interesting offer to folks interested in learning more about git.
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New HTML Parser: The long-awaited libxml2 based HTML parser code is live. It needs further work but already handles most markup better than the original parser.
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If you're a C programmer with some spare time, take a look at the mod_virgule project page and help us with one of the tasks on the ToDo list!
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