Despite the most wonderful ten years of my life (and hopefully Angela agrees on that), we didn’t celebrate with a fancy dinner. Instead—in the wee early hours of the morning—we found ourselves sharing take-out pizza in a hotel room bed with our kids while clinking cheap-yet-overpriced wine in a pair of plastic cups. We decided to take the kids on our first big family vacation and went to Disney World in Florida. While not a traditional date, even for us, we’ve always done things our own way and therefore it seemed fitting. Besides, our kids are as much a part of our marriage as anything so it felt right to include them (though they didn’t get any of the wine; there wasn’t enough in the little hotel bottle to share). Our actual anniversary was spent on a long drive home. We joked we’d spend an hour on the road for each year we’d been married. In a way, also fitting as we spent the day after our wedding on a long car ride back home to Virginia. I don’t think we’ll try that for any future anniversaries, though¹.

Not to stretch the driving metaphor too far, but it has been an amazing journey these past ten years (and the years together even before then…). I’ve got a friend and partner. Anytime I described a dream of mine, she’s never tried to stop me but instead asked “when do you want to get started?” She’s not only supported me but pushed me to always be better and do more. Everything good that has happened to me since we’ve been together has been in a very large part because of her. To have had a friend like that even for a short time is a gift and she’s been married to me for ten short years (and two days).

Here’s to ten times ten more, should we be here for so long.

1. We do plan to go out for a quiet date night to share a nice dinner later this evening.

Out of the box from Vitamins on Vimeo.

However, I can’t think of a worse device to apply this idea to than a touchscreen smartphone.

Let me explain: I’ve been using an Apple iPhone for about the past four years now¹. As much as I initially opposed the idea, Apple was correct in taking things like the SIM card and phone battery out of the hands of the user². It’s a far superior user experience to design those out of the experience all together, in my opinion. That being said, if you’re going to force your user into awkward set-up necessities, this is about as painless a way to do it as possible. I can image some layered gadget packaging where each section the user opens, they are presented with the next step in setup or assembly (would work great for Ikea products, too!).

Now, as for instructing the user how to do anything on the phone: with a generous sized touch screen, there’s simply no reason why all of these instructions can’t just present themselves on the screen. My favorite apps on th the iPhone are those where the instructions appear as modal dialogs pointing to the most-used features. Add’l help can get included to, but the top two or three tools are called out as soon as the app launches, making any user almost instantly proficient.

So, as much as I like this concept, I’d much rather see all of this inside the box—er, phone—than in some bulky, physical thing that isn’t going to be with you at all times.

In short: I think the manual for a smart phone should simply be one short sentence: Push the power button.

Via Johne Cook, by way of Bill Swallow & Ray Gallon

1. Yes, this is the part where I start coming off as an Apple fan boy, but bear with me… it applies to any smartphone or other touch-screen device
2. Sure, you can still get to the SIM card on an iPhone, but compared to any other phone, it holds virtually no data beyond the user’s account credentials or phone number.

So, in no particular order, here’s a list of some of my books on the subject:

DITA

• Practical DITA
  by Julio Vazquez
• DITA 101
  by Ann Rockley, Charles Cooper, & Steve Manning
• The DITA Style Guide: Best Practices for Authors
  by Tony Self (Kindle edition)

XML

• Learning XML, Second Edition by Erik Ray¹
• XML in a Nutshell, Third Edition by Elliot Harold & W. Scott Means
• XML Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O’Reilly)) by Simon St. Laurent & Michael Fitzgerald
• Learning XSLT by Michael Fitzgerald
• XSLT: Programmer’s Reference (Programmer to Programmer) by Michael Kay
• XSL-FO by Dave Pawson
• SVG Essentials by J. David Eisenberg (free at O’Reilly Commons)
• CSS: The Definitive Guide by Eric Meyer

A couple of books on Ant & JavaScript that I haven’t even gotten to yet:

• Learning JavaScript, 2nd Edition by Shelley Powers
• Ant: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition by Steve Holzner

And, some wider shots of my (sort of) organized bookshelves:

1. I have the first edition. I’d recommend getting the later edition.

So, in no particular order (though numbered anyway):

1. Blog more about the kids

   They’re getting older and doing more. As Angela noted in her remark on Facebook about getting a minivan, it’s just a matter of time until we’re taking them to soccer practice.

2. Become more fluent in XML development

   I can still recall the day Jason Johnson explained to me about what XML was. It seemed so simple then… Now I’m writing XSL transforms as part of my job and concerned with information architecture. It’s been absolutely fascinating and a way to actually do some programming with a real goal¹.

3. Visit more family & friends

   Despite every means of communication that mankind has ever conceived, we (our household, that is) still somehow remain out-of-touch with so many of our relatives. As our kids are getting older² we are at a point where we can just do it the old-fashioned way and visit (no letter writing campaign just yet, though). We certainly have some older members in the family and it would be a shame to someday have to explain to the kids why they never met.

4. Create more

   Photography, videos, writing, drawing, and so on. Our daughter has become very interested in art and has shown a real creative streak. I remember when I used to just draw,write a short story, or make up a tune for fun and I need to get back there somehow. Will I end up with dozens of unfinished bits? Most assuredly. However, the point to this is enjoying making something; not necessarily the final product.

5. Eat healthier

   Okay, so I have to admit that this is starting to sound like a classic New Year’s resolution. Surely, he’ll mention going to the gym more next, right? Of course, losing weight may be an added benefit, but I’m really just interested in trying out new foods. I’m married to a real foodie and it’s really something she loves that I’d like to take a bigger interest in. Certainly, I’d like to add in things like fruits & vegetables that have never really been a staple of my diet³. We’ve always tried out best to cook a lot at home and the kids are starting to even get involved. So, as much as it sounds like a simple, shallow New Year’s resolution, it’s a much a part of the previous goal as it is just trying to be healthy.

6. Exercise

   Yes, yes. This guy just doesn’t want to admit he’s make resolutions. But Angela really inspired me this past year by setting out some goals, running some big races, and doing really well. So, I’ve already signed up for a big half-marathon this year and I’ll try to run at least a short race every month.

So, it all looks a lot like most of my goals for previous years. That doesn’t mean that I never accomplished those goals; just that they were good ones and worth moving the goal line to get more out of them.

1. Aside from just learning, which is a good-enough goal; just one that takes a lot more dedication than I’m usually willing to throw at it.
2. And, oh yeah, that insanely nice minivan.
3. I recently tried Brussels sprouts for the first time in my life and, many, are they good!

The <center> cannot hold it is too late. The force of regex and HTML together in the same conceptual space will destroy your mind like so much watery putty.

At first, I was a little surprised. I love using regular expressions to make bulk changes throughout an XHTML document or even across a project consisting of hundreds of files. But, after reading through the post several times and thinkng about what I’ve been able to accomplish with some (relatively) simple XSLT files and a XML parser, it occurred to me that it is absolutely correct.

You, see as great as regular expressions are, they are not aware of the context. They have no idea if your matching a pattern within a C++ routine or an XHTML file. They can only parse characters and short strings as they are, with no understanding of their meaning.

EXstensible Stylesheet Language Transforms, on the other hand, are solely for the purpose of manipulating XML content. By definition, they are aware of XML elements and their attributes. The entire purpose of them is high-level modifications. In fact, after having used them now to successfully convert some XHTML to DITA XML, I have to say the powers feel almost god-like.

RegEx still have their use with XML—particularly with badly formed SGML/HTML one might have had dumped in their lap. But if the need is actually manipulating XML elements or attributes within a file (or even across files), then it’s really foolish to try to accomplish something with multiple regular expressions when a single XSL template will do (and often without the unintended consequences of a greedy RegEx).

1. And when I say epic, I mean it goes from making a case as to why RegEx is simply insufficiently high-level enough to deal with HTML parsing to opening the gates of the abyss and letting the deep ones in to your mind.

[Greg] Bentley credited the rapid proliferation and repurposing of consumer products, such as the iPad, into wirelessly connected field tools for construction as accelerants to the development of new processes for the collection and exchange of project and asset information. He says it is a “tremendous” moment for software developers, who no longer have to struggle to find hardware capable of supporting innovations. “Thank goodness we don’t have to invent it, just take advantage of it,” he said.

Bentley doesn’t make any hardware and their acquisitions that once did (such as Intergraph) now exclusively support third-party hardware. Taking advantage of hardware on third-party devices to move them into new and creative markets benefits everyone in that three-party arrangement. (via Rick Stavanja)

Jon Gruber stated the other day that he didn’t think Netflix was capable of creating hardware to support an “end-to-end solution.” I don’t disagree that there’s essentially no chance Netflix will move beyond the app business and into actual hardware¹. But I disagree with the notion that Apple and Amazon are providing end-to-end solutions. In fact, what Apple and Amazon are really providing are middle-to-one-end solutions. That is, they take content licensed from a studio and serve it over their systems to their hardware². Netflix, however, is moving to the other end by creating content to serve on their systems to someone else’s hardware platform via an app. In doing so, they get a wider installed base with no hardware investment (which no one other than Apple has really yet to crack; though the Kindle Fire from Amazon is just a week old).

Netflix has dabbled with being a studio in the past, or at least a financier of independent film. Their folded Red Envelope Entertainment—which backed some really great indie films—was a worthy try, but competed against some of their bread & butter content providers. While that fact hasn’t changed much, the stakes have. When Netflix made the decision to close their Red Envelope Entertainment division, the Apple App Store had just launched and the iPad hadn’t even been announced yet. That landscape has completely changed, with premium network HBO having a really terrific app now that lets subscribers watch their shows on demand. The ability to watch Game of Thrones anytime, anywhere has surely helped HBO’s subscriber numbers and I think this is what Netflix must have it’s eye on.

The price of Netflix’s streaming service puts in the range with HBO and now Netflix has the killer content which will compel fans to sign up if they weren’t already subscribers. Thus they stand a chance to gain subscribers at the expense of premium cable providers like HBO, especially among the growing number of cable-cutters (you don’t need a cable subscription to watch Netflix shows; you do for HBO’s).

So, which is a better business to be in between hardware and content producer? I honestly don’t know, but given the nightmare of content licenses all these tech companies are having to navigate, I have a good feeling that producing premium content might be more as appealing as getting into the hardware game. Though the markets for iPads is essentially the same age as the market for streaming video apps on such devices, the playing field among studios looks a lot more leve than having to taken on a juggernaut like Apple’s iOS devices from scratch.

You’re move, Amazon.

1. This is the company that is racing to dump physical media, for one thing!
2. Note that, in the case of Amazon’s print publishing, they are consuming the entire business between author an reader. Now that is as much an end-to-end solution as one could have, short of providing advances to authors.

When we plugged our phones into our computers today, we realized that the iPhone device or camera roll weren’t showing up in iTunes. Even checking the Image Capture on the mac didn’t show the camera. After some hunting around, I finally found the solution. It’s not one I would have ever thought to do and it really strikes me as odd that Apple didn’t hammer this out already with all the other upgrades required for using iOS 5.

To get iPhoto to recognize your iOS 5 device, do the following:

1. Eject your iPhone or iPad if it is connected.

2. Using Finder and select the iPhoto Library file in the Pictures folder in your home directory.

3. Right click and select Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu.

   The internal folder structure of the file is displayed.

   Tip: It may be helpful display items in a list, as there are quite a few files in the iPhoto Library.

4. (Optional) Right click on the folder named iPod Photo Cache and select Compress “iPod Photo Cache” from the pop-up menu.

   This will give you a back up copy, in case something should go wrong. However, this is an automatically generated folder so you really shouldn’t lose anything.

5. Right click on the folder named iPod Photo Cache and select Move to Trash.

6. Reconnect your iPhone or iPad to your computer

   You should see the device appear in iPhoto, where you can import photos and videos as with previous version of iOS.

   If you happen to still have the contents of the iPhoto Library still showing in Finder, you’ll notice that the folder you just deleted gets generated using the new database structure used in iOS 5.

According to Royalwise Solutions, this issue stems from a change in the database used by iOS versions 2 through 4.3.3 is no longer used in iOS 5.0. Thanks to them for providing the details on how to fix this issue. Easy solution but not likely something most users are likely to figure out on their own (I know I couldn’t, anyway).

I was confused about the name Qwikster, though. Not that Reed Hastings reads my tweets, but was Mailflix (or DVDflix, Discflix, etc.) already taken? Why not go with the obvious and descriptive instead of a name that just implies something is going to be quick? Netflix mailings are fast—quick, even—but that name just seems like unnecessary nonsense¹.

Despite all of the outrage over the price hikes and confusion (on the part of some, anyway; most likely just the press) over streaming services vs. discs, one has to appreciate Reed Hasting’s clarity of approach here. They are being very clear as to where they think the future lies. Of course, they must now navigate the figurative minefield of licensing to get content into streaming. No one (not even Apple or Amazon, by my observation) has done as good a job at this so far as Netflix. However, with the recent Starz announcement², this does look like a massive mountain to climb. The success of Qwikster will depend less on licensing (who cares about the one-month period between DVD release and Netflix availability?) and more on adding value to the aging mail service.

One such value of additional interest, Qwikster will be adding game discs to their mail order service. Goodbye, Gamefly? We actually suspended our Gamefly account nearly three years ago. Great service, really, but we just never had the time to play the games. I’m not sure that we have loads more time now, but having the option to occasionally get games (for an additional fee, I suspect) on an existing account has more appeal than thawing out an account elsewhere.

Update: Great post by Dan Frommer with some great points to remember, particularly as to why avoiding DVD or Mail in the name Qwikster may have been a good idea for a possibly shifting business. (via Daring Fireball)

1. Then again, their hastily put together page holder looks like nonsense. Who designed that table? M.C. Escher?
2. Which apparently had everything to do with Starz seeing the business in terms of outdated cable model and Netflix preferring the simplicity of their business.