The DOM location interface exposes the HTML document's URI parsed into its properties. However, it is
ancient and has problems that bug me but otherwise rarely show up in the real world. Complaining about mostly theoretical issues is why blogging exists, so here goes:
The location object's search, hash, and protocol properties are all misnomers that lead to confusion about the correct terms:
The 'search' property returns the URI's query property. The query property isn't limited to containing search terms.
The 'hash' property returns the URI's fragment property. This one is just named after its delimiter. It should be called the fragment.
The 'protocol' property returns the URI's scheme property. A URI's scheme isn't necessarily a protocol. The http URI scheme of course uses the HTTP protocol, but the https URI scheme is
the HTTP protocol over SSL/TLS - there is no HTTPS protocol. Similarly for something like mailto - there is no mailto wire protocol.
The 'hash' and 'search' location properties both return null in the case that their corresponding URI property doesn't exist or if its the
empty string. A URI with no query property and a URI with an empty string query property that are otherwise the same, are not equal URIs and are allowed by HTTP to return different content.
Similarly for the fragment. Unless the specific URI scheme defines otherwise, an empty query or hash isn't the same as no query or
hash.
But like complaining about the number of minutes in an hour none of this can ever change without huge compat issues on the web.
Accordingly I can only give my thanks to Anne van Kesteren and the awesome work on the URL standard moving towards a more sane (but still working
practically within the constraints of compat) location object and URI parsing in the browser.
Sticking to an exercise routine takes dedication, and many fitness junkies swear that a running companion can be a huge help. That’s why researchers
have developed “Joggobot,” a quad-rotor helicopter drone designed to motivate joggers by flying in front of
them.
The aerial robot uses its camera to spot a colorful pattern on a T-shirt worn by the jogger, and flies at a safe distance ahead. The runner can control Joggobot using a smartphone: In
“companion mode,” the drone simply maintains the jogger’s pace; in “coach mode,” it pushes its human trainee a little faster.
2010 Feb 3, 6:52"Unwittingly, he trained a dolphin to kill the President of the United States." It sounds like a sentence constructed one word at a time by different people humormoviedolphinusposter
2010 Jan 25, 5:25"...file a complaint with the World Trade Organization, contesting China’s internet censorship as a breach of the international trade rules to which China, as a WTO member, is subject. The US can
argue that China’s “Great Firewall”–a system of filters and bottlenecks that effectively shutters the country within its own intranet–is an illegal restraint on international trade because it bars
foreign companies from competing, via the internet, in the vast Chinese market."economicswtopoliticsgooglechinainternetcensorshipus
2010 Jan 6, 2:17Not shocking that papers freely available on the Internet are cited more than those not freely available... "Articles whose authors make them Open Access (OA) by self-archiving them online are cited
significantly more than articles accessible only to subscribers. ... not because of a quality bias from authors self-selecting what to make OA, but because of a quality advantage, from users
self-selecting what to use and cite, freed by OA from the constraints of selective accessibility to subscribers only."via:bengoldacresciencepapercitationinternet
2009 Sep 10, 8:22Geoff Nunberg investigates issues in Google Books and in the comments Google Book's team manager responds in the comments. Apparently metadata is bad everywhere and not an issue new to the Web and
user generated content or tagging. Like finding Feynman lectures categorized as Death Metal on Napster back in the day.languagegooglelibrarymetadatacatalog
2009 Aug 11, 9:03Train tracks run through this open air market. "Eight times daily, a train runs through without care for stopping, sending vendors and visitors to action stations before business as usual
resumes." photovideothailandtrain
The weekend before the previous, Sarah and I moved our belongings into the
new house and spent a lot of time packing and unpacking, and now we're officially living there (interested Facebook friends can find my
new address or just ask me). The Saturday of the previous weekend Sarah's family came over for a half house warming and half Sarah's birthday celebration which was fun and served to force us to do
more unpacking and forced me to take trips to Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. On Sunday, Sarah and I went out to her favorite restaurant and she opened her gifts that I had to hide to keep
her from opening before her birthday. Happy Birthday Sarah!
While at Home Depot I had trouble finding what I was actually looking for, but I did find everything I needed to terminate the Cat5e cables that are wired in the house. Each room has a wall plate
with two RJ45 sockets, both sockets wired to Cat5e cable. One of the cables per plate was already hooked up to a standard phone service punchdown board and the other cables per plate were all
hanging unterminated next to the punchdown board. So now I've terminated them all with RJ45 connectors and hooked them up to my hub, wireless router, cable modem, etc. I had the same sort of fun
setting all that up as I did playing with model train sets as a child. Hopefully no therapy will be required to figure out why that is.
2008 Dec 17, 2:27"Specifically, we have noticed that there is absolutely no training in the K-6 grades that prepares students to become mad scientists. In this competitive 21st-century world, the need for mad
scientists will only increase... We are pleased to announce the release of our Young Mad Scientist's First Alphabet Blocks."humorsciencegeekgiftvia:swannmanshoppingwishlisttoyalphabet-blocks
Sarah and I are back from Munich, Germany as of Thursday and I've just about recovered. The trip there via Air France we watched many movies and
it was much better than the trip back in which the entertainment system failed and I had a cold. When we arrived, Jon met us at the airport, helped us with the subway system, we played Guitar Hero,
ate at a Bavarian pub, and then later at an Australian bar.
The following day we met up with Jon and three of his friends, one of
whom was visiting from England and we all took a train to Neuschwanstein Castle. Apparently its the 'Disney' castle in that Disney's castle's are based upon it. The castle is filled with images and
statues of swans in homage to the Swan Knight. We ate in the town at a cafe with traditional Bavarian food before taking the train back and getting all you can eat fajitas for dinner.