On business/education partnership. It says a lot for Ruby, the dynamic language that's giving Perl and Python a run for their money, as well as for Rails, the application framework that made Ruby famous, that such a savvy software veteran [as Graham Glass] would choose to bet his next business on these open source technologies.… Continue reading On business/education partnership

Storm damage closes 4 bridges. IPSWICH — Damage from last month's disastrous flooding has forced this quaint seaside town to close four of five bridges over the Ipswich River, snarling traffic in the dense downtown and draining customers from businesses, just as the tourist season is heating up. [Boston Globe — Front Page]

What's New in Edge Rails. Ryan Daigle has recently started chronicling new features in Edge Rails. He's doing a nice job of summarizing the new features, so if you don't feel like keeping an eye on the commit log yourself, cruise on over to Ryan's blog and read about the new goodies there. [Riding Rails]

Feature: Start Thinking Community!. The idea guaranteed to fail in meetings with any client is a message board. Companies in general fear public dissent from real people. They say things like, “So if we ship the wrong thing, or our customer has a bad service experience – then everyone in the community is going to… Continue reading Feature: Start Thinking Community!

Peter Saint-Andre (Jabber): Link-Local Messaging. I just updated JEP-0174: Link-Local Messaging. This specification describes how to communicate in an XMPP-like fashion on local area networks, at WiFi hotspots, etc. — all in a way that is interoperable with Apple's iChat. It's a cool feature since it enables you to chat with other people even if… Continue reading Peter Saint-Andre (Jabber): Link-Local Messaging

RubyInside. Peter Cooper has created a stylish new aggregator blog RubyInside where he is highlighting interesting stuff going on with Ruby. I read quite a few Rubyist blogs but can't keep up with them all and appreciate a commentary from someone like Peter about what's worth knowing. [Curiouser and Curiouser!]

Generosity?!. From the Wall Street Journal, May 13. It's sometimes said Americans are stingy when it comes to foreign aid. Perhaps, but a recent study reports that our $19.7 billion in gov't aid in 2004 topped the charts and was more than #2 and #3 combined—Japan and France. Far more important, private contributions (schools, religious… Continue reading Generosity?!

Mark Shuttleworth: US visa-waiver program.  Joi ito has had a few stern looks from the US INS regarding visa waiver forms. I can relate. I have a UK passport by virtue of the fact that my father was born in the UK (mostly by accident – another fun story). So I also know about the… Continue reading Mark Shuttleworth: US visa-waiver program

How OPACs Suck, Parts 1, 2 & 3. If you're a librarian, Karen Schneider's series on ALA TechSource, “How OPACs Suck”, should be required reading. Certainly any vendor of library software should sit up and take notice. Library online catalogs have not adapted to the expectations of users familiar with features provided by sites such… Continue reading How OPACs Suck, Parts 1, 2 & 3

Jean-Louis Seguineau: A real dial-tone. The concept of “killer app” is a powerful driver of our collective psychology. We want to believe that our entire community can be propelled forward and our lives reshaped by the next must-have technology. A search on “VoIP killer app” will give you an idea of the extend of this… Continue reading Jean-Louis Seguineau: A real dial-tone