Now this is interesting, w3compiler, a self-proclaimed next-generation markup and javascript optimizer.

Unfortunately, it’s a Windows application. What I really want is a standalone compressor/script that will compress on check out from CVS/Subversion (would be nice if it automatically tracks updates to the publish tree). This would be stupendous for webapps. An Apache module to do the same might be interesting, although you’d probably want to cache the resulting JS optimizations.

As far as space saving goes, mod_gzip/mod_deflate probably has you 90% covered already, but it’d be interesting if someone wrote a JS compiler based on real-world JS-engine performance results. You could create different targets for each browser based on those profiles. Also, you could probably get some mean compression (and maybe some additional security) if you had distributions of lookup tables for compression/as pads.

Ahh, if only I had minions to do my bidding…

Doctor Unclear went offline from his old site a couple years ago but a Google search turned up his new (to me, at least) site. Dr Unclear was a favorite from a while back for his interactive JS/DOM demos. It’s one of those random, rarely touted and easy to miss sites that’s a complete gem. (I’d include Jeff Greenberg’s JavaScript Optimization page in that group)

TODO: gather good documentation, resources for JS/DOM/CSS

Some collected tweaks to Apple Mail.app:

• Force Mail to display plain text by default
• Apple KB: Mac OS X 10.3: Mail – About SSL, IMAP Accounts, and “Remember My Decision”
• Adding a custom SSL Certificate
• GPGMail – works great for me, does S/MIME, I use it with MacGPG for key management
• Apple Mail Resource Page – great list of add-ons

• On CNBC’s Tim Russert, O’Reilly likened MMFA to the Ku Klux Klan, see Jim Gilligan’s clips for more of O’Reilly being a blustering asshole (along w/ facts and corrections to go along w/ his lies). Insightful mefi comment:
  

  I think one would have to concede that the casual observer would come away from this thinking O’Reilly had won decisively. That he did it through bluster, bullying and sophistry is beside the point — he was more effective. And Krugman, alas, looked like he was nervously eyeing the studio door, half-expecting O’Reilly to loose it all and take a swing at him. I don’t fault Krugman. That’s just the state of (what passes for) discourse.

  also:

  Anyone suggesting that O’Reilly somehow ‘won’ either have a different definition of the term than I do ar some pretty low standards for argument. Krugman can be faulted for ever deciding to debate this guy in the first place (especially because he is so soft-spoken), but at least he tried to provide arguments. The standard exchange went something like this:

  Krugman: tries to make a point, offer some form of evidence in support for the point. Cut off By O’Reilly after about two sentences.
  O’Reilly: offers some type of retort, generally in the form of ‘everyone knows that’s wrong. Your sources are all lying partisans.’ Then goes on to attack Krugman in the worst ad hominem fashion. Krugman passively waits for the child to finish or start debating like a reasonable person. Alas, this never happens.

  What’s funny to me is that O’Reilly himself seems tio distrust evidence on principle (and certainly cultivates this attitude among his viewers). If they are trying to offer sources to support their claims, they must be skirting on sophistry.

I’ve been meaning to finish my new updating system before posting, but looks like that’s going to be at least a week or two off while I clear my plate off with other things.

I got the latest issue of Res last week, and while there weren’t any new spectacular music videos (one of the results of going to the monthly Res screenings), there was an amazing trailer for an amazing looking documentary, BattleGround: Dispatches From the End of Empire.

While a medium-sized trailer is available on their site and on archive.org, I decided to rip a high-quality XviD AVI [53.1MiB]. I’ve been showing it to everyone at work, it’s that good.

From the forums, it was shot in three weeks, on a DVX100 (although it looked like there was a secondary camera as well) by two people. The footage is amazing and the editing is really great. I hope this gets picked up. (it’s been submitted to Toronto, Venice Biennale, and Telluride) It would be a shame if it weren’t and I’d love to see it playing on the big screen.

I started a Suggestions list for OSCON yesterday on the wiki. I think there are definitely some good suggestions being put on.

Currently in Portland for OSCON

• Grumpy Gamer – I saw this in my referer logs the other day. Very cool, Ron Gilbert (yeah, that one) has a blog.
• Comparison of Drupal Access Control Modules
• Mozilla Developer Day 2004 – Friday, August 6, at Google’s Campus. Looks like fun
• A Compact Guide to Lex & Yacc

• CRM114 TUNE results – Mathieu De Zutter has already setup almost exactly what I want to do w/ my spam training

It’s a good idea not to run kill -9 -1 as root.