"Meanwhile the IE project was just weeks away from beta 2 which was their last beta before the release. This was the good-old-days when critical features were crammed in just days before a release, but this was still cutting it close. I realized that the MSXML library shipped with IE and I had some good contacts over in the XML team who would probably help out- I got in touch with Jean Paoli who was running that team at the time and we pretty quickly struck a deal to ship the thing as part of the MSXML library. Which is the real explanation of where the name XMLHTTP comes from- the thing is mostly about HTTP and doesn’t have any specific tie to XML other than that was the easiest excuse for shipping it so I needed to cram XML into the name (plus- XML was the hot technology at the time and it seemed like some good marketing for the component)."
Collecting
Clips & bits I found provocative, beautiful or simply interesting. Linked and attached so they don't have to be in my head.
gitdown · GitHub is a script which moderates your git committing activity based on your blood alcohol content (BAC). It uses the DrinkShield for Arduino as a breathalyzer, and a Ruby script as the git hook. (via @javier)
"The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes."
Kubrick defining all the foreign policies in the world in 14 words.
“Watch High Frequency Traders (HFT) at the millisecond level jam thousands of quotes in the stock of Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) through our financial networks on May 2, 2013. Video shows 1/2 second of time. If any of the connections are not running perfectly, High Frequency Traders can profit from the price discrepancies that result. There is no economic justification for this abusive behavior.”
One Half Second of HFT /via @brenes
Anti-Abuse Ad Uses Lenticular Printing to Show Alternate Photo to Kids
“Anyone over 4’5″ sees the poster minus the bruises, number and offer for help. But when children see the ad, the hotline number and offer to help become visible. Adults get an awareness message, children get an offer for help.”
new-aesthetic on the existence of digital myths:
More interesting than the halfcat’s strangeness, perhaps, is its unknowability. Someone saw the halfcat, snapped it, but the route back is lost. The databases contain such multitudes of new myths.
Cosmarxpolitan, Issue 1
Is constant unceasing class warfare ruining your skin?
