You've reached the internet home of Chris Sells, who has a long history as a contributing member of the Windows developer community. He enjoys long walks on the beach and various computer technologies.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2003, 1:13 PM in Conference
Don "XML" Blogging Applied XML Dev.Conf.
Here. Don's blogging the Applied XML Developer's Conference.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2003, 12:00 AM in Fun
Top 10 XML Specifications Rejected by the W3C
10. WS-IrishSpring: for scented, more pleasing SOAP packets
9. WS-UPS: for sending SOAP packets in real envelopes
8. WS-USPS: for sending SOAP packets that dont need to get there
7. WS-PrisonShower: for picking up the dropped SOAP packets
6. X-Wife: protocol for monetary transfer
5. WS-Insecurity: dating protocol for web services programmers
4. WS-Monopoly: protocol used to keep antitrust penalties to manageable levels
3. NICKLE: for encoding smaller binary attachments
2. SFFCI: Syndication Format for Complete Idiots
1. WS-XXX: bringing a business model to XML, e.g.
<xxx:image
xmlns:xxx="uri://hustler.com/2003/oohlala">
<xxx:setting>the
storeroom</xxx:setting>
<xxx:model
gender="female"
tattoo="skull"
/>
<xxx:model
gender="male"
moustache="true"
/>
<xxx:pose>saucy</xxx:pose>
</xxx:image>
Chris Sells, Jason Whittington, Tim Ewald, Becky Dias & Brian Jepson
Presented at the Applied XML Developer's Conference West 2003
July 10, 2003
Wednesday, Jul 9, 2003, 4:51 PM in Conference
Posting This from the Applied XML Dev.Conf.
Here. I'm posting this using the wireless access from the room where the Applied XML Developer's Conference will be going on tomorrow (testing from the back to make sure it works). If I wanted to, I could plug into the readily available power as well. Very spiffy. If you'd like to participate in the conference, head over to the conference home page for the link to the message board and post to your heart's content.
Wednesday, Jul 9, 2003, 3:38 PM
Stop planning for the future!
Here. My favorite thing about the term "refactoring" is that it gives a trendy name to architecting for today, knowing full well that we'll need to re-arch (and re-code) tomorrow when we've got new requirements. Stu says this in more detail for the unconvinced.
Wednesday, Jul 9, 2003, 12:19 PM
New Software at Spout Manor
Apparently someone has confused me with Jerry Pournelle and has started sending me software. At least ActiveWords came in an email and the guy who sent it was nice about it (although I admit to installing it and then uninstalling it w/o getting much use out of it). Today I just got the full version of PowerBASIC in the mail. Apparently these folks don't know where I work. : ) Doesn't anyone know what PowerBASIC is? Is it cool? I plan on giving it away (if I can) at the Applied XML Developer's Conference.
Tuesday, Jul 8, 2003, 10:35 AM
The Best Just Keeps Getting Better
Here. SharpReader 0.9.2 released today. Includes Feedster, Technorati & [slash:comments] support, as well as bug fixes. I'm running it now w/ no problems.
Tuesday, Jul 8, 2003, 8:56 AM
All the new kids on the blog
Here. What became of my interview with the Seattle PI.
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 8:21 PM in Tools
Regular Expression Workbench 2.0
Here. While I don't think it's as pretty, Eric Gunnerson's RegexW has some cool features I wish RegexD [1] had, like regex->English translation and menus for regex parts. Anyone want to merge the best of both into some uber regex tool? [1] http://sellsbrothers.com/tools/#regexd
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 8:11 PM
Crackers
Here. I love this kind of double-sneaky sneaky..
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 7:43 PM
Linus Torvald Goes To Work in My Neck Of the Woods
Here. I continue to live in Beaverton, OR, but work for a company further north. Linus continues to live in California, but works for a company in Beaverton, OR. I don't know what that means, but it sounds cool. : )
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 7:36 PM
My First Press Contact @ MS
Here. The one where I joust with a knight of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 11:44 AM in Tools
Genghis Moved to GotDotNet Workspaces 1.0
Here. Now that GotDotNet Workspaces 1.0 has shipped (congrats!) Mike has moved Genghis there. Feel free to apply for membership if you've already contributed source to Genghis or if there's something you'd like to add.
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 11:34 AM
Membership to the RegexD Workspace
Here. I've turned down pretty much everyone's membership request to the RegexD workspace not because I don't want new members, but because I want to see one proposed change to RegexD before approving anyone as a member w/ write priviledges to the code. If you want to be a member, send include a link to an initial change in your request message so that I can check it out before approving your membership.
Monday, Jul 7, 2003, 12:00 AM in The Spout
My First Press Contact @ MS
Today I spoke with Todd Bishop, a reporter from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("the Seattle PI"). He was interested in my spout entries about my initial experiences with Microsoft, specifically the BillG ThinkWeek stuff. He called last week, but I didn't call him back right away. Instead, I asked my grandboss (my boss was out on vacation) what I should do. I remember during NEO that MS has very clear instructions about when to talk to the press, i.e. never. Of course, some folks at MS talk with the press, but unless it's specifically part of your job, you're supposed to refer the press to other folks more trained in the ways of the wily reporter trying to get the dirt on MS.
So, when Todd called and I hadn't yet made my millions on MS stock options (any day now... : ), I thought I'd ask around first before making any career limiting moves. That was early last week. It wasn't 'til today that I got the approval to give the interview. In fact, I'm pretty the MS marketing guy checking on what Todd was up to had a longer conversation than I did. Here's pretty much the entire conversation (paraphrased from imperfect human memory):
Todd: "Thanks for getting back to me, Chris. I'm glad you went though official channels. That tends to make things go easier."
I thought that was strange. If I was a reporter, I'd want to track down the defenseless MS employee when they were least expecting it. That's what I figured Todd was up to when he called my direct MS line w/o any introductions. Luckily, I work from home in PDX. Bwa ha ha ha ha!
Chris: "No problem, Todd. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. They were clear my first day at MS not to talk to the press unless explicitly instructed and I'm new."
Todd: "Did you get the list of things I'm after? I've already written the story; I just want to check some facts."
Oh sure, I thought. This is Todd buttering Chris like toast...
Chris: "Yes. What can I tell you?"
Todd: "You spell your last name S-E-L-L-S?"
Chris: "Yes."
Todd: "What's your position at Microsoft?"
Chris: detailed explanation of MSDN, DevCenters (including their need in the world) and how I'm doing the Longhorn DevCenter.
Todd: "Can I just say you're an MSDN Content Strategist?"
Chris: "Sure."
So now the reporter's got me giving him more info than he actually wants. I'm in trouble...
Todd: "And your blog is http://www.sellsbrothers.com/spout?"
Chris: long explanation about how I organize my site, how the Spout is just the editorial section and that I announce everything from all sections on my home page.
Todd: "Oh. So your blog is just http://www.sellsbrothers.com. I'll correct that. Thanks. That's all I need."
Chris: "Really? I expected to be grilled."
Todd: "Well, you're lucky you waited. If you'd have called last week, I'd have really hammered you."
Aha! He's just lulling me into a false sense of security for next time! : )
[ed: Apparently Robert Scoble took the brunt...]
Friday, Jul 4, 2003, 8:46 AM
Feedster Wars
Here. Now that Feedster's so fast, it's time for some wars: People: "dave winer": 2875 "sam ruby": 1547 "robert scoble": 1359 "chris pirillo": 936 ".net guy": 501 "don box": 451 "chris sells": 421 OSes: windows: 34,754 linux: 25,832 Platforms: .NET: 20,157 (capped to narrow down search) java: 16,536 Languages: java: 16,536 vb: 1551 c#: 1380 c++: 0 (I assume it's a bug : ) Parts of .NET: winforms: 345 asp.net: 46 ado.net: 0 Heads of State: "bill gates": 1348 "larry ellison": 220 "scott mcnealy": 134 Companies: microsoft: 29,215 sun: 22,349 (matching *lots* more than just Sun Microsystems) ibm: 8802 aol: 4524 oracle: 4273