bkdelong

Life changes can be a wonderful thing. My last week at the XML DevCon Conference helped me sort out a lot that was going through my head though by the end of it, I was both physically and emotionally drained. Upon returning, Kirky and I had dinner (Venezuelan sausage, salmon and some tasty yucca) with a trusted friend who really helped me make some tough decisions and is helping me move forward. Regardless, I am happy, relaxed, smiling, and rejuvenated - I am moving on to a new stage in my life.

I spent last night and today buffing up my knowledge of the Semantic Web. I read a great article in Scientific American by Tim Berners-Lee, Ora Lassila, and James Hendler about the next generation of the Web. Coupled with Lance's push to "be great", I have a new sense of hope and a challenge to actually DO something for a change.

I've taken some time to improve BrainStream and made sure it was XHTML CSS compliant. Using an RSS tool developed by Aaron Swartz, I've created an RSS feed for this site. This makes it a lot easier for people to syndicate my content, though Not that anyone would want to at this point. My next goal is to find a good RSS reader and start experimenting with hand-coded RSS.

I also want to spend some time to get a better understanding of RDF and Dublin Core. Utilizing both is the first step in giving content on the Web more context. Once we have contextualization, it will be easier for the agents discussed in the aforementioned article to function and carry out their tasks.

Another interest of mine is XSLT and utilizing transformations to take Web sites developed in well-formed and valid XHTML plus CSS, and convert the markup into something that will display in various older browsers. This solution was originally designed for more forward-moving activity such as converting Web sites from XHTML to WML, the markup language for WAP-related phones. The goal is to develop a reusable transformation that can take standard XHTML CSS and convert it to HTML that will work in NS 4.x or IE 3.x. I don't know how plausible this would be, since XML is DTD reliant I may only be able to take XHTML and convert it to HTML 3.2 in which case relying on scripting might be the only way to solve this issue.

Other goals include putting the entire archives of the Chicago Journalism Review online and in-full, designing and implementing my first, functional PHP & mysql solution for an online store, and adding more content to BrainStream including a bio, CV, picture gallery, and lots of my old writings & rantings.

Much to my wife's delight I'll also be taking a bit more responsibility around the house. I've recently taken over bill paying and taken ownership of anything having to do with the cars alongside my other regular duties like cleaning the kitchen. I've been toying with the idea of getting my Masters degree. I've had several thoughts as to what area of study . Library and Information Science intrigues me because I've always loved research - finding information no one else can in much less time. I've also thought about criminal forensics because my brain works differently than a lot of other people and sometimes I see things logical-thinkers don't.

At this point, I don't know what the future might hold for me. But I'm certainly not going to sit still and let it come to me. In the meanwhile, I'm going to try to organize a few things in my life and get ready for what comes.

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