Induction versus deduction - social software

Interesting article that takes a view of social software that I had not considered before - inductive versus deductive systems. There is something in this (I have an upcoming ITWorld article that wonders about the whole area.).
I'm having trouble with language though (as usual). If I write an algorithm to compute all acquaintances with a JClark number[1] of less than 2, is that a deduction or an induction? Its a deduction isn't it. Dang! So much for that tidy juxtaposition.
[1]A JClark number is like an Erdos Number but refers to those who have collaborated with James Clark.

Minus times minus - a good explanation

I received a few e-mails about my question concerning minus times minus equalling plus. (Thanks). Particular thanks to Bob Lyons for the link to this explanation which worked for me. Thats that itch scratched.

When is XPath a viable application level query language?

When it is integrated with an XML DB. Check out Syncato - a very cool weblogging system by Kimbro Starken.

X# perhaps?

http://www.research.microsoft.com/~emeijer/Papers/XS.pdf [PDF]

A storage space oddity

I've just copied every digital photo I ever took onto my MP3 player's 20GB hard disk as a backup. The amount of storage space we have at our disposal these days is mind blowing. The more you contemplate the vastness of data space the more you appreciate the severe limitations of data tranmission systems. This gulf is the subject of this ITWorld article Moving a mountain with tweezers.

A compact syntax for XSD?

xscs brings some of the benefits of the Relax NG compact syntax approach to XSD. I.e. don't tie yourself up in purist knots by describing your grammar in the same syntax as the instances it describes. (A good rule of thumb, I've come to believe.).
It cannot do anything about the often heinious semantic complexity of XSD but its a help at the first-pass-grok level.

Any sufficiently monolithic technology...

is indistinguishable from spaghetti.. Brilliant! [via Tim Bray].