News hit last week that Saurabh Singh, a 17-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, India had achieved the highest score in the history of NASA's International Scientist Discovery Examination. Pretty impressive stuff, right? Well the Indian government thought so when they awarded him half a million Rupies. The Prime Minister must have agreed when he authorized a visit with the boy and his father. Then it all went bad when some nosey reporter decided to actually ask NASA about the exam.

'"I have not been able to confirm that such an examination exists. I have checked all appropriate offices of the NASA and based on our investigation, it can be said that it (examination) does not exist,' NASA spokesperson Debia Rahn said over phone from Washington."

The story was reported far and wide, and all without comment from NASA. Details such as the placement of other Indian student's scores and a list of noteworthy In dians to have taken the test in the past seem to have been entirely fabricated. Google it and it won't be difficult to find stories like this, where it was reported that "the Class 12 student even bettered his idol, Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, who finished seventh in the test in 1960."

Gotcha!

An urban nerd-scape made entirely of Post-It notes.

http://xserve.berkeley.edu/eap/11-26_PM_COMPLETE.jpg

Remember that entry I wrote a few days ago? I called it Smarter and in it I revelled at the sheer brilliance of some of the new widgets and whatsits hitting the web. Well, Jesse James Garret of Adaptive Path fame has shed some light on a relatively new technique that is being incorporated by most of the sites I mentioned.

It's called Ajax and it's more of a collaboration of common technologies than a new one. Using XHTML and CSS, the Document Object Model, XML and XSLT, XMLHttpRequest, and JavaScript, server requests can be more efficient, page rendering more logical, and the user experience something akin to what I feel when I use A9, Flickr or Google Suggest (all of which incorporate Ajax).

"Instead of loading a webpage, at the start of the session, the browser loads an Ajax engine written in JavaScript and usually tucked away in a hidden frame. This engine is responsible for both rendering the interface the user sees and communicating with the server on the user's behalf. The Ajax engine allows the user's interaction with the application to happen asynchronously, independent of communication with the server. So the user is never staring at a blank browser window and an hourglass icon, waiting around for the server to do something."

This guy is smart.

Read what he has to say.

Well, I've finally done it. Or at least, I've mostly done it. Actually I've done a couple of things: I've remade Receptacle using standards-compliant XHTML and CSS... And I've moved from Blogger to Movable Type.

There are still several kinks to be worked out, mostly because Blogger requires one template and Movable Type requires about a million. The styles all seem to be working out, though.

I can't make any promises about the non-index page or anything containing older entries, but this page currently validates as: XHTML Transitional, 508, and AAA

It would validate as CSS, too, if not for the .htc behavior document I'm using to cover up an IE bug. Bummer.

So...

Why Movable Type?
Well... Some of you may remember my ranting and raving when a glitch in Blogger erased my template and took down my blog. Some of you may even be aware that this happened on four separate occassions. A few of you may even know about the apology a Blogger rep gave me, saying they were aware of the bug and hoped to someday repair it. Between that and the lack of Categories, the choice was clear.
Blogger, we've been together for a long time. Through thick and thin, I've always stuck by you. Now it's time to do something for myself. For me. I hope you'll understand.

Why XHTML? And.. er... What IS XHTML?
This may come as a shock to you but... HTML is dead. The last version of HTML that was actually called HTML was killed off two years ago by the World Wide Web Consortium and replaced with a new standard called XHTML: eXtensible Hypertext Markup Language.
Resembling XML and striving to keep data and presentation information seperate, XHTML is a series of tags, attributes and delimiters to store data exclusively. There are no presentation instructions allowed. No table heights or font faces or background colors, nothing. Just static data stored in elements. Each element has a class or id associated with it, which corresponds to a style rule in a CSS document. The CSS document contains no data, but only presentation instructions for the page and page elements.
This all means that if this page were viewed with no CSS styles at all, it would still be legible and functional. It would be browser default text on a plain white background with no formatting. If you happen to be using FireFox, or if you check back in a few days when I've written a CSS Disable script, you can see for yourself.

Why XHTML Transitional? You some kinda web-chicken?
Yes, I am. This page currently validates as XHTML Transitional, as oppose top XHTML Strict. That's because I'm still using some transitional techniques, slated to be deprecated in the new XHTML standard. For me, it was target="_new". This is the command that makes my links automatically open into new windows and it is not part of the XHTML Strict standard. I consider it an important part of the user experience and was not interested in replicated it's behavior with JavaScript, so I kept it.
Also, CSS Behaviors. In order to allow IE users to see rollover background (like in the sidebars), I've had to link my CSS to an .htc document that uses Jscript to replicate standard DHTML rollovers. This is becaise Microsoft does not allow the :hover selector to apply to anything besides an <a> tag. This page is using them on <li> and <h4> tags. Normally, this would deprecate nicely in IE, with users only seeing the links roll over, but I wanted the same experience for all users, so I've added the .htc file and forsaken XHTML Strict validity.

Click here to see the CSS for this page.

Click here to read the W3C XHTML Standard.

"The writer who authored Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and whose savage chronicling of the underbelly of American life and politics embodied a new kind of nonfiction writing he called "gonzo journalism," apparently committed suicide."

LA Times

I sorta half wrote this post and meant to get back to it two weeks ago. Then Lane beat me to it, the rat bastard. I'm still gonna write it, though. Just watch me, bitches.

I've noticed a slew of new features, widgets, and just brilliant shit on the web lately. Lane pointed out some work the good folks at Google are doing. Namely, Gmail and maps.google.com. Gmail has all but revolutioned webmail (and is now available as a POP service), and Google maps is truly something to behold. Be sure to hit up the Google Labs and check out Google Suggest and Google Video.

Amazon's search engine, A9, is no longer a mere search service, however intelligent and customizable it may be. A9's new "Yellow Pages" service offers comprehensive business listings in all major cities. Many listings also feature photographs of the storefronts and surrounding areas. Click to 'walk' down the street in either direction and be treated to a virtual tour of the neighborhood. It's truly nuts... I found my house!

Answers.com has recently partnered with Google and will blow your dictionary.com loving mind. Type in a search term and expect a definition, synonyms, translations, relevant web pages, related answers.com entries, and even Wikipedia results.

Here's something that freaks me out: Craigslist's RSS feeds can be tailored to adhere to your search terms. Go to your local Craigslist page and subscribe to the feed, you'll get updates across the board. Perform a search and subscribe again and you'll find a new feed with a new name that will only return new entries relevant to your search. I have no idea how this is possible, but it's simply brilliant. I can't believe they aren't promoting it.

What's going on around here (read: Earth) lately?

Globally - Iraq's first national elections are scheduled to erupt in a massive fireball this coming Sunday, as the Iraqi interim government dutifully pushes ahead with... ahem.. OUR agenda.

Nationally - Condoleeza Rice was confirmed as Secretary of State this week, only months after we first saw her on CNN saying she (as National Security Advisor) had not brought to the admittedly-waning attention of our President a memo called "Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States." Meanwhile in the back of a downtown Los Angeles swingers club, Spongebob Square Pants lies on a velour chaise, laughing maniacally, popping barbituates and getting head.

Locally - A suicidal 25 year old called Juan Alvarez slits his wrist, stabs himself several times in the chest and parks himself in a Jeep Cherokee on a commuter train track to await death. Upon seeing the approaching train, he has a change of heart and decides that maybe death isn't for him. When he is unable to dislodge his car from the tracks in time, he finds himself standing, bleeding and watching as it derails a southbound commuter train, which careens into a northbound commuter train, which topples a freight car. Ten people die, hundreds are injured and the state is pushing to give Juan Alvarez... the death penalty.