Notes from the week of 2011-02-13

PayPal X Platform:

• Now that @PayPalX Digital Goods is out of beta http://bit.ly/gd5JZm here's a refresher on how to use it: http://bit.ly/hqPf1E #
• New @PayPalX DevTalk newsletter http://bit.ly/i2x3z0 includes free @OReillyMedia epayments report http://bit.ly/fh6ysK (login required) #
• Fav line from this new @PayPalX ecommerce article http://bit.ly/hRBoRg "If you're paying for things upfront nowadays, you're doing it wrong" #

Big data:

• Looking for a succinct description of the Big Data harvest and analysis process? Here you go: http://bit.ly/esUeQJ by @hmason on dataists #
• Nice report on the final day of #StratConf http://bit.ly/dSSmim again from @JanWillemTulp #BigData #
• Working through the #StrataConf Data Bootcamp http://bit.ly/fceOVi asap (ZIP of materials is at http://bit.ly/campyslides) #
• More #StrataConf recap http://bit.ly/dHaAah including the Data Bootcamp #
• An oldie but a goodie: Sensors smash social networks in creating Big Data http://bit.ly/ebunOV (the flight data numbers are incredible) #
• Congratulations to Digital Reasoning @dreasoning on their public beta of the Synthesys Platform http://bit.ly/hlxfed at http://bit.ly/gu5hdj #
• NPR discussion with Bitly dataist @hmason http://n.pr/hFd06e delves into divining emergent props from data, plus what happens if Bitly dies #

Wireless and mobility (never would have thought Nokia would pick Microsoft):

• Please let Nokia's announcement tomorrow *not* be that they're going with Windoze Phone http://tcrn.ch/fVPbxS #
• PC mag got the key points of Nokia's Microsoft deal spot-on. Big winner: MS. One of the big losers: Nokia
  http://bit.ly/fA4ZeK #
• More on the Nokia-Microsoft two turkey marriage http://bit.ly/g2hPbd & NOK heads are already being replaced by Softies http://tcrn.ch/ftjyEm #
• The End of the Nokia Raj http://bit.ly/gIF2TS by @om gets the key details, including the importance of Indian and Chinese hardware, spot-on #
• Mobile World Congress trends to watch http://bit.ly/hMLa1p via @gigaom (mobile payments is a big one, @PayPalX fans) #

APIs and web development:

• I'm giving ActivePython community edition http://bit.ly/ezmHTv a try after "fun" with Cygwin Python #
• Investigating BeautifulSoup for HTML scraping in Python http://bit.ly/hctlSS on the recommendation of @ptwobrussell #
• "Paul's Python Pearls" @OReillyMedia webcast recording is now available at http://bit.ly/epX0c4 (12min preview at http://bit.ly/fIWeeG ) #
• Git in 5 minutes http://bit.ly/fPrYIp has been useful in getting my first project up on github http://bit.ly/hMYMRS #
• My github feed: http://bit.ly/hclz8Y (includes commits, new follows, etc.) #
• Using PHP, YQL, and RSS to add living data to your site http://bit.ly/e9AOG1 by my friend Peter Mancini @nectarineimp writing for @wpmods #
• I am *loving* the elegance of @CoffeeScript code vs JavaScript http://bit.ly/i1wvmL (worth trying Node just to fire up 'coffee') #
• Understanding prototypal inheritance in JavaScript http://bit.ly/hNE3ht #
• Google's new 2-step sign-in security http://bit.ly/gxvOlP; I wonder if they've managed to keep it simple or not #
• I'm looking forward to seeing more details on @RedDirtRubyConf posted Monday http://bit.ly/hS82ev #
• Research on Scala http://bit.ly/gkPUMT and Lift http://bit.ly/e4czbK turned up this Manning sample chapter http://bit.ly/fR12uj #
• I'm also looking forward to this SproutCore webcast http://bit.ly/fLkjEW to be hosted by @OReillyMedia on February 22nd #

Personal things:

• Trying out the LinkedIn Labs "Resume Builder". What do you think? http://bit.ly/g3VGGe #
• Contact information from the top of my resume, available in HTML and PDF formats http://bit.ly/bundles/billday/1j http://twitpic.com/3ydcjb #
• The people of Egypt have their liberty. I pray they see this through to protecting it with a just democractic government. #Jan25 #
• Great @FortuneMagazine piece on how @ConanOBrien resurrected himself via @TeamCoco and other #SocialMedia http://bit.ly/ibGjyN #

Running:

• Ultramarathon training for beginners http://bit.ly/eP1YhV via @dailymile #
• Ran 5.01 miles in 1 hour and 2 mins and 25 secs and felt great. Slow, slippery run with family as the snow starts to… http://bit.ly/gCw8Td #