Notes from the week of 2011-02-27

PayPal X Platform

• Advanced @PayPalX payment flows via MPL on iOS http://bit.ly/h6rTxJ #
• How to make @PayPalX transaction queries using YQL http://bit.ly/fke0Qw #
• Free @PayPalX Mobile Express Checkout (MEC) chapter http://bit.ly/fXzh2w from the new "PayPal APIs: Up and Running" http://amzn.to/h6PyTJ # (disclaimer: I provided tech review and a quote for the back cover of “PayPal APIs: Up and Running“)
• Building an online market using Python, @PayPalX Adaptive Payments, and Google App Engine http://bit.ly/e0ZIOM #
• Inter-penetrating orgs http://bit.ly/e1SWwY discussion with @TimOReilly is not nearly as dirty as it sounds (via @travisro on @PayPalX blog) #

Big data

• Quora: Who are the major data market players? Answer: http://qr.ae/gdBJ #

Wireless and mobility

• To Apple: "We are the App Store" http://bit.ly/fHLdpM is spot-on, pay attention #
• Particularly love the opening image and discussion: "Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore" http://bit.ly/h64Kci via @arstechnica #
• Android 3.0 platform and SDK tools release http://bit.ly/eaqkji #

APIs and development

• One of the reasons I lean towards Python http://bit.ly/gNXuaR (easier to read, hence great for maintainability, examples, and tech articles) #
• And yet, despite the simplicity of Python code, you do have problems such as this http://bit.ly/e3mnoW (careful, code slingers!) #
• Search StackOverflow and HackerNews book topics via HackerBooks http://bit.ly/fIE3Wn (e.g. "Python NLTK" returns: http://bit.ly/gQa6kh) #
• jsFiddle http://bit.ly/gNsnnk is another interesting web development editor (docs are here http://bit.ly/fpSa0d) #
• Complete @OReillyMedia "2010 State of the Computer Book Market" report http://bit.ly/gCR427 (PDF) is worth reading in its entirety #
• Must try: Pattern, a Python web mining module http://bit.ly/fzhxp5 bundling data retrieval, text analysis, and viz tools, via @ptwobrussell #
• #Ruby concurrency explained http://bit.ly/i4Xo8K (good points for understanding the issues with other languages, too) #
• On the causality of scaling http://bit.ly/h5kJLi and how to design for it http://bit.ly/ggrI3I from @merbist #
• Excellent PHP cross reference http://bit.ly/gpmnmK for #WordPress hackers, via @Nectarineimp #

Personal things

• Up all night with a sick baby. He appears to be a bit better, cautiously optimistic. Hope to try a little "real" but bland food later. #
• FYI I've started sharing conferences I'm tracking, attending, and speaking at here: http://bit.ly/hMrqdz @lanyrd #
• Amazon Prime Instant Video coverage from @arstechnica http://bit.ly/h66y14 and @engadget http://engt.co/dQtpMX #
• The @wsj on the surprising benefits of distractibility http://on.wsj.com/hJ3Uxn Fascinating! #
• Track tweets related to today's #STS133 Space Shuttle Discovery launch at http://bit.ly/hZ8cfv #
• STS-133 official NASA launch blog http://bit.ly/ecHPm9 #

Running

• Yesterday: Wind 30mph, gusting to 40, yeah! Final long slow run before Post Oak Half Marathon. http://bit.ly/dQNHsb #
• Ran 4.01 miles in 38 mins and felt great. http://bit.ly/gV3CBy #
• Ran 3.13 miles in 29 mins and felt good. Short tempo run in prepping for Post Oak this weekend. Warm and win… http://dailymile.com/e/NHz1 #
• Going to tear it up at the Post Oak Half tomorrow. OK, I'll accept "finish with dignity" if that's what's in… http://dailymile.com/e/NV4h #