Portable Social Networks at Mashup Camp

I’m doing a presentation today at Mashup University that I’ve titled Tapping the Portable Social Network that’s a code tour of how to create a social network that uses existing social connections and public data to make the sign up process for web sites easier. Of course, this whole idea came from Jeremy Keith.\
It’s a very simple Rails app (that you can download) that only deals with the login/signup process using both OpenID and AOL’s OpenAuth.\
Here are the basics…\
If you log in with OpenID, it:

  1. grabs the identity URL, and looks for some microformats
  2. looks for an hcard and pre-fllls the profile
  3. looks for XFN-encoded links and searches the site for existing users with that homepage and gives you the option to add them as contacts when you sign up.\
    If you log in with OpenAuth, it:
  4. pre-fills your profile with URLs and data we think we know based on your screen name.
  5. grabs your buddy list and looks for folks who logged in with those screennames on the site and gives you the option to add them as contacts.\
    It’s dead simple and poorly documented, but works well so far, and I think the flow makes sense and has possibilities. You’re welcome to take it, the concept, the code, and do whatever you want with it.\
    The next step is to see what other open reliable sources of social data are out there that would make sense to look for during the sign up process.\
    UPDATE: Read the README file! There are several things you need to change in both the configuration, and one line in profile.js. The README documents all of the required changes and where to find them.

While the cat’s away…

I’ve been taking Max to summer camp since Kevin is out of town. It is such a huge headache! Brian has a complete meltdown each day when he can’t stay. He has some fun classes scheduled for next week, but this week is empty. He cries, “Play marbles at Babba’s house” over and over again. But the poor woman is sick, so that is a no-go. We’ll probably go to the pool tomorrow and hit the mall playground sometime but it is way too hot to be outside. The kid’s just gonna have to live with it. Max continues to have fun at summer camp. This morning, at 8 am, he woke me up from my morning nap, “Aren’t you going to take me to camp?” “Why yes, kid, I am. AT A REASONABLE HOUR.”\
In other news, I’ve picked a contractor. Wheee! Due to HOA approval meetings only happening once a month, I think we are still several weeks away from starting the project. Boo.\
In preparation for the remodel, I have been de-cluttering like crazy. I love it! I even did some of the kitchen (I currently have 3 empty drawers and 2 empty baskets) and can’t wait to do my bedroom. But the basement comes first, since that is where the construction will be taking place. I do wonder where my Christmas decorations are supposed to go once the storage closet becomes a bathroom. Where does everyone else in a townhouse without a garage stick this stuff? And let’s not even talk about food storage. Ugh.\
Last weekend was my college choir reunion (for anyone who was taught by the old director) and this weekend is my high school reunion. I am totally ditching both. Who has a reunion, part of which includes an outdoor family picnic, in southern Arizona in JULY? Apparently Arizonans who never left the state, that is who. I took one look at the date and said, “No, thanks.” Yep, I am a complete wuss now when it comes to 110 temps. On the plus side, I traded up for the beautiful spring and fall seasons, the occasional snow storm, and actual water in rivers. I think I got the better end of the deal. (But a big hi! to the former Eagles and Wildcats out there!!)\
That’s all from here. Not so much playing, but lots of things getting done. Except the laundry. I can’t seem to do something AND the laundry. It is an either/or situation for me. And on that note, I miss Kevin.

He’s outta here!

Kevin is off to Geek Summer Camp (it’s a sleep-away camp!!), which is different than Geek Spring Break but has many of the same people. If you see him, say hi!\
The kids and I are on our own for the week. Any suggestions for what we should do?

For me? To keep? For my very own?

After blogrolling the other night, I accidentally made a disparaging comment about jarred spaghetti sauce to a stranger (I thought I was mocking someone I knew!) using Kev’s flickr account. He decided to get me my own account: jenlawver.\
Now I need a camera.

The Good, Bad, and Annoying

The good: I found a preschool that has openings for the fall.\
The bad: Brian has to be potty-trained first.\
The annoying: It’s a church school that has bi-monthly story time with the minister and bible verses as part of the curriculum.\
The good: Our air conditioner is working! And the repairman didn’t charge us.\
The bad: He had to rewire bits around, which permanently disabled the furnace, because the whole thing is shot. He’s hoping to get a whole day’s worth of cool air before the thing collapses again. This is just another expense we don’t need right now, especially in light of my recent, unexpected dental bills. BAH to teeth! But this is something we NEED. We can’t not have a furnace. (We did that for a few days last year when the furnace broke.)\
The annoying: If we’d known how ruined the unit was last time we had it repaired, we could have just replaced it then. Booo to the other repairmen. (It took two, one of whom left and never came or called back!) I am sure they are used to dealing with customers who just want the thing fixed, but we’ve had multiple problems with this unit and I’ve been trying to get to the root of the problem. Grrrrr.\
The good: We went to the pool!\
The bad: The river and whirlpool were broken.\
The annoying: Nobody broke into the house while we were gone and did the dishes.\
The good: TV drama: You have to watch this short clip!\
The bad: Real life drama: 3609 military deaths in Iraq.\
The annoying: No drama: Several people thought National Bingo Night was a good idea.

All you people in the know totally lose!

How come no one told me that Aunt Margie has a blog?

A Happy Post About Rock n’ Roll

I listen to music almost all day every day during work. If I’m at my desk, I’ve got my headphones on, and I’m listening to something. My pared down library (I backed up a bunch of stuff I never listen to) in iTunes is over twenty-five gigabytes.\
I’m no music critic, but I know what I like, and I like a lot of different weird stuff. I go on binges, listening to a band’s entire catalog for a week, a month, sometimes longer (my Massive Attack and Morphine binges lasted years). Right now, I’m in love with The Constantines. It’s funny, I’ve been gobbling up Canadian alternative rock since discovering the CBC Radio3 podcast. The Constantines are only the latest victim in my Canuck buying binge (I like to think of them as Morphine on 78 with a guitar player instead of a saxophone – the bass is that good).\
When you hear the band for the first time, it’s easy to get lost in the feedback, gravel-voiced garage rock of it all. But, after a couple listens, the layers start coming out. Their lyrics, even on the balls-out rockers, are intricate poems of love, loss and depression. The bass player is amazing (and it sounds fantastic through headphones). Sometimes, I listen just to pick out the bass line.\
If you’d like a sample of their stuff, I highly recommend:

  • St. You, Soon Enough and On to You: Their slower stuff is gorgeous. The guitar is still there, but the lyrics and melody are awe-inspiring.
  • Working Full-Time: This song kicks all the asses in Canada – at the same time. I love how the intro builds on the simple snare and guitar riff into a smashing crescendo of ass-kicking rock goodness. And then when the bass comes in… you’ll get chills.
  • Poison: Fantastic bass line in this song. Your head will bob along like hula doll on a gravel road. Not a barn burner, but that bass line keeps me coming back for more.
  • The Long Distance Four: There’s a lovely harmony between the guitar and bass in this song that shows up in several other numbers, but I really like this one (Justice is another good one).\
    I need to get back to work, but I’ve posted too many consecutive bummer posts… so I had to post something resembling happy – and music certainly makes me happy.

Not Working? Let’s Change the Name!

The White House is going to retool the Iraq mission. If you read the article carefully, they’re not actually going to change anything except they’re going to rebrand it.\
Yes, people, this is what we’ve come to. June was the bloodiest month in Iraq since the beginning of the war, the Iraqi government and military have met none of their benchmarks, and the White House is embarking on a rebranding effort. It only proves they have no idea what they’re doing.\
We’re not going to buy it, Mr. Bush. We don’t believe you or anyone who works for you anymore. You’ve proven yourself to be a liar, and by association, everyone who works for you is tainted by your dishonesty (or, hired by you because of their talents for dishonesty). You’ve failed every test put before you as Commander in Chief. Why the hell should we trust you now?\
It’s time for Congress to do their jobs and get us out of this thing. Senator Webb’s amendment to force the military to keep active duty soldiers at home for at least as long as their deployment is a good start in actually supporting our troops (three times as long for guard and reserve troops), but it’s time to do more. The surge isn’t work and isn’t going to – not because there’s anything wrong with the troops or even with the military other than they’re being stretched too thing. It’s not working because the orders from the civilian leadership in the White House are wrong, have always been wrong, and show no signs of improving.

It could get up to 100 today

The air conditioner is broken. Waah Waah Waaaaah.

Out of the mouths of mommies.

While changing Brian’s diaper before bed:\
B: Where did Mommy’s penis go?\
Me: It’s downstairs in the recliner watching Big Brother.