Comments for The Haystack http://www.the-haystack.com A catchy tagline is trendy, but this isn't one. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:27:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on Create attractive (site) diagrams with Graphviz by Stephen http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-60604 Stephen Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:47:58 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-60604 @Vidar Nice work! @Vidar Nice work!

]]> Comment on Personal publishing via web services by Sint http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/05/01/personal-publishing-via-web-services/#comment-60594 Sint Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:34:36 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/05/01/personal-publishing-via-web-services/#comment-60594 Unfortunately dennajones.com seems to be down at the moment so I cannot comment on that website, but I agree that what Jeremy Keith has done is pretty cool. While these kind of services are indeed some kind of extra, some people tend to publish a lot of content on them and they therefore tell lots about who we are and what we are doing. Having all those applications at different sites makes it hard to be followed or follow other people's whereabouts, especially when these applications should meet each other. Online identiy aggregation will get more important than it is now. And when you are hosting the aggregation platform yourself, you don't need to worry about privacy... Unfortunately dennajones.com seems to be down at the moment so I cannot comment on that website, but I agree that what Jeremy Keith has done is pretty cool.

While these kind of services are indeed some kind of extra, some people tend to publish a lot of content on them and they therefore tell lots about who we are and what we are doing. Having all those applications at different sites makes it hard to be followed or follow other people’s whereabouts, especially when these applications should meet each other.

Online identiy aggregation will get more important than it is now. And when you are hosting the aggregation platform yourself, you don’t need to worry about privacy…

]]> Comment on Create attractive (site) diagrams with Graphviz by Vidar Hokstad http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-57201 Vidar Hokstad Thu, 29 May 2008 20:49:51 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-57201 Just looking at random Graphviz related posts and thought you might be interested in this: <a href="http://www.hokstad.com/making-graphviz-output-pretty-with-xsl.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.hokstad.com/making-graphviz-output-pretty-with-xsl.html</a> - it's a post with links to an XSL stylesheet I put together to do additional styling (drop shadows and gradients) to the Graphviz SVG output. It's quite simple to extent to do other automated changes to the Graphviz output. (I'm also an OmniGraffle fan, btw., but like you I don't want to drag boxes around all the time, but when I do OmniGraffle is the only diagramming tool I've ever been reasonably happy with) Just looking at random Graphviz related posts and thought you might be interested in this: http://www.hokstad.com/making-graphviz-output-pretty-with-xsl.html - it’s a post with links to an XSL stylesheet I put together to do additional styling (drop shadows and gradients) to the Graphviz SVG output.

It’s quite simple to extent to do other automated changes to the Graphviz output.

(I’m also an OmniGraffle fan, btw., but like you I don’t want to drag boxes around all the time, but when I do OmniGraffle is the only diagramming tool I’ve ever been reasonably happy with)

]]> Comment on Personal publishing via web services by Jon Tan http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/05/01/personal-publishing-via-web-services/#comment-51225 Jon Tan Fri, 02 May 2008 08:18:34 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/05/01/personal-publishing-via-web-services/#comment-51225 Hi Stephen. Yours is a good analysis. I too am a fan of Jeremy's approach, <a href="http://jontangerine.com/about/aside" rel="nofollow">as you can see</a>, but you're right to say there are potential issues with Denna's model that require careful handling: Storing and caching the API output is essential to mitigate any web service burps. It serves two purposes: If the service is cancelled or declines the data can be switched to another service easily, therefore removing any risk. Denna also has an historical archive of her output that she controls and owns. Of course, the model only works if it's a natural fit with the behaviour of the author. In Denna's case it was. Glad you liked it, thanks for the comment. Hi Stephen. Yours is a good analysis. I too am a fan of Jeremy’s approach, as you can see, but you’re right to say there are potential issues with Denna’s model that require careful handling: Storing and caching the API output is essential to mitigate any web service burps. It serves two purposes: If the service is cancelled or declines the data can be switched to another service easily, therefore removing any risk. Denna also has an historical archive of her output that she controls and owns. Of course, the model only works if it’s a natural fit with the behaviour of the author. In Denna’s case it was. Glad you liked it, thanks for the comment.

]]> Comment on Create attractive (site) diagrams with Graphviz by Stephen http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-36358 Stephen Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:23:20 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-36358 Thanks, Ken. I am aware of OmniGraffle's automatic layout, and have used it on occasion. One of the things I like about Graphviz is the quick creation of multiple hierarchies in plain text, as opposed to the single hierarchy imposed by an outline. Using my example in the post, let's say I wanted to connect the "Home" node directly to the "Widgets" node, but keeping the rest of the relationships the same. In Graphviz, I would simply add "wid" to the Home relationships array. Is it possible to do this in the outline in OmniGraffle (perhaps OmniGraffle 5)? As mentioned, I often use OmniGraffle-- my compliments on a great application. Thanks, Ken. I am aware of OmniGraffle’s automatic layout, and have used it on occasion. One of the things I like about Graphviz is the quick creation of multiple hierarchies in plain text, as opposed to the single hierarchy imposed by an outline. Using my example in the post, let’s say I wanted to connect the “Home” node directly to the “Widgets” node, but keeping the rest of the relationships the same. In Graphviz, I would simply add “wid” to the Home relationships array. Is it possible to do this in the outline in OmniGraffle (perhaps OmniGraffle 5)?

As mentioned, I often use OmniGraffle– my compliments on a great application.

]]> Comment on Create attractive (site) diagrams with Graphviz by Ken Case http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-36272 Ken Case Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:43:17 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2008/02/12/create-attractive-site-diagrams-with-graphviz/#comment-36272 Just thought I'd mention that OmniGraffle also does automatic graph layout: if you pop open the Outliner drawer, you can enter your nodes in the outline and watch them get automatically positioned on the canvas. Not to disparage Graphviz's graph layout in any way--in fact, OmniGraffle 5 (currently in beta) uses Graphviz behind the scenes to do its graph layout! I just wanted to make sure you knew about the automatic layout options in OmniGraffle (since you mentioned pushing boxes by hand). Just thought I’d mention that OmniGraffle also does automatic graph layout: if you pop open the Outliner drawer, you can enter your nodes in the outline and watch them get automatically positioned on the canvas.

Not to disparage Graphviz’s graph layout in any way–in fact, OmniGraffle 5 (currently in beta) uses Graphviz behind the scenes to do its graph layout! I just wanted to make sure you knew about the automatic layout options in OmniGraffle (since you mentioned pushing boxes by hand).

]]> Comment on Logeion, November 2007 by The Haystack / Logeion slides online http://www.the-haystack.com/presentations/logeion-november-2007/#comment-31829 The Haystack / Logeion slides online Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:55:29 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/presentations/logeion-november-2007/#comment-31829 [...] to anyone attendees of my presentation for Logeion who expected to find the slides on this site. You might have had trouble, because while I did add [...] [...] to anyone attendees of my presentation for Logeion who expected to find the slides on this site. You might have had trouble, because while I did add [...]

]]> Comment on Presentations in November by Stephen http://www.the-haystack.com/2007/11/24/presentations-in-november/#comment-27636 Stephen Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:42:33 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2007/11/24/presentations-in-november/#comment-27636 It was nice meeting you as well, Ruben. I've added you to my feeds. There's no hiding now :) It was nice meeting you as well, Ruben. I’ve added you to my feeds. There’s no hiding now :)

]]> Comment on Presentations in November by Ruben Timmerman http://www.the-haystack.com/2007/11/24/presentations-in-november/#comment-26414 Ruben Timmerman Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:01:44 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2007/11/24/presentations-in-november/#comment-26414 Ahh, mentioning my name made this popup in my rss reader, so now I found your blog. Turned out I already knew it and have read it, the name is too easy to remember :) Nice meeting you last week, I'm sure we'll have further usability encounters. Ahh, mentioning my name made this popup in my rss reader, so now I found your blog. Turned out I already knew it and have read it, the name is too easy to remember :)

Nice meeting you last week, I’m sure we’ll have further usability encounters.

]]> Comment on A word is worth a thousand… words by Anthony Goodson http://www.the-haystack.com/2006/07/03/a-word-is-worth-a-thousand-words/#comment-18850 Anthony Goodson Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:00:34 +0000 http://www.the-haystack.com/2006/07/03/a-word-is-worth-a-thousand-words/#comment-18850 Agreed! Agreed!

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