• It’s responsive. For anyone who has used Google Spreadsheets, this is a key point. There is not a lot of, if any, time spent waiting for the program to catch up.
• Writely’s built-in collaboration capabilities make it a suitable alternative to other versioning software for use during the beginning stages of editing, when changes by different individuals are being made often. At first creation or any time further along, you can decide to invite others to collaborate on the document(s), allowing them write, read, or both priveledges.
• Past revisions can be viewed individually or compared to each other, with the capability of reverting to and saving a version of the document that existed before any unwanted changes were made. There is also the option for having an RSS feed of the document changes, though I’ve not used this.
• If at any point it is decided that the document should be saved locally to a more secure location, Writely allows you to save in any of these formats: RTF, Word, OpenOffice, HTML, or PDF.

In conclusion, Writely seems like a capable resource for collaborating on documents, with many features that extend way beyond what was described above. Although Google says that user’s documents are very secure, it might be wise–the beta meter is at 62%–to beware the use of Writely for documents that contain any private data. Still this web-application is definitely something that should be tried out.

Here’s a couple reviews:

Cnet
About.com

I’ve recently made a couple of changes to subversion and the apache2 instance through which we access our repositories.

First, I’ve upgraded subversion to the latest stable release, 1.3.2. This update contains boh new features and bug fixes; you can read about them fully in the relase notes. The repository format has not changed since 1.1.x (we had 1.1.3 before), so our repositories were able to remain in place.

Second, I’ve recompiled apache2 with LDAP and SSL support (this instance can be found in /usr/local/apache2). This changes our repository access in two ways. Because SSL is enabled, connections to the repository need to be made with https, not http. Current working copies can be updated by using this command in the root of the working copy:

svn switch --relocate \
http://oceaninformatics.ucsd.edu:8800/svnrep/[path] \
https://oceaninformatics.ucsd.edu:8800/svnrep/[path] .

Also, LDAP support means that apache2 is now authenticating against our OpenDirectory server, not an htpasswd list. Whenever subversion requests a name and password, use your OpenDirectory name and password (this is the same name and password you use for your coast/IOD email account).

If you find any strange behavior or cool new features with the upgrade, please post about them here.

Last month I disabled all email notifications for new posts and comments. I did this for a few reasons:

1. We had been getting lots of comment spam, and these were generating lots of unnecessary email notifications. (I’ve since set stricter blacklist filters to immediately remove any spam).

2. More than one user had requested to have their notifications disabled.

3. Email notifications are, well, annoying.

That’s right… email notifications are annoying. They clutter up your inbox and make email more distracting than it needs to be.

Fortunately, there’s a much better solution to staying up-to-date with the latest blogs and news sites: RSS!

What is RSS?
RSS = Really Simple Syndication
It’s basically a lightweight XML file format that distributes articles w/ appropiate metadata (author, date, time, headline, news snippet, etc.) to any RSS Reader.
Another term for RSS is ‘feed’.

Here’s how it works (brief):
A server (like this blog) generates an XML file in RSS format.
A client (any RSS Reader) periodically checks the server (our blog) and retrieves the latest XML file. The client then displays the contents of that file in a human-friendly interface.

Where can I find an RSS Reader?
I use NetNewsWire for the Mac. However, it’s a commercial app, and it will cost you the license fee.

There are some cheaper (free!) alternatives, which may be better… particularly for newbies. Safari and Firefox both have built-in RSS reading capabilities. I would recommend using one of those (whichever is your preferred browser), especially if you wish to keep on track with this blog.

Setting up RSS on Safari
1. With Safari open, open the Bookmarks page: Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks OR bookmark icon on the bookmarks bar (left side)
2. Make sure Bookmarks Bar is selected under Collections.
3. Add a new bookmark Folder: Bookmarks > Add Bookmark Folder OR click the + sign underneath the Bookmarks frame.
4. A new folder appears called ‘untitled folder’. Rename this to ‘OI Blog’.
5. Close the Bookmarks page.
6. For each of the two RSS links below:
- open up the page.. this opens Safari’s built-in RSS Reader
- bookmark this page under the OI Blog folder: you can quickly do this by dragging the link on top of the folder. To drag the link, select the favicon (the icon just left of the link in the url bar) and drag.

Anytime there’s a new post or comment, a number in paranthesis should appear next to OI Blog. This is the number of unread entries in your feed and also your notification that the blog has been updated in some way. It’s much less obtrusive than an email notification, and much more convenient for checking up on the blog.

RSS Links
Here are the ever-important links to this blog’s RSS feeds. We have two feeds, one for posts and one for comments. These links are also found in the sidebar under Extra Stuff.

- Posts (RSS)
- Comments (RSS)

Setting up RSS on Firefox should be fairly similar to Safari, so I’ll forgo the procedure here.

If you made it this far and need some help with RSS, please contact me. Enjoy!
–Shaun

I’ve installed a nice little Perl module called Spreadsheet::ParseExcel on iOcean. This module allows you to open an Excel file in Perl and extract values using row-column coordinates. The module can handle multiple workbooks, and it also provides some basic metadata on the Excel file, including file name, author, number of rows and columns, number of workbooks, and workbook names. All in all, I’ve found it much easier to work with than converting Excel files to comma- or tab-delimited text. For more detailed information, see the Spreadsheet::ParseExcel documentation. As a prerequisite for this module, I also installed OLE::Storage_Lite, a more generic module for reading Microsoft’s OLE format documents.

Video has arrived – If you’re brave! - This is what we’ve been waiting for. We should now be able to do Mac-PC video chats via Skype.

Firefox cannot natively open PDFs, and the Adobe plugin doesn’t work in Forefox under OS X. Schubert IT has created a PDF Browser Plugin that I’ve found to be very useful. Just download the disk image, mount it, and move the PDF Browser Plugin file to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins (or ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins to install this only for your account). You should note that installing this plugin will cause it to be used by some other browsers, including Safari and Opera. Acrobat and Quicktime can override this behavior - details are in the Read Me file on the PDF Browser Plugin disk image.

Here’s a link to a very spirited exchange on different versioning tools and methodologies:

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/05/1922209&threshold=-1

Here’s an intriguing excerpt that talks about SVN and WebDAV:

SVN + WebDAV + Autoversioning
(Score:5, Informative)
by HFShadow (530449) on Monday June 05, @06:20PM (#15475989)
http://svnbook.red-bean.com/nightly/en/svn.webdav. autoversioning.html [red-bean.com]

From the SVN Handbook:
“Because so many operating systems already have integrated WebDAV clients, the use case for this feature borders on fantastical: imagine an office of ordinary users running Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. Each user “mounts” the Subversion repository, which appears to be an ordinary network folder. They use the shared folder as they always do: open files, edit them, save them. Meanwhile, the server is automatically versioning everything. Any administrator (or knowledgeable user) can still use a Subversion client to search history and retrieve older versions of data.”

And here’s the link to the SVN handbook this came from:

http://svnbook.red-bean.com/nightly/en/svn.webdav.autoversioning.html

Worth a look and perhaps a followup discussion.

Video Conferencing has come to the forefront within the LTER community recently. For this the digital interface standard/protocol is a determining factor. And with standards there’s always some history so some introduction to video conferencing (VC)/ video teleconferencing (VTC) are helpful:
-H.323 history: http://myhome.hanafos.com/~soonjp/vchx.html
-Instant messaging Session Initiation Protocol (SIP ) history:
http://www.showkit.com/download/samples/with/internet/html/slide6.html
-iChat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichat
-OV: http://www.terena.nl/publications/files/videoconf-reccomendations-dec2005.pdf
-glossary: http://www.terena.nl/activities/iptel/chapters/Glossary.pdf

I am using two instant interface environments with different standards/protocols (see I)SIP and II)H.323 below); the first I have been using for some time and the second we tested out yesterday for the first time. With two platform configurations (Karen/Shaun: $130 isight camera; free xMeeting on mac; Don: $50 logitech camera; $105 Polycom PVX8.0 on pc) we made successful xmeeting tests with mac-mac (Shaun/Karen; Shaun/Mick) and with mac-pc (LNO set-up; Don interactive).

The lessons learned for H.323 include:
-must turn off firewall or caller receives msg “far site could not be reached”
-set microphone to external (ie isight) microphone (instead of built-in)
-use headphones to remove feedback
-desktop sharing is poor resolution; requires further investigation

I) Aim: a stand-alone proprietary AIM (AOL Instant Messanger) client software available for free for MSWindows, Mac OS, Linux, Wiondows CE and Palm OS.
protocol: Standard SIP protocol
Mac Side: iChat AV shipped with platforms; four-way multi conferencing available in recent system software though must be initiated with G5 architecture
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301050

II) Polycom VC: standalone hardware units or client software for purchase
protocol: H.323 standard set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
ITU H.323 compatible VC clients
Polycom hardware for small/medium multiple conference groups:
Polycom VSX5000 (~$3500); VSX7000x (~$5500); V500 (~$150)
PC Side standalone config: : PVX software with a Logitech camera ($160)
as alternative to V500 or VSX300
Mac Side: ohphone or xmeeting as next generation (open source)
xmeeting 0.2 is at xmeeting.sourceforge.net; recommended for tiger;
has all ohphone features; built on new architecture
in xmeeting preferences need to h.323/enable h.323; SIP enable SIP

A few Matlab resources that I have found helpful over the years for anyone who is interested (and as a reference to myself!):

Mastering Matlab: A Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference - by Duane Hanselman and Bruce Littlefield
This book is the single best reference I have found/used. It is practically written with fairly easy-to-understand-and-apply examples, and the apendices alone with concise lists of object properties are well worth whatever purchase price you pay. I have the Mastering Matlab 5, they have since put out re-writes for Matlab 6 and 7 releases, but my copy has been helpful through the upgrades.

Using Matlab Graphics Manual - Mathworks
What? A manual that is actually helpful? Shocking but true! I have not gotten all that much from the other manuals in the series, but the graphics manual has great information about all aspects of figures. Very helpful for complicated visualizations (multi-axis, multi-layer, etc).

Generally I have avoided the Mathworks website at all costs, I find it to be terribly difficult to navigate and search, and in most cases if I can find what I am looking for, the documentation is severely lacking. However, the function list can be helpful:
http://www.mathworks.com/support/functions/alpha_list.html?sec=1

The SEA-MAT mailing list has come in handy in the past when the above resources failed me (I was looking for movie-making tips). It is a VERY slow group (I will go months with no emails at all) but when there is a question, many experienced and helpful people pop to the surface:
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/sea-mat/mail-list.html

Please feel free to add others! Also, if you have found the secret *helpful* part of the Mathworks website, please let me know what the handshake looks like!

Following discussion of data base management system types this week, Geof sent a follow-up link http://www.service-architecture.com/database/articles/index.html. There’s a summary table at the bottom comparing dbms standards.