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What is XML for? XML is intended to make it easy and straightforward to use SGML on the Web: easy to define document types, easy to author and manage SGML-defined documents, and easy to transmit and share them across the Web. It defines an extremely simple dialect of SGML which is completely described in the…

What is XML? XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C (Short for World Wide Web Consortium), an international consortium of companies involved with the Internet and the Web. XML is a pared-down version of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language, a system for organizing and tagging elements of a document. SGML…

We’ve supposedly been in a digital world for several decades now. At least it seems that long since the predictions of no more paper were first bandied about. In reality of course, we’re not quite there yet but in different areas we do seem to be getting closer. Indeed in some areas like photographic albums…

If you’ve ever sat at a computer pressing the same buttons repeatedly trying to get tickets for some concert then you’ll understand why people sometimes use software to automate the process.  Several years ago I literally spent 10 hours clicking two buttons on a web site trying to get certain tickets for Glastonbury.  I did…

It’s worth remembering that anyone can set up a proxy server with only a little technical knowledge.  Download some software like Glype, click a few buttons and enter some basic information and you’re ready to go.  Obviously you need somewhere to host it but you can grab yourself a little space for only a few…

There are many people all over the world who’ve stuck with their ISP for years without even looking at the other options available. In the UK there have been lots of campaigns urging people to look at different providers and switching to the best value companies for their requirements. The problem is that people tend…

In the physical world, we’re overloaded with ways to identity ourselves.  We have identity cards, driving licenses, passports, health insurance cards and a myriad of other forms of identification methods. It’s tempting to look at an IP address and presume that they’re all more or less the same. The notation is standard across the board…

I once met a project manager who really didn’t enjoy the testing phase of a project. He was one of those time driven managers where milestones and targets were the most important factor in a project. His badge of honor was to deliver his projects on time and was immensely proud of this. Unfortunately by…

Is privacy a right, or in this world of terrorist threats is it something that we have to accept as a price to pay for keeping us safe. For many people the two are not mutually exclusive, and for many losing that privacy means that those who threaten us have won. The problem is that…

Online anonymity is important to many people for a variety of reasons. If you are unlucky enough to live in a country where the state controls and prosecutes people based on what they say online there’s obviously a priority. Many others are simply concerned about the abuse and control that the state and large corporations…