Straight from Microsoft’s Improving .NET Application Performance and Scalability: Improving XML Performance: Design Considerations Check Description * Choose the appropriate XML class for the job. * Consider validating large documents. * Process large documents in chunks, if possible. * Use streaming interfaces. * Consider hard-coded transformations. * Consider element and attribute name lengths. * Consider sharing the XmlNameTable. Parsing XML Check Description * Use XmlTextReader to parse large XML documents.

Nice to see my close friend Toadman back to the blogosphere! And what a comeback it has been! Apparently he’s been busy jotting down all of the dirty secrets he’d been keeping from me all these days! Welcome back dude!

From the Gentoo documentation page: “The Gentoo Installer project aims to create an widely extensible install engine that allows for a diverse set of attended and un-attended install options. All functionality will exist in the backend, exposed through a stable API. Planned front ends include text, gtk2, fully automated, and web-based interfaces.” I’m a somewhat “seasoned” Gentoo Linux user and have performed the installation (and post installation maintenance, etc) process several times on a few different plataforms.

Source: http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/images/historical/hiroshima.jpg I can’t believe I forgot to blog about one of the biggest act of cowardice in human history: This past Saturday, August 6th 2005 marked 60 years since the US dropped an atomic bomb (codenamed Little Boy) over Hiroshima! In a matter of seconds, complete generations were literally wiped off the face of the Earth and the Empire of Japan brought down to their knees had no other choice but surrender during WWII.

Took this picture the day before my surgery. Laptop running Ubuntu Linux allows me to browse with more freedom…

After enjoying several days of free wi-fi hotspots pretty much every where I went, my mom’s neighbor finally turned the WEP on and I spent a un-wired Friday afternoon. Took the time to do some reading and watched some tv. Went home Saturday morning and found out my main computer’s power supply had gone kaput… Luckly there is a computer supply store literally around the block and $40 later I was back on business.

Spent a uneventful and quiet day with my dad. Played a bit of tennis in the park and had BBQ for lunch. Got an email from a friend who got free wi-fi while on the beach in Atlantic City. Bastard! :) I’m still a bit sore but managed to catch some quality Zs last night. My younger sister is in town so it should be a fun weekend.

Literally! Spent an agonizing sleep-less night after my surgery yesterday. My keloids were removed with a CO2 laser and whatever if left of my earlobes feel as if I had deep fried them in boiling sulfuric acid! Drinking an extremely cold Cappuccino Blast from Donkey Donuts helped a bit but later in the evening it was a mix of 2 extra stregth Tylenols + 1 Motrin that helped ease the pain.

Am here at my dad’s awaiting the time for my surgery (scheduled for later today at 2pm) and doing some surfing, thanks to some kind neighbor and his/her open hot spot. ;) Brought (my dad) my old Lynksis router so he can have some piece of mind against the kiddies. Will hopefully switch to our own wi-fi soon…

Having spent the last week doing some actual work and preparing for a presentation at work, I’m now taking some time off so I can take care of myself. Tomorrow I will undergo a small procedure to remove some growth from my earlobes (called keloids, due to the piercing of my ears during my teens) and will spend the rest of the week at home, trying to get back in shape.