(One funny thing I’ve wondered about the blogosphere: is it like a real neighborhood, where your presence or absence is noticed? I suppose on the busier blogs it is; maybe less so if you don’t blog as often…)

Anyway, I’ve been noticeably absent for almost two months now (and noticeably low on sleep for a commensurate period) due to a monster deadline: sheparding the XRI Syntax 2.0 specification to a vote as an OASIS Standard. Together with my co-chair Gabe Wachob and the rest of the TC, we’ve burnt the candle crisp getting the foundational XRI specification, XRI Syntax, to a fine polish. Even then it still takes several months to move it through the three standardization stages at OASIS (Committee Draft, Committee Specification, and finally OASIS Standard.)

The OASIS Standard vote on XRI Syntax 2.0 finally went out today. It runs the calendar month of December (15 review period, 15 voting period), so come January 1, it will be a fascinating New Year indeed.

At the same time the TC has also published a new comprehensive FAQ (HTML format, PDF format) on the XRI 2.0 specification suite. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about XRI.