When one talented programmer succeeds in implementing something, you can be sure another is a step behind making improvements. Sam Ruby provides a stripped down version of Phillip’s Python wrapper for the Microsoft.com Web Service that doesn’t depend on a toolkit or XML parser and supports one operation: Top 10 Popular US Downloads.

Looking at the implementations these guys have done, it’s clear that the bulk of the work on non-.NET platforms is implementing WS-Security. It strikes me as a worthwhile challenge to try it out. I wonder how easy it is to get Apple’s SOAP libraries to support the headers required.

Other notes: Both a human-readable description of the web service and a WSDL description are available.

Virginia football had a great starter against Duke, shutting them out 27-0. The victory was soured by only two things: Duke hasn’t won a football game since approximately the Pleistocene Era, and Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Schaub injured his shoulder. How severely is difficult to say, as Al Groh isn’t talking. So the big question is: Will Schaub play in Saturday’s game against South Carolina?

Incidentally, it sounds from this article like South Carolina is still smarting from last year’s smackdown (seven turnovers?) and is spoiling for a fight. Should be a fun game.

That was fast: Phillip Pearson has a Python client for the new Microsoft.com Web Service. He also has questions about what the EULA means with respect to redistributing sample code, for which I don’t have solid answers. I’ll see what I can find out.