Path::Dispatcher: a dispatcher that can work just about anywhere. It works (roughly) analogously to the way mod_perl works when matching URIs and dispatching to URI handlers. This code can work in any context including the command line.

These really aren't that recent, but I just discovered them. They also aren't 'talks' (well, they were talks, but the talk itself was not recorded), but, instead, slideshows. Nevertheless I found them all interesting.

I've been using DBIx::Class recently. It's the first ORM I've ever used and it seems seemless. Here is a slideshow introducing DBIx::Class. Another detailing the much newer DBIx::Class::DeploymentHandler.

Plack is another interesting platform I've been unable to use as of yet. But here is a slideshow that has some very impressive example code.

I've read a number of Richard Price books. Namely Clockers and Lush Life. Bloodbrothers is Price's second book and I found it very different from those other books. This book seemed more personal and less like the highly detailed, well-researched novels that his other books are.

The book is primarily about a recent high school graduate with the nickname of Stony. He has a brother, a father, and a, possibly crazy, mother. His dad is distant but very much wants his eldest son to follow in his footsteps as an electrician. Stony is drifting and is non-committal to the good union job.

The characters are well developed, but (I may be spoiled by endless movies with similar characters) they seem derivative. Of course this book was written in 1976, but I'm not reading it then, I am reading it now. Anyway, if you've seen any movies about working class Italians in New York you will recognize these characters. A decent book but I'd rather read Clockers again.