Editor's Radio Weblog

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 01:24:01 GMT

Disclaimer: These are my thoughts, not spec text.

This question comes up from time to time, and I've resisted answering it directly, thinking that anyone who really read the spec would come to the conclusion that RSS allows zero or one enclosures per item, and no more. The same is true for all other sub-elements of item, except category, where multiple elements are explicitly allowed. The spec refers to "the enclosure" in the singular. Regardless, some people persist in thinking that you may have more than one enclosure per item.

Okay, let's play it out. So if I have more than one enclosure per item, how do I specify the publication date for each enclosure? How do I specify the title, author, a link to comments, a description perhaps, or a guid? The people who want multiple enclosures suggest schemes that are so complicated that they're reduced to hand-waving before they get to the spec, which I would love to read, if it could be written. Some times some things are just too hard to do. This is one of them.

And there's a reason why it's too hard. Because you're throwing out the value of RSS and then trying to figure out how to bring it back. There's no need for items any more, so you might as well get rid of them. At the top level of channel would be a series of enclosures, and then underneath each enclosure, all the meta-data. Voila, problem solved. Only what have you actually solved? You've just re-created RSS, but instead of calling the main elements "item" we now call them "enclosure".

Sometimes linear thinking leads you to a dead-end, and this is one of those times, imho. You end up in a torus, there's no wall that says "you may go no further" but somehow you keep going in circles, chasing your tail, re-inventing RSS, when there's absolutely no need to.

So people ask how will we fit show notes into RSS? Maybe we won't. When you get into show notes, think outlines, and think about linking MP3s into outline structures. I think this has more potential. I could be wrong of course (not joking).

Comment here.

[Scripting News]

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 00:28:00 GMT

Pell, Geico, and Paid Search. Dave Pell recounts his excursion into buying AdWords based on the Geico keywords, and summarizes some new marketing realties: My experience does clearly point to the fact that we have opened up a whole new marketing frontier that will require ad buyers and small businesses to be a lot more creative with their marketing plans. It's not as simple as coming up with the most obvious search terms. As the market grows, those will become prohibitively expensive for most buyers. Ad buyers will need to predict what their potential buyers might be interested in and then try to get in front of them as they're on the way to finding it. If you want to get in front of a few thousand potential orthodontics patients, you might have to figure out something more creative than the words teeth and braces. And in many cases, your marketing plan may only last for a few days (or even a few hours) at which time you'll need to add new search terms to the mix.... [John Battelle's Searchblog]

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 03:47:58 GMT

CBC/Radio Canada has 23 new RSS feeds. [Scripting News]

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 23:49:58 GMT

Onfolio 2 beta 1 ships.

Let's be honest. As much as I like NewsGator, RSS Bandit, SharpReader, and FeedDemon (they each have their advantages) the RSS News Aggregator that'll work for the mass market HAS to be built into the browser.

That takes us to today. OnFolio just shipped a beta of their new RSS News Aggregator. It's awesome.

It works on Firefox or IE. It gives Dave Winer his all-in-one-page newspaper view that he's been asking aggregator makers to give him. Lots of fun little features. Search, built in. It's actually a little database running on your desktop. Very nice.

[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 23:49:26 GMT

Presentation slides from our quarterly computing support meeting. I gave two short presentations today at our quarterly meeting for campus computing support staff. One was just a bunch of announcements from UW Computing & Communications. The other was a very brief (two slides) update on the calendaring software landscape. We'll have audio files from all of the presentations from today's meeting online next week.... [Oren Sreebny's Weblog]

Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:27:04 GMT

What's Hotmail's Founder Up to These Days?. Hotmail wasn't Sabeer Bhatia's only brainstorm. Bhatia is currently is involved in a pair of Internet startups that are hoping to launch the next big thing in online calendaring and hotel reviews. [Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley]

Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:26:46 GMT

Google Wins Key Portion of Geico Case. Reuters just came out with this: ALEXANDRIA (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a key element of insurer GEICO's trademark infringement case against online search engine Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) . U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that there was not enough evidence of trademark violation to bar Google from displaying rival insurers when computer users search the word "GEICO." From the AP: Geico claimed that Google's AdWords program, which displays the rival ads under a "Sponsored Links" heading next to a user's search results, causes confusion for consumers and illegally exploits Geico's investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in its brand. "There is no evidence that that activity alone causes confusion, " Brinkema said, in granting Google's motion for summary judgment on that issue. But Brinkema said the case would continue to move forward on one remaining issue, whether ads that pop up and actually use Geico in their text violate trademark law. More as this develops... PS - Watch GOOG. It was down before the news broke but is trending back up...... [John Battelle's Searchblog]

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 04:16:19 GMT

Yahoo Local: Who Needs the Yellow Pages?. Some time ago I was briefed on Yahoo Local, and as the team was putting the service, which I think is quite good for a first effort, through its paces it became increasingly clear to me that were I a small business owner, I'd want the ability to edit my listing so I could make my business look more appealing. In fact, if Yahoo Local were sending me leads, I'd very much want to be able to buy my way into a better listing - perhaps post stellar reviews of my establishment, snappy come ons, the like. I asked Yahoo if and when they planned to launch such a service, and they gave me a rather tight lipped smile. Clearly, the answer was "as soon as possible." There was clearly the issue of conflicting with Overture's revenue stream, but it seems the company has worked through that. I noticed today (and in various press reports yesterday) that Yahoo has launched this feature. For $9.95 a month a business owner can create a "premium" listing. For free, they can update the current one. It's not quite what I imagined - the premium listing is pretty rigid in its design - but it's certainly a good start. I will be very interested to see how these listings do for Yahoo.... [John Battelle's Searchblog]

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 04:15:58 GMT

SyndicateIQ. Have not had time to grok, but this new feed service plans to " manage, measure, and monetize syndicated content." From the home page: As more publishers, marketers, and enterprises utilize blogs and syndicated content (aka RSS) solutions, the importance of accurate measurement becomes paramount to justify continued investments. Any strategy to monetize syndicated content begins with analysis and data on who, how, and when the content is consumed including the distribution channels. Syndicate IQ experience and technology enables a set of robust, accurate, invaluable services allowing clients to evaluate and implement the best strategy for utilizing syndicated content. I can't tell who is behind this, but time will tell.... [John Battelle's Searchblog]

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 04:15:12 GMT

CalDAV. Yesterday's item drew comment from the Chandler team. In email (quoted with permission) Jeffrey Harris wrote:

Are you familiar with CalDAV? At OSAF we're very interested in getting a workable standard going for iCalendar over WebDAV, Lisa Dusseault has put time and energy into creating a draft standard.

I've been working on a Python vCard/vCalendar parser (vobject.skyhouseconsulting.com) as a prelude to writing the iCalendar import/export code for Chandler. For the moment, we're just going to do the dumb publish-a-monolithic-calendar thing so we can do the baby steps of getting Chandler's calendar client interoperating. But in the long term, we want CalDAV!

Lisa Dusseault, who is also an OSAFer and who has written a book on WebDAV, explains the motivation for CalDAV in a blog entry which says, in part:

Calendaring interoperability has languished except for that burst of productivity back in 1998. People are locked into one calendar application depending on what server technology they have available, since there's no common calendar access standard. [Not Invented Here]

Amen. It's a train wreck, in fact. ... [Jon's Radio]

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 01:47:36 GMT

Will MOOL Be Microsoft's Alternative to Thunderbird?. The Mozilla Foundation made available on Monday Thunderbird 1.0, its open-source e-mail client. Microsoft officials have outlined plans for a similar product, that would combine an enhanced Hotmail front-end with an Exchange backend. [Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley]

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 01:47:27 GMT

Mozilla Calendar. It's been a while since I looked at Mozilla Calendar, so this morning I installed the Firefox version and gave it another whirl. My first reaction was that this descendant of Netscape's calendar program must share a lot of DNA with the original -- it feels a tad clunky, UI-wise, in the same kinds of ways. ... [Jon's Radio]

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 01:43:15 GMT

Yahoo Bolsters Local Search Business Listings. Yahoo has quietly expanded its local business listings and rolled out a service that gives businesses control over their listings in Yahoo Local through a new content inclusion program. [Search Engine Watch]