Blog

I follow the New York Times technology feed via RSS (feed link). For the last couple of weeks, whenever the feed updates, NetNewsWire is convinced by some change in the feed that all the items in the feed are new to me. Since, as of this writing, there are headlines going back 4 days, to January 4, that is misleading. I’m not sure what the NYT is changing in their feeds to cause this blip, but it’s annoying. I think it’s because of the decision to mark the GUID “false” for the isPermaLink value, which probably pushes NNW to use the link value as the hyperlink. The content management system at the NYT changes the link value every time it generates the feed, it seems, or at least once daily. I wonder why the NYT made that decision.

I’m familiar with some of challenges of what should be a simpler process. For CNET News.com RSS feeds, the link and GUID URLs are identical (and therefore slightly redundant) because different aggregators have different rules (it seems) about which field to use as the hyperlink. Also, the GUID is marked as false for isPermaLink. I still don’t know if that’s the best decision technically, because the URL given is a permaLink, as far forward as I can predict given content management systems. At one time, we tried a slightly ‘cleaner’ version of the URL as the GUID, but then different aggregators started doing different things, so we sighed, and went back to current practice.

What is it about accepting the things you cannot change? I’ll let you know when I get there.

So the folks at Ludicorp have a hit with Flickr, as many have noted… more power to them. The interesting part, as I was reminded by this light-hearted post comparing Flickr to a MMRPG (via Jeff Veen) that Ludicorp was originally founded to create the Game Neverending. At this point, the folks at Ludicorp have even removed the references to that project, which was their original goal as a company. Can’t blame them, but take a look back to January 3, 2004, courtesy of the Wayback Machine. I never played/saw what they were working on, but if they ever go back to GNE, expectations will be high.

I do “blame” Flickr for making blogging about metadata all the rage. I’ve done my own navel-gazing here, but my head is starting to spin… or is that my eyes are starting to droop? Nevermind.

Dave Winer notes the introduction of podcasting by NPR’s On the Media, and cites the press release claiming this is the first NPR program to do so. I don’t know how long Future Tense has been podcasting, but it certainly didn’t start today. Future Tense is from American Public Media, which most of us here in the United States would hear on an NPR radio station… but maybe it’s not literally an NPR program. Details, details.

I’ve listened to a few podcasts, but so far it’s not for me. First, I read faster than people talk. Second, I don’t have a good time or place for listening. I can’t listen and read/type at the same time with any effectiveness, and my commute is by bicycle, foot, or bus… and I’d rather read when I’m on the bus. If I had to drive anywhere, I’d probably get interested, and get an iPod, and the whole nine yards. (Tangent: when typing “the whole nine yards,” I wondered why isn’t it ten yards? Where does that phrase come from? For once, the internet lets me down. The Google results I scanned throw out various ideas, but come down on the side of uncertainty.)

Anyway, I’ll let this blogging trend run without me, even if I chase the hype in other ways.

TiVo is fighting to protect its name from generic usage (December 13, 2004 article from NYT… in the $ archive already, sorry). I don’t really care whether they are successful or not, but I imagine they are doomed to failure. In the long term, inventing a new word and creating a new category of service/product are pretty rewarding, no matter how the business turns out. Yes, it’s not my money or my company, but take the longer view. Also, do you really want to discourage amusing comments like this one from Brent Simmons?

I enjoyed reading Jeff Barr’s Syndic8 2004 retrospective. Jeff and I had lunch at Il Fornaio in Levi’s Plaza here in San Francisco (it was convenient… food isn’t that special) maybe three years ago, and I’ve kept in sporadic touch since then. I think Syndic8 is a resource, and I’m glad Jeff and his colleague Bill Kearney are able to make it work in their spare time (!). I put a link to Syndic8 on the original version of News.com’s RSS feeds index page a few years ago, and it’s still there. I hope it’s been useful. Jeff and Bill were helpful in answering some of my questions early on, and what comes around goes around.

I installed WordPress (blogging software) with a new webhost today, and the testbed blog is up and running. It wasn’t five minutes, for a few reasons, but it wasn’t brutal. Still, not something I’d encourage anyone to try who doesn’t already know a little bit about FTP and databases. The host, TextDrive, was incredibly responsive via e-mail support over the last 48 hours or so. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I needed their responsiveness for two separate issues, first with changing my initial account password and then with glitches logging into myPhpAdmin. On the whole, the responsiveness of the support overshadows the need for the support, but I’ve still got several steps to take before I’ll move clock over to WordPress on a new host. I am grateful for these detailed instructions on importing a Radio blog to WordPress. I’ll be putting them to the test eventually.

We did a bit of re-arranging today, and moved the computer desk. During the move, I un-plugged the six-year-old Alcatel ADSL 1000 “modem” and switched the phone cord for a shorter version, since it was now closer to the jack. A few frustrating hours without internet access later, I switched back to the original cord, in a final attempt to eliminate all the variables… and everything worked again. Closer examination reveals what many may know already: RJ-11 cords (standard telephone wire) may have either 2 wires or 4. Phone service only needs two wires; DSL needs (apparently) all four wires. Makes sense when you think about it, but then who does? I actually did know that most RJ-11 cords had only two wires in them, but never knew what the other “missing” two might be for. Well, if nothing else, DSL is the answer. Now you know.

I read Folksonomies – Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata after seeing a link from Peter Merholz, and then I read Clay Shirky’s Notes from ITP: Flickr-as-web-services edition. Nothing here is formally peer-reviewed, in the academic sense, but all of it gets reviewed publicly all the same. By the way, I’d choose between “tagonomy” or “social tagging” to describe the categorization process embodied in Flickr.

I was also interested to see Mappr, since it’s a manifestation of an idea I was talking to a colleague about before the holidays. Maps are metaphors everyone understands for navigation. Whether it’s the right metaphor or not depends, but it passes the instant “I get it” test.

While in New York City last week, rambling around on my own for an afternoon, I went over to the New York Public Library. I feel confident I’ve been there before, but it felt like the first time all the same. I had no specific ideas in mind beyond checking out the reading room and seeing what else might be on display. I was in luck. A featured exhibit is The Newtonian Moment: Science and the Making of Modern Culture, where original versions of Newton’s famous works and many supporting materials are displayed and put in context. After reading The Baroque Cycle, I’m much more interested in the history of the scientific explosion of the 17th century. Like the Mozart-Salieri rivalry popularized by the movie Amadeus, the Newton-Liebniz rivalry over “the calculus” is fascinating. Perhaps Stephenson made it more interesting than it was, but human jealousies are more palpable than actual mathematics since my high-school calculus is long-forgotten.

I had two quibbles with the exhibit. First, it was dark. I’m all for dramatic lighting, but this was dim. Perhaps the curators wanted to avoid damaging the rare books with harsh lighting, but I’d wish for a middle ground. Second, for my taste, the diversions on the French popularization of his work/ideas and the rise of women’s interest in science, were a bit much. Newton’s life and work are compelling on their own, so I would have preferred a tighter focus.

The live exhibit will be at the NYPL through February 5, so if you find a free moment near Grand Central Station (two blocks away), wander over. The website is quite strong, too.

I also glanced through the hallway exhibit of the art of James Gillray, a popular caricaturist from England’s “golden age of caricature.” Gillray lived from 1756-1815, so he certainly enjoyed interesting times. The visual blogs of their day, these caricatures are not subtle… our age’s political cartoons, even the pointed ones, are usually more polite. Once again, the website for the exhibit is solid, with several examples of the artwork. Take a look. The Plumb-pudding in danger; – or – State Epicures taking un Petit Souper. from February 26, 1805. This one is a graphic reminder that at the time Britain owned the waves and France owned Europe. This exhibit runs through January 29, 2005.

I really need to start living in the present, don’t I? Anyway, a worthwhile couple of hours in New York City, at no monetary cost, in pleasant surroundings.

I’ve docked my O’Brian ship, as noted. Yet, I’m still reading about the Napoleonic wars from the British side, but this time on land. Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books are probably almost as well known as the Aubrey-Maturin books, so I thought I’d give them a try. My first entry is Sharpe’s Tiger. I had a hard time figuring out which was the first book to start with, since there are a score or so, and Cornwell isn’t done. But, after puzzling over it for a bit, I picked up Tiger, as it’s set in 1799, the earliest of the series, though it was written recently.

I can see why these books have earned an audience. The Tiger story is focused: a British army in India is laying seige to a Muslim ruler, the Tippoo, in Mysore. Sharpe, a private, avoids being flogged to death on a trumped-up charge from his sergeant by agreeing to be part of a dangerous mission. He enters the city masquerading as a deserter in an attempt to extract intelligence about the city from a captured spy. As you might guess, he carries it all off better than anyone expected, and Sharpe is promoted to Sergeant at the end of the successful siege. It seems there is little Sharpe can’t do — while imprisoned in a dungeon, he begins to learn to read (his background, from what we’re told, is that of a house burglar). By the end of the book, you find yourself understanding the comparison to James Bond in the Philadelphia Inquirer blurb on the back cover of the paperback I bought. I like Bond, and I like historical fiction, and I am unrepentently happy to read about the world of 200 years ago, all while enjoying modern conveniences. I have Sharpe’s Triumph waiting. That’s also set in India, four years later. I’ll be curious to see how Cornwell handled the success of his novels. O’Brian ran out of historical time for his characters, and had to get a bit inventive. The first one Cornwell wrote, Sharpe’s Eagle, was set in 1809, so I now understand why later books dove into the prior career of our hero.

Last night, we watched Sharpe’s Rifles, a BBC television version of one of the books, set in northern Spain in 1809. It felt much like the A&E Hornblower movies, and it was fine… except for the terrible music! One oddity: in Tiger, Sharpe meets a young Arthur Wellesley. Though he would later be the Duke of Wellington, Wellesley here is a Colonel. All well and good… the real soldier did serve in India. What’s odd is that in the television version of Rifles, Sharpe distinguishes himself right at the beginning by saving Wellesley from French scouts, and Wellesley doesn’t recognize him. Details, details. Only other point of note is that Rifles was, per Cornwell, written with TV in mind: “The book was written at the request of the producers of the TV series who wanted a Spanish hero to share the honours with Sharpe.” Hmmm. Anyway, I’ll read the rest before I rent any more of the television versions from Netflix.