Thursday, March 31, 2005

Structured Blogging

I really don't think this site is about Structured Blogging as much as it is about metadata and archiving RSS feeds. I'll have to look at the code examples some more but it looks close to what I've been doing with HEMS.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Master Prognosticators

Not just a prognosticator of the Bucknell win, but writer of a great story: Stewart Mandel. Thanks, Judy.

Ray Bucknell, Ray for the Orange and the Blue

Bucknell vrs. Wisconsin 2005

'Ray Bucknell, 'Ray Bucknell,
'Ray for the Orange and the Blue!
'Ray, 'Ray, 'Ray, 'Ray,
'Ray for the Orange and the Blue!
   - Bucknell Fight Song

Since Bucknell won its first NCAA Basketball Game and since they'll be playing Wisconsin tomorrow, here is some background reading for you.

First, this is a very short piece that appeared in the Bucknell Alumni newsletter by John Feinstein, the well known sports writer. This is about the last game played at Davis Gym where I took boxing in the upper "rafters" and saw the Grateful Dead, et. al. The kicker is who the new Stadium is named after.
The Sweetest Place

Apparently the Bucknell team is not a fluke given not only their conference championship but also this game from earlier in the season. Think you'll enjoy this Feinstein article from the Washington Post. Jan 8, 2005.
Bucknell, for One, Offers No Guarantees

Then, if you missed watching the game, like I did, here is the Sports Illustrated reap. "Expect a slugfest in the second round against Wisconsin, another defensive minded club. But if Bucknell plays like it did Friday night, the slipper may be hard to pull off." I'll watch and see if Wisconsin can pull it off tomorrow at 4:50 Eastern.
One Shining Moment 

One final note for you Duke and North Carolina fans who love tradition. "Bucknell began playing basketball in 1896, joining Yale and Minnesota as the nation's oldest Division I programs." - New York Times.

Monday, March 14, 2005

start.com

I expected to hear the Rolling Stones when I tried this test site of Microsoft. This is a RSS aggregator - at least the start of one. It will get better and we'll see Yahoo! and Google move into this space more. But you might want to take a look at what can be done. I like the displan so far, but adding feeds needs to be easier.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Review of 2001

I've always like epinions both in concept and execution. However, I've only written on review - all negative - so far. So to start tipping the scales, I wrote a review of 2001 - the best movie ever.

 

Best film every made. You should see this film, but only under the right conditions. This is two generations talking.

This film was meant to be watched in a theater where you could take an intermission. It was not cut with the idea that you'd watch it at home on TV. With either some work or the right large screen setting this might now work at home, but see it in a theater if you can.

I never wanted to see 2001 through a TV screen. I only wanted to see it projected on a screen. But I have seen it at least three times on TV. Once was without commercial interruption on TNT on New Year's Eve 2001 (and I was surprised a bigger hype was not in the air at that time). Two other times have been from DVD - which has no special features. These two times have been with my son, who is now a high school senior. During our last viewing, after complaining at several time during the movie about the slow pace at the end he asked, "What is the point?"

I explained that his question is the point. Nearly all other movies telegraph the point. They have a point of view. You can read the ending. Why should a movie be like a novel or other written story? Did you miss the chase scene and the running joke? Can't a movie be like a piece of art? Or a poem instead of a story? What is the point of most modern art?

My son now wants to show it in the theater at school.

Don't expect a movie. Throw out all of your experiences with other movies. Visit an art museum first. Then go to the theater to watch this masterpiece. Be amazed at how undated it is. Watch, don't worry about the written story.

Or in your home, work very hard to not be interrupted and to be patient as you are in a theater. Low lights to reduce distraction. Turn off all of the phones. Turn up the sound, please. Make it as much like a theater as possible. And when you are done watching, I'll hope you'll be convinced to watch it in a theater next time.

Enjoy the masterpiece. This is a special film that deserves your attention.

I don't know exactly how many times I've seen 2001, but I did once borrow the projector and the film after being the projectionist. Oh the images!

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Larry, Moe, and Sergey

Steve Gillmor let Larry, Moe and Sergey have it. Think he is talking about replies like this from Google:

Thank you for your feedback regarding the AutoLink feature of the Google Toolbar 3.0 beta. AutoLink is a user-initiated feature of the Google Toolbar. AutoLink links are generated only when a Toolbar user clicks on the AutoLink button on his or her Toolbar. Links aren't automatically generated on a page, and a Toolbar user must click on the generated links in order to go to a linked page. AutoLink does not modify links that already exist on a page. Finally, Toolbar users choose whether they want to enable or disable this feature and when to use it.

We appreciate your taking the time to share your feedback about th AutoLink feature, and we'll keep it in mind as we work to improve our service.

Hope they don't decide my blog is evil because it is Anti-AutoLink.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Browser as Operating System

A walk on a cold day brings out the minimalist in me. So I was thinking "Why not the browser as operating system." This was after a long day on my laptop writing in my HEMS content management system which runs on a server on my machine. Browser and web server, what else do I need on my machine. I know some Linux consumer version were like this, but with the Google Maps and Gmail, it may soon be a reality. I would not have posted this but the recent move of Mark Lucovsky, an engineer of Windows at Microsoft to work for Google brought this to the front again. I really doubt the he and Google are working on an operating system in the traditional meaning. More like as described above. XML, the Browser and the network are a powerful hybrid of media.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Surfing the Laws of Media

I've started a new blog for details about a new web site/blog/community called Surfing the Laws of Media.

Google Should Have Guidelines

Dave Winer point out that Google has desktop software principles. Dave is right that Google owes us content modification guidelines.

Cory Doctorow responds to some of the posts about Google's AutoLink feature, calling it a "beloved butler." Something else to consider. In May, Google posted a set of software principles for desktop applications and spyware. It was a curious document, because at the time Google didn't have a desktop app. Six months later, of course, they did, desktop search. Today, Google could allay our concerns by producing similar guidelines for content modification to protect the integrity of the web. Of course such guidelines would make no difference unless Microsoft and Yahoo also agreed to them.

PS. Google, I won't download anything from you now because of this mess you've created. Where do I sign the petition?