Here’s an update to to the scandal exclusively reported here as “Georgia Taxpayers Gypped!”

Through intensive back-channel negotiations*, I tunneled deep into the bowels of Georgia’s government infrastructure. Okay, lets just drop that analogy and get to the bottom line: The people** have spoken, and Georgia has listened.

Secret sessions of the state legislature have convened, and a new edict has been issued: pubDate for everyone! Behold the glory of the newly-formatted government news feed:

http://www.georgia.gov/rss/headlines.xml

<rss version="2.0">
   <channel>
      <title>Georgia.Gov Headlines</title>
      <link>http://www.georgia.gov</link>
      <description>The latest Headlines from georgia.gov.</description>
      <language>en-us</language>
      <copyright>© 2006 Georgia Technology Authority</copyright>
      <webMaster>help@georgia.gov</webMaster>
      <pubDate>Tue Jun 27 15:15:47 EDT 2006</pubDate>
      <item>
         <title>GA Requires More CDL Requirements</title>
         <link>http://www.georgia.gov/00/article/0,2086,4802_4961_42526690,00.html</link>
         <pubDate>Tue May 30 11:11:20 EDT 2006</pubDate>
      </item>
      …
   </channel>
</rss>

Everything in italics has been added since yesterday. I have to say, I’m impressed that they jumped on this so fast. Now, if we could only coax them to include the article text in content:encoded (or at least a description summary), the feed would be perfectly usable. Georgia webmaster, if you’re still listening: I’ve found this RSS best practices mini-manifesto to be right on.

This has been an exciting episode, hasn’t it? You don’t need sugar in the morning with news like this. Lets keep the magic alive: If you know of a reasonably public feed in desperate need for a makeover, comment here or drop me an email.

* Cleverly hidden as their contact form.
** Okay, just me.

Georgia National Guard called in to defend RSS Headquarters?
Citizens and taxpayers of the great state of Georgia are being victimized by their state government. In what promises to be the single largest syndicated feed fiasco in Georgia’s history, government employees are foisting this anemic feed upon the public:

http://www.georgia.gov/rss/headlines.xml

<rss version="2.0">
   <channel>
   <title>Georgia.Gov Headlines</title>
   <link>http://www.georgia.gov/</link>
   <description>Displays Georgia.gov News</description>
   <item>
      <title>Georgia.gov now offers RSS feeds for various content areas</title>
      <link>http://www.georgia.gov/00/article/0,2086,4802_4961_42365606,00.html</link>
   </item>
   ...
   </channel>
</rss>

In a move sure to shock tens, if not dozens of Georgians, the anemic feed items don’t even have a partial-text description. They only have a title and a link. Neither the items nor the feed itself have a pubDate! When were they published? Perhaps only Sonny Perdue knows.

Is this what Georgia’s fine denizens deserve? Shouldn’t those hard-earned tax dollars be used to buy a few extra bytes of bandwidth? Will troops be called in to smash anyone who demands more? Can the South rise again without a full text feed?

Fear not, Georgians. Your cries of information starvedness have reached the Rocky Mountains. I will not rest* until I have tracked down the perpetrators of this paltry feed and convinced them to give you the full disclosure you so desperately seek on things like the Procurement Transformation Initiative and the timely DDS Memorial Day Holiday Schedule.

Bookmark this link and check back regularly for updates. De oppresso liber!

* Does not apply to normal sleep times, or when I need a nap… which is now.

Update June 27, 2006:

The Georgia government webmaster has updated their feed faster than the Varsity can make a chili dog. Get the full scoop here: Georgian RSS Reformed.

Happy Anniversary, Kristina. I love you!

Image generated here, hosted here.

We all know where RSS and Atom are useful, helpful, fantastic, blah blah blah. Its something we just take for granted these days. But what about the really awful uses of RSS? Where should we not have feeds? Hey, its a slow Friday. I submit for your consideration, therefore…

5. RSS-Enabled Bark Control Dog Collar. These humane devices deliver a mild electric shock to your beloved canine, just for speaking his mind. The neighbor says the collar doesn’t work, and Fido barks the whole time you are gone at work. True? Find out by retrofitting the collar with a Bluetooth transmitter that sends a message to your home network with every bark. A simple application publishes an update to Fido’s Bark Record Feed, which is then uploaded to a public internet server. Subscribe to the feed at work and see just how many times the neighbor’s cat comes into the yard! Better yet, use the microphone on the collar to generate a podcast recording of every bark! Act now, supplies are limited.

4. Atom-Enabled Water Fountain. We’re having a drought in Colorado Springs again. Local restaurants only serve water on request. Lawn irrigation is restricted to twice a week in the evenings. But where is the real waste happening? Find out by equipping your water fountain with an Atom feed. Every time the button is pushed, you can read about it in your favorite News reader! This water fountain even has a customized drain plate to show its capabilities. Drink responsibly!

3. Spam Monitor. All these email services claim that they’re filtering out spam, but how do you really know? Now you can! Yahoo, Earthlink, and AOL have teamed up to offer Spamassurefeed(tm), a new RSS service for your email account. Want to know when they save you from getting spammed? Now you can! Just subscribe to your personalized Spamassurefeed(tm) feed, and you’ll get a new RSS item every time they block a spam. And just so you know it really was spam, they’ll include the content of the message, right there in your feed! (Due to server limitations, this service is not available for Bill Gates.)

2. Department of Motor Vehicles Take-A-Number. The last time you went to the DMV to renew your driver license, how long did it take? Hours, days, still waiting? Why waste your time slumming with the detritus of society when you could relax in comfort at your own computer? Just take a number and go home! Subscribe to your DMV’s “Now Serving” feed and find out when your number comes up. Remember, though, that the nice lady behind the desk won’t wait more than 27 microseconds for you to claim your number before she skips you. So be sure to set your feed refresh rate to something less than an hour!

1. Pacemaker Feed. If your loved one relies on a pacemaker for life, you can’t afford not to know if it is functioning. Give yourself peace of mind and give grandpa a Feed-enabled Pacemaker this Christmas. A simple transmitter using the Nortel pager network broadcasts a status message every thirty minutes. For a reasonable subscription fee of $9.95 a month, you can get an RSS or Atom feed of gramps’ pacemaker status reports. This is one newsfeed you won’t want to miss over the weekend! “Hey, its Monday morning, and grandpa’s pacemaker needed a new battery on Friday. Maybe I should call?”

Feed Responsibly!

No need to recap the full-versus-partial feed furor here.

However, Brad Fitzpatrick makes an excellent point that maybe we shouldn’t see everything. Now will somebody please hand me a Brillo pad for my eyes?