http://inkblots.markwoodman.com Completely Messing the Point - Notes on cool tech, including RSS and Atom. May contain humor. Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:33:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Dear inkBlots readers, I have joined forces with several other technology writers to form a not-for-profit site called TechBrew.net. We provide articles, how-to's, and free or open source software to benefit everyone. Our main focus is software and technology, but you'll find generally geeky and interesting things along the ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/02/08/inkblots-is-moving-to-techbrewnet/ Looks like I was a day too soon with Filtering Feeds... Yahoo!'s new entry into the mashup marketplace with Yahoo! Pipes has some amazing potential. By potential, I mean that it is probably cool once they get it working... I'm guessing they didn't anticipate the load they're hit with this morning. ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/02/08/piping-feeds/ As mashups and feed-centric apps abound, the need to filter feeds is becoming more prevalent. The idea behind a feed filter is that you may only want to see items from an RSS-based publication on a certain topic, keyword, or tag. This is an essential aspect of the "newsmastering" ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/02/07/filtering-feeds/ Thanks to Giovanni Guardalben for the tip this weekend: Marjolein Hoekstra and Todd And have used a bunch of free tools to create a OPML/RSS mashup called Kitchen Sink. They have NewsGator, FeedBurner, MySyndicaat, and Grazr in the mix to create a boutique search engine and feed source for a ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/02/05/boutique-blog-search-via-rssopml-mashup/ When does it become a bad idea to not handle the competition's format? Dave Winer, the creator of RSS 2.0 and Radio Userland's RSS Aggregator, chides a friend for switching from RSS to Atom: I was subscribing to your feed, generally reading all your updates, and now I ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/01/31/radio-userland-and-rss-vs-atom/ Here's a peek at what I'm working on: My oldest son Caleb, now nearly 7, has been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (also called Sensory Integration Dysfunction.) This is a Non-Verbal Learning Disability that is neurological in origin. In short: His brain isn't handling all of the sensory ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/01/30/sneak-peek-neurotechnology-and-my-kid/ Saletastic.com has announced a service whereby you can get an RSS feed of coupons from over 130 merchants. You do need to create an account (to manage your options), but you do not need to provide an email address. You can also add the coupons ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/01/16/coupons-via-rss/ (Was: Blockbuster Online and farmed-out Web surveys) Dear BlockBuster Online, Your survey company RightNow Technologies doesn't do you justice. If they were the the lowest bidder on providing surveys for you, it shows. I got this in my email yesterday: Dear Mark, Your opinions and feedback can make a difference! As ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2007/01/16/blockbuster-online-and-farmed-out-web-surveys/ Dear Amar Ghandi, Group Program Manager of the Windows RSS team, You guys actually invented the RSS parser and feed API? Your patent claim is baffling: "A content syndication platform, such as a web content syndication platform, manages, organizes and makes available for consumption content ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2006/12/21/microsoft-patents-what/ Mike Sansone did a BlogTalkRadio show this morning (listen here) that talks about how he gets business people up to speed on RSS, feed readers, and general tips for using RSS efficiently. One point that Mike made is that non-technical people look at feeds like a microwave... they don't want to ... http://inkblots.markwoodman.com/2006/12/21/the-popcorn-button-for-rss/