How to make Radio scan for news now

If you want to run something like this from the system tray, then go to Garth's blog, where he created something based on a conversation he had with Phil Ackley, who had spoken with me about an instant scan command. If you want it in a menu of the Radio application itself, then read on...

Here's the deal. I'll tell you how you can create something to trigger a news scan in a menu of your Radio application, where it won't be blown away by an update, and you can gave it a shortcut key -- I just ask that you give me feedback on the quality of these instructions. Let me know where they may need improvement.

However, this also means that certain responsibilities come with this newfound power. Scanning often can pummel a source, since CPU cycles and system resources are required to determine which items have already been sent to your aggregator. Do not run this over and over. You may cause providers to decide to withdraw the rss feed we have grown to love. So please use this power responsibly, the feed you save may be your favorite...

I think an "update news now" feature wasn't implemented out of the box for Radio 8, because of the potential load this could create on services. But you can roll your own pretty easily in Radio.

Here's how:

From within the Radio application...

1) From the Bookmarks menu, select Edit Bookmarks.

An outline opens, containing the contents of the Bookmarks menu (which lives at user.bookmarksMenu.menu in your Radio.root) for your copy of Radio. The top heading should be labelled "Bookmarks"

2) Click on the wedge next to the last sub-entry under the top heading, Bookmarks.

The entire last entry is selected.

3) To create a new entry, press the Enter or return key.

This creates a new sub-entry under Bookmarks, at the end of the list. You can move this entry by dragging the wedge up or down.

4) Type the following,
doScanNow (the actual text you use here is up to you, but it's best to keep it short).

5) Double-click on the wedge next to the new entry you just created (doScanNow).

A window labelled 'Script for "doScanNow"' opens.

6) Type the following (all on one line):
system.verbs.builtins.xml.aggregator.readAllServices (adrlogcallback:@radio.log.add)

7) Double-check what you just typed for typos. Make certain there are none. Triple-check.

8) Close the script window.

9) Make certain the doScanNow (or whatever you named it) sub-entry is still selected.

10) Click in the drop-down menu in the bottom left corner of the window containing the menu outline.

A dialog box opens.

11) Press an otherwise unused key for your shortcut key combination (Cmd+whatever, or cntl+whatever).

I used the '5' key myself -- So I get news at Cmd+5... get it? Ha ha. OK, nevermind. Let's save your work, now.

12) Press Cmd+s, or cntl+s to save your changes.

13) Close the window with the radio menu outline.

14) Press Cmd+ 5, or cntl+5, and verify that a scan starts running. If the About Radio window is open, you should see evidence of the scanning activity.

If not, go back and check your work.

15) If it does work, do not use this more than once an hour. Ever. Remember, abusing this could cause your favorite sources to stop providing a feed, plus your Radio aggregator will run once an hour anyway...

11:06:12 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

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Outdated legal defense in the Internet Age

Well, this legal defense tactic may have worked before the Internet. Now that Google, other search engines, and the Chronicle.com have picked up the story, the accusation and smear on this guy's name will be available for a long, long time -- regardless of the outcome. Where someone lives and where the initial slur on them was published no longer means as much as it once might have...

Ohio University may have to pay damages to a former student who was expelled after a 1997 sexual incident in a dormitory shower.

...

Mallory's attorney Jan Roller of Cleveland has not yet cited a dollar figure that her client wants. OU Legal Affairs Director John Burns has told the Associated Press that OU may argue that even if Mallory was defamed, this did not cause him any real damage because the defamation was printed in a local Athens newspaper after Mallory had left town.

Ohio University is not that ag-school in Cowlumbus, Ahia that has the semi-pro football team.

It is kinda suspicious that the administrator accused of the slanderous statement is no longer employed by the university. Damages would have a cap at US$250K, according to the Ohio code.

I'm digging some more into this story. It's looking pretty twisted, in a number of ways...

4:33:08 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

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