Radio UserLand, RSS, Weblog Tools and Design
Saturday, March 08, 2003Aggregator reviews: "If you use [...] rss feeds then you will need an aggregator service. There are more than you would suspect. Once and Future has done some research and shares his discoveries with various aggregators available, both as desktop versions and web browsers." [Private Ink] [Universal Rule]
Searching the Collective Mind of Your Blogroll.
Wow, I love the blogosphere (the capital "B" one and all the little ones)! First Scott Johnson creates Roogle, an RSS search engine (sorry, James), and then Micah Alpern just happens to have written an answer to my request for a search engine for my aggregator.
"Until the semantic web arrives the best method we have to understand a users point of view is to examine the RSS feeds they subscribe to. I currently read RSS feeds from over 70 websites. This list of RSS feeds includes friends, publications, and domain expects; all people whose opinions I value. If Googling my weblog is like searching by backup brain, then searching all sites in my RSS news aggregator is like searching the brains of people I respect and find interesting.
Some times I want to know what the world thinks (google)
Some times I want to know what I think (my weblog)
Some times I want to know what those I respect think (blogs I read)....
I’m using the Google Soap API and PHP to do a series of domain specific searches with the site:foo.com advanced operator. Where do I get the list of news feeds to search? Radio Userland, the RSS news aggregator I use produces an OPML file, which is an XML document that lists all my news sources. All the results are collected together and presented on a single page....
As the quote by Alex Halavais at the top of this article notes, there are multiple blogsphere’s. These intersecting spheres are broken down by, among other things, interests, associations, geography, and responsibilities. We each live in several sphere’s simultaneously. Identifying and exploiting these sphere will require technical infrastructure in identify and reputation that are still being developed. As always the failure of geeks to find what they’re looking for will drive this development."
Basically, Micah has created an engine that searches the web (Google), your blog, or the blogs you read in your aggregator. It can even be incorporated into your web site! Wow. Majorly suh-weet with book-ending happy dances! Of course, you're still relying on Google's indexing of the blogs in your aggregator, but talk about a giant leap for blogkind. Thanks, Micah!
Isobel also suggests trying Agent Frank, which looks quite intriguing. I need more hours in the day!
[The Shifted Librarian]Tinderbox blogging.
Tinderbox is a very cool application. In some ways similar to Radio for content management and weblog creation -- but different. Radio has a rich scripting language where almost anything is possible -- Tinderbox doesn't. Radio has a built-in web server and can FTP or upstream you rendered site anywhere -- Tinderbox can't.
Tinderbox is a phenomenal note-taking system that allows for visual organization of notes -- Radio doesn't. Tinderbox can render notes through a set of templates to generate HTML -- hey, so does Radio! Tinderbox can be used as a weblogging tool -- so can Radio. Tinderbox can be used to generate a static website -- so can Radio, but Tinderbox seems to have better control over the "notes" than Radio does over the outlines. What I mean is that opening a Tinderbox file the notes are all present, searchable via agents and seemingly more accessible that the outlines in individual OPML files.
Maybe all of the above are just my misinterpretations. I really like Radio. I've been using it since it was Pike. I think I'm going to really like getting to know Tinderbox. What I really want to know is how to get them to work together to utilize the strengths of each application.
Nothing like trial and error. I wish Tinderbox would allow a couple of more notes in the demo, maybe 10 or so. I still bought it. I'm open to any assistance from experienced Tinderbox users, especially those using it with Radio.
[Surgical Diversions]
Roogle an RSS search engine!.
A RSS search engine, Roogle. What a great idea!
SocialDynamX: "FM RadioStation is a desktop application that enhances the Radio experience by integrating 3 applications: news aggregator, blog publishing tool, and web browser into a single, easy-to-use, unified experience." [Scripting News]
Blog early, blog often.
Mike Sanders has been exploring habits of highly effective blogging. The series starts here.
[The Doc Searls Weblog]