Thursday, May 22, 2003

4 years later.. "Huh?. Movable Type's new TypePad service is unveiled. It appears to be what UserLand had working (for free) in 1999. Hosting is a tricky business, as we found out, there are ISPs who now host MT sites that must somehow be included in their plans, yet there seems to be no mention of them in the FAQ. [Scripting News] Userland's EditThisPage - was a revolutionary, break-through product which changed my life. But when Blogger came out - it was clear that there was more than one way to skin a cat.  When Userland migrated to a different model with Radio - it seemed like the right decision, as hosting was expensive and Userland was giving it away for free.  But Dan Bricklin came in - saved Pyra and the rest is history. One could argue that the single most important feature of Radio - is it's integrated news aggregator - which could never be built into a hosted blogging tool.  I seem to remember Ev speculating on how that could be done. Those of us - who watch these mentions carefully - knew that Pyra was heading towards a "big daddy" scenario - and I'll predict Blogger will offer some sort of centralized aggregation service - soon. Meanwhile the king of "DIY servers" - SixApart and their Moveable Type platform - are now about to encroach on Pyra's territory.  And Dave points out that EditThisPage was a hosted service - but they backed out of it.  True. But EditThisPage was one interface - for all to use - despite the wide range of usage ability levels between us humans.  EditThispage did not have a real picture album.  EditThispage did not have a simple blogroll editor.  These are key features, and combined with the tiered approach to pricing, TypePad is a lot MORE than EditThispage was." It's just 4 years later." [via Marc's Voice] Mark is on to something here.  SixApart has taken a very popular tool and made it more accessible.  The best thing about it in my mind is that they've separated the technology into a product marketed at three different personas.  We had three separate beasts here and they all used to live in separate cages.  Now they are starting to mingle. 6:14:45 PM    comment []  trackback []

Photographic Photosynthesis Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey have created large living photographs using controlled photosynthesis using grass. "In the greater body of our artwork we play with many materials exploring processes of growth, transformation and decay, and we embrace the transience and ephemeral nature of our materials. Yet somehow the fragility of these chlorophyll apparitions urged us to make moves to preserve them longer." Highlights of their other Photographic Photosynthesis work includes: Living Skins and Reversing Fields.  [via artnotes] 5:46:00 PM    comment []  trackback []

Shocking Self Defense Jacket "Designers at MIT and Advanced Research Apparel have created a wearable anti-assault tool for women that fends off would-be attackers with an 80,000-volt electric shock. The No-Contact Jacket is described as "exo-electric armor," and looks like an ordinary women's jacket. Makes a crackling electric sound when it goes off. WIRED News story snip: "An inner layer of conductive fiber carries a low-amp charge that delivers a nasty but non-lethal shock to anyone who messes with its wearer. Unlike weapons and sprays, the jacket can't be grabbed from a woman and used against her. And it's not as lethal as a gun. 'We initially thought the idea was a little extreme,' said Whiton. 'But we got a lot of positive feedback. It defends, it protects and it gives confidence to women. By encasing the whole body in this electric fence, it forms a barrier that people just shouldn't enter into.'" [via Boing Boing Blog] 5:20:08 PM    comment []  trackback []

Glimpse of Gator News.Com: "A Harvard researcher has completed an investigation of the Gator advertising utility, offering a glimpse into the workings of one of the Web's most controversial pop-up networks." [Scripting News] 1:26:38 PM    comment []  trackback []