RSS2Necho
A quick and dirty implementation in php that parses a basic RSS feed and turns it into a basic necho one. This is just a toy for your enjoyment but here it is: RSS2necho implementation. If you want to point it to your own feed, just include the feed after the rss2necho/ part of the url and you're done. It's very rough and if you want a copy of source (largely a lift of someone else's code (attibution is in the php comments) revised for my own purpose), drop me a note....[The TNL.net weblog] 
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Independent days. The ever eloquent John Gruber discusses the nature and advantages of independent websites in a longish column that's worth savoring and bookmarking. [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report] 
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The Map Room. Finally... something good has come from a newsfilter post! In a trackback to a recent post on something-or-other (aren't they all the same?) I discovered a gem of a site dedicated to maps.[MetaFilter] 
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TypePad is a go. My TypePad weblog is live and thanks to design help from Mena, it "feels" like this blog, but is light and clean. Let me know what you think. I'm considering making TypePad my main blog. I'll cross post for awhile, but lets keep the comments on this blog so I can keep them in one place until I do the final export. [Joi Ito's Web Lite] 
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Vox Populi: Web Services From the Grassroots. In Rich Salz's latest column, he examines the effort to redefine simply site syndication, claiming that it's already technically superior to RSS 2.0. [Der Schockwellenreiter] 
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Blog Easy. Yet another weblog hoster [Der Schockwellenreiter] 
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RSS Subscriptions Harmonizer. Dave Winer's RSS subscriptions harmonizer is an outstanding idea. I hope it sees some rapid support. As anyone who's ever played around with different aggregators knows, there is a considerable investment of time in getting all your subscriptions loaded and organized -- even if there is an import wizard. A harmonizing web service will be a major boon to RSS usage across both business and personal arenas.

Now, can we do it without the tech community turning it into a goat rodeo?

subs harmonizer. I've been tracking Dave's work on his subscriptions harmonizer. I haven't delved into all the details yet, but It seems to me this is the perfect tool for weblogs in a place of business.

If a group of people within a company synchronize their RSS subscriptions with a harmonizer, a single weblog page can be generated on the fly that represents the interests of the entire group. Powerful mojo. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]

[b.cognosco] 
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Five Key Questions About Business Blogs. E-mail marketing outfit MarketingProfs.com has published an article on business blogging geared to the e-mail marketer. Little new here to those who are well-versed in the blogoshpere, but it is an interesting look into the minds of those who have, until now, relied on e-newsletters and other e-communications as their primary communications vehicles.

[...] Put it this way: scarcely 10 years ago you might have asked, [base "]Will email replace the phone, fax and postal mail as the preferred means of business communication?[per thou] Of course, we exclaim in hindsight.

So might it go with blogs. [More...]

[b.cognosco] 
1:56:22 PM      comment []   trackback []  



The Emerging Sixth Estate.
Blogging News
An emerging sixth estate in Global governance and influence is arising - the blogosphere. In this article I argue the case for the blgosophere being an emerging sixth estate rather than being an extension of the fourth estate - mass media. Some of you are perhaps sniggering and questioning "Blogs a power? Those personal journals that contain personal thoughts, journals about looking after kids, and personal biased crap?" Yes, these personal journals are becoming a real influence in global governance. [Elwyn Jenkins: MicrodocHeadlines] 
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10,000 reasons to read Adam Curry. Adam Curry has revealed an interesting investment he made in UserLand 18 months ago: He paid $10,000 for his weblog to be included in Radio's default RSS subscriptions. Now he thinks the Echo Project's work is undoing his canny marketing:

I will again invest $10k in aggregator default placements this year, but I will spread it around, to all developers who adhere to RSS2.0. Include (N)echo and you're out of luck.

I don't understand his concern. If an aggregator can read a format, so can its users. Radio could dump RSS 2.0 for another format overnight and Curry would still get what he paid for: a built-in audience of aggregator users.

This deal is likely to take some heat because it was never disclosed to Radio users that Curry bought his way onto the list. Though I'm surprised to learn this, Web browsers have been selling positions in their default bookmarks for years. [Workbench] 
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Revolution in Iran.

A revolution is in the making in Iran tonight organized by young Iranians fighting for freedom.  Tommorrow, July 9th, is going to be a date to remember in Iranian history, hopefully start of the path to freedom.

• Tommorrow...
• This just in from Iran...

Tommorrow, we'll find out if those ellipses are blood drops for young Iranians and tear drops for rest of the world.

[Don Park's Daily Habit] 
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Welcome, AOL. Seriously.

The imminent arrival of AOL and its users in the blogosphere has now been widely noted. Being late to the party due to blowing off for the long weekend, I'll just toss in a few observations from my past in the online services world:

Clay Shirky's post highlights the likelihood that AOL's implementation will lean toward the community, rather than light weight publishing, side of blogging. This makes sense for a couple of reasons:

Historically, what was originally QuantumLink and later America Online grew by attracting underserved, dispersed communities such as gays and seniors, and connecting them online. While this may have been deleted from the official genesis legend, these genes may still lurk in the DNA of the big media company of today.

Pragmatically, a community approach is more likely to create switching costs for AOL's blog users. Start with the hassle of moving a tightly knit group to another service. Consider what other features might be enabled if the users are all authenticated within the AOL network. Higher switching costs translate directly to lower churn numbers for AOL subscribers, which is becoming more important to the company as the market for Internet access and aggregation saturates.

One point of marketing dissonance appears in Jeff Jarvis' otherwise excellent discussion of the AOL entry:

But AOL -- and every other online business -- also has a strategic challenge to make sure that they stay ahead of where weblogs are headed.

Wrongo. AOL's subscribers are now mid- to late-adopters. AOL is now a market follower, not leader. Evidence, from Shirky:

For example, they are calling the product "Journal," as only 18% of their audience recognizes the word weblog.

The wider blogosphere will work out the nuances of the medium. AOL will copy what fits their business model and market. [Due Diligence] 
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Vernon Chee shares, in a USA Today piece on blogs, an anecdote about how his mother began tuning in to his blog and called him to say, "Your entries just brought back a lot of memories âo[per thou] a lot of good memories, some bad memories. I'm learning a lot more about you than what I knew before." [Corante: Corante on Blogging] 
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Mitch Ratcliffe on media consumption: "We own our attention, but we contribute to a rich fabric of stuff--some content, some conversation, some conflagration and flame-fest. And, amazingly, we have a voice as large as any media company..." [Corante: Corante on Blogging] 
12:50:49 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Rise of the blogs:
It's a strange form of legitimacy - perhaps even a coming of age - when a group of internet users are important enough to get their own version of Google. [The Sydney Morning Herald via Six Apart] 
12:46:14 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "Before posting an entry in his personal weblog, Robert Scoble always pauses and considers how he would justify its contents to three people: his boss, his wife and Steve Ballmer." What about me? [Scripting News] 
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"TypePad" [Daypop Top 40] 
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Andrew Sullivan, in criticizing Ann Coulter: "In the ever-competitive marketplace of political ideas - in a world of blogs and talk radio and cable news - it's increasingly hard to stand out." [Corante: Corante on Blogging] 
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Blogs als Tools. Schöne PPT-Präsentation zu Blogs und dem Einsatz als Web-Tools, in diesem Fall geht es um Buch(Lese)-Zirkel. Das PPT-File ... [thomas n. burg | randgänge] 
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Blogs und Unternehmenskommunikation.. Motiviert durch die Plage des internen Unternehmens-Spam etc. hab ich dieses Modell (Weblogs als E-Mail-Backup bzw. Ersatz... [thomas n. burg | randgänge] 
6:09:16 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Howard Dean: Weblogs und Wahlkampf. Tatsächlich beachtliche Geschichte. Dean nutzt Web-Publishing und das Internet Potential des  Group-forming . :: Unbe... [thomas n. burg | randgänge] 
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Buttonmania [Der Schockwellenreiter] 
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Language Barriers in BlogLand.

Phil Wolff's blog have many interesting posts about blog related stats.  Did you know there are 100,000 polish blogs of which 62% are by women?  How about those 12,000 Iranian blogs? 

Best find on my first visit today was the reference to great post by Maciej Ceglowski on measuring how high the language barriers are in BlogLand backed up with numbers provided by his crawlers.  Posts like that deserves wider distribution that what he got.  Pass it on.  To entice you, here is the lure:

"links tend not to cross language boundaries. If you look at all the outgoing links from English language blogs, only about 1.75% point to a non-English weblog. In the reverse direction, however, the figure is much higher. A full 7% of links from non-English-language weblogs point to an English site." - Maciej Ceglowski

[Don Park's Daily Habit] 
6:01:59 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Dear Abby tackles blogging issues.

Too funny! [megnut] 
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AOL Shows Blogging Tools; What About MSN?. AOL is demoing its forthcoming blogging tools to a chosen few. What will AOL's move mean to Microsoft? Redmond has yet to announce plans to add blogging tools to its MSN platform. [Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley] 
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WebStatistics. WebStatistics [0xDECAFBAD] 
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Quick links.

• Teal Sunglasses: Dear Dave...
• XPath

[0xDECAFBAD] 
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BarnRaising:
My latest analogy for good community spirit. Everyone getting together to help one person out with only the expectation that, if the tables were turned, the beneficiary would do the same for anyone else. -- SunirShah [MeatballWiki] 
5:33:00 AM      comment []   trackback []  



WikiLog: an attempt to synthesize the best aspects of WikiWikis and WebLogs. 
5:27:35 AM      comment []   trackback []  



WeblogWithWiki. WeblogWithWiki [0xDECAFBAD] 
5:17:48 AM      comment []   trackback []  



tessellating animation [MetaFilter] 
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Things That Never Were. Things That Never Were is a new novel from an ex-weblogger. First it was Cory and now Matthew. Who's next and are there any other webloggers turned authors? Not the other way around. [MetaFilter] 
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Photoblog your life. Sept. 11, 2003: Photoblog your life

"I've been thinking about September 11th. I've been thinking about the United States response - The Patriot Act. Invading Afganastan & Iraq. Death. Fear. Oppression.

It seems to me that this is NOT the America I want the world to know. So I propose a blogwide Photoblog your Life day on September 11th. Take your camera with you. Take pictures. Show the world your life. Show the world your daily delights. Show the world that we choose life, happiness and freedom."

[via Big Pink Cookie] [MetaFilter] 
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Syndicating Whuffie 
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The Million Monkey Meme. Concevons un million de singes à frapper au hasard sur les touches d'une machine à écrire ... A short history of the Million Monkey Meme, 1913-1996. [MetaFilter] 
4:23:11 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Value-Added RSS Feeds.

Gary Lawrence Murphy reached a similar conclusion as I have: emergence of value-added RSS feeds.  Checkout the second half of his "Echos of RSS" post.

[Don Park's Daily Habit] 
4:09:04 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Cataclysm in UserLand.

Ground is shaking in UserLand.  John Robb's abrupt departure and blog disappearance smells bad.  Dave is hinting at a bigger change that should be "net-net good news for Manila and Radio users and for the weblog community."  While going open source is a possibility, "We weren't ready to announce, John surprised us" seems to point to a buyout.  My list of suspects with recent news about AOL's entry into BlogLand are:

• Yahoo
• Adobe
• Symantec
• Macromedia

Intriguing drama unfolding...

[Don Park's Daily Habit] 
4:04:25 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Echo Project News.

If you don't have the time to keep up with the Echo Wiki stop by Aaron Swartz' Echo Project News for all the latest developments.

[BitWorking] 
4:02:06 AM      comment []   trackback []  



How Google Works. There are many sites out there they can tell you how Google works. They will give you pointers and tips and facts and opinions and all of these will supposedly help you climb up the search ladder of fame. Well... [Artima Web Buzz] 
3:03:18 AM      comment []   trackback []