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Sunday, June 26, 2005 |
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A conversation with Jeff Nielsen about agile software development. In today's half-hour podcast I interview Jeff Nielsen, chief scientist with Digital Focus, a company that specializes in doing -- and teaching -- agile software development. Jeff called me from XP2005, the international conference on extreme programming, and we talked about how Digital Focus adapts agile methods for use with such clients as FannieMae and the Federal Home Loan Bank. ... [Jon's Radio] 9:41:09 PM  comment [] trackback []
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SQL Server (without Win32OLE dependancy) [Rails] 9:37:26 PM comment [] trackback []
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Meet Sunsara Taylor, the media's favorite young communist blogger and hardest working running dog in the proletariat:
I was so inspired by her biography that I started a fire in one of my trash cans and overturned my car. [Workbench] 9:36:21 PM comment [] trackback []
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TextDrive seeks to sweeten control with Rails application. TextPanel is the name of TextDrive’s effort to modernize Webmin and the whole of branch of control panel software. They’re hard at work on it. And it’s going to be a Rails application, of course. Like all the other management software they’re building over there. The first we’ll see of TextPanel will be a reduced version, which will power the forthcoming Strongspace offering. Cheers to Justin, Marten, Jason, Dean, and all the others at TextDrive for pushing the hosting envelope on so many fronts. And what a steal in picking up a relationship with Michael Koziarski. He has been the untiring force behind verifying, prioritizing, and managing the ticket cue on Rails for a good long while. Congratulations to both parties. [Riding Rails]9:35:04 PM comment [] trackback []
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Ajax on Rails.
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Survey: Consumers growing wary of buying online. Worried about the possibility of identity theft and concerned about what they see as lax online security, consumers are scaling back their Internet shopping, according to a report by The Conference Board. [Computerworld News] 9:33:54 PM comment [] trackback []
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Community process place for new RSS extensions. Yesterday someone asked something like "how can I give Microsoft feedback about the new RSS extensions?" I yelled out "Channel 9 has a wiki." And, sure enough, today, someone has created a wiki page for the extensions. Go to town, we're watching! [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]9:32:37 PM comment [] trackback []
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More reactions on Microsoft's RSS announcements. Here's a bunch more feedback about the RSS announcements made yesterday: Phil Ringalda: MS Embraces RSS. "Simple List Extensions: ouch. That crunching sound you heard was me getting bit on the butt, hard." Dave Winer: Quick postscript on Microsoft Announcement. "I think Microsoft ought to read the feedback carefully, in Phil's post and what shows up elsewhere, and come up with a simpler way to do what they want to do. I think it's quite possible to do that." Danny Ayers: MS RSS. Danny has a LOT of reactions. Worth reading. Dare Obasanjo, who was on stage at Gnomedex yesterday, has a good summary. InfoWorld: Microsoft decision to ship Longhorn with RSS draws applause. Doc Searls: A bump, a fork or a widening of the RSS road? Between the Lines blog on ZDNet: Death knell to Atom? Birth of an 'open' era for Microsoft? Tao of Mac: Sunny Saturday. "The general tone of technical news these past few months shows that hypocrisy is rampant regarding obvious ideas - if Linux does something it's good, if Apple does it it's übercool, but if Microsoft catches on then they're evil - plus, of course, some obscure idiot tries to patent it and sue everybody." Sam Ruby: Simple List Questions. Eric Freeman, on O'Reilly: Longhorn loves RSS. "If you're scratching your hand thinking "so what? I can do all this on my Mac now," you'd be in sync with most of the audience. That said, there is a bit more to the story: what Microsoft has done is essentially build an RSS aggregator into the OS and expose API's that any application can make use of to produce or consume RSS. That's a little more interesting (and perhaps would have made for a more interesting talk and discussion)." Richard MacManus: Microsoft Embraces and Extends RSS. "My initial impression is that this is indeed very big - possibly even Microsoft acknowledging that RSS is to Web 2.0 what HTML was to the Web in the 90's." Paul Colligan: Don't delete or ignore podcasting, Microsoft. David Coursey, in eWeek: RSS: It's Not Just for Bloggers Anymore. "To understand the significance of Microsoft's announcement, it's helpful to forget what you think you know about RSS." Duncan Riley: Microsoft and RSS: who cares? Kim Peterson, in Seattle Times: RSS delivery system wins over Microsoft. Jay Greene in BusinessWeek: Microsoft Crashes the RSS Party. Shelley Powers: Microsoft, RSS, and CC. In all the excitement, I’ve noticed that not many people have talked about whether IE 7.x will also detect Atom or RSS 1.0. My reply? Yes, the aggregators Microsoft builds will read in all formats. Stephen O'Grady: Microsoft and the ... Creative Commons? "The announcement itself did include one interesting provision - the use of the Creative Commons license. This is an excellent decision by Microsoft." PC World's Techlog, by Harry McCracken: RSS will be big in Longhorn. "The technology has the potential to be a powerful, universal means of automated communication between applications (both Web- and desktop-based) of all sorts. This news from Microsoft could help make that happen." The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog: Cool! Jo Twist, BBC News: Microsoft makes web feeds easier. Steve Rubel: the Day RSS Turned Pro. Nice shoes Dean! Rick Klau: Thoughts on Day 1 from Gnomedex. "As for Microsoft’s announcement, it’s not quite the “Bill Gates is coming to Gnomedex to announce they’ve bought the Internet” kind of announcement that was rumored… but quite significant nonetheless." Head Lemur: the funny smell. Rick Segal: Day One Observations. "Microsoft is is doing what they do best which is plumbing. Ignore the anti/pro Microsoft debates, waste of your time." [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]9:31:54 PM comment [] trackback []
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Three podcast tools vendors who use what they produce. Yesterday when I was walking around the Gnomedex conference floor I happened across James Prudente. He had a very cool Motion-based Tablet PC recording studio. That caught my eye. There were quite a few Tablet PCs at Gnomedex this year, way up from last year. But, the Tablet PC wasn't what caught my eye. It was his software. It was also his enthusiasm for the new world of podcasting. I love meeting geeks who love using their own tools and showing them off. James is one of three such geeks I've met this past week. James software is called MixCastLive. Visit his blog and read all about it. It's .NET based and lets you build a professional podcast. He has a screencast (a video demo) of how his product works. I got a demo and it's awesome stuff. I'm buying a copy. Now, before I get to the other two podcast-tools-makers-who-eat-their-own-dogfood there's a fourth one, Evan Williams, the guy who started Blogger. He gave me a demo of his tool, Odeo, last week at Supernova. I don't know why his tool is getting so much hype when there are other tools out there that have shipped. Odeo, though, has a nice simple interface. But, it's very unfinished (the version he gave me access to can only be used as a directory and not as a way to record podcasts yet). And, he, unlike the other three folks here, doesn't have a podcast of his own. To tell you the truth Evan, that puts you behind the other three here in my mind. Innovators who use their own stuff are, in my experience, more responsive and more likely to keep updating their tools even after the money runs out. Eating your own dogfood is an attribute I look for inside Microsoft. If I find a team not using their own stuff and being excited by pushing it around, I get scared. OK, back to the enthusiasts who are building interesting podcasting services. Another one is Eric Rice. His Audioblog.com service is a great podcasting/videoblogging place. It's been up for more than a year, he told me. And, he sure is enthusiastic about what he's doing. His site, EricRice.com, includes a blog, an audioblog, and a videoblog. You can use Audioblog.com via a phone, too, and it's a mature banged-on service. The last of the eating-their-own-dogfood three is Adam Curry. I heard an ad for his "podcast" on Sirius Radio today. Wild. Anyway, his software team is working on CastBlaster. Adam was always mobbed so I didn't get a demo, but it's getting praise and you can get a beta already where Odeo requires you to know Evan and get him to give you a personal invite. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]9:31:15 PM comment [] trackback []
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NowPublic lets you post your own news. There's a ton of citizens journalism projects coming out. NowPublic is a cool one I got a demo of yesterday. You can upload stories, footage, or vote on already posted stories. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]9:30:52 PM comment [] trackback []
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Podtech.net has a great string of interviews in just past week. Last week I sent John Furrier more than 10,000 visitors (he told me that yesterday) to listen to his podcast. He is on a major roll. The people he's had on his podcast, Podtech.net, in just the past few days are simply amazing. The guy is a one-man broadcasting station. I think I know how he does it. He's nice and self effacing. Says he's not a pro and all that. Sorry, John, that went over last week. This week? That won't fly anymore. You're just too good. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]9:29:01 PM comment [] trackback []
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Review: Rapid PHP 2005. Of the many editors available for creating (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP pages, several combine a few different yet compatible languages. Some include support and a few manage to make it work seamlessly. RapidPHP 2005 belongs in the latter category. By Lee Underwood. 0624 [WebReference News] 9:28:16 PM comment [] trackback []
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Active-adult havens for a new breed of (not quite) retirees. As baby boomers hit retirement, they're already doing many things differently - foregoing Florida and Arizona is one of them. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 9:27:34 PM comment [] trackback []
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Microsoft to ship Longhorn with RSS. Microsoft on Friday announced its intention to fully support the RSS Web publishing standard in its next generation version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, along with plans to help application developers more easily create RSS-enabled applications for Windows. Officials said the company is proposing its own Simple List extensions to RSS that will better allow the technology to support ordered lists of information. Presently, RSS feeds are sent and received as streams of messages with their order being determined only by the time they were sent. Microsoft's extensions are reportedly offering a way to add ordering information so RSS feeds can more intelligently handle, for instance, a Web site's list of best-selling items. "The RSS [Simple List] extensions we are developing can allow a content publisher to enable a Web site to publish feeds that represent ordered lists of items. We will make these extensions widely available to developers through the Creative Commons [license]," said Megan Kidd, a group product manager on the Windows team. Microsoft has already done some "baseline work at the platform level" that supports a range of basic functions that are contained in all applications that support RSS, which should help lighten their overall development effort. "RSS feeds now come through Weblogs but it will go way beyond that. For instance, if you are at a conference and go to that Web site, subscribe to a feed that has all the conference information, you can have an RSS feed right into your calendar application like Outlook that will automatically update you on all changes being made at the conference like keynotes and sessions," Kidd said. Some industry observers were encouraged not only by Microsoft's endorsement of the technology, but also because the software giant appears uninterested in dominating the technology and is being proactive in trying to help create commercial opportunities for other application developers. "When Microsoft would talk about embracing and extending a technology, many would interpret that as engulfing and devouring. In this case, they seem to be really going out of their way to talk about extending but not co-opting this technology. The fact they are releasing this under the Creative Commons License, the same license that RSS is released under, is a pretty big deal in and of itself," said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president and research director at Jupiter Research. Another upside for Microsoft, according to Gartenberg and others, is that the inclusion of RSS in Longhorn, along with the commitment to help ISVs create compatible applications, is that it builds more interest around Longhorn among developers and users, something the upcoming product needs. "This should get developers a little more pumped up over Longhorn," Gartenberg said. The downside about the move however, is that many smaller developers with RSS technologies will have the added pressure of having to be more innovative with their applications in order to stay ahead of much larger developers as RSS-based products become more of a commodity. Asked about Microsoft's plans to incorporate RSS support into its upcoming Office 12 suite of desktop applications, Kidd said, "you can expect to see some functionality with Outlook," but that the company has yet to formulate any specific plans. Microsoft will also make it easier for users to discover feeds within their browsers by illuminating icons that allow them to easily see what RSS feeds are available to them at any given moment. The company will also allow users to view the feed live from within the browser, which Kidd said is not available today. "They will be able to actually see the feed, pick the one they want to subscribe to. We want to make it a one click experience," Kidd said. Microsoft is expected to make the announcement Friday at the Gnomedex conference in Seattle. SEE ALSO: ADVERTISEMENT 9:25:23 PM comment [] trackback []
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Healing Power of Social Web Borne Out in Poorer Nations . RAIPUR RANI, India -- Second of three articles Psychiatrist Naren Wig crossed an open sewer, skirted a pond and, in the dusty haze of afternoon, saw something miraculous. By Shankar Vedantam. [Business] 9:24:02 PM comment [] trackback []
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Hotspot Users Survey [Wi-Fi Networking News] 9:18:42 PM comment [] trackback []
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Apparently, Chris and others have changed their lives... Chris Pirillo reports that Gnomedex changed his life. Funny thing, it changed mine too, in a big way. I've been telling the story verbally. I look forward to doing it in a podcast sometime in the next few days, but now I have to rest and then go out for Pho in San Francisco with Big Dave Jacobs. Just got a product demo that I'll report on shortly after I get back to Florida, late tomorrow night. For now I'm in San Francisco, pooped but exhilirated. [Scripting News] 9:16:08 PM comment [] trackback []
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Yes, those of you who thought maybe Linux was "Plug and Play", just try to install SSL on a RedHat Server. Harder than it looks... Microsoft software partner finds Microsoft software cheaper than Linux. 'Independent' study reveals Linux patch hell [The Register] 9:15:42 PM comment [] trackback []
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Sage Advice from the Mongolian BoFH... Geeks should 'outsource themselves' - Mongolian BoFH. Comment Can do spirit ordered in China [The Register] 9:15:08 PM comment [] trackback []
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One of my hobbies is Japanese Sword Fighting. So, here is an interesting item regarding some Fencers... Picking Up the Sword, Purely for Recreation. ON a Wednesday evening this spring, a dozen or so adults, from their 20's to their 60's, attended Misha Shimshovich's class for beginners at the Fencers Club in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. By TANYA MOHN. [NYT > Business] 9:14:14 PM comment [] trackback []
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Last update: 7/8/2005; 5:29:45 PM .
