Wednesday January 01, 2003

More Havoc

Jeff calls a spade a spade, quite rightly so. However, I think Fred (and I do not know him personally or even virtually) has dropped the idea of getting money upfront from potential customers. He is now talking about getting an investor (read a recent post to see more). And (again, my perception) I think Fred is targetting non-technical people who wouldn't know MT from the sharp end of a stick as his customers.

But Jeff is quite right to point out "hey, we don't know this guy's qualifications!" and to raise QoS issues and such:

What does $50 per year buy? What does $100 buy? What are service terms? Can I post anything on the server? How are you going to protect the data? What happens if a member abuses your service posting porn or illegal content? What will you be doing to make sure that this doesn't affect other users? What support you will giving to the Roller community?

I'll support Fred for two reasons:
* Out of self-interest: some of that money may come my way for developing Roller, and anything that raises the profile of Roller is likely to float my boat - with job prospects, writing opportunities, what have you.
* And because I think a "competing" service will take some of the load off of FreeRoller. Anthony is doing a great thing and I'm certain he is not breaking even with FreeRoller donations: anything that reduces his load helps.

Like Jeff I want people to support FreeRoller, whether Fred's plan takes off or not. ( Jan 01 2003, 12:21:30 PM ) Roller Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/more_havoc

Tuesday December 31, 2002

Support FreeRoller: Anthony, you should post some numbers on how many donations you've received. I somehow doubt its enough to cover bandwidth. My thanks to those of you who have donated. ( Dec 31 2002, 04:27:32 PM ) Roller Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/support_freeroller

Cry Havoc and Release the Dogs of War!

Anthony has thrown down the gauntlet for Fred. But I think Anthony misunderstands: it's not so much a shot at FreeRoller as Fred exploring ways to support himself without an employer ;-) (which I champion, would like to do the same myself).

That said, someone should really offer to help out Anthony. Guess I could do it since I know how to, but it seems to me that someone who benefits from FreeRoller directly (like one of its users) should volunteer: you'd think one of the 348 people on FreeRoller would step forward. It's so easy to point elsewhere ;-( ( Dec 31 2002, 04:26:17 PM ) Roller Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/cry_havoc_and_release_the

UnFree Roller

Fred has got plans to start a subscriber-supported Roller-based weblogging service. It's a good idea, there is some competition (that means it pays for someone). And since FreeRoller has this decidely Java-developer bent to it (quite unintended I am sure) there is little competition there ("Why should I pay to use Roller when I can go to FreeRoller?").

Good luck Fred!

disclaimer: Fred has suggested that he will use proceeds to "hire" developers to work on Roller fixes and features - Dave, Matt & myself are the immediate prospects
( Dec 31 2002, 04:05:02 PM ) Roller Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/unfree_roller

Soda + laptop = Death

At some point yesterday my 4 year old spilled a glass of soda on my laptop. Now it won't boot. The top was down (so far as we know) so I don't think there was much "penetration" of soda into the case, but we really don't know. My wife was away (at a funeral) and Grandpa was watching the kids. They must have cleaned the exterior because when my wife came home there was no clue anything happened. But when she went to check her email, the WinXP boot screen came up and then it went black!

Should I start one of those web-begging sites, seeking donations for a replacement? Nah, I still have *some* dignity. Oh my laptop, so young, taken from us before your time. ( Dec 31 2002, 08:08:47 AM ) Humor? Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/soda_laptop_death

Monday December 30, 2002

Don't starve your anchors

I know Vanity Foul is guilty of anorexic anchors, and seeing as it's a Roller template (borrowed from elsewhere) it's likely endemic (not to mention epidemic) to Roller.

This is sort of a note to myself to correct this in the templates Roller "ships" with (and my own of course).

later: and more semantic goodness... should we find a way to encourage this markup (which i just failed to obey) ? If we want a semantic web (I'm still unsold) then this looks like a good way to do it. More information is always good, unless it interferes with bandwidth, right? ( Dec 30 2002, 10:42:32 AM ) Roller Permalink [Link]
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/don_t_starve_your_anchors

Re: Yes, Dear

Erica wonders if there is anyone listening who also has an autistic child on a restricted diet. Well, I have a nephew. Not sure what Erica's acryonym means, but I suggested just last week setting up a blog-space for my nephew's family and their "autism neighborhood".... I should get on that. ( Dec 30 2002, 08:11:17 AM ) Personal Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_yes_dear

Friday December 27, 2002

Re: Amazon.co.uk Associate

I'm an Amazon associate too, but I wish BookPool had a program. They've got better prices and better customer service, and I don't feel like I'm being tracked by some huge corporate entity whenever I'm browsing their site. But if you'd like to buy books thru me, check out my ancient "bookstore" (oh, and there is a little easter egg on that page). ( Dec 27 2002, 08:27:23 PM ) Entertainment Permalink
Trackback: http://www.brainopolis.com/roller/trackback/lance/Weblog/re_amazon_co_uk_associate