Friday January 14, 2005

Comment Spam Management

I finally got hit by a significant spam attack, though not as bad as many I've read about. Since Roller doesn't have good mass-comment management (it's on the list) I cobbled something together in my Latest Comments page. You might need to customize it (particularly the <form> action) and it sometimes throws exceptions. So use with care, if you dare. Finally, if you do use it you will end up on the Edit Weblog page with a partial entry - DO NOT save anything here, just click back to Latest Comments or to your front Weblog page. And note that the Pages might be cached so may not reflect comment deletion.
( Jan 14 2005, 10:01:34 AM ) Roller Permalink [Trackback]

Thursday January 13, 2005

Disorderly RSS

In Syndicating Ordered Lists in RSS Dare outlines the problems with Netflix's RSS feeds. Some of this is due to the feeds being "incomplete", some due to problems in RSS. I wanted to add the comment that Yahoo's Buzz Index, at least the Movers and Leaders, share the same problems.

Finally, Dare throws in a little poke at Atom and a desired "RSS parity." I'd like to mention that such parity, not necessarily desired by all, is just a baseline, not a primary objective. Solutions to the RSS problems raised here have been discussed, particularly a mechanism by which to retire/delete entries . I don't recall if this made it into the spec (and I don't have the time at the moment to investigate) but there was general support for the concept.

And entry rankings/ratings/sorting have also been suggested for Atom, but deferred to extensions. RSS supports extensions (and the Atom-Syntax list has been hashing out extensions, ad nauseum), so Netflix and Yahoo could easily enough fix this problem. Hopefully the light Dare has shined on Netflix's RSS (and mine on Yahoo Buzz) will prod them into producing compliant and meaningful feeds.
( Jan 13 2005, 01:41:48 PM ) Technology Permalink [Trackback]

Tuesday January 11, 2005

Microsoft is mean to little old ladies! Tim Bray said it, not me.
( Jan 11 2005, 08:51:44 PM ) Entertainment Permalink [Trackback]

Navigation Blindness

An interesting article on how users perceive navigation elements (or don't). While they don't use the term, it seems "context" related linking would score higher in usability.

Interestingly, the Related Postings section at the end links to Why Primary Navigation Must Die, which advocates 'breadcrumbs'. What's "interesting" about this is that Navigation Blindness pans breadcrumbs as useless and possibly harmful (distracting).

One of the things I've been pondering for some time is how to integrate an "Upload Image" link into Roller's Edit Weblog page.
( Jan 11 2005, 04:30:20 PM ) Technology Permalink [Trackback] [Link]

Wednesday January 05, 2005

6A and LJ sittin' in a tree...

So, the rage-of-the-day is that Six Apart may acquire Live Journal. What I enjoyed was flipping through the comments on Om's post. There were the "oh my gahd! This is great!" comments, but more interesting (I thought) were the "this is a bad idea" trackbacks.
( Jan 05 2005, 10:26:45 AM ) Technology Permalink [Trackback]

Friday December 31, 2004

Meet me in St. Louis

Actually, in Denver. I'll be there on company business January 9th through the 11th. I'd like to get together with any Java/blog people in the area and "hoist a few". I'll be in the Greenwood Village area, to be more specific.

UPDATE: Unfortunately the trip has been postponed until next week.
( Dec 31 2004, 11:51:20 AM ) Personal Permalink Comments [2] [Trackback]

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Software isn't like mouthwash

Obviously. While gargling this morning it occurred to me that software is about the only product that really dictates *how* you are allowed to use it. Then in my aggregator was this piece on EULAs. Of course my statement is likely overly simplistic; I'm sure there is some other product with restrictive licensing, but what?

Anyway, I also thought it made an interesting title. "Software isn't like mouthwash", roll that over tongue for awhile.
( Dec 21 2004, 12:00:47 PM ) Technology Permalink [Trackback]

Saturday December 18, 2004

SourceBeat, for magazines

Joe Ottinger is disappointed with the Java Developers Journal again. Carl Fyffe suggests that Joe, Charles Miller, Matt Raible, Alan Williamson, and some others band together to create a new magazine.

While I know little to nothing about publishing, it put me in mind of the following idea. Perhaps the SourceBeat (SB) guys could help out. They've already got a subscription model, they've already got a stable of good authors. They recently managed to get their titles produced in hard-copy for sale on Amazon, so they've an established relationship with a printer. Maybe they should spin-off a periodical, "Source Beat Monthly", which *could* include updates from their author stable. Then those who have purchased a SB title without the subscription could instead subscribe to the magazine.

I would think they wouldn't want to limit it to just SourceBeat content, but include other authors and topics not covered in X-Live books. This would provide value for those who have purchased an X-Live subscription as well.

Just a thought.
( Dec 18 2004, 11:54:45 AM ) Technology Permalink Comments [4] [Trackback]