To those sending me gifts from BlogShares:
I'll be contributing, but this weekend is my family reunion, so I'll hit the list on Monday. I'm buying up some 'blogs tonight and will continue tomorrow, so I'll have some to give. I'm using the shares I'm given to sell to make cash so I can buy blogs and give them away. So philanthropic!
Brent, this is my single most favorite (grammar?) feature in NNW now:
HTML differences
I’m going to be writing about new NetNewsWire features for the next few days… Here’s another one: HTML differences.
I read this later in the same post:
That leads to a little advice for app developers—your users are smart. The list of features I didn’t think I’d like, but that I did anyway because people asked for, is pretty much the list of cool features in NetNewsWire. (Groups, for one thing. The Combined View is another big one. And so on.) [inessential.com]
Thanks for including this comment, Brent. It's one of the reasons I was thrilled to send you the money for the “pro” license for NNW. You write for and listen to your users. NNW is the only app that I want to use to read aggreagated RSS feeds.
BloggerCon has changed me. A single event has given me a focus that I haven't had for four years. My sleepy eyes have been trying to open since the fall of 2000 when I stopped doing training for my company and went back to being a technical consultant.
I've always been an idea person. I've been able to string together odd ideas into interesting proposals. Ask any of my friends about my bright idea about a library selling books. I kicked that idea around for two years before Amazon made good use of it. :>
RSS and it's related technology environment has inspired me like no technology before it. I pursued my CCNA, getting half way through it (reading about routing IPX frames over ISDN is a guaranteed cure for insomnia) before I gave up. I sold the books last week and bought “Designing With Web Standards” by Jeffrey Zeldman and “CSS: A Definitive Guide”[Amazon Link] by Eric Meyer. I'm saving money for a proper install of Frontier on MacOS X and am working through an oldie but goodie: “Frontier: The Definitive Guide” by Matt Neuberg. I bought it from an Amazon affiliate with a good rep and it came in good condition. It's amazing how much of it is still correct.
I've spent the last week explaining RSS, content syndication and XML to everyone who would listen. More often than not, I found myself explaining why content syndication has changed how I use the web. Of course, business wanted to know how to exploit the technology. I avoid conversations that talked abut advertising, instead focusing on the use of RSS and a delivery format for internal information: HR benefits, marketing info and sales stats. In my current company, we use web servers, databases and HTML to deliver content. In order to tell people, we send out mass emails that most don't need and don't remember. With RSS feeds we could eliminate the notify email and make broadcast information more manageable. After this conference, I'll become the local expert and evangelist on RSS, XML and content syndication. It will be the biggest thrill of my professional life and the biggest opportunity.
Finally, in this oddly structured post, I'd like thank Dave Winer for his efforts: popularizing RSS, Radio Userland, DaveNet, moving the spec to Berkman and BloggerCon. Before his inspiration and infectious enthusiasm, I never would have done this, this, this or this.
Doc, my prayers are with you. God Bless you in the following days.
“Mom at 90”
Mom passed away yesterday afternoon, surrounded by people who loved her, and could hardly imagine a world without her smile, her wit, her boundless love.
She's in the credits for countless lives, and at the top of mine.
These last two weeks were encores and curtain calls for Mom. In the last three days, when she could no longer speak, she stood on the stage and took in the applause, the gratitude, the love.
My sister says “Love” was her last word.
I'll never stop hearing it.
I'll be away from computers and technology for the next couple of days. It's my annual family reunion and I'll be manning the grill for roasted sweet corn. Expect some updates on Sunday.
I'm selling my Powerbook to allow me to upgrade to a newer machine and raise some funds for BloggerCon. My brother is deploying out to sea (he's a meterologist with the Navy) and he needs to sell his desktop machine. I'll set it up as the Radio server, allowing me to post from any web browser and read news. I still have my Handspring Treo, so moblogging will keep me busy on the road.
If you are interested in a great Powerbook at a great price, email me.
Send Steve to BloggerCon Update
I've got a little more news this morning. I received a $100 pledge, carrying the total to $105.00! That's a significant vote of faith–thank you.
I spent some time talking to my local NPR affiliate this morning about the conference and the opportunities for news or feature stories. Not only did they express an interest in the content, but had some great questions about how they could use the technology on their website. We set up a meeting for next Friday where I'll do a short presentation.
To be sure that donors understand, I'm committed to going to the conference. I will be attending, even if it's my own money that's spent. It's rare to be at the right time and place when opportunity knocks. Considering how loud it's knocking, how can I resist?
Next week, I'll be posting the Keynote/PowerPoint presentation I'll be using to woo sponsors and unveil a revamped layout for the category pages we're using.
Steve Kirks 