I started a moderated mail list for people who use RSS, either as a publisher or reading feeds in an aggregator. The list is moderated to keep it on topic and away from personal issues. It's just about using RSS, not debating its merits or other formats that may be like RSS. I wanted to have this list to get ready for the session I'm doing at RSS Winterfest, below, and of course if it's an active resource it'll be around for a long time after that.

Here's a “Userland” opportunity. This happens too often for a product in use by many novices.

Lack of customer support?. I post this reluctantly. I have used the customer service 'support' e-mail address provided when I sought to upgrade my storage capacity. I sent 3 friendly informative e-mails on 19.12.2003. and have received absolutely no response. Each e-mail more clearly explained my position as I sought to diagnose more fully the problem. Can someone advise what I need to do to receive support please? Surely, if I have used the contact e-mail address Radio UserLand provides, it ought to have been processed by now? Any thoughts anyone? Martin [Radio UserLand Messages]

Scott Rosenberg: “Our office tower just started swaying. Stopped now. Seems like there was just a medium-size quake in the Bay Area.”

You can tell Ralph to run, or not, in this Web form.

Interesting Article on the UN in WSJ Online.

For the U.N., it seems, no task comes easy. Charged with everything from preventing war to regulating international mail, the U.N. and its galaxy of agencies, funds and programs appear accountable to nobody, yet micromanaged by many.

Over a six-decade history, the U.N. has evolved into a world unto itself. Its 18-acre New York compound is international territory, not part of the U.S. or any other country. The U.N. operates everything from its own post office to a basement workshop that continually reupholsters hundreds of now-vintage chairs, keeping the organization's modernist headquarters perpetually in the 1950s.

As the U.N. struggles to redefine itself in a fast-changing world, a central problem is its own ritualized culture and bureaucracy, which seems stuck in another era. Diplomats still smoke under no-smoking signs. The General Assembly's regular session lasts just four months a year, on a schedule many delegates believe dates from 1940s steamship timetables.

Reuters: “Ralph Nader said he wants to make another White House bid in 2004 and will announce a decision next month.”

Lessig's on a roll. Lots of interesting posts today. Go get em.

The Clarkbot is a “Perl script written by Rick Heller. It searches the Feedster RSS search engine for references to “Wesley Clark” To be picked up by the Clarkbot, a blog must generate an RSS Feed, and that feed must be listed with Feedster.”

Oh how it must have pained the NYT editorial board to write this. Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair are entitled to claim a large share of the credit for Libya's surprising announcement. To an extent that cannot be precisely measured, the fate of Saddam Hussein, who was ousted from power by the American military with British backing after endless prevaricating about Iraqi weapons programs, must have been an important consideration in Libya's decision.

Ed Cone: “North Carolina should be a great proving ground for Internet campaigning at a state level.”