Category Archives: BloggerCon

Dave Winer on Radio's Aggregator and me on "Pirate!"

BloggerCon, Radio

Dave talks about Scoble's use of NewsGator as an aggregator:

A picture named scoble.jpgJust had a phone talk with Scoble, and finally I have a clue why people use aggregators integrated with email clients. He had a couple of compelling reasons. 1. Since it's integrated with email he can easily forward an item to people he works with via email. 2. He has a folder where he drags items he wants to write about later. BTW he uses NewsGator. I still prefer the blog-style interface of Radio's aggregator. [Scripting News]

I like Radio's aggregator because I run Radio on a home server. This gives me the easy ability to read and post news from a consistent interface anywhere on the planet.

I dislike the aggregator in Radio in part due to it's use of tables and lack of customization. I've tried the myRadio but haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

Imagine a product for Radio users called “Pirate!”. It's a tool that loads at startup and modifies the calls in Radio.root to use “Pirate!” calls for things like the aggregator. First on the agenda: rewrite the HTML output for Radio's aggregator and set a preference for it. Pref #1–text only summaries, pref #2–classic or current style, pref #3–CSS based templates with allowance for headlines, grouping, etc.

Next, aggregator email to user based on criteria. Example: I want any post that comes in to my aggregator from Dave Winer to be emailed to me, but only once every two hours. I want a second summary email twice a day (8AM and 4PM) with news from selected sites out of the many I subscribe to. Finally, keyword searching like “directory” “google” “scripting” found in a feed generates an immediate email.</p.

“Pirate!” would also do theme generation, much like TypePad does. Take the user through a series of questions, generate the preview and have the user approve it. This would open the door for a little more web-based fun and imagery than we have now, and allow CSS-valid templates more flexibility.

In all, I want to propose that we need Radio Lite. Radio is a simple user tool, but the infrastructure is too complex. Rewrite and redevelop Radio like this:

  • DB backend like embedded mySQL (think NetNewsWire)
  • Standard UI instead of the web page. Two programs (Radio and web browser) doing one this is confusing to users. Beginners don't get the outliner. When they do, graduate to Radio
  • Leave the cloud metaphor in place. $40 gets Radio Lite and hosting on the cloud. $80 gets regular Radio and domain mapping.

These are ideas. Add your own. Brent Simmons is almost there with NetNewsWire. He's written an aggregator that posts news, but still requires the weblog software. Why not take it the next step further?

@import /gems/warwick-radio.css

BloggerCon, Radio

I pulled the CSS from the main Radio template and put it in a separate
file, hoping to cut the amount of KB I'm transferring.  I've been
talking to my webhost provider about the amount of traffic lately and
we've come up with some easy solutions.  I”m hoping to move my
images and enclosures to a separate server on a different piece.

Frontier, the out-of-date Definitive Guide

BloggerCon, Radio

I've been reading Matt Neuberg's “Frontier, the Definitive Guide” on and off, trying to learn Radio and Frontier's UserTalk language.

I'm on page 42, for those of you who might have it. In fact, go get it, flip to same page. I'll wait

Done? Great. Here's the deal:

Matt says that if I write a script in an outline, then select it and paste it into an empty wptext window, it will render the script with the correct braces and such. See Example 4-5 if you are following along.

Well, in Radio 8.0.8, it won't do that. Yes, it's been 5 years since Matt and O'Reilly did the deed, but shouldn't that always work? Does anyone out there know why? Does it matter?

Side note: anyone recommend a better “How to learn UserTalk” book/doc?

About the Interviews

BloggerCon

Note about interviews:

In the spirit of weblogging, I've presented them unedited. I talked to Chris Lydon at BloggerCon and he mentioned that he sometimes edits the “uhs” and “umms” out of his interviews so the “flow is better”. I'm not a professional, so I won't present my content like that.

I conducted these interviews as research for two articles I'm writing for my local business newspaper. They were not intended to be scripted in any way and those interviewed we're asked on the spot, no prep work. The notable exception was Adam; I asked his permission earlier in the afternoon.

Interview from BloggerCon (with enclosure)–Adam Curry

BloggerCon

Interview five is the final one, and I saved the best for last. Adam Curry took a few minutes to talk RSS and weblogs from the international perspective. It was great to meet him and break the “glass wall” that viewers have with television personalities.

Adam has grown past his MTV days, returning to his roots: a techie with a tinkering streak. He started when young, building AM and FM radio sets using kits, graduating to pirate radio, then MTV and starting mtv.com.

This interview was outside Norton's Woods at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Interview is enclosed


Link to audio file

Interview from BloggerCon (with enclosure)–Phil Wolff

BloggerCon

Interview four is with Phil Wolff, writer of a klog apart and technology consultant. I had a chance to speak with him at the after-con party also. Phil's was one of the first weblogs I read (after Adam Curry and Dave Winer) which made it a little extra special.

This interview was in the beautiful but noisy Norton's Woods at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Please disregard the background noise.

Interview is enclosed

Link to audio file

Interview from BloggerCon (with enclosure)–Stephen Dulaney

BloggerCon

Interview number three brings us Stephen Dulaney, founder and CEO of Social Dynamx. Creator of FM Radio, an add-on piece for Userland's personal blogging software, Radio, Social Dynamx is a small company making it's way by selling a specialized product in the weblog world. Listen to Stephen's description of his company and BloggerCon.

This interview was in the beautiful but noisy Norton's Woods at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Please disregard the background noise.

Interview is enclosed

Link to audio file

Interview from BloggerCon (with enclosure)

BloggerCon

Here's interview number two, a brief chat with Ross Rader, Director of Research and Innovation for Tucows, one of the oldest and largest download sites on the Internet (Ross, it's a lot more than that, I know.) Ross was talking about Blogware, a new Tucows product that allows ISPs and others to resell remote hosted blogs.

This interview was in the beautiful but noisy Norton's Woods at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Please disregard the background noise.

Interview is enclosed

Link to audio file