Monday, July 11, 2005

Important note: If you're coming to the OPML meetup tomorrow evening in NYC, you must sign up. Mike at Hacking Netflix is handling the details.  

A slice of life in RSS-land after Apple joins the fray. "Our artist name and show description aren't showing up in the iTunes Podcast Directory. What do we have to add/change in our RSS Feed to make that work?" Ahhh. Apple doesn't talk to its users or the community, so we can't help. No one knows how or why. He goes on. "Our webmaster has sort of disappeared so three comedians and a monkey are trying to learn how to do this stuff." Sounds like our so-called industry!  

Note that the People's Daily of the Communist Party of China has RSS feeds, and they play by the rules. They're self-declared revolutionaries, the party founded by Chairman Mao himself, committed to the overthrow of capitalist running dogs. They didn't feel a need to reinvent RSS, they went with the defacto standard, they do it like everyone else who came before. Now they don't have to communicate about it. No one cares if they don't get it. Their stuff works just as well as the NY Times or BBC feeds. And that's the way it's supposed to be. Now why does a group, just because they come from Silicon Valley and happen to work for Steve Jobs, think that everyone should change the way they work just because they decided to read podcast feeds and have a directory, and don't want to do it the same way everyone else does? I say fuck em if they can't play by the rules. I'd like Apple to implement an element that says right up front, this feed does not work with iTunes. I'd be the first to put that element in my feed, so that anyone who wants to know why my feed doesn't work with iTunes need look no further. It doesn't work with iTunes by design. Please consider that a feature request, Steve.  

It's really great to see the press finally press the White House on Karl Rove's crimes. Isn't it clear by now that he's going to jail? Isn't it high time they cut their losses. And they should never have been allowed to hide behind the reporters unwillingness to expose sources. The Bush control of the press may finally be crumbling and not a moment too soon.  

Salon puts it so well: "Whatever becomes of the grand jury proceedings, this much is clear: Rove revealed the identity of a CIA agent for the president's political gain." And if you're a bleeding-heart conservative pussy apologist for the right wing, you've got a lot of explaining to do if you don't also call for Rove's head. Treason is a big crime, esp in time of war. Imagine the hissy fit Hannity and Limbaugh would be throwing if Ted Kennedy had leaked the name of an active CIA agent for political gain. They'd be screaming for his head.  

The Independent: "The BBC has been lambasted by classical music labels for making all nine of Beethoven's symphonies available for free download over the Internet." 

Silicon Valley Watcher: "I was surprised by how aggressive Technorati was in its pitch because it has a very good standing within the blogging community, a community that bristles at the thought of others commercializing its work." 

Rebecca MacKinnon: Mr Behi podcasts from Iran. 

Jake McGee: "Still no iTunes love." 

BBC: "Will the heirs to Pink Floyd be discovered on podcasts?" 

Two people I know, Philip Greenspun and Brad Feld, are in Homer, Alaska at the same time.  

Lots of comments on yesterday's post about the AP's hypocritical warning to bloggers. Turns out there are lots of pieces like this lately among the ink-stainers. Vestigial thinking. One comment stood out, from Ellis Golub, re an anonymous editorial in the Chronicle for Higher Education. "It appears that having an extensive online record can be as disqualifying for some, as an exstensive legal publication record is for some judicial nominees." I guess in a world where everyone is a public figure, the rules about fading into the woodwork apply equally to everyone. We live in serious times. Don't get caught having an opinion, could be dangerous.  

Next thing it's going to be "judicial activism" when Karl Rove is convicted of treason.