nerdom | Croncast - Life is Show Prep

Bundle of flowers or bale of hay?

Sat, 23 May 2009 10:05:19 -0500

I am trying to be cute here. After testing out the Google Reader Bundle feature yesterday I came to the quick conclusion that it is a step in the right direction but closer to a bale of hay than a bundle of flowers.

Do you know what goes into a bale of hay? I learned in my years of small town living . . . a 100 plus pounds of unorganized hay and two brown pieces of twine. They're heavy as hell to lift from the bailer, the machine that scrapes up the hay from the field, and only those with the patience to wear long sleeves, jeans and gloves in 90 degree heat are allowed the privilege of participating while they are fresh.

Google Reader's Bundle feature has more similarities to this analogy than I would care to admit. And, yes, when I demoed it I made sure to put on a flannel shirt, Lee jeans and some mittens - the closest thing I now own to leather workman's gloves.

So, here's what I've got for you - there's plenty of room for improvement.

People don't want whole feeds combined to make one massive feed filled with content from the highest level filter that exists, publishers. Well, maybe they do if that is all that you offer. Granular access to content isn't the Holy Grail or what is next . . . it is simply how it should be.

And besides, there have been utilities to combine feeds like this for years. Do you know any of these product names beyond Yahoo Pipes? Remembering Pipes is easy because the last time you used it you told yourself you would never do it again.

A Google Reader Bundle has a web page and a feed . . . an Atom feed, not an RSS feed. Enough said here, it needs a RSS feed. The Atom feed itself is missing critical meta data like title, description, pub date, source, feed item origin, publisher, etc.

As a publisher, my concerns about this initial release of the bundle feature are the missing RSS feed and the lack of associated meta data for the content that makes the bundle. Which begs the next question of what metric is available to know how much additional syndication my content is getting once it has entered the Google Reader Bundle ecosystem? Currently there isn't one that is publicly available and I would venture to say that not for a very long time, if ever, there will be one offered.

With some more work Google can bring new features and hopefully a full set of tools that users and publishers can both use. But in this current state it is still in an insular silo of Google user nerdom. Yes, it still is a walled garden of content, of sharing and privileged consumption. It is a bale of hay.

Tags: Google Reader Bundle RSS feeds bale of hay Atom feeds

Betsy and her husband Kris Oct 03, 2007

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:20:47 -0500

Croncast - 2007-10-03.mp3
Show: #417
Length: 31:01
Size: 21.3mb
Format: mp3

Betsy and her husband Kris Oct 03, 2007

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Bringing you the show for October 3rd
Be sly that that Google search person
It was good
New contest . . . Google you most creative result that gets you Croncast
You have to click through
You will win some stickers
The stickers were in your expo bag
Those gotta go out
Thanks to Steve, Mark, Rhonda and Craig
Betsy giving me looks as I slow down those names
They were at the live show
Betsy has some thoughts on the nerd convention
Every woman should visit one of these
There were no chicks there
1. No line for womens bathroom
You should be happy not to have many women while husband is away
Doing shots at the bar with Nick Starr
You are the hottest chick in the bar
Never happens to me in Naperville
It's an ego boost
It is so easy to compliment you people
You say something kind of clever . . .
Then I say, "I'm gonna twitter that"
Or say, "I am going to buy that domain"
Yeah, I used that a few times
Ahh, nerdom. I love it
Why don't we go to In and Out Burger again
Too much to handle
My lower colon just smiled at you
Twitter is addictive
It's like IM but one way
Do they build sonar into your phones?
You live in the dark
Come out into the light and you walk reading your device
Nobody has a iPhone hit the floor baby
It's not just guys
You have a vagina. You are supposed to be on my side
You are being so impolite, bears
I don't want to look like a nerd
No one calls each other at a nerd event
It's all sms baby, ping
Or we communicate by twitter
Swatting at invisible spiders
They are not nerd vacations . . . it's where business gets done
Everyone talks about what they have going on
Like Aaron Brazell mentioning mem_cache on MySQL
If I hadn't been on that trip I wouldn't have been able to share that with our developers
There were no babies or many wedding rings
I volunteered for something that I will pass to you, Kris
I have to decline
I do not want to volunteer for art class
It's no big deal Mr B
The children are making these collages
This is the most beautiful forest that I have ever seen
That's not your tree . . . that's your mother . . . oh!
Now I got to make a pipe cleaner cloud
It's all about balance
This flower . . . I can almost . . . smell it
Maybe a pipe cleaner porcupine?
It is the coolest funniest shit you've ever seen
We need rounded edges Mrs. Smith
Little boys making the "gun" hand on the playground
Fighting back instead of being pushed around
Being positive for the man
He has picked up a new habit that he is sticking with
Going full circle
Yes, my mom called 12 times today and left three voicemails
Would a neurologist have anything to look for in your ear?

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Tags: iPhone twitter that nerdom Aaron Brazell nerd conferences

Croncast - Betsy and her husband Kris 142

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:01:06 -0600

Croncast - 2005-10-31.mp3

Show: #183
Length: 30:28
Size: 20.9 mb
Format: mp3

Croncast - Betsy and her husband Kris 142

Show Notes

Special Note: If you have made a donation and requested not shout out, you're in business. If you didn't I will be contacting you today to ask for your choice.

Happy Halloween!
Watch this
Dinner at a friends house Kris is getting to know them
We got home just in time for incest scene in Rome on HBO
Edit points for resale to TBS
20 yeard old waiters as hobble horses
duh duh duhn - Tonight in Goodwill
She lives on Michael Jackson's street
Looking up eBay buyers on satellite maps
White people looking at the ocean sitting on their veranda costal way
Kris is impressed with Betsy's nerdom, she's hacking hubble
The Cub Scout tribe sale
The den mommies choose to use tickets instead of cash
Parents couldn't do the math
Taking advantage of the den parents
Betsy filled the mini van
Tip: Don't help the garage sale owner count against you.
They need the money to rub sticks together in the woods
It was like a half price sale at a garage sale
Buy it and sell it right away
Kris will be sent to FedEx
Standing with jockey man
Let's talk about that
The first car we've owned that has been produced in the same decade
Betsy's boxing skills
Betsy gives more tips for how to navigate the post office
She lets Kris know that he is retarded because he can't fill out form
Approached by the ultimate pyramid scam - all the sellers except the sex people left out
Betsy is going to go and promote eBay and tell them start with no investment
Selling off Elliot's stuff
Crushing the man, however he usually doesn't notice because something else shiny will get his attention
The drum of Legos
Surrounded by bright color plastic
Kris needs to learn to ask questions
Betsy says Kris is a self centered jerk
She is my own personal doctor Phil
Elliot get's a psychic reading
Put grandma's Toshiba down
The psychic didn't get a good a reading because I didn't ask questions hmmmm
Every question you can think of is a leading question
Todd's Halloween party was cool
We care about Elliot's future, hence the reading
Sylvia Brown psychic lady for $1000 a seat or $70 a question
I'm in the wrong line of work
Betsy says mediums exist, not just in the plethora that do business
"I knew he was here"
The pledge drive continues
We understand people being upset
3 ten minute shows a week

Tags: betsy kris sale people psychic