simple | Croncast - From Cool to Cul De Sac Kris and Betsy Smith http://www.croncast.com This is the keyword feed for simple. Once cool, Kris and Betsy are now living on a cul de sac and breeding. Betsy really should be on the road making mad cash but that would interfere with breastfeeding. Podcasting for Download every M-W-F by 3:00 P.M. CST. en-us Palegroove Studios 2004-2008 No Croncast, Kris, Betsy, Comedy, Parenting, Funny, Palegroove, Croncast, eBay, Goodwill This is the keyword feed for simple. Once cool, Kris and Betsy are now living on a cul de sac and breeding. Betsy really should be on the road making mad cash but that would interfere with breastfeeding. Podcasting for Download every M-W-F by 3:00 P.M. CST. This is the keyword feed for simple. Once cool, Kris and Betsy are now living on a cul de sac and breeding. Betsy really should be on the road making mad cash but that would interfere with breastfeeding. Podcasting for Download every M-W-F by 3:00 P.M. CST. http://www.croncast.com/images/croncast_itunes.jpg simple | Croncast - From Cool to Cul De Sac http://www.croncast.com This is the keyword feed for simple. Once cool, Kris and Betsy are now living on a cul de sac and breeding. Betsy really should be on the road making mad cash but that would interfere with breastfeeding. Podcasting for Download every M-W-F by 3:00 P.M. CST. Croncast - Kris and Betsy Smith info@palegroove.com http://www.croncast.com Palegroove boxed letters http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1831/boxed-letters_letters_label.php Blog boxed letters

simple wooden letters in a box but effective when needed to label exhibits back in the day.



Tags: letters label exhibits day needed ]]>boxed letters

simple wooden letters in a box but effective when needed to label exhibits back in the day.



Tags: letters label exhibits day needed ]]> Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:19:23 -0500 tag:croncast.com,1831 simple wooden letters in a box but effective when needed to label exhibits back in the day. no letters, label, exhibits, day, needed simple geometry http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1770/simple-geometry_design_simple.php Blog simple geometry

i am a sucker for basic shapes and simple design.

good art and design, in my eyes: conveys its message as if it were on the side of a semi-truck (three colors max) or covering a municipal vehicle.



Tags: design simple colors truck semi ]]>simple geometry

i am a sucker for basic shapes and simple design.

good art and design, in my eyes: conveys its message as if it were on the side of a semi-truck (three colors max) or covering a municipal vehicle.



Tags: design simple colors truck semi ]]> Sun, 25 May 2008 15:00:24 -0500 tag:croncast.com,1770 i am a sucker for basic shapes and simple design. good art and design, in my eyes: conveys its message as if it were on the side of a semi-truck (three colors max) or covering a municipal vehicle. no design, simple, colors, truck, semi SXSW Wrap Up http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1501/SXSW-Wrap-Up_amd-bloghaus_austin.php Blog sxsw cinch shirt schwag

It's been nearly a week since I arrived back home and I've recuperated enough from the festivities, work and recording to make this post. Never mind that I saw Billy Bob Thornton and his band play, I was working angles!

What I can say is that it was an event that was really about connecting with nerd brethren. My BlogTalkRadio cohorts and I recorded tons of content and did multiple live shows. But at the core of all of it was connecting with people that we typically only interact with online.

Aside from connecting, I did have another experience worth mentioning here. Like every other conference I have attended there is a simple take-away if you keep your eyes open. Much like TechCrunch40 and the hand washing lesson. That was a great one.

The lesson learned from SXSW interactive was this:

Thousands of attendees, very few media makers.

That's it.

The AMD B5media Bloghaus was filled day after day with the same people. They were a minority of the attendees numbering around 100 I would say. Of that number, even a smaller amount were making media of any kind - blog posts, audio or video. I would guess 40, tops.

I was left wondering why there weren't more attendees outside of the Bloghaus posse making media instead of consuming it. I don't know the reason.

I am having trouble articulating exactly what it meant and means to me. So I will leave it at that. Lots of people at a media making conference and only a handful actually doing it.

Tags: amd bloghaus austin texas interactive media makers ]]>sxsw cinch shirt schwag

It's been nearly a week since I arrived back home and I've recuperated enough from the festivities, work and recording to make this post. Never mind that I saw Billy Bob Thornton and his band play, I was working angles!

What I can say is that it was an event that was really about connecting with nerd brethren. My BlogTalkRadio cohorts and I recorded tons of content and did multiple live shows. But at the core of all of it was connecting with people that we typically only interact with online.

Aside from connecting, I did have another experience worth mentioning here. Like every other conference I have attended there is a simple take-away if you keep your eyes open. Much like TechCrunch40 and the hand washing lesson. That was a great one.

The lesson learned from SXSW interactive was this:

Thousands of attendees, very few media makers.

That's it.

The AMD B5media Bloghaus was filled day after day with the same people. They were a minority of the attendees numbering around 100 I would say. Of that number, even a smaller amount were making media of any kind - blog posts, audio or video. I would guess 40, tops.

I was left wondering why there weren't more attendees outside of the Bloghaus posse making media instead of consuming it. I don't know the reason.

I am having trouble articulating exactly what it meant and means to me. So I will leave it at that. Lots of people at a media making conference and only a handful actually doing it.

Tags: amd bloghaus austin texas interactive media makers ]]> Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:04:16 -0500 tag:croncast.com,1501 It's been nearly a week since I arrived back home and I've recuperated enough from the festivities, work and recording to make this post. Never mind that I saw Billy Bob Thornton and his band play, I was working angles! What I can say is that it was an event that was really about connecting with nerd brethren. My BlogTalkRadio no amd bloghaus, austin, texas, interactive, media makers AdSense for Mobile but not for RSS? http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1340/AdSense-for-Mobile-but-not-for-RSS_AdSense_RSS-advertising.php Blog
Google has run a closed beta for AdSense in feeds for nearly 3 years (that's like a billion internet years) and acquired a company that got feed advertising down to a science but there still is no AdSense for RSS.

So what gives? This a great opportunity to increase distribution of ad inventory and generate more revenue for publishers - the very people that make all Google services valuable.

My feathers are so ruffled on this because Google has figured out how to make AdSense for feeds work, for everyone. It's called AdSense for Mobile.

AdSense for Mobile has dumped the JavaScript copy and paste for server side execution in PHP, CGI/Perl, JSP and ASP. All four of these languages are magic bullets for putting AdSense in RSS feeds.

Why? There are a couple of reasons:

1. Most feeds are generated by blogging platforms that are built on these languages
2. JavaScript is needed to display AdSense ads and RSS feeds with JavaScript embedded in them aren't valid. Which means that most aggregators won't even allow you to add the feed. If they do it won't execute and will display the code inline.

So how do I know this this server side scripting will work?

I tried building an ad network with OpenAds for RSS feeds and very quickly came up against the JS issue for serving dynamic or keyword ads. I spent a couple of hours figuring a way to make it work, very similarly, with just PHP. So when I saw the mobile ads I thought "Bingo. This is it!"

Another reason that I know the mobile code would work for RSS is that by making a simple tweak to the mobile code that is supplied by AdSense I was able to serve the ads in my browser and output them as XHTML.





If a publisher took this modified code and put it in their feeds and made sure that it is placed in a CDATA section within a given name space like they could run AdSense ads. It's just that right now, the ads are formatted for mobile with phone numbers as links instead of urls and the publisher would probably get booted from the program.

Work with us feed freaks on this Google. It's time to stop policing the spigot, you've got the tech in place. Give us a taste.

Tags: AdSense RSS advertising mobile ads AdSense JavaScript ]]>
Google has run a closed beta for AdSense in feeds for nearly 3 years (that's like a billion internet years) and acquired a company that got feed advertising down to a science but there still is no AdSense for RSS.

So what gives? This a great opportunity to increase distribution of ad inventory and generate more revenue for publishers - the very people that make all Google services valuable.

My feathers are so ruffled on this because Google has figured out how to make AdSense for feeds work, for everyone. It's called AdSense for Mobile.

AdSense for Mobile has dumped the JavaScript copy and paste for server side execution in PHP, CGI/Perl, JSP and ASP. All four of these languages are magic bullets for putting AdSense in RSS feeds.

Why? There are a couple of reasons:

1. Most feeds are generated by blogging platforms that are built on these languages
2. JavaScript is needed to display AdSense ads and RSS feeds with JavaScript embedded in them aren't valid. Which means that most aggregators won't even allow you to add the feed. If they do it won't execute and will display the code inline.

So how do I know this this server side scripting will work?

I tried building an ad network with OpenAds for RSS feeds and very quickly came up against the JS issue for serving dynamic or keyword ads. I spent a couple of hours figuring a way to make it work, very similarly, with just PHP. So when I saw the mobile ads I thought "Bingo. This is it!"

Another reason that I know the mobile code would work for RSS is that by making a simple tweak to the mobile code that is supplied by AdSense I was able to serve the ads in my browser and output them as XHTML.





If a publisher took this modified code and put it in their feeds and made sure that it is placed in a CDATA section within a given name space like they could run AdSense ads. It's just that right now, the ads are formatted for mobile with phone numbers as links instead of urls and the publisher would probably get booted from the program.

Work with us feed freaks on this Google. It's time to stop policing the spigot, you've got the tech in place. Give us a taste.

Tags: AdSense RSS advertising mobile ads AdSense JavaScript ]]> Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:37:36 -0600 tag:croncast.com,1340 There is no such thing as AdSense for RSS. Google has run a closed beta for AdSense in feeds for nearly 3 years (that's like a billion internet years) and acquired a company that got feed advertising down to a science but there still is no AdSense for RSS. So what gives? This a great opportunity to increase distribution of ad inventory no AdSense, RSS advertising, mobile ads, AdSense JavaScript, Mother-in-law on Linux? Yep. http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1330/Mother-in-law-on-Linux-Yep_Ubuntu_Xubuntu.php Blog

Am I crazy? Nope. It's show time for Linux.

Some of the the Linux flavors have matured enough to be great solutions for keeping family members safe from viruses and giving them the tools, graphically, that they need. So much so that Dell is now offering computers with it as an alternative to Windows.

However, it's not just family members that benefit, it saves the "son-in-law tech support company" a ton of time and headaches.

And now there is a great tool available called Automatix that is a great asset for installing new apps quickly. Sure, I am comfortable with command line work but if there is a gui available that can make installing software simpler than finding a package, decompressing, cd to directory and then running . . . well, I am all for it.

You can see from the photo above that I chose Xubuntu for the install, a smaller footprint of Ubuntu. It's designed to run on low RAM machines.

It's perfect for a mother-in-law prone to installing software from every popup ad that she encounters. Which is the reason that her Toshiba laptop has a desktop that looks like this:



So far so good.

Tags: Ubuntu Xubuntu Toshiba Dell laptop Linux ]]>

Am I crazy? Nope. It's show time for Linux.

Some of the the Linux flavors have matured enough to be great solutions for keeping family members safe from viruses and giving them the tools, graphically, that they need. So much so that Dell is now offering computers with it as an alternative to Windows.

However, it's not just family members that benefit, it saves the "son-in-law tech support company" a ton of time and headaches.

And now there is a great tool available called Automatix that is a great asset for installing new apps quickly. Sure, I am comfortable with command line work but if there is a gui available that can make installing software simpler than finding a package, decompressing, cd to directory and then running . . . well, I am all for it.

You can see from the photo above that I chose Xubuntu for the install, a smaller footprint of Ubuntu. It's designed to run on low RAM machines.

It's perfect for a mother-in-law prone to installing software from every popup ad that she encounters. Which is the reason that her Toshiba laptop has a desktop that looks like this:



So far so good.

Tags: Ubuntu Xubuntu Toshiba Dell laptop Linux ]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:35:15 -0600 tag:croncast.com,1330 Am I crazy? Nope. It's show time for Linux. Some of the the Linux flavors have matured enough to be great solutions for keeping family members safe from viruses and giving them the tools, graphically, that they need. So much so that Dell is now offering computers with it as an alternative to Windows.However, it's not just family no Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Toshiba, Dell laptop, Linux Make the Flickr PHP API not so ugly and easier to use http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1329/Make-the-Flickr-PHP-API-not-so-ugly-and-easier-to-use_photo-frame_digital.php Blog Flickr API and using RSS 2.0 feeds instead. The reason? They come with all the photo stream data that you need in a nice little package. Things like title, description, tags, date taken, date uploaded, image dimensions, etc.

What is missing from the RSS feed the ability to load comments with a photo and choose how many items are returned in the feed. The API, however, will let you load hundreds of images and load comments for each photo.

There is a catch though. The API is broken up into about a 75 different calls. Not one single call to the server can match the data that is returned in the RSS feed. To get the same data I need to make approximately 8 different calls to Flickr. Not good.

What use is the API?

It gives me the ability to create a historical back up of my photos in their most basic form with urls, date, descriptions (with html stripped) and tags. It also gives someone building an application a rich data source to do some of the things that Flickr isn't already doing - the purpose of an API.

After working with it for a few hours I became frustrated. PHP is my poison of choice and the PHP examples that Flickr uses all return serialized data. Which is great and easy to work with if you already know what the XML namespaces are but without them it is hard to access the data. And in some cases impossible without printing out the serialized array and looking at it because the returned serialized array's keys don't match the XML namespaces. Not to mention children are buried in deeper arrays that aren't as easy to access as say $title = $item->photo['title'].

Here's how I cleaned up the mess. If you are PHP guru then I am sure you could get this down to one script.

An 'include' script, sort of. View this script by URL on your server to see all name spaces:

1) Create a new PHP file declaring xml as file type - header("Content-Type: text/xml")
2) Use the url that Flickr supplies to return content in REST format
3) Comment out the line for serialization
4) Use PHP's file_get_contents() function
5) echo the returned XML



A loader script:

1) Create a loader script
2) Call the include script - $resp = simplexml_load_file("YOUR INCLUDE SCRIPT URL");
3) Get the data out by name space, the same ones that Flickr documents



To view the name spaces that you will want to access simply open up the include script by url in your browser.

For now I will stick with the RSS 2.0 feeds for blog submissions but once I have some free time I will be using the API code above to create a cached archive for my own safe keeping.

Tags: photo frame digital Flickr API PHP simple simplexml_load_file ]]>Flickr API and using RSS 2.0 feeds instead. The reason? They come with all the photo stream data that you need in a nice little package. Things like title, description, tags, date taken, date uploaded, image dimensions, etc.

What is missing from the RSS feed the ability to load comments with a photo and choose how many items are returned in the feed. The API, however, will let you load hundreds of images and load comments for each photo.

There is a catch though. The API is broken up into about a 75 different calls. Not one single call to the server can match the data that is returned in the RSS feed. To get the same data I need to make approximately 8 different calls to Flickr. Not good.

What use is the API?

It gives me the ability to create a historical back up of my photos in their most basic form with urls, date, descriptions (with html stripped) and tags. It also gives someone building an application a rich data source to do some of the things that Flickr isn't already doing - the purpose of an API.

After working with it for a few hours I became frustrated. PHP is my poison of choice and the PHP examples that Flickr uses all return serialized data. Which is great and easy to work with if you already know what the XML namespaces are but without them it is hard to access the data. And in some cases impossible without printing out the serialized array and looking at it because the returned serialized array's keys don't match the XML namespaces. Not to mention children are buried in deeper arrays that aren't as easy to access as say $title = $item->photo['title'].

Here's how I cleaned up the mess. If you are PHP guru then I am sure you could get this down to one script.

An 'include' script, sort of. View this script by URL on your server to see all name spaces:

1) Create a new PHP file declaring xml as file type - header("Content-Type: text/xml")
2) Use the url that Flickr supplies to return content in REST format
3) Comment out the line for serialization
4) Use PHP's file_get_contents() function
5) echo the returned XML



A loader script:

1) Create a loader script
2) Call the include script - $resp = simplexml_load_file("YOUR INCLUDE SCRIPT URL");
3) Get the data out by name space, the same ones that Flickr documents



To view the name spaces that you will want to access simply open up the include script by url in your browser.

For now I will stick with the RSS 2.0 feeds for blog submissions but once I have some free time I will be using the API code above to create a cached archive for my own safe keeping.

Tags: photo frame digital Flickr API PHP simple simplexml_load_file ]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:11:15 -0600 tag:croncast.com,1329 For months I have been bypassing the title; echo $title; } } ?> To view the name spaces that you will want to access simply open up the include script by url in your browser. For now I will stick with the RSS 2.0 feeds for blog submissions but once I have some free time I will be using the API code above to create a cached archive no photo frame, digital, Flickr API, PHP, simple Make better RSS feeds by not making them http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1318/Make-better-RSS-feeds-by-not-making-them_RSS_CNET.php Blog
Within reason my guess would be that most of you answered, yes then no. I know on my sites, even this site, I would have answered the same.

The solution isn't to create more feeds. The best solution is for publishers to create no feeds at all. Let your readers make their own.

Here are a couple examples why this is a better method for content syndication than relying on your own editorial skills.

Example 1: How not to do it make good RSS.



Don't get me wrong on this, CNET is offering nearly all of its content up for syndication. This is an excellent strategy to create value from older content. However, do readers really need the option of subscribing to 100 plus predefined RSS feeds? Simply, no.

Finding feeds for the topics you are interested in is difficult. The worst of it is that you can only access them individually, i.e.; you want 10 of feeds, copy and paste them one by one into your feed reader. Sounds like a party to me. If you have more skills you might use a service that rolls all of them up into one feed for you. I would guess that about three people have done this.

Why overwhelm your readers like this? And besides, it is pretty intimidating for someone new to the RSS game. Shouldn't they be able to access your content in a way that makes it relevant to them?

Example 2: How to do RSS right.



What you see above is one of two flavors of how to let your readers pick what they receive in RSS feeds. It's a simple and easy to use text input that allows readers to enter keywords and phrases that they want in their feed. There's nothing fancy, easy access to old content in the straight-forward way that RSS is delivered; updates of the newest items first and set number items in the feed, usually twenty-five.



What the second screen shot shows is the magic of thinking differently about RSS feeds. This image demonstrates what happens when someone clicks on the 'advanced' link. The reader is then given control over every aspect of the RSS feed. They choose the content, when it is delivered, how much content, in what order (none of this newest stuff first mumbo jumbo - great use for episodic content) and how many updates to get at a time.

Who is better to choose than the person doing the consuming? RSS needs to be like Burger King where a customer can have it their way.

When this concept is applied to large volumes of content the value of it increases with each new article or podcast. Imagine if you could have this type of access at the NY Times or with your local paper. Even the obits from 30 years ago are now of value again. Value to the reader and value to the publisher with ad inventory.

The future of content syndication isn't in prescriptive channels created by publishers. The future is in the subjective choices of the consumer. They neither need or want every product that you have to offer.

We need to be smarter about our syndicated content via RSS and take into consideration how to make that user experience more satisfying. Whether it is by allowing users to pick topics or order of updates, something needs to change. Why? Because it is all about attention; the premium of which is measured in subscribers, influence and the influence of those subscribers.

Tags: RSS CNET readers consumers interaction ]]>
Within reason my guess would be that most of you answered, yes then no. I know on my sites, even this site, I would have answered the same.

The solution isn't to create more feeds. The best solution is for publishers to create no feeds at all. Let your readers make their own.

Here are a couple examples why this is a better method for content syndication than relying on your own editorial skills.

Example 1: How not to do it make good RSS.



Don't get me wrong on this, CNET is offering nearly all of its content up for syndication. This is an excellent strategy to create value from older content. However, do readers really need the option of subscribing to 100 plus predefined RSS feeds? Simply, no.

Finding feeds for the topics you are interested in is difficult. The worst of it is that you can only access them individually, i.e.; you want 10 of feeds, copy and paste them one by one into your feed reader. Sounds like a party to me. If you have more skills you might use a service that rolls all of them up into one feed for you. I would guess that about three people have done this.

Why overwhelm your readers like this? And besides, it is pretty intimidating for someone new to the RSS game. Shouldn't they be able to access your content in a way that makes it relevant to them?

Example 2: How to do RSS right.



What you see above is one of two flavors of how to let your readers pick what they receive in RSS feeds. It's a simple and easy to use text input that allows readers to enter keywords and phrases that they want in their feed. There's nothing fancy, easy access to old content in the straight-forward way that RSS is delivered; updates of the newest items first and set number items in the feed, usually twenty-five.



What the second screen shot shows is the magic of thinking differently about RSS feeds. This image demonstrates what happens when someone clicks on the 'advanced' link. The reader is then given control over every aspect of the RSS feed. They choose the content, when it is delivered, how much content, in what order (none of this newest stuff first mumbo jumbo - great use for episodic content) and how many updates to get at a time.

Who is better to choose than the person doing the consuming? RSS needs to be like Burger King where a customer can have it their way.

When this concept is applied to large volumes of content the value of it increases with each new article or podcast. Imagine if you could have this type of access at the NY Times or with your local paper. Even the obits from 30 years ago are now of value again. Value to the reader and value to the publisher with ad inventory.

The future of content syndication isn't in prescriptive channels created by publishers. The future is in the subjective choices of the consumer. They neither need or want every product that you have to offer.

We need to be smarter about our syndicated content via RSS and take into consideration how to make that user experience more satisfying. Whether it is by allowing users to pick topics or order of updates, something needs to change. Why? Because it is all about attention; the premium of which is measured in subscribers, influence and the influence of those subscribers.

Tags: RSS CNET readers consumers interaction ]]> Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:00:20 -0600 tag:croncast.com,1318 Did you pick the content of the RSS feeds that you are syndicating from your site right now? Or did you let your readers pick? Within reason my guess would be that most of you answered, yes then no. I know on my sites, even this site, I would have answered the same. The solution isn't to create more feeds. The best solution is for no RSS, CNET, readers, consumers, interaction Why use the .rss extension? http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1239/Why-use-the-rss-extension_RSS_RSS-icon.php Blog Josh followed up with this comment:
Serious question - why? What benefit (besides looking cool) do you get from this, when there's no standard extension for feeds (.xml, .rdf, .atom, etc.) and lots of FeedBurner feeds with no extension at all?

Still a cool hack, though, Kris. :-)
My theory for doing this revolves around user acceptance of RSS and that the message we give as publishers (see; nerds) about RSS being so awesome isn't a very coherent one. We need a better message and a shiny new package. To me, .rss explains exactly what I am going to get when I use it. Simple.

Packaging feed formats of all types under the extension is a way for users to know exactly what they are getting - syndicated content, a.k.a., "your stuff". There is no need for all the baffling mumbojumbo we throw at site visitors about what RSS is or how it works. I contend they don't care that, "RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content" (via CNN). Blah.

Check this Wired explanation for further mumbojumbo:
Based on the XML data format, RSS is the simplest way to add Wired News headlines to your site.
Even the part of the sentence after the comma from Wired is confusing, "add Wired News headlines to your site." What if I just want to read it and not put it into my site? For most people, would they know how to put those headlines in their site? Do they have sites?

What I am trying to say is that we need to get our act together and stop being nerds about syndication formats. The nice orange RSS icon is ubiqitous and is used to link to .xml, .rdf, .atom and the like without the end user needing to know what they are. Our messaging should be as simple as the RSS icon and I think the .rss extension helps to clarify what is being delivered.

Think about how easy it is to describe what a telephone is and how to use it. Did you for a second even think about the technology that makes your phone work? Nope. Pick it up, dial and talk. Simple.

The orange RSS icon is the syndication telephone and .rss is the keypad.

Tags: RSS RSS icon .rss extension ]]>Josh followed up with this comment:
Serious question - why? What benefit (besides looking cool) do you get from this, when there's no standard extension for feeds (.xml, .rdf, .atom, etc.) and lots of FeedBurner feeds with no extension at all?

Still a cool hack, though, Kris. :-)
My theory for doing this revolves around user acceptance of RSS and that the message we give as publishers (see; nerds) about RSS being so awesome isn't a very coherent one. We need a better message and a shiny new package. To me, .rss explains exactly what I am going to get when I use it. Simple.

Packaging feed formats of all types under the extension is a way for users to know exactly what they are getting - syndicated content, a.k.a., "your stuff". There is no need for all the baffling mumbojumbo we throw at site visitors about what RSS is or how it works. I contend they don't care that, "RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content" (via CNN). Blah.

Check this Wired explanation for further mumbojumbo:
Based on the XML data format, RSS is the simplest way to add Wired News headlines to your site.
Even the part of the sentence after the comma from Wired is confusing, "add Wired News headlines to your site." What if I just want to read it and not put it into my site? For most people, would they know how to put those headlines in their site? Do they have sites?

What I am trying to say is that we need to get our act together and stop being nerds about syndication formats. The nice orange RSS icon is ubiqitous and is used to link to .xml, .rdf, .atom and the like without the end user needing to know what they are. Our messaging should be as simple as the RSS icon and I think the .rss extension helps to clarify what is being delivered.

Think about how easy it is to describe what a telephone is and how to use it. Did you for a second even think about the technology that makes your phone work? Nope. Pick it up, dial and talk. Simple.

The orange RSS icon is the syndication telephone and .rss is the keypad.

Tags: RSS RSS icon .rss extension ]]> Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:30:56 -0600 tag:croncast.com,1239 Why not? Last night I put up a post about how to add the .rss extension to RSS feeds instead of having other extensions. I resurrected my full post after Josh followed up with this comment: Serious question - why? What benefit (besides looking cool) do you get from this, when there's no standard extension for feeds (.xml, .rdf, .atom, etc.) no RSS, RSS icon, .rss extension, , Betsy and her husband Kris Nov 26, 2007 http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1208/Betsy-and-her-husband-Kris-Nov-26-2007_North-Face_Aquadots.php Podcasts Croncast 2007-11-26 align= Croncast - 2007-11-26.mp3
Show: #438
Length: 32:06
Size: 22.0mb
Format: mp3

Show us some love and leave us a review at iTunes

Your dad sent an email from India
He wants to know what a 'post' is
Any content that is in the site
Kris commenting on Besty's cooking and sharing it with the world
I want to talk about the convalescent home that you knocked over
Where do you get clothes like that?
Betsy's Thanksgiving redemption with turkey dinner number two
Betsy role plays the judge at our divorce proceeding
We didn't share that
At Costco, because it is the only place I can shop
What are we here for?
I was in charge
How about we do another turkey?
Getting right back on the horse
Betsy avoids conversation
Somebody's gotta keep a cap on that stuff
All berries are the same
Not my Barry he's special
I cannot stand watching love scenes on TV
They all creep me out
It's even worse when they are elderly
Referencing the list
Betsy is wound up
Behold, this is what our listeners want, Kris
Made by hand by Goodwill Industries employees
Everyone could use them
And we get to pick the scent
How are the commuters going to hand that on the train?
On the antanae of their Treo
The nice thing about the air freshener is it keeps on giving
Very interesting, I'll take it back to the committee
Dino from improv university
He can get them cheaper
Brought to you by the people who brought you Aquadots
I did a photo essay, live blog or our Goodwill date
Photos start here
Watching you was like watching a manic woman
It was an experience
No one needs hot food
It should all be warm
I will own a restaurant someday called "Warm"
We were being followed
He was working downtown Naperville
The guys was a thief
Sure, Kris, he was just shopping
Not so close behind me
Maniacally stirring your hot chocolate to cool it down
Sure, when Whole Foods opens
More like Boulder every day
The man was up to something
He was undercover officer, Kris
He was picking out people who didn't fit . . . and it was you
Does his fleece say "North Face or REI?", no captain
Follow that man
Book nerds are the original nerds
The Bolingbrook thing is ooking me out
Yes, that Bolingbrook with Drew Peterson
The missing Stacey Peterson
In the last week I have gone by 3 groups of people looking for her in the woods
It is strange, simple strange
How your first memory impacts your entire life
What is your first memory Betsy?
Hitting strangers with a broom while they sat in circle
You are crazy
I poked my cousin in the head with a shovel once
You played basketball in gravel

View Kris Smith's profile on LinkedIn

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Tags: North Face Aquadots air fresheners hot chocolate Bolingbrook Petersons ]]>Croncast 2007-11-26 align= Croncast - 2007-11-26.mp3
Show: #438
Length: 32:06
Size: 22.0mb
Format: mp3

Show us some love and leave us a review at iTunes

Your dad sent an email from India
He wants to know what a 'post' is
Any content that is in the site
Kris commenting on Besty's cooking and sharing it with the world
I want to talk about the convalescent home that you knocked over
Where do you get clothes like that?
Betsy's Thanksgiving redemption with turkey dinner number two
Betsy role plays the judge at our divorce proceeding
We didn't share that
At Costco, because it is the only place I can shop
What are we here for?
I was in charge
How about we do another turkey?
Getting right back on the horse
Betsy avoids conversation
Somebody's gotta keep a cap on that stuff
All berries are the same
Not my Barry he's special
I cannot stand watching love scenes on TV
They all creep me out
It's even worse when they are elderly
Referencing the list
Betsy is wound up
Behold, this is what our listeners want, Kris
Made by hand by Goodwill Industries employees
Everyone could use them
And we get to pick the scent
How are the commuters going to hand that on the train?
On the antanae of their Treo
The nice thing about the air freshener is it keeps on giving
Very interesting, I'll take it back to the committee
Dino from improv university
He can get them cheaper
Brought to you by the people who brought you Aquadots
I did a photo essay, live blog or our Goodwill date
Photos start here
Watching you was like watching a manic woman
It was an experience
No one needs hot food
It should all be warm
I will own a restaurant someday called "Warm"
We were being followed
He was working downtown Naperville
The guys was a thief
Sure, Kris, he was just shopping
Not so close behind me
Maniacally stirring your hot chocolate to cool it down
Sure, when Whole Foods opens
More like Boulder every day
The man was up to something
He was undercover officer, Kris
He was picking out people who didn't fit . . . and it was you
Does his fleece say "North Face or REI?", no captain
Follow that man
Book nerds are the original nerds
The Bolingbrook thing is ooking me out
Yes, that Bolingbrook with Drew Peterson
The missing Stacey Peterson
In the last week I have gone by 3 groups of people looking for her in the woods
It is strange, simple strange
How your first memory impacts your entire life
What is your first memory Betsy?
Hitting strangers with a broom while they sat in circle
You are crazy
I poked my cousin in the head with a shovel once
You played basketball in gravel

View Kris Smith's profile on LinkedIn

Audience Survey, please fill this out for us
Look for the graphic on "Audience Survey" on the main page



Podcast RSS Badge

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Tags: North Face Aquadots air fresheners hot chocolate Bolingbrook Petersons ]]> Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:16:14 -0600 32:06 tag:croncast.com,1208 no North Face, Aquadots, air fresheners, hot chocolate, Bolingbrook Petersons Saturday code goodness means flickr, flafoo and twitter http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1056/Saturday-code-goodness-means-flickr-flafoo-and-twitter_TwitterGram_Dave-Winer.php Blog
The flickr + twitter code is why all of the pics have been showing up as posts and why all the people following me on twitter got blasted with 20 messages at once . . . sorry for that. I promptly setup a twitter account to test with.

For the last two months I have been sending photos from my phone to flickr and having them inserted as blog posts. Which has been pretty awesome and a ton of fun. But what I was missing was the twitter connection. Not anymore.

Now, thanks to this post from Dave Winer and code that I had already written for @tweetair (coming very soon, I swear), flafoo and Croncast, it took about ten minutes to get it up and running.

Dave's post was important because it turned the light for me. The "Ahaa" moment was when I realized I was already parsing my flickr feed every two minutes anyway looking for photos that I had marked to be blog posts. All I needed to do was differentiate what was to be a blog post from that of a twitter update.

It took about two seconds.

I make blog posts from flickr by starting a description of a photo with an asterisk, like so "*", and adding my content after that. For twitter I use "^" to tell the script to send a tweet. If I use them together "*^" then I get both.

Dave's setup with TwitterGram is much cleaner, using only the tag portion to note that a flickr upload is meant to be a tweet, simple and clean. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to tweet their flickr photos with ease. My code is custom and considerably more messy for a guy that wants to have control over blog posts, blog posts and tweets or just tweets by uploading photos to flickr.

API's + the RSS 2.0 + curl + simplexml_load_file = ridiculously low threshold for a mediocre coder to join the integration party.

Speaking of API's, I will be updating flafoo today and possibly tomorrow with new categories that will henceforth be known as "flafoogeries" and the ability for anyone to add a "flafoogery" from the site.

Tags: TwitterGram Dave Winer twitter flickr flafoo ]]>
The flickr + twitter code is why all of the pics have been showing up as posts and why all the people following me on twitter got blasted with 20 messages at once . . . sorry for that. I promptly setup a twitter account to test with.

For the last two months I have been sending photos from my phone to flickr and having them inserted as blog posts. Which has been pretty awesome and a ton of fun. But what I was missing was the twitter connection. Not anymore.

Now, thanks to this post from Dave Winer and code that I had already written for @tweetair (coming very soon, I swear), flafoo and Croncast, it took about ten minutes to get it up and running.

Dave's post was important because it turned the light for me. The "Ahaa" moment was when I realized I was already parsing my flickr feed every two minutes anyway looking for photos that I had marked to be blog posts. All I needed to do was differentiate what was to be a blog post from that of a twitter update.

It took about two seconds.

I make blog posts from flickr by starting a description of a photo with an asterisk, like so "*", and adding my content after that. For twitter I use "^" to tell the script to send a tweet. If I use them together "*^" then I get both.

Dave's setup with TwitterGram is much cleaner, using only the tag portion to note that a flickr upload is meant to be a tweet, simple and clean. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to tweet their flickr photos with ease. My code is custom and considerably more messy for a guy that wants to have control over blog posts, blog posts and tweets or just tweets by uploading photos to flickr.

API's + the RSS 2.0 + curl + simplexml_load_file = ridiculously low threshold for a mediocre coder to join the integration party.

Speaking of API's, I will be updating flafoo today and possibly tomorrow with new categories that will henceforth be known as "flafoogeries" and the ability for anyone to add a "flafoogery" from the site.

Tags: TwitterGram Dave Winer twitter flickr flafoo ]]> Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:31:21 -0500 tag:croncast.com,1056 So far I've got a new flickr + twitter script done and need to move on to flafoo while I have some daylight to burn.The flickr + twitter code is why all of the pics have been showing up as posts and why all the people following me on twitter got blasted with 20 messages at once . . . sorry for that. I promptly setup a twitter account to test no TwitterGram, Dave Winer, twitter, flickr, flafoo flafoo, flafoo, flaaaaafooooo http://www.croncast.com/rssk/1017/flafoo-flafoo-flaaaaafooooo_flafoo_flafoocom.php Blog flafoo.com. Saying, "flafoo," will make you feel warm and furry.

The site is set up so that you can find stuff fast on eBay. It is that simple.

The goal was to make the site "stupid simple".

Also, we did some formatting for iPhone users to have fast access to all the weird shit that eBay has to offer on the not always so speedy Edge network.

You can follow @flafoo at twitter and get hourly links to distract you from any task that you have at hand.

I'm sure that Mike and I will be tweaking things with the site but please leave any feedback if you test it out. Cheers!

Tags: flafoo flafoo.com Mike Marusin Kristopher Smith @flafoo ]]>flafoo.com. Saying, "flafoo," will make you feel warm and furry.

The site is set up so that you can find stuff fast on eBay. It is that simple.

The goal was to make the site "stupid simple".

Also, we did some formatting for iPhone users to have fast access to all the weird shit that eBay has to offer on the not always so speedy Edge network.

You can follow @flafoo at twitter and get hourly links to distract you from any task that you have at hand.

I'm sure that Mike and I will be tweaking things with the site but please leave any feedback if you test it out. Cheers!

Tags: flafoo flafoo.com Mike Marusin Kristopher Smith @flafoo ]]> Sun, 07 Oct 2007 17:47:41 -0500 tag:croncast.com,1017 A weekend of work has culminated with the release of flafoo.com. Saying, "flafoo," will make you feel warm and furry.The site is set up so that you can find stuff fast on eBay. It is that simple. The goal was to make the site "stupid simple". Also, we did some formatting for iPhone users to have fast access to all the weird shit no flafoo, flafoo.com, Mike Marusin, Kristopher Smith, @flafoo What am I reading? http://www.croncast.com/rssk/823/What-am-I-reading_simplexml_load_file_Google-Reader-shared-feed.php Blog see what and who I am reading in Google Reader during the day.

The link "kris is reading" in the navigation will take you to the little nirvana that displays just what the hell I read during the day.

This new page is brought to you by my new best friends, simplexml_load_file and a feeling that I am falling behind.

Tags: simplexml_load_file Google Reader shared feed kris is reading Kris Smith ]]>see what and who I am reading in Google Reader during the day.

The link "kris is reading" in the navigation will take you to the little nirvana that displays just what the hell I read during the day.

This new page is brought to you by my new best friends, simplexml_load_file and a feeling that I am falling behind.

Tags: simplexml_load_file Google Reader shared feed kris is reading Kris Smith ]]> Thu, 05 Jul 2007 22:24:10 -0500 tag:croncast.com,823 New time killer for you as you can see what and who I am reading in Google Reader during the day. The link "kris is reading" in the navigation will take you to the little nirvana that displays just what the hell I read during the day.This new page is brought to you by my new best friends, simplexml_load_file and a feeling that I am no simplexml_load_file, Google Reader shared feed, kris is reading, Kris Smith, Is your system working? I'll tell you for $75 http://www.croncast.com/rssk/806/Is-your-system-working-Ill-tell-you-for-$75_eBay-affiliate_eBay-developer.php Blog
Though I can say from the developer perspective errors like this are really helpful:

1) Http/1.1 Service Unavailable
2) [function.simplexml-load-file]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 503 Service Unavailable

Are these errors account related? Is the service really down? Oy vey.

Any of you XML wizards have an idea of what I am encountering?

Tags: eBay affiliate eBay developer eBay API eBay XML developer ]]>
Though I can say from the developer perspective errors like this are really helpful:

1) Http/1.1 Service Unavailable
2) [function.simplexml-load-file]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 503 Service Unavailable

Are these errors account related? Is the service really down? Oy vey.

Any of you XML wizards have an idea of what I am encountering?

Tags: eBay affiliate eBay developer eBay API eBay XML developer ]]> Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:19:12 -0500 tag:croncast.com,806 For $75 and one hours worth of time I can ask eBay if their developer XML API service is broken. It has been down now for over 6 hours and not a peep in any message board, service update or email regarding it's status. However, if I want to pay the money I could ask a live human being for a yes or no answer. I need a service like no eBay affiliate, eBay developer, eBay API, eBay XML developer, You got CAD skills? http://www.croncast.com/rssk/746/You-got-CAD-skills_CAD_ideas-for-CAD.php Blog
If you fit the req shoot me an email or post a comment with your real email in the form field (it doesn't get displayed on the site) and I'll ping you back.

Any help is appreciated.

Tags: CAD ideas for CAD pateince to teach calling CAD peeps ]]>
If you fit the req shoot me an email or post a comment with your real email in the form field (it doesn't get displayed on the site) and I'll ping you back.

Any help is appreciated.

Tags: CAD ideas for CAD pateince to teach calling CAD peeps ]]> Sat, 12 May 2007 18:49:28 -0500 tag:croncast.com,746 This is a call to anyone out there who has an extra 15 minutes, patience to deal with me and enough CAD skills to walk me through how to make simple shapes.If you fit the req shoot me an email or post a comment with your real email in the form field (it doesn't get displayed on the site) and I'll ping you back.Any help is appreciated. no CAD, ideas for CAD, pateince to teach, calling CAD peeps, Taking time off when working from home http://www.croncast.com/rssk/652/Taking-time-off-when-working-from-home_working-from-home_no-web-cam.php Blog
Things were off to a great start after downing some cough medicine last night and rolling out of bed at a late 7:30 a.m.. I did up some breakfast in the form of Weight Watchers bagels, sawdust and rubber flavor, and tried to do what Betsy does and watch tv. Observation . . . daytime tv will rot your brain and working from home means only one thing when tv give you little to no satisfaction. My options:

1) Leave the house - no, Fry's isn't open yet.
2) Check email - yes, simple ritual

And as fate would have it choice 2 welcomes me back to work with open arms. A tweak here, a conference call there and I am back where I began yesterday, a little hairier and rested. It is a no web cam day for sure.

Tags: working from home no web cam leave the house a little hairier Weight Watchers bagels ]]>
Things were off to a great start after downing some cough medicine last night and rolling out of bed at a late 7:30 a.m.. I did up some breakfast in the form of Weight Watchers bagels, sawdust and rubber flavor, and tried to do what Betsy does and watch tv. Observation . . . daytime tv will rot your brain and working from home means only one thing when tv give you little to no satisfaction. My options:

1) Leave the house - no, Fry's isn't open yet.
2) Check email - yes, simple ritual

And as fate would have it choice 2 welcomes me back to work with open arms. A tweak here, a conference call there and I am back where I began yesterday, a little hairier and rested. It is a no web cam day for sure.

Tags: working from home no web cam leave the house a little hairier Weight Watchers bagels ]]> Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:44:09 -0600 tag:croncast.com,652 I realized this morning that it is impossible for me to take time off. I'm sick right now and wanted to take this morning off from work.Things were off to a great start after downing some cough medicine last night and rolling out of bed at a late 7:30 a.m.. I did up some breakfast in the form of Weight Watchers bagels, sawdust and rubber no working from home, no web cam, leave the house, a little hairier, Weight Watchers bagels Songbird is the bitchinest podcast receiver ever http://www.croncast.com/rssk/616/Songbird-is-the-bitchinest-podcast-receiver-ever_Songbird_Songbird-media-player.php Blog Get SongbirdI'm not quite sure that is the way that the uber developers of the Songbird media player would put it but as a podcaster I have never seen a program that makes it this easy to subscribe to podcasts or get media from the web.

The best part is that the word 'podcast' isn't used anywhere in the vernacular associated with Songbird. I find it refreshing. I should probably be questioning it as a guy making a living from his podcast skills (hoy ya!). But damn if they haven't taken all the mystery out of receiving a podcast by simply saying, "Play the Web". No more explaining to newbies what a podcast is or how to download one.

Even in this post at Wired the word 'podcast' is conspicuously missing. I have said the word 'podcast' once every 15 minutes for the last two years . . . so not to see it associated with a media player would be a non-starter for me in downloading it.

They make receiving podcasts so simple. It can be done one of two ways:

1) Use the Songbird and navigate to the website that has mp3's and it finds them for you and allows you to subscribe to the site.

2) Go to 'File' >> 'New Subscription . . .' >> Type in the URL of a website or add an RSS feed >> Point to a folder >> Hit 'OK'

All of the associated media will then download in the background and be ready when you are to play. Sick. What would make it even sicker is RSS auto discovery. That way a subscription could be chosen for the for the feed which usually has many more files than the site alone.

I haven't been this excited about a technology or piece of software since I first found out about podcasting. My recommendation is that you go over to Songbird's site and download the developer version and get a taste of what's to come in liberated distribution . . . the liberated media player.

I might be showing up late to the party since they have been public for over a year, but for me this is a big day. Not only to evangelize for Songbird but for thinking about the next iteration of podcasting.

Tags: Songbird Songbird media player podcast receiver wired magazine Pioneers of the Inevitable ]]>Get SongbirdI'm not quite sure that is the way that the uber developers of the Songbird media player would put it but as a podcaster I have never seen a program that makes it this easy to subscribe to podcasts or get media from the web.

The best part is that the word 'podcast' isn't used anywhere in the vernacular associated with Songbird. I find it refreshing. I should probably be questioning it as a guy making a living from his podcast skills (hoy ya!). But damn if they haven't taken all the mystery out of receiving a podcast by simply saying, "Play the Web". No more explaining to newbies what a podcast is or how to download one.

Even in this post at Wired the word 'podcast' is conspicuously missing. I have said the word 'podcast' once every 15 minutes for the last two years . . . so not to see it associated with a media player would be a non-starter for me in downloading it.

They make receiving podcasts so simple. It can be done one of two ways:

1) Use the Songbird and navigate to the website that has mp3's and it finds them for you and allows you to subscribe to the site.

2) Go to 'File' >> 'New Subscription . . .' >> Type in the URL of a website or add an RSS feed >> Point to a folder >> Hit 'OK'

All of the associated media will then download in the background and be ready when you are to play. Sick. What would make it even sicker is RSS auto discovery. That way a subscription could be chosen for the for the feed which usually has many more files than the site alone.

I haven't been this excited about a technology or piece of software since I first found out about podcasting. My recommendation is that you go over to Songbird's site and download the developer version and get a taste of what's to come in liberated distribution . . . the liberated media player.

I might be showing up late to the party since they have been public for over a year, but for me this is a big day. Not only to evangelize for Songbird but for thinking about the next iteration of podcasting.

Tags: Songbird Songbird media player podcast receiver wired magazine Pioneers of the Inevitable ]]> Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:11:00 -0600 tag:croncast.com,616 I'm not quite sure that is the way that the uber developers of the Songbird media player would put it but as a podcaster I have never seen a program that makes it this easy to subscribe to podcasts or get media from the web.The best part is that the word 'podcast' isn't used anywhere in the vernacular associated with Songbird. I no Songbird, Songbird media player, podcast receiver, wired magazine, Pioneers of the Inevitable FeedBurner site stats went live today http://www.croncast.com/rssk/603/FeedBurner-site-stats-went-live-today_FeedBurner-site-stats_FeedBurner.php Blog RSS company anymore, ma.

Starting today, they are in the site metrics game too. I got a message from Rick that the sites stats were going live today following a couple weeks of beta testing (of which I was a member).

With their acquisition of BlogBeat a while back I expected that FB would release a website tracking application but I thought it might be a different product line. Nope. It is rolled into the same interface as the RSS stats. Good move.

I only ran the beta on one page that listed our podcasts since I run my own nerdy real time stats tracking and have for the last 5 years. What I found impressive with the FB stats was that they made this dead simple for a new user to come right in and understand what is happening with their site visitors and where they come from.

So is it all good for me, no. There are some minor things that didn't report accurately for me but most likely the problem is the way that I set up my URL's in my .htaccess file. The FB sites app is occasionally reading them as 'outgoing' links. What is good about that though is it is still tracking the same visitor through the site . . . a nice nice bug in any case.

I'd look for this bug to become a feature or a hack soon. Of course, not based on your own hacked up .htaccess file but for the practical purpose of knowing what path a visitor takes through your site.

Tags: FeedBurner site stats FeedBurner BlogBeat site visit statistics ]]>RSS company anymore, ma.

Starting today, they are in the site metrics game too. I got a message from Rick that the sites stats were going live today following a couple weeks of beta testing (of which I was a member).

With their acquisition of BlogBeat a while back I expected that FB would release a website tracking application but I thought it might be a different product line. Nope. It is rolled into the same interface as the RSS stats. Good move.

I only ran the beta on one page that listed our podcasts since I run my own nerdy real time stats tracking and have for the last 5 years. What I found impressive with the FB stats was that they made this dead simple for a new user to come right in and understand what is happening with their site visitors and where they come from.

So is it all good for me, no. There are some minor things that didn't report accurately for me but most likely the problem is the way that I set up my URL's in my .htaccess file. The FB sites app is occasionally reading them as 'outgoing' links. What is good about that though is it is still tracking the same visitor through the site . . . a nice nice bug in any case.

I'd look for this bug to become a feature or a hack soon. Of course, not based on your own hacked up .htaccess file but for the practical purpose of knowing what path a visitor takes through your site.

Tags: FeedBurner site stats FeedBurner BlogBeat site visit statistics ]]> Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:56:02 -0600 tag:croncast.com,603 They're not just an RSS company anymore, ma. Starting today, they are in the site metrics game too. I got a message from Rick that the sites stats were going live today following a couple weeks of beta testing (of which I was a member).With their acquisition of BlogBeat a while back I expected that FB would release a website tracking no FeedBurner site stats, FeedBurner, BlogBeat, site visit statistics, Dynamic M3U playlist with PHP and MySQL http://www.croncast.com/rssk/599/Dynamic-M3U-playlist-with