Mud's Tests

Newsgator Most Comments

2006-11-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

Newsgator Buzz reports blogs with most comments, and this (apparently) has nothing to do with the number of comments in Newsgator. At first, I though this notification referred to the "most comments" in Newsgator, but that's not the case. There are internal comments in the Newsgator system that other people can't read, unless they view your feed in Newsgator [My term: “NewsgatorOnline attached comments”]. [Unrelated: Newsgator added a new feature to old option]

Bug After selecting an item under, "most comments," I get the following: "Loading Post..." without any content. There's a workaround: You can subscribe to the feed, and then look at the content and comments, but get no information about the NewsgatorOnline-attached comments.

Suggestions: It would be nice if the "most comments"-feature had a third column: related to "most Newsgator comments in feed". Although I can see the number of comments in the Buzz Column, I'm unable to see the content of the original feed, or the content of the comments in Newsgator.

PubSub Data Entry

2006-09-25T18:35:00.006-05:00

Good old PubSub.

I don't know about you, but every computer I've ever used always deletes my entry.

I go to the pub sub entry field, type stuff in, and whoosh! It's gone. Have to re-enter the data.

What's up with that? Why can't I just enter it once?

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URI Update Notification Through Firewalls

2006-09-25T18:34:00.007-05:00

There was this tool that notified you of changes to a page. They never seemed to work. I've had things on a page that updated, and the URI didn't report anything back.

What I'd like is a tool that reports changes to specific content, but works with anything on the internet, even stuff behind a firewall.

That way the URI would include the access code, and send the change notifications through the firewall, and let me know when a privately-housed .pdf file got removed, updated, or was reformatted, downloaded, or someone was linking to it on an internal blog.

Then I could integrate this information with the site-stats info, and find out whether they're ignoring the information or paying attention to it, by page, and how long they were on each adobe page.

Can't XML be used to monitor Adobe document reviews: Popular pages, time spent on content vs page; and then analyze this and present it in an aggregator, and mix it up with other pages in a summary report, then recombine it for a final report?

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XML Footnote

2006-09-25T18:34:00.006-05:00

One thing that's overwhelming with all this XML-data I've acquired is how to quickly organize it. What if there was a way to auto-place supporting material in a presentation or blog.

Let's say you’re writing a report. You've got footnotes. You've got XML feeds and data in your aggregator. Wouldn't it be neat to quickly integrate the footnote information and format with the blog, and auto-place the footnotes, extract the references from the XML feed in the aggregator, and have this done automatically?

Just click on a reference. Have an auto-tool which numbered the content, created a footnote code, and then dropped the information and supporting material at the end of the blog or public document.

Consider a blog: We post using text. What if there was a way to quickly load a scrolling link-column, and that column auto-linked to flash-expanding windows. Every time I selected a window, it would open, and I could select from an internal blog, and auto-place content at the end of the blog, or create foot notes.

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Fantasy Aggregator, XML Tools

2006-09-25T18:34:00.005-05:00

If I had all the money in the world, this is the kind of aggregator I'd make:

If I make a comment in an aggregator, it self-reports to the original blog.

I would combine these features: When I add a feed, I would automatically include in that "add feed" space an option to create a new folder. I would not have a "folder creation"-tool in one place; and the "add URI" in another.

If I was able to edit the URI, I'd be able to edit both the name of the search name, and the URI Code; then when I changed the code in the editor, I'd have a self-check feature that would report a sample search to let me know whether my URI-changes were or were not correct.

I'd have a URI-creator inside the aggregator.

I'd have a time based hold on some feeds: If there was a holiday, or I didn't want to look at a feed for a while, I'd put it on sleep mode saying, "Don't show me results until after X-date."

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Interactive Landscape 3-D Feeds

2006-09-25T18:34:00.004-05:00

Ever notice behind large vans the TV displays passengers are watching? Some of them have games.

Then I got to thinking: What if the game could leave the screen.

Ever seen one of those head-up displays: They point to things on the ground. Same concept here.

For your son or daughter's birthday, they get an X-BOX-like toy, but instead of the toy moving around on the screen, the toy jumps around on your car windows. The driver can't see them.

But imagine this: Instead of just relying on the game developer's imagination, what if the game could actually appear to interact with the surrounding environment.

To your left and right are cow pastures. Then, on the horizon . . . there it is. A windmill. Your son or daughter directs the game-piece to race up the ladder of the water tower, then grabs onto the windmill, and gets flung into the sky, and then pulls out a parachute, and appears to land on the care on the other side of the freeway. Then the game pieces starts to jump from car to car, back toward your car, and climbs on the roof, and pokes its head into the window like Kilroy.

I don't know about you, but there are some really strange things you can think about driving across Siberia. It starts to looks the same, unless your games start making it look different.

The moutains are lovely.

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XML on GoogleNews Advanced Search

2006-09-25T18:34:00.003-05:00

You've probably noticed the GoogleNews Advanced Search. You can go back in history, not just a few months. I like it. Course, you know what I'm going to say: What about XML?

Google news Archive needs XML. Sure, history doesn't change, but MSN has an XML search button. That way, the aggregator could monetize the search: Use the aggregator as the platform to integrate with the search engine to report desired content in a specific format, product, way, or presentation.

The data and content is only part of the issue. I'd like the aggregator to take the search results and report it in a format, presentation, and do this without me having to do the work.

Custom aggregator displays, with an auto-integration feature with .XLS, .PDF, or whatever ACCESS file I'm working on. Key words automatically downloaded into my adobe-form.

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Fast Saving, Access To XML Data Content

2006-09-25T18:33:00.005-05:00

Have you found a search result, then had to spend time downloading a file, then lost track of what you were looking at?

I do that all the time. I'll be in the middle of downloading a file, and forget a key term and have to backtrack.

Here's an idea. If there was a way to auto-load the files at the URL to the file save location, which would be nice.

Rather than have to wait, and all other applications get stuck, it would be nice if the search engine could automatically do things for me, and auto-send files and URLs.

This is a little different than simply selecting a URI and saving it. This is letting the search engine auto-save the URI content, and then displaying it where I want it, either on the screen, in my aggregator, or combined with another channel in the same feed.

What I want is something that will work with the search engine, auto-load a file URL to:

A. a file save location.

B. To file save on Yahoo or Briefcase

C. To a RUI creator in aggregator; or

D. To a link.

I'm looking for a method to seamlessly integrate the search engine with the file-save tools that works with XML files, video, and audio files. I don't want to have to manually click through each step, nor do I want to have to interrupt my searching. My goal is to quickly extract interesting/related data, save it quickly, continue my search, and save the data in files that are useful, and I can later access and recombine as I choose.

Here are the steps:

1. Conduct search engine search

2. Select URI/file

3. Auto save file content by extracting the content at the URI

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Multi-Function XML Mouse

2006-09-25T18:33:00.004-05:00

I've always been fascinated with mouse pads and the mouse. There's alot you can do with it.

The other day, I noticed that a cell phone laser image device was very similar to a pocket camera, and this made me wonder: What if a cell phone could automatically transition and integrate with my computer mouse? Better yet, what if my mouse and cell phone were the same thing, along with my iPod: Kind of like have a universal remote for all those things, before TiVo made VCRs obsolete.

So I got to thinking about a multi-function mouse. What if there was a way to highlight and select a function with an auto-pre-select; or a way to select each time what I wanted to do.

That way, I could integrate the following tools and functions:

A. A mouse highlight tool for grabbing online content;

B. Link creator

C. URI creator

D. Adobe search

E. Load to aggregagator

F. Save to blog

This would be a multi-function mouse: I could create a link by highlighting text, extract that highlighted text in Adobe; and then take that converted text from Adobe, automatically translate it into an URI; then seamlessly with the same click auto-load that original text from Adobe as a saved search URI into the aggregator

Think of it as combining a mouse-highlight, with an auto-search, then a text to URI converter, with an auto-save feature for that URI, but being able to do this within the Adobe window. Right now, I have to transfer text from Adobe, place it somewhere else.

It would be nice if there was an Adobe-XML integration feature by simply highlighting text, I could auto-convert that text into a searchable URI that is ready to report search or prospective search results.

Imagine you’re in a place where you get a printed document; all you have is a laser scanner. What if there was a news release, you've near a fax machine, but you don't have a laptop or computer. What if there was a way to scan that document, get an output, mark the document with some special bracketing symbols, and then automatically send that scanned data to your computer which could be on the other side of the world.

Think of this as a remote access, but instead of accessing my computer, I'm extracting text data, and reformatting it, then sending the data as a single file, and launching it directly into my aggregator. I could do this real time, when I get home, I don't have to go over notes, and I can just look at my aggregator and see what there.

This would involve:

A. Integrating adobe files with XML;

B. Permitting fax machines to accept a special code;

C. Connecting a print machine to a remote computer

D. Allowing me to make handwritten comments on a document, and then have the results report in my aggregator

E. I don't have to carry any files, paper, or documents. I could do this without a computer

F. Then, when I get all my data transferred, my aggregator could automatically accept the data in file folders that are consistent with the pre-set templates in PowerPoint and a trip reports.

G. As I get new data, or hear new things, I can automatically send the data, and the aggregator will help to integrate my online tools, and then publish the final report, with charges, updates information, and import data from the Google spreadsheet.

This would save time on trip reports, presentations, and I could make my aggregator more like a workhorse to integrate publishing-presentation tools, with the status-reporting-monitoring systems with critical thresholds, and qu8ickly organize the data for an online presentation or real time integration with audio, teleprompters, or other integrated communication system.

Adobe XML Platform

2006-09-25T18:33:00.003-05:00

Ever noticed your PDF files aren't easily integrated with XML? I've found interesting data I'd like to convert to a feed in Adobe, but have too many steps to go through. It can be really time consuming, especially when all the steps are the same. You'd think the "someone" would've come up with an easier way to do this.

Think of this as an Adobe-related XML platform: "The Adobe XML Dashboard."

I. Here's the process: Convert terms in a PDF to a search in the search engine, and create URIs

A. Review database with search tool

B. Locate adobe.pdf or word-document

C. Highlight, copy content

D. Transfer to the Search engine the news, links, and aggregator

II. This is what the Adobe Dashboard would include:

A. Links

B. Search function

C. Interface with Blog

D. URI creator

E. One-click URI-correction tool to correct misspellings, or errors in the URI code

III. This is what would happen after I found interesting data:

A. Create new URI

B. Save links, create a note

C. Make a blog note, comment by the link, or flag some data in a teleprompter or data stream connected to an audio-visual file

D. Do a search on that flagged content

E. Save the results as a link, PDF-compatible document, then report the results in an index I can integrate with the aggregator, which will signal me at a specific time that something is ready, more data has been received, and we can proceed along another task.

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Comment Notification Feature

2006-09-25T18:33:00.002-05:00

How many of you lose track of sites you've left comments?

I do that all the time.

I'd really like to know if someone has bothered to visit the site, made a comment, and do this without checking.

Yet, the site isn't mine, and I can't make a code that is going to affect that site.

But I don't want to subscribe to the feed, I just care about a specific comment that I made, and want to know about that comment.

I'm not talking about reading the comment and people commenting on it. I'm talking about whether that comment even gets posted. Some bloggers (shocked, shocked) will modify or not allow comments!

What if there was a way that I was notified (as the commenter) that a specific comment I submitted did get posted. I don't want to monitor the comments, I just want to know when that specific comment that I submitted did or did not get posted.

What’s needed is a method to notify the poster when a specifically submitted comment was accepted, and posted; or if it was rejected. If i keep sending comments, but they're rejected, I might want to find another feed, and get rid of this one.

What this method would do is send a message with XML to the aggregator (along one of the channels) a notification that my comment posted; and attached to that notification is a link-URI for the comment; and then an auto-method to track whether anyone else is linking to that comment.

As it stands, I have to wait for the comment to get posted; get the URI for the posted comment; and then post it in my blog; then make a comment, "Look, here's a comment I made. And they're all talking about it. Wow, I feel special." Wouldn't it be nice to simply make a comment, and have the data related to that comment automatically got posted to my aggregator.

Also, if after a certain time, I would get a message or notification that my commented did not generate a post, there was no notification, and no URI. Ideally, when there were certain conditions met, I may have a feature in the aggregator that says, "Hay, if they've waited 3 weeks, and rejected it, I might want to send them a thank you note.’Thanks for taking three weeks to review my comment. I'm glad you carefully considered my views. Maybe next time, I'll be more succinct, and stay on topic. Sorry, things didn't work out. I'll try to stay within the rules next time. Please do not ban me."

[Blah, blah]

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XML Feeds For Online Spread Sheets, Critical Conditions, Audits

2006-09-25T18:33:00.001-05:00

If you've noticed Google spreadsheets, you'll see there are some XML opportunities. One of them is project management, and integrating the file-save feature with a calendar.

It would be nice if there was an aggregator that integrated with a calendar so that on a specific date I could be notified to revisit the data in the Googlespreadsheet, and see what's been changed. Perhaps one of my team members has a scheduled update or data-delivery, and I want that included.

I'd like for there to be a way to download, and integrate this datafile into the Googlespreadsheet, then export that data files as an XML feeds, and be able to integrate it with others things.

The trigger for this data delivery isn't necessarily time. Rather, when a key indicator falls below, or exceeds a certain threshold, I'd like the Feed to automatically conduct an online search, gather the updated information, then attached this new data to the existing feed, and then integrate the updates within the existing file.

Then I'd like to be able to confirm to the auditors that the message/file has done what is was supposed to do; and that the critical threshold has been noticed, and something has happened; and then be able to present to the auditor evidence that we conducted our review of that data, and can trace back to the documents and files that we took appropriate actions.

The final data file should show:

A. Here is the file

B. The re-visit date and links in the aggregator was successful

C. The new revisit date-condition is this.

D. A confirming message that the aggregator has been updated, the changes are ready, and the system is ready to monitor to the incoming data, and is still effectively integrating with the Google online spreadsheet.

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Site Stats XML Feed

2006-09-25T18:33:00.000-05:00

Site data can be interesting to look at. There are times when I'd like to format the data the way I'd like it, or quickly export it. Sure, I can save it as an .xls file. Why not make my stat counter something that targets specific types of customers.

Maybe I'm tracking a specific page, and I want to see if there's a specific link someone is or is not hitting. What I'd really like to know is whether the order of the content is working, and the layout is something the reader is noticing. What's the use of posting if the key link isn’t' getting hit. Do I need a better stats package? Maybe. Or maybe I need a way to extract my raw data, and inject it into a tool that I've created. Maybe it's proprietary.

What's needed is a way to commonly transfer stats data from the stat platform, and integrate that stat data with the aggregator, search tool, and URI generate. Here's what I’d like to be able to do: Turn the stat-data into search URIs. That way the stat counter will:

- Integrate with XML dashboards and create multiple-URIs from a specific stat-output, or search operation; and

- Convert the searches from incoming URLs to URIs with an auto-load to the aggregator.

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Multi-URI Search Tool

2006-09-25T18:25:00.000-05:00

Ever noticed how a search engine like Google or Yahoo spits out information?

There's just a list. Yahoo and AksJeeves have the option to sign-up feed with a click.

However, this can be kind of annoying: I'd rather skim through data, save links, and then later spend time doing the upload.

Ideally, what would be nice is if there was a multi-search feature which would automatically convert any URL I get in a search engine to a URI; and this could be seamlessly cached, then uploaded to the aggregator.

It would work this way:

1. Conduct search

2. Produce result

3. User does a mouse over, highlighting the URL, or simply click on a button.

4. Clicking on the searched URI would automatically convert that URI into an RSS-XML friendly URI, and then have it automatically integrated through the browser into the aggregator.

5. After I did that search, and select the items, I could quickly put them in a folder, name it, throw it into the aggregator, and then start searching again.

6. As I did other searches, I should be able to retrieve the original searches, reference them and either modify my subsequent searches; or retroactively adjust the saved-URIs so they are consistent with what I'm narrowing in on.

A multi search in a search engine should be able to convert search results into URIs, and I should be able to quickly save them with simply one or two clicks, then get back to searching again. Less time transferring URIs means more time creating new content.

RSS aggregator searching -- Body of knowledge

2006-01-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

Using aggregators and RSS for searching is different than a search engine. Self-evidently, RSS usually looks forward in time, while a search engine looks backwards.

[For clarity, I'll simply refer to forward-looking RSS-XML searches as an "RSS search" and a generic search using Yahoo/Google without XML as backward looking. However, in reality a search engine like Google and MSN do have quick ways to convert a search to a retroactive search, but that's outside this discussion.]

Sample things: Things that are missing and could exist

Before I go into the details, I'll illustrate the apparent gap in the existing body of knowledge. For starters, you'll get an idea of the differences in terms. Notice this search:

Teaching RSS searching; or

XML Searching Body of Knowledge.

It sounds simple enough, but nobody's used it -- they're probably using other terms, but what? That's where XML Thesaurus Comes in.

Now, think something more generic: Search tips: Brilliant 85 million hits.

But does any of it relat to searching with XML; or some nifty tricks on using prospective searches for searches?

Something more narrow is: RSS Search tips -- but it really doesn't give tips on how to integrate:

A. New ideas

B. New events

C. Potential blogs

D. Forward looking outlines

Also, RSS search tips are geared more toward providers/experts -- publishers and technology users -- not a content-user/searcher-focused, or "how to translate your ideas into effective RSS search requests".

Remember your user: SOlve problems, not burden them with technology details

Remember, I -- your user -- don't care about RSS, technology, or the syntax. I want to use RSS/XML searches to solve problems -- assess unfolding situations; know when I am in a poor position to make a decision.

What I really want is a guide on "how to effectively create RSS searches" -- and I want that methodology to integrate the prospective search feeds with the aggregators.

While you're reading the following, consider this perspective: "Set aside your blog for the moment, and focus on an outline in your RSS-XML aggregator." The goal of this approach is to make better use of the future information, spend less time blogging, and more effectively manage/organize/structure the incoming information before it arrives, not wade through the mess as it arrives.

Body of knowledge

After working with RSS search for over a year, I can see that blogging, search engine searches, and RSS searches overlap, but they are different.

Specifically, the problem we run into with a prospective search is "our phrases" we may use to describe a future event [ and hopefully future hit] will not necessarily match what others use.

There's a trick to using RSS feeds and searches. If you have a blog and have "new ideas" about "things going on," rather than blog about things [and producing a rant], you can save yourself alot of time by doing something else.

That's where the body of knowledge comes in:

A. How is a prospective RSS-search created differently than a generic Google-Yahoo search;

B. How can a blogger's "blogging time" [time spent blogging ideas] be reduced;

C. How can time "spent on blogging" get translated into more effective RSS searches?

I do not claim to have the answers, but I define the answers as the "RSS Body of knowledge" in terms of "how will people come to use/apply RSS searches" and "how will RSS searches reduce the time spent bloggging."

In short, the "way we do a Google search" has specific tricks. It's not just in the terms, but in knowing how to quickly translate a search requirement into terms. This is based on "knowing what could be out there".

The same goes with RSS searches: How to forecast what will "likely be out there" . . . even though the issue, words, or RSS-searches may not exist.

In other words, why bother to blog, when I can find "what everyone else is saying" that matches an outline I'm developing?

Rather than blog, it may be more useful to create a template or generic outline, where the RSS feeds can be entered into the aggregator, and the outline -- not the blog -- becomes the means of organizing information.

As time passes, and the issues get fleshed out, "it would be nice" if this vertical outline, could expand to the right, and create a schedule, whereby the more sophisticated, and in-depth answers to these issues appears: Either in terms of concepts; or in terms of answers to questions earlier posed; or in terms of detailed discussions of the subsequent discussions.

Think of the GMail e-mail weaving option: You can have the information time-based, so that the answers to original e-mails are linked to the subsequent answers. The Aggregator-model would have the same thing: You would like the original RSS concept, with the idea, with the subsequent answers, and then the detailed information.

Think of this as an expandable link/answer/response. If I have an original question, issue, or idea, then associate this with a range of answers; I can visually show how the original ideas [not blogged] are graphically-logically linked with the subsequent arguments/discussion/responses.

Then comes the next phase: Whereby the responses are then compared to the original questions; the arguments/points/discussions are organized into logical arguments; and then the overall schema created.

The schema for organizing this information may or may not exist; it could be compared to a generic template; and the differences between the emerging pattern and the original template could identify new patterns.

The point would be to clearly identify a priority to the issues; and then identify "which concepts/arguments/ideas" should be showing up; and then comparing with what is actually showing up. Some of the "actually stuff others are using" may not have as much strength/weight, so it would be nice if there was a way to assign some waiting to the desired search results.

If our rating goes from 0 to 100, and the "desired hits" are arbitrarily put at 50; but all we're getting are 10s and 20s -- this is a good idea that "our original list of desired hits" is above and beyond what people are talking about.

At that point, it may be useful for the blogosphere to "learn about these other views" that tend to have more weight, validity, importance, than the apparent lesser valued items at 10-20.

For those of you who are lost -- that's the point -- RSS searching and blogging are related -- the trick is to know when it is time to listen, how to listen, and how to translate "our ideas" into effective RSS-search terms. This is known as the "body of knowledge" related to RSS-searches: Tricks on how to more effectively create RSS searches based on what we might have blogged.

Maybe it is emerging, but all of the above is what I've learned in "how to make RSS prospective searches" more useful in identifying trends, gaps, and what is a "value added blog" or something that merely repeats low-value content.

I'd say more, but why give away the juice on how to do this better than others?

Wish list

Using a prospective search tool -- Once the XML feed/subscription is in the aggregator, it would be nice if . . .

A. There was a flagging system: "Hay, I was supposed to have had a hit/positive result by this X-date, but have nothing. . . what's up?"

Sometimes even though the RSS-search produces no result, it would be nice to know, "Even though by X-date, we should have had something, we have nothing. . ." -- that it itself is useful to know, and may trigger other search requests, or hunting with other terms.

B. Some sort of flexible tool that allows one to keep fast notes, notice patterns, but isn't a public blog.

Something that makes it easy to quickly

A. Document new information
B. Rotate the information into new patterns
C. Translate the new pattern/ideas into a prospective search
D. Translate the newly-recognized pattern [that has no information, just vague ideas] into something that is a specific request for future content
E. Translate the RSS-feed into an outline
F. Adjust the outline into a new pattern
G. Recognize the value/scoring of the returned content
H. See which content is or isn't stacking up against the proposed pattern
I. Adjust the outline so that more attention is put on the valuable searches, that still await content
J. Rank the value of the content [based on factors I choose, not necessarily what others are using] so that I can see which discussions/arguments/factors [are/are not] getting filled/satisfied/discussed.
K. Translate the vertical-outline [2-dimensional] into a third-dimension [horizontal, using weight factors related to time, expected responses]

Next Step

Each of the templates or checklists for the event could either be manually created, or imported from a generic list of template-checklists. The searches could be assigned to the existing template; or the template could be adjusted based on the content.

Based on a few indicators, I could import generic checklists/templates, automatically created RSS searches, and wait for the actuals to show up. The approach would identify what was occuring; and compare them with what I/the outlines forecasted.

Also, simulation data could be imported to track the expected times; and the duration of a particular news-event cycle: Then compare the forecasted times with the actuls -- using that information to forecast other items: Delays, cost overruns, actual time/budget to accomplish an objective.

If I had a discrete number of indicators, I could automatically create forward searches based on the expectation they are related to a specific checklist, pattern, or cycle. Over time, I would be able to monitor whether the actual events occurred along the expected/forecasted RSS feeds.

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Workaround on PubSub Naming Problem

2005-12-22T17:35:00.000-05:00

As a holiday gift, we thought we'd tell you how to correctly name your PubSub subscriptions.

As you can see, if you enter the updated name for your subscription, PubSub doesn't work.

Here's how to work around this error:

1. Enter your subscription search terms ["Subsription 1"]
2. Change the title -- the title will not take, but not to worry
3. Re-enter your PubSub subscription terms a second time ["Subscription 2"]
4. The second entry on your subscription list will have the "Renamed Subsription Title" from the first entry/update from Subscription 1

In short, to get your PubSub subscriptions correctly named, you have to double-enter your search terms, and ignore the repetition.

Merry Chirstmas, Eugene -- you're still an asshole. And a Jackass.

A special note for those of you who are confused by or have questions about this holiday greeting: Click here.

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Newsgator: Nice job

2005-12-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

Newsgator's made some really nice updates to their menus: Easier to read, select, and search. You can make things go away.

I like the search-capability, that is really neat. Thanks.

I had a couple of thoughts:

A. Feed-menu priorities

What if there were a way to "change the priority" of the displayed items simply by clicking on the content, and floating it around in the menu [like the method of moving a favorite to the browser menu with a single click and drag] . . . as opposed to going to a new screen, then doing the click-move-change option.

B. Browser interface with Newsgator

Also, you know how "sometimes people like to make their browser window smaller to fit in a corner of their screen, but still keep it open" . . .

I was thinking: What if there were a "compression capability" ... so that even though Newsgator was compressed to a small browser, the various menus, and displays neatly overlapped so they were still readable. Right now, they words in the top menus on the right [search] will overlap with the other menus to the left.

Think of it as "Newsgator Compressed".

C. Aggregator Icon Standby Mode

Sometimes its nice to know, without opneing Newsgator, that there's an update, what kind it is, and whehter its an urgent, or a low priority feed.

What if there were a way to "signal to the user" that they have new feeds, but do so without having to send a special message? Here's how: If they have their browser in the "compressed mode" or as an icon, what if newsgator flashed "Updates: #" with the number of new feeds. Maybe the user could select a personalized message depending on content, type of feed, or targeted-search words when things appear in the aggregator. Ideally, this would be a simple, short message we could have automatically posted to the browser-icon.

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RSS Community's "Use our service, put up with our insults"

2005-11-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

A nice concept, but flawed in execution.

I've noticed this with TechnorHiding: They promote to no end, and have their logo on magazines like NewsWehuk, but when you verify whether the XML-feed is actually working with your content that comments on that original material, things don't show up.

I noticed this problem with PoupSoup: They lay it all out, what they're doing, but if you notice a problem, suddenly they throw it back on the customer.

Well, Blogher's doing the same: They have this spam-detection system which identifies blogs which have [wait for it] . . .

A. alot of words [someone who is thinking] or

B. duplicate content [BlogHer's coding error].

We've previously identified this in May 2005, but the feature continues despite the manual logins and the public e-mail availability. What's up with that?

Not only can anyone spam my blog [and claim stupidity about it], but when I post content, the blogher reports the content as spam, and requires the "manual override feature." Whatever.

What makes it worse is that the "word verification process" jams up the letters and the c's, l's, and d's appear the same. Maybe you should issue us a magnifying glass with our sign-up; how abput this: Send us an advance payment through paypal so we can buy a mantifying glass, that way we can use your system . . . and maybe have ads.

Develop-lupies

Word to the wise: If you're going to go to the trouble of producing an XML product, the last thing you want to do is to blame your customers or make it more difficult for them to do the job.

Not only does your product not work 'the way I want to use it,' but when I do use it the way "most people use things", we get it thrown back in our face.

Not impressive, but we wouldn't expect anything else from the crappy XML developers.

Here are the details:

Comment on the Blogher Anti-SPam Spam:

Perhaps if blogher had an automated code-correction feature, we could remedy the duplicate posting of content.

Why does BlogHer allow the duplications of the text below?

We have no idea.

It would be nice if there was an automated feature for the public to find out which kind of blogging software has automated-blog-spam-detection that is faulty.

Maybe BlogHer can improve their blogging-filtering system so that, unlike other blog software, we do not have to have someone "review" the content before posting:

Spam from BlogHer

Your blog requires word verification

BlogHer's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

Before we can turn off mandatory word verification on your posts we'll need to have a human review your blog and verify that it is not a spam blog. Please fill out the form below to get a review.

Find out more about how BlogHer is fighting spam blogs.

Remove word verification from posts

Word Verification:

Type the characters you see in the picture below.

Ref: This link below:

About Spam Blogs

What Are Spam Blogs?

As with many powerful tools, blogging services can be both used and abused. The ease of creating and updating webpages with BlogHer has made it particularly prone to a form of behavior known as link spamming. Blogs engaged in this behavior are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site.

Spam blogs cause various problems, beyond simply wasting a few seconds of your time when you happen to come across one. They can clog up search engines, making it difficult to find real content on the subjects that interest you. They may scrape content from other sites on the web, using other people's writing to make it look as though they have useful information of their own. And if an automated system is creating spam posts at an extremely high rate, it can impact the speed and quality of the service for other, legitimate users.

BlogHer: "What We're Doing About Spam"

Needless to say, we do not approve of spamming here at BlogHer. Below are some of the things we've implemented to remove and reduce spam on our service. We will update this list as we continue our efforts.

Automated spam classifying algorithms keep spam blogs out of NextBlog and out of our "Recently Published" list on the dashboard.

The same classifiers are used to require an extra word verification field on the posting form for potential spam blogs. This makes it harder for spammers to set up automated systems to do their posting, since a human needs to complete this step.
The Flage as Object-shutup-able button in the NavyBarroom lets you notify us of problem blogs that you find, so we can review them and take appropriate action.

You'll notice the content duplicates below: BlogHer-spam-detection is unable to figure out that it's own software is duplicating the content.

Isn't that interesting: The system that "detects spam" can't figure out that it is creating spam.

Why is that?

"Don't notice what is going on, just nod your head and repeat, 'XML Is the best thing ever'."

Whatever. I think it's alot of crap.

How are those profit margins?

"Now that we've developed all this XML-stuff, how are we going to make money at it?"

Gee, why didn't you idiots think about that before you started spending money?

Duh.

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XML Concepts: Tag Extraction from OPML

2005-11-11T16:18:00.000-05:00

One thing I've noticed with a list of links, is that the links are interesting, but they really don't help the reader.

For example, suppose you run across a list of del.icio.us links, or a webpage with links to "recommended reading".

What do you do to quickly find what the good stuff is?

Ideally, what would be nice is if there was a way to automatically dig into the linked content, find the material, organize it, and then extract summary data from the content at these links, and then showcase it in a summary format.

Bluntly, I don't want to review 100 links individually to organize the data; nor do I want to tell a webmaster to "better organize their list of links". They don't care what I want; and I don't care how they organize it.

So here are some thoughts on how this could be done.

First, I'd like for the aggregator to find a single webpage.

Then, I want the aggregator to dig into the tag-related data for those links and webpages, and return them. I want the aggregator to search across the RSS platforms and find out who has commented on that piece, how they've tagged it, and then have the RSS tool dig into the original content and find the key concepts.

Then, I want the aggregator to extract these tags, organize them, and create a meaningful arrangement.

Finally, what I want by each summary tag is a pop-up window that lets me choose from the original list, the items related to that tag.

I'm looking for the following

A. A way to quickly summarize and organize not just the link-names, but the embedded content at that link

B. A method to summarize the content below/embedded within the link in some meaningful summary tables

C. A method to take a list of random, disorganized links, and then extract a summary organization that allows be to find what is most useful without me having to dig into each item separately

D. A method to apply this summary-organization tool to either a singe webpage, a blog, or a table

I do not care whether the summary data is in a table, but I would like to see a three-dimensional floating-tag-display, and something by each tag that pop-up to show me a menu that displays the detailed links related to that particular tag.

I'd like to be able to move the 3-d image of the tags around in free space either by manual or auto-rotation

I'd like to be able to include new webpages within the original so that as I add new webpages, I can see how the new links at that second webpage add or adjust the original three 3-rendering

I'd like to be able to see a comparison-feature so that as I add new lists of links from OPML, I can see by summary or individual level how a particular web-page-link or OPML is adjusting the tag-pattern.

I want to be able to take an OPML, list of links, or a list of RSS-returns from a XML feed subscription and see the embedded details within that in free space, not simply as a list in an aggregator.

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