Dancing About Architecture

There's been a lot of chatter lately about FeedBurner, which is fantastic. There have also been some misunderstandings about how a publisher can keep control over their feed. I think we at FeedBurner can be a lot clearer about this, but until that happens I would like to point people to an older post I made called "FeedBurner on Your Terms". Basically, it details four different ways to hold onto your feed:

1. Use an HTTP temporary redirect
2. Use a PURL
3. Use partner domain mapping (now called "MyBrand")
4. Embrace the burn

Posted by Eric at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FeedBlitz recently announced a very clever service called the FeedBlitz AutoResponder. The name doesn't quite describe what it does, imho ... it's really a cool way to offer a serial version of content to interested subscribers that is delivered over the course of several days or weeks. You basically set up a blog somewhere with the dates of the posts spaced out how you want them. Then, when someone subscribes, FeedBlitz delivers the posts via email on that schedule. Smart and elegant. At FeedBurner, we did something kind of similar with Tom Evslin to deliver his hackoff.com novel via a feed, but that was a bit hacky and hasn't been generalized yet. Nice job, Phil.

Posted by Eric at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The start of this album couldn't sound more like Tool. It's like coming home again. Blasting right now at FeedBurner HQ. As Steve says, "there is no substitute".

Posted by Eric at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't had any time for gaming lately, so I've been kind of watching the next-gen console fray from the sidelines. I have wondered, though, why Sony let Microsoft get such a big jump -- the PS3 will be released a full year after the Xbox 360. I just read one analysis, though, that makes total sense. From the article "Top Industry Figures Muse PS3", Michael Pachter, Senior Analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, had this to say:

Blu-ray is key to Sony's strategy. This isn't a battle between Sony and Microsoft; it's a battle between Sony and Toshiba. The PS3 and high definition DVD are coming out at roughly the same time, as compared to a 3 1/2 year lag between DVD and PS2. This time, hardcore MOVIE buffs are allowed to choose between standalone high def DVD players and the PS3. There are a lot of them, and I think that people with video game blinders on have completely overlooked the significance of Blu-ray. The high def features of Blu-ray will sell PS3s, and Microsoft can't compete with that. Add to that the fact that it doesn't make sense to buy a next gen box without an HD monitor, and all HD monitor owners want more content (meaning movies), and you can see why this strategy is so brilliant. So the "delay" in launch of PS3 is more related to the high def DVD strategy than to anything else.

I'm thinking Sony's going to win, even with their late start and their recent fumbling. If they have a good online strategy (and they've been able to see what's good and bad about Xbox live for a while now), it'll be a PS3 2007.

Posted by Eric at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alright, a new version of the Yahoo! Music Engine was just auto-downloaded: 1.1.1.20. Let's see, what changed? Hmm, no changes file, no release notes, nothing in help about it. O Fortuna! YME development team, you should be proud of your changes, whatever they are! It must have been enough to warrant an entire 0.0.1 point release. The whole interface generally seems snappier ... is that what you did? Please include a changes file with future versions ... pretty please?

Posted by Eric at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)