okay, well here's the real deal.

i am currently working on several issues and am trying not to release a version that may be riddled with issues (even if it is free!).

one item that recently came up was the use of the per user cache if the user was anonymous (thus no user would be there).  i actually had plans to remove the global cache all together and use only a per user cache...this would allow for greatest flexibility and user customization...i'm debating the direction i want to go here now.

as for the numerous requests about “how can i remove the 'provided by...' information” -- all i have to say is shame on you ;-) for wanting to take that away!  well, the good news is that i have caved and removed the embedded 'provided by' statement from the footer line.  this is now replaced with a “last updated: “ label which indicates the last time the cache was refreshed with the data.

as a reminder, this is what is planned (not always what turns out) for the next release:

• enabling proxy servers with per-user authentication (completed)
• enabling users to specify their own formatting through XSL only
• enhancing caching model for performance (current issue as described above)
• enabling expand/collapse of feeds if the actual feed is to be shown
• enhanced installer for better installation options and more user friendly (completed)

some of these are taking more time through my testing due to some issues.

keep posted here for updates...email me offline for more questions or if you absolutely must have a new version because of some of the proxy server issues.

traveling?  if you are using america west airlines, bring your food...apparently earlier this year (i didn't pay attention), they eliminated all main cabin food service (not that it was the greatest, but hey it was something)...which would have been a nice item to know before hoping on a flight from arizona to new york over the holidays.

and for those who look at kids on the plane who are screaming...hey, the parents can't help it...yes, this was the case for me this holiday...two solid hours of blood curdling screams from the 1 year old...with staring/glaring eyes from everyone...listen up people...the kid had an ear infection...30,000 ft of altitude didn't help the situation...lay off...it is only 5 hours of your mesely life...

...oh yeah, since when did the word “fligh attendent” include the required bad attitude and complete lack of courtesy...if you don't like your job in the service industry, then quit...and spare us all...

 

erik sink gives some thoughts...

finance for geeks

so i consider myself a geek...let's get that out in the open (which explains the reason for the random thought that will follow).

i was reading the blog of scott watermasysk and came across this post regarding CommentRSS.  it was prompted from him reading a post about comments on blogs and how it becomes increasingly difficult to “keep up” with the conversation:

“One items (among many others) that came up is it is sometimes hard to keep up with secondary discussions (ie, comments) via blogs. Agreed. One thing .Text and a couple other blog tools now support is CommentRSS.” [scottwater.com/blog]

another interesting point that rob made:

"Personally, I think the blog phenomena is awesome. Collecting information from it is difficult though. It means you have to read everything everyday - I can tell you right now that's pretty challenging. Just trying to follow some of the recent discussions on my blog has been challenging to say the least ! For example, to follow this discussion I have to visit your blog along with any other person's blog that wants to discuss it - it's easy to miss stuff. "

after reading that, i started thinking...why “blog”?  i thought of another technology that has been around a while and already serves a similar purpose (and solves the above problem)...you might have heard of it: newsgroups (aka nntp protocol stuff).  i started thinking about outlook express and how i keep up with the international tech community and involved in microsoft newsgroups...this is what i discovered:

 

feature	blogs	newsgroups	winner?
post via web	X	X	no clear winner, both use http and standard web browser
post via client app	X	X	maybe blogs have the edge because they implement the post via http, helping those bhing firewalls, versus nntp
topic based discussions	X	X	no clear winner, this is the goal of each
anonymous posting	X	X	no clear winner
secured posting	X	X	maybe newsgroups due to usual implementation of network credentials versus application-based security
threaded discussions	X (kinda)	X	for me, newsgroups win...that is their intention; blogs try to implement this with comments, but the end user may have to go back to the blog site to read the comment...and usually the author of the post receives the comment in email, then has to launch their blog client/web to respond back on their blog
client apps to read the information	X	X	blog clients are usually rss aggregators which may or may not support some features, so if you want a client that reads the post and all responses, the newsgroups win here...again, that is their goal.
leverage post information	X	X (in theory)	i'm referring to aggregation here...in theory an app could be written to consume newsgroup information (and has), but blogs have a winner here with rss standardization
galleries/categories	X	X (kinda)	blogs clearly have the edge here, but i could argue that newsgroups have categories...you subscribe to the one you want on the news server...think of the "blog" as the news server and the categories as each newsgroup...but it is clear that newsgroups don't support galleries
searching/archiving	X (in the client)	X	if the aggregator client supports it, then it will; but newsgroups have this support natively...if you can point be to a weblog software (not the client, but the weblog like .text) that enables searching, then i'll shut up)

so what's my point? it's that “blogs” have been around forever...in a different format and have usually been preserved for corporate use...

“yeah, but you have to have a news server to host nntp groups”: true, but you have to have a web server to host a blog

“yeah, but a web server is easy and i can get a blog from a service that provides them”: a newsgroup server is easy as well, and maybe there's an open market out there? a newsgroup server for “weblogsnewsserver.com”? and you can signup for your own newsgroup just like you sign up now for your own blogspace.

“what about aggregation...i want to read all in one place”: i agree...outlook express and other newsreaders do this for you...maybe they could support an rss integration consumer?

“firewalls man, firewalls”: totally agree...this is the kicker...why are it admins so scared of nntp anyway? with proper management it shouldn't be an issue moreso than http...lock it down and have security policies and all is well.

anyhow, just some thoughts...the post on pascal's site made me think...is the wheel being re-invented?

here's a doc outlining some of the new technologies in c# whidbey...

a preview of visual c# and c# whidbey (word doc)