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Extensions can be good, and extensions can be bad. The good: Jybe. This beta allows you to co-browse. Once you have created a "session", others can join and chat. Both (or all) users can control where the browser goes.
Jybe works with Firefox and IE (Windows) so you really can teach your grandma to use eBay.
And now the bad: Piggy-Bank sounds like fun, but it's size and reliance on Java made a mess out of my profile. Even the manual uninstall recommended in the docs failed.
How'd I ever dig my way out? I indexed my profile folder and searched it for content for the offending extension's name. Firefox keeps most of its configuration files in RDF format, so the text is searchable and the XML elements easy to identify and delete.
Firefox's calendar extension has been my calendar manager of choice for six months now, but its Thunderbird extension and standalone Sunbird application haven't worked for me, until now.
I use multiple computers at multiple locations, so the number one application of the extension for me has been FTP syncing. With the release of Sunbird 0.2 RC2 I'm finally able to do this in Sunbird rather than Firefox+extension. And this is nice, because the extension is much clunker than Sunbird.
For some reason, the Windows release of RC2 doesn't seem to sync correctly, so at work I am still using the extension. For those of you Firefoxing in a work environment, the maker of the profile locking extension for Thunderbird has made a similar solution for Firefox.
2004 was a pretty good year on the tech front. Looking into the new year, there are a couple trends that are likely to have an impact on 2005. I don't pretend to know anything about the future, but here are a few things to watch for in 2005:
Podcasting will gain some popularity, and we all hope that will mean more and better 'casts. I spent a good deal of my holiday traveling listening to podcast shows, and found a very mixed bag - particularly in production and journalistic quality.
Mozilla has only just started its shake-up of the browser world. While Netscape is busy painting over the top of Firefox, and Microsoft is carefully nicking the 'fox's features, Mozilla is working on an add-on that will give Thunderbird Outlook-like power in calendaring and scheduling.
Apple is going to gag its leaks and shore-up its foothold in music. If the rumors are true, we could see Apple go cheap with a headless iMac and Flash iPod. Then what will PC users have to complain about?
That's all I got, the ball is starting to fog up. Of course, I wish all of you the best in 2005.
Today is post 101 for me on this blog. Pretty neat.
I don't know if you have noticed the sudden proliferation of "Firefox Power Tips for Mega Power Users" articles, mostly written by bloggers who downloaded Ff five minutes previous to writing about obvious features (TIP: Add a Live Bookmark by clicking on the orange icon).
Well, I have noticed them, and am preempting them all with my Thunderbird Super Secret Power Tips. For what it's worth, here are some tweaks that have make my Tb experience better:
- Use a custom Thunderbird start page. In preferences (Mac: Thunderbird>Preferences, PC:Tools>Options) you can select a web page that will show up in the preference pane until you click a message. I have my start page bring up my PHPiCalendar week view. Handy.
- Access hidden options with the About Config extension. This extension adds the equivalent of the about:config list of preferences in Firefox. Once you get into the options you can get rid of the annoying quote line (Dork said...) in replies and much more.
- Protect your profile with a password. Yes, I know you can apply a master password in the options, but this only controls the use of saved passwords. If you'd like to defend your profile from launching without a password, you need to get the Profile Password extension.
- Toggle message grouping. Group your inbox (or any folder) into Today, Yesterday, This Week etc by simply pressing the "g" key.
Next time: screenshots, if you're lucky.
Netscape released a preview of its new Firefox-based browser. As expected, it is Firefox's speed with an ugly theme and Netscape network stuff caked on.
One interesting addition is the ability to switch rendering engines between Mozilla's Gecko and Microsoft's Trident (to see what the page looks like in IE). The Netscape preview also supports site-specific settings.
The preview is only available to registered testers and is Windows-only at the moment. No word on a release date or a Mac version. But from what I've seen, that's not a big loss.
I know this is old news by now, but it's definitely good news.
POP access to your Gmail. I just hope Google doesn't get in too deep trying to be everything to everybody.
Recent criticisms of Firefox missing OS-specific features indicated to me this week that there are a lot of people out there who are missing a fundamental part of the Mozilla project and its goals.
I think it is worth hearkening back to the days of Netscape and Marc Andreessen original concept of the browser. Netscape wasn't designed as an Internet Explorer killer, it was to be a Windows killer. Part of the reason Microsoft (and now Apple and even Linux's KDE) includes a browser tightly integrated with the OS is to defend the value of the operating system.
When Firefox began to mature earlier this year, I notes that it provided the best cross-platform browsing experience since its predecessor Netscape. By creating a browser bases platform-within-a-platform, the Mozilla bunch have created a superior browsing experience independent of the OS. Even better, through extensions you can check your calendar, compose email, spell-check text and even play music without leaving your browser.
Now, I am a Mac zealot, and always will be. But the most powerful attribute of Firefox and its email counterpart Thunderbird is their consistent performance across platforms, so it doesn't matter what OS you are using. This is where the ideals of Marc and Open Source mesh, and where an exciting group of new applications begin.
Here's a nice Monday morning surprise...
Update: Come and gone, apparently Atom was an (unintentional?) preview of coming attractions. While the button has disappeared, the feed is still there at http://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom.
Now the work is moving past the programmers to the early adopters - us. And how we carry the torch will set a precedent to other young Open Source Projects.
Posted on SpreadFirefox.com
- Pioneering a New Model
Open Source is proving its superiority as a software development model. In Open Source programming, the community takes ownership and provides an unstoppable source of fixes and improvements. This yields a better product.
So, how do we leverage the power of Open Source and the community to execute a marketing campaign?
First of all, this week has been a busy one, but it is only the beginning. As FireFox improves, so must our marketing. As for the nuts and bolts of how, let's take some cues from the effort to date:
Power comes from the community. The individual strengths of each of contributer builds a diverse and capable group. SpreadFirefox.com is a great place to register your skills with the group. In fact, I'd use the profile to specify what you plan to offer to the project.
As we participate in various activities, we need to provide upstream feedback. Marketing is a two-way channel. So if your sister isn't interested in FireFox because she doesn't think it works with Yahoo! Mail, that needs to be sent back to the group so we can address it. This can be done in the forums.
Every community needs some kind of structure and rewards system in place. Just as it is a badge of honor to have contributed to the Linux kernel, the points system on SpreadFirefox.com allows all kinds of contributers to build rank in this community. Don't miss out on opportunities to build your credits with your time or money.
Leadership is a special challenge with an ad-hoc army of volunteers. Credit should be given to those who have to coordinate these efforts into a campaign. Ideas have to be filtered by popularity, potential and practicality and unfortunately not all ideas can be incorporated or executed.
So, eyes are on us. Soon we'll know if the spirit of volunteerism and power of Open Source are enough to launch a global software product. The fire is already burning.
Open Source has a stigma of being a bunch of hippies (on flower-power iMacs?), which is of course inaccurate. From the viewpoint of a cold hard cash-minded MBA, the Open Source structure actually is a marvelous lesson in economic efficiency.
What? Well, in traditional software, the price premium is a composite of fixed overhead costs, variable costs and profit returned to investors. So the cost of traditional software is a product of not only the time of the programmer, but also the peripheral expenses.
In the Open Source model, the only price driver is time. Now, Open Source software is free. But delivery and support (both things that can be circumvented, provided you have the time to do it yourself) are where the cost is represented. One step further, the customer can add value to the product as a node in the network - through making improvements to the code, participating in support forums or contributing bug reports and feedback.
The benefit? In classic Internet/information revolution form, middle men are eliminated and value is increased. R&D investment risk in minimized and the producer has an open channel of communication to the customer. Not to mention a leveled playing field, and no tear gas.
The Web Standards Project (WaSP) has taken the latest jab at Internet Explorer with the "Browse Happy" campaign. Safari and Firefox are featured along with Mozilla and Opera. You can even send in your own "switcher story".
Mozilla Sunbird, an iCal-based calendar application that also comes as a Mozilla/Firefox extension quietly provides one of the easiest means of cross platform calendar syncing. Perfectly compatible with Apple's iCal, it gives you one more reason to never leave Firefox. And yes, it syncs via FTP (iCal does not).
The moral of the story here? Standards. Better adherence to web standards means safety and support for the open iCal format means more options. Happy and on time. Thanks Mozilla.
I could kick myself for not installing MT-Blacklist sooner. After a nasty hit over the weekend, the effort to install it was well worthwhile. If you are fending off daily comment spam, check it out.
Patching and upgrading my MT install haven't been a high priority since my venture into Drupal has begun. My test installation is running very well.
I do think one of the misconceptions about Drupal right now is that it is a MT replacement. If all you want is a free blog manager, go with WordPress. Blog management represents 25% or less of Drupal's capability. So, if you're going Drupal it is worth developing your site's community along with the switch.
It may be a while before I have this site converted, but the other sites I have slated to move to Drupal will take advantage of the community management features of Drupal not found in MT: advanced user management, forum, polls and module add-on features like spellcheck, message queuing and private messaging.
So if you have been considering a move to Drupal, don't write it off because your templates won't convert. Take some time to get to know Drupal. Your site will thank you.
Sorry about the outage. I moved. Anyhow, to catch up on things, I should say first that after giving Six Apart such a hard time, I should chime in on their new pricing structure. Rumor has it that you'll need an accountant and lawyer to figure out what price actually applies to you, but after the deciphering, you could quite possible be satisfied.
I have to say that my number one objection to the new pricing came because, with the price increases there was little "value added". I, like many others had expected MT Pro to trump all other CMS's and that this commercial product's revenue would serve to support the little brother we know as MT.
So, I really am more disappointed from a product angle than a pricing. The original proposed pricing was high, and Six Apart has fixed that.
Well, I have to admit that it feels like breaking up with a long-time girlfriend. When you're trying to get over the last one, how can you muster the energy to look for a replacement? Will I ever love again?
Apart from the fact that I am in no hurry to go anywhere, I've given some attention to new CMS possibilities for the future. The news is good: there are plenty of fish in the sea, and they're just like I like them: cheap.
I have had some exciting flirtations with Drupal. It is a nice system, but a little riskier than I'm used to (reliance on your PHP and database, rather than safe static HTML). We are taking it slow for now.
If you're in the same boat, I have no problem sharing my black book. This chart can help you select your next blogware/CMS.
Frontier, the core of Manila and Radio UserLand is going open-source. Now may be the perfect time to check it out.
Ages ago I downloaded an early version of Phoenix (which became Firebird and is now Firefox) and was unimpressed. After joining the Gmail beta, I gave it another go, and my has it come a link way. Why Firefox is the best cross-platform browser out there:
- Search from the toolbar - with your choice of engines (even MacUpdate)
- Slick default themes, and support for tons more
- Extensions (including a simple RSS reader and the Google toolbar)*
- And of course, tabs, auto-scrolling and everything else you could never expect from Microsoft
* The Mac version .8 has a problem downloading and installing extensions. To get around this, you'll have to brave a nightly build.
Firefox is the most fun I've had with a browser since Netscape came out with plugins, so have fun.
In 2001 I started out with MacMerc, which was originally powered by Blogger. Months ago I pulled my last Blogger site because I was tired of relying on 3rd party commenting solutions that were less than dependable.
Now, under Google the comments are included, as are cool new template designs, image uploads for Blog*Spot users and a profile page for each user. Google snubbed the XML world again by not FOAF enabling users' profiles.
So, is there any chance of me going back to Blogger? No way. Call me a control freak, but I like the application to sit on my server. But for newbie bloggers, Blogger's new offerings are perfect. Plus you might get that Gmail invitation...
Way back when I wondered about the potential inclusion of FOAF support in Movable Type's new TypeKey sign-in service.
Since then I have been invited to join the MT3 alpha (which is becoming a beta) and found out that Ben 'n Mena were one step ahead of me. Now that MT3 is going beta, and I am reasonably sure I won't get in trouble for saying so, I can spill the FOAF.
TypeKey supports public profiles, which display information shared by the user (name, email, homepage). Mine is here. If you view the source of this page, or simply add foaf.rdf to the profile page’s address, guess what you'll find? TypeKey generates a FOAF file very similar to the ones generated by TypePad. In fact the FOAF file lists its creator as TypePad 1.2.
So, in addition to all the unwitting FOAFers on TypePad, now anyone who signs up to comment on protected Movable Type 3 blogs will join the RDF universe. With FOAF slipping behind the scenes of MT, hopefully we'll get the critical mass needed to move FOAF from a "so what" to a "neato".
The web is abuzz about Google's sly April fools press release, but I don't think we're giving Google the credit they deserve for pioneering a new product introduction strategy.
Here's the problem: how do you build value into a free product? Think about how many services you've signed up for in the 'net and never used again. I can't even remember how many social networks I have signed up for.
But I remember Orkut. Why? Exclusivity. With the invitation-only release of Orkut's beta and now the invitation only release of the Gmail beta, Google is building buzz and placing itself and its loyal users at the top of the web hierarchy.
This isn't all that different from Google's flirtations with an IPO. Google is creating hype, and building reputation by playing hard-to-get - something hitherto unheard of on the 'net.
You can't deny its effectiveness. If you don't have a Gmail account, you want one. After all it's just an email account, right? Or is it a status symbol?
If you decide, you can reach me at brianburnham AT gmail.com.
Oh, and thanks to Nelson Minar for the invitation!
As Movable Type users continue to fight content spam and contemplate Gestapo style restrictions on commenting in MT 3, I've noticed one method of reducing the onslaught.
In several cases on my own site, I have found that the entries most harassed with spam are this with, well, tempting keywords. I'm not talking about "spam" (but lets see what happens once I post this). Think more along the lines of what turns up in spam email messages' subjects.
A stretch? Maybe, but if anticipating spammers probable keywords keeps my blog from needing daily maintenance, then I'll do it. So you'll have to get your perscription meds somewhere else.
The last I'd checked on Macromedia's new Central it was still in its beta phase. At the time I wasn't that impressed. Without a decent selection of applications, I didn't see the Central "vision".
Now Central is a different story. With a nicely maintained cross-platform experience and a useful selection of free applications (try the blog reader) and pay applications, Central is showing itself to be an interesting new delivery platform.
Now, consider Central alongside reports that Adobe is fishing for an "iTunes-like" application for selling stock photography. It seems that the big players are looking to redefine the Point of Sale with Internet applications outside the browser. That's one way to take hold of the notoriously migrant Internet shopper.
Oh, the net is all a buzz with talk/anticipation/preemptive complains about MT 3's new TypeKey comment authentication. Apart from surrendering all my civil liberties (j/k), I can't wait to get rid of comment spam.
What I'd really like to know is if TypeKey will have any type of FOAF support. TypePad supports it, and there are already plugins that put FOAF into comments in Movable Type. Would be nice huh?
Anyway, just a thought. Now you can get back to the "is George Bush behind comment authentication" debate.
It's open season for new XML technology. iTunes, Yahoo! and now Amazon have gone RSS.
That's not all. FOAF is gaining ground too. LiveJournal, like TypePad, is auto-generating FOAF files for its users. Tribe.net is said to be gearing up for FOAF as well. Now, its quite possible that the majority of FOAF files on the 'net are there unbeknownst to their authors.
The hope is that enough users will get FOAFing, and make use of the emerging open format. How well these systems will support adding FOAF links to others outside the LiveJournal or Tribe network will tell us how big a victory this really is.
Most promising is the broad support for the XML glue that will hold together blogs, people and their connections. Somewhere at the heart of all this is the beginning of the self-connecting, familiar Internet we're looking for.
As promised, I'm back with some templates to add to your new TypeList style BlogLists. Last time we build a new blog to contain our lists, divided our lists into categories and today we're going to set MT up to auto-construct a FOAF and OPML file from our People list.
Credit where credit is due: the OPML template I'm using is a modified version of Richard Eriksson's MT OPML template. You'll want to thank him, but use mine. Using a conditional MT tag (MTEntryIfExtended), my modified template will publish only your friends with RSS feeds to your OPML.
Anyway, here's the OPML template. Set this up to publish a file called blogroll.opml. Your root directory would make an easy-to-locate spot. Now, using services like Feedster, you can import your changing OPML into a news reader. If you're ready to go hog-wild you can install the MT-Outliner plugin and create blogrolls from other's OPML files and publish them on your site.
But we still have the FOAF template to put in. This template creates a bare-bones FOAF file, similar to the type that TypePad auto-creates for its members. You will want to take this template and enter your sha1sum encoded email. If you need to figure that out, you can go here. This is the minimum personalization require to make your FOAF file, though you can add all kinds of additional tags for your work/school/blog URL, picture, location and more. For more info, start here and take a look here.
If you are at a loss for FOAF, read this or this. What the template will do for your FOAF is automatically add your friends on your People list to your FOAF file. This becomes much more valuable if you know the sha1sum or FOAF link of your friends. Your FOAF should live at your site's root, and is usually called foaf.rdf.
What would be really great would be to have an MT plugin that would auto discover the RSS feeds and FOAF links of people in your People list. Like I said, I'm an author, so it isn't going to be me that comes up with that one.
Now, what have you got? You have a framework to build BlogLists and templates to publish your blogroll as an include, OPML and in your FOAF file. That's all I got, but I hope you find it handy. Don't shoot your eye out. I'm not responsible for anything you break trying to do this. Feel free to post tips of you own in the comments.
That's right, move over RSS 0.9, 0.92, 1.0 and 2.0, there's a new syndication format out there: Atom. And that goodness, I was dying. But before I add the ten zillionth feed and badge to my site, I have a dumb question: why Atom?
I have read up about Atom, so I know it's "better" than tired old RSS, but after looking at the feed myself I'm not all that compelled to use it. Atom includes author information, or at least their email address. Not what I was hoping for. How long will it take the SPAM spiders to find that trick...
The feature I was waiting for was blog networking. That may sound new, but the technology isn't, I'm talking about blogrolls, OPML and FOAF. Content is content, but the real power comes in connecting it. And our new XML flavor of the week leaves us out in the cold on that one.
So, color me unimpressed. In fact, I think I'll cut my badged feeds down to one. Right now I'm favoring RSS 1, it supports some rudimentary FOAF, so I'll pick it for my pony. And you?
Got some cool RSS feeds? Here are some recent blogroll-worthy finds of mine:
Not Steve Jobs (it's a parody)
Surfin Safari: Dave Hyatt, Safari programmer
Macromedia's XML News Aggregator/Blogs
It appears that they have found a link between sleep and creativity. Looks like I'm in trouble.
Actually, my teenage years speak to the contrary, but the notion is still interesting.
How well did you sleep last night?
You could be a part of XML's answer to social networking and not even know it. FOAF, or Friend of a Friend, is an XML RDF format used to create files that link people through friends. Put simply, it is an XML file that sits on your site and identifies you, your homepages, your friends and more.
Enter TypePad: the service actually creates a FOAF file for its subscribers automatically based on their personal information and People TypeList or blogroll. TypePad also slips in a meta tag to help FOAF services auto-discover the file.
How do you FOAF? Well, if you're not a TypePad user, you can go to Leigh Dodds' FOAF-a-matic and fill in a form and have your FOAF file generated for you. From there you can paste your FOAF info into a text file (foaf.rdf) and upload it, however to make later changes easier, I'd reccommend adding it as a template to your blogging system.
Now, where's the fun in FOAF? Adding friends! This can be done several ways. If you know friends that already have a FOAF file on the web, you can add their link though FOAF-a-matic. You can also use these FOAF web tools. Add me as your friend by clicking here and adding some code to your FOAF.
Now that you have a network started, you can join a database and browse yours and others' networks. You'll want to try out Plink.org and get listed on it. Now, you may be asking "so what?" and that would be a good question. The real foof of FOAF is in building up networks, so the more people that use it, the more valuable it will become. That's where you come in.
Feel free to add me as a friend. To further facilitate the furthering of FOAF, post a link to your FOAF file in the comments. This will allow me and others to add you to our network. Fun? FOAF!
More and more for us are beginning to get comfortable with the consequences of Internet self-expression. We're also discovering limits and creating rules about what we do say online.
Blogger is stepping up and providing us with a start toward developing rules for blogging. Their most recent concern: how not to get fired blogging. Referenced is the Michael Hanscom article we covered on MacMerc and here.
We're learning that, though it is surprising what people feel comfortable revealing online, there are some p's and q's to be minded in blogging. Looking back I think it's interesting how a medium that began with hacker-esque pseudonyms like yoda07 has become such a personal one. I think this sincerity is a mark of evolution for cyberspace, but I's still not telling where I park my car.
Ahh, words like chmod, sudo and bash remind me of my early Internet days as a customer support geek at the local ISP. Back then I lived on the command line. Pine, Pico and IRC chat - those were the days.
Well, since setting up a new server, I've been back in touch with my inner-geek. This week I installed Movable Type and Qwiki on a fresh linux server and got to get geeky with SSH. It's a good feeling isn't it? Kind of like editing web pages in the "code view" in Dreamweaver. I would like to say I'm a die-hard, but unlike many I gave up BBEdit years ago. Come on, I'm a designer.
Anyway, ahead is the really fun part: breaking, er, customizing my installations. After finals, I hope to have time to acquaint myself with some PHP. Somehow, all this new stuff has snuck in since my web-days-of-yore in the summer of '96. But I'm grateful, thanks to OS X, chmod is never more than a terminal away...
The tech economy has been bruised for years now. With as many tech - and Mac people looking for jobs, it's worth noting that we are our greatest asset.
Follow me here... I work for Career Services at a state university, and from my training I know (and you have probably heard) that networking is the best job search method. As Internet junkies and Mac-heads, we are part of one of the strongest interest groups on the 'net. Why not put that to work for us?
Just today a fellow Mac enthusiast was fired by Microsoft for blogging a delivery of new G5's to their headquarters. Michael lost his job because of his activity in our network. Now shouldn't the network rally to his support?
Of course. Gone are the days of 'net escapism where your cyber friends were nothing more than IRC handles or screen names. The 'net permeates our lives. Its time to do what we'd do for any real friend in need, and help this man find a new job. Not for his sake only, but our own as well.
If blogging on about Macs and the Internet is really a legitimate use of time, lets show it by proving the value of our network of influence. Bloggers and Mac users of the net, unite!
My Freeloader Friday for this week mentions the change of Blogger to a totally free service.
For those of you who have been around since the early days of MacMerc, you'll remember the days when our web site was Blogger powered. Right now I maintain 3 Blogger blogs, so I was pleased with the announcement.
The free accounts do enjoy some nice new features like file upload and post-dating entries. RSS syndication hasn't been integrated into the free accounts yet, but hopefully will be soon.
With RSS syndication up and coming as a new standard, and the popularity of blogs exploding (I recently read a Harvad Business School case on the implications of blogging), the web will become a much more personal place. And I'm all for that.