Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

scriptingNews outline for 9/24/2000

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:9/24/2000; 12:47:03 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 9/24/2000
Msg #:21676
Prev/Next:21675 / 21677

DaveNet: OPML 1.0.

OK, lots of great questions about today's DaveNet. I need to write a tutorial that shows the connection between the user experience side of OPML (ie Radio UserLand) and the file format. I'll do some screen shots. So many smart people are showing up, it's great. (The screen shots will have to wait till tomorrow, I got busy with other things.)

Brad Pettit compares Radio UserLand to Notes, and I say such a comparison has got to favor RU because we're not dealing with a huge installed base, and we're architecting in Y2K, not in the 1900s. Russ Lipton, who apparently is non-disclosed on Ray Ozzie's stealth company, is happy to be in the middle of our two products, which is good news. I hope there's enough difference in what we're doing so that there's synergy at the intersection. Ray is a Scripting News reader, and we're not stealth about RU, so presumably he knows too. I've been emailing with Ray, and hope to find out what he's doing sooon.

On the Syndication mail list, David Davies posts his vision for XML-based syndication.

An unedited Courtney Love rant on the settlement with MP3.Com, posted with permission.

NY Times on self-publishing. "Stephen King, Michael Crichton and John Grisham are all great authors," he said. "But I can pack books in peanuts better than anyone."

Little-known fact, Radio UserLand/Win has the MSIE browser control embedded. Brent Simmons, who works at UserLand has a question for people who know their way around this control. He claims to have RTFM, and is pulling his hair out. Please save Brent's hair, and earn extra good karma points.

I got an advance copy of Alan Deutschman's book on the second coming of Steve Jobs. I'm reading it now. (The first thing I do, of course, is look to see who's in the index. Yes, I'm there. And so is almost everyone I know in the industry. As they say It's a Small Valley. The book starts out great, but then starts drifting. Are all biographies like this? It's hard to judge, because I know many of the stories in more detail than the book tells. I'll get back to the book in a bit, I want to do some of my own writing this morning. What else is new?)

Dan Gillmor: Our lives should not be open to everyone. I bet Steve Jobs would agree with that! ";->"

Behind the Curtain 

The curtain is lifted, great pictures!

Here's the Scripting News slideshow. Everyone but Jake the dog has their own weblog. And here they all are. Ginnie's weblog has pictures of the event, including the front window of Jing Jing (home of Spicy Noodles) and Tori giving me a neck massage while I take a pic of Ginnie taking a picture of me. Jake's fiance Sally is a total fireplug, bright, courageous and sweet. The picture on her weblog doesn't do her justice. Check this one out instead, look at the twinkle in her eye. It's there all the time. Bright bright bright. Tori and Sally really hit it off. If you're a regular reader of this site, you gotta know Jake. He's working with Brent on Radio UserLand, our newest inductee to the loony bin we call UserLand.

Here's why Brent and Sheila are so cool.

Trademarks and TBL 

Tim Berners-Lee: Web of Trust is not an epinions trademark!

The W3C trademarks page. To my surprise, they claim HTML as a trademark of the W3C, the organization that TBL heads.

Fred and Sylvia 

I went to a party last night in Berkeley, a CyberSalon, which has been a regular event since 1994. The hosts are two very dear friends, Sylvia Paull and Fred Davis. I've known them both since the early days of the Mac. Fred was the editor in chief of MacUser, and then an idea guy working for Bill Ziff, the man behind Ziff-Davis. Sylvia did marketing at Software Ventures, which was an unlikely name for a company that sold a Mac terminal program.

Today Sylvia is a self-declared agent provacateur, she's an independent PR person who reps Richard Stallman, among many others. She also started and runs another salon, Gracenet, a networking group for high-tech women. She's probably my number one fan. An avid reader of DaveNet, she heaps on the praise, and I know that's not an automatic thing for Sylvia, which of course makes it meaningful.

Three years ago, after making megabucks in the initial dot-com craze, Fred started Lumeria. Back then Fred was an idea guy. The editor in chief thing didn't really work, but if you ever need some ideas go see Fred. It was for Fred that I termed the coin idearrhea. He's an amazingly creative guy, and he shares his ideas, prolifically.

Last night, talking on the porch after the party, with a group of very bright-eyed people, Fred said "Software is hard work." Yup. Three years ago, as Lumeria was starting, I tried to warn him, friend to friend. Things have changed for Fred! Now there's a sobriety to him that's very nice. Software kicks your butt, every time. When a piece of software comes out the other end of the pipe, whether it be a web app or something you 2click on, if it works, that's a miracle. From the outside looking in it must look simple. Like all hard arts, that's the point. Fred now has his bachelors in The School of Hard Knocks. And he's a better friend for it.

The Cybersalons are pure Fred and Sylvia. People come for the usual reasons, to meet new people, to talk about their ideas, and to have a chance to say apolitical things. It's nice to grow old together, to have a clan that meets regularly, and shares unconditional approval. We are getting older, you can see it on the faces and the stories, and the children who are now adults. Crazes come and go, but Cybersalons are a constant pleasure. Thanks Sylvia, and thanks Fred!



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