I’d observe the Twitter chatter and wager that the “self-hosted RSS reader” that Shaun Inman casually mentioned in an interview with Peppermint Tea in January is not only real but nearing release.
If it’s half as cool as Mint and handles authenticated feeds, I’m buying it for sure!
UPDATE: Looks like I’ve been speculating about what is already known 
I’ve been quiet on this website for a few weeks, but I have not been idle. Here’s a quick update on my recent activities:
Development of simpleContact Pro is well underway. I’m currently working on the form builder itself, which is coming along nicely. It would however be premature to announce a release date other than a May/June window. I plan to write a substantial blog post at the start of May that will preview the app (with interface screengrabs).
I have got the StumbleUpon bug. I’ve been using it since January, and it is quite addictive to keep a blog of webpages that you like. It has also become a steady driver of traffic to my website. In time I’ll integrate my StumbleUpon blog with this website, since referencing other sites can be valuable, but rarely merits a full post.
I start my overdue training programme tonight, newly bought iPod Shuffle in hand. My fundraising page is set up and I am seeking sponsorship between now and May 18th. I am running for Barnado’s in this, my third Great Run.
I’ll be getting back into regular posts soon, apologies for the brief hiatus.
Toshiba’s abandonment of HD-DVD is the final nail in the format’s coffin. Like most so-called format wars it was brief, brutal, and a million people got burned.
This was always about two industry’s interests. The consumer electronics industry wants to sell huge HD televisions (which happen to make DVDs look shabby). The film industry wants movies to cost £20 again.
Who stands at the intersection of those industries? Sony does. They have a portfolio of blockbusters (e.g. Bond) that will appeal to the early adopter demographic. They have a worldbeating console platform to put the Blu Ray format in living rooms.
It was a foregone conclusion.
Meanwhile, the mass market will stick to DVD until films and players are cheap.
Today’s announcement that the BBC iPlayer will be available on iPhone / iPod Touch within the next few weeks is far more interesting. I expect 4oD to follow suit.
Let’s face it, this was all a bit of a red herring. What we all really want is content on demand. To push a button on your computer / TV remote / mobile device and start watching what you want / where you want / when you want. That’s a generation away though, so Sony get to make some money until the rules are changed.
A thought provoking post by Stephen Fry called Social networking through the ages. He observes that many of the modern social networking websites constitute a return to the old fashioned closed networks (like AOL) of years ago. For what is Facebook, but a Friends Reunited for the Web 2.0 generation?
I guess that’s why they’re called revolutions – they always come round again.
I thought I’d take a moment to observe the first birthday of my website. A year ago today I went live with a basic WordPress install. So far the site has undergone:
It’s still very early days for me on this score. I’ve been slowly narrowing my focus and finding my style. I think the quality of my writing has come a long way this last year, but still leaves a great deal to be desired. I want this blog to have worth (rather than just an account of my activities), so I am thinking about fleshing out some previous posts into articles and tutorials. I am open to suggestions in this matter.
I don’t feel an urgent need to change the basic design of the website, since this look-and-feel is only eight months old anyway. It has held up under additions without any signs of creaking, so I think it will be good for another year.
When I come to redesign the site I’ll be paying close attention to my statistics. I’ve gained some interesting insights into how this site is used (ie: what is popular and what is not) and these factors will be taken into account. One result is likely to be a blog that is more visual, with less categorisation.
I have lots of ideas going forward. I plan to release simpleContact 1.2 in November, and version 1.3 is pencilled in for February. I’ve made no secret of my intention to release a commercial product next year, which will exist alongside the free version and offer more sophisticated functionality (custom fields, for starters).
I’ll start work on simpleContact 2.0 “Pro” in the new year. Watch this space…
This period of focusing solely on a free version is proving immensely valuable, because it allows me to gauge people’s opinions. I can get a feel for what people need, how much active support I will have to perform and respond to bug reports or compatibility issues (which I’m pleased to say have been very few).
As always, I am open for feedback and support. I have a roadmap in place for the application, but will give requests due consideration. Contact me with yours…
Back to work!
Here’s hoping some real competition has arrived in the music downloads market with Amazon MP3 (in US-only public beta). It may be another nail in the coffin of DRM. I’ve bought a few tracks on iTunes, but I buy albums on CD because of DRM.
I want to own my music. I won’t join a subscription service like the late Virgin Digital. As for people who don’t want to pay: are you listening record labels?
Apple have too much power right now, and their “my way or the highway” attitude may come back to bite them. I hope it does because a) getting too involved in rights management red tape distracts from making slick devices and b) it leads to mean spirited moves like preventing a previously bought game working on your new iPod.
I’m looking forward to Amazon MP3 rolling out in the UK. Their prices appear to be competitive, and they provide a Mac OS X download client. Hurrah!
Here’s one for anyone who thinks that the anti-piracy ads we see in the cinema are a bit O-T-T. I remember noting that attempting to copy a film in a cinema carries a hefty penalty. Up to ten years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
So it seems pirating a film is a worse crime than murder.
So YouTube started displaying advertisements on video clips in the US a week ago. Before long, this will roll out everywhere. The first question on my mind is what took them so long? Backlash be damned, I think this could be a small step towards something brilliant.
Sometimes their activities seem pretty random, but I’m going to go out on a limb and credit Google with having a Grand Plan. It doesn’t strike me as a coincidence that Adobe is adding H.264 support to Flash while YouTube is converting its entire library to H.264 (essentially for iPhone, but I digress).
Higher quality means higher operating costs (ie: storage and bandwidth), which Google will want to pay for somehow…
Call them what you want. Search Engine. Rival to Microsoft Office. Mapper. Google are in the business of selling advertisements. There’s a fundamental difference however with putting ads on YouTube and pay-per-click services like Adwords.
A search result is an abstract thing, a function of the engine which no one website can own. A video however, is the sole property of whoever made it. The current ad approach doesn’t seem to give due respect to the content creators.
Matt Harding, mentioned in the linked CNET article has a legitimate complaint. He should not only be able to choose whether to have adverts in his own content (even if no-ads means settling for low quality), but what adverts to allow. Existing services like Text Link Ads already provide this level of control.
Most importantly, he should get a piece of the action, damnit! His video has been viewed almost eight million times. Even if YouTube got the majority of revenue for providing the platform, as little as a $1 cut on a 1% clickthrough rate should send him almost $80,000. I think he’d feel much better about that.
A move like this could create a revolution in user created content. If an individual could make some pocket money (or even a living) from their creativity, then all sorts of new things are possible, not only in terms of variety but also production values.
Successes like Wine Library TV show us that niche audiences are the future. As Robert Llewellyn points out in his rather entertaining video blog, the missing link is how to make something self-sustaining. WLTV exists as a brand reinforcement exercise for an online wine shop, but ads may be the key for Joe Public.
When a car enthusiast can create his own Fifth Gear, when a gallery can create their own South Bank Show, that future will be here.
I’ve decided that before I take this website much further forward it needs to move. People often presume that having a dot com address is somehow bigger and better when registering a domain, but unless you are based in America it can send a misleading message.
I think the web design industry in the UK is bursting with creativity, but lags behind America in terms of community and entrepreneurial spirit (see Ryan Carson’s thoughts on the matter). For my part, placing my own efforts within a geographically-vague space doesn’t help.
So I have registered alex-hardy.co.uk. I’ll transition this site over to that domain in time, where I’ll set up permanent home. The prices of my services will be quoted in £GB pounds (with approximate $US dollar and € Euro conversions). It just seems more honest somehow.
This won’t happen overnight: I have made certain technical commitments to this domain and I need to experiment a little to make the move go as smoothly as possible. A bit of htaccess redirection should ensure that any bookmarks and links out there continue to work. My RSS feed URL will remain unchanged.
Now, I think I’ll go and have a cup of tea and a biscuit (cookie).
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