Patently Ridiculous!

I just got round to having a good read of the two patents out there linked by Adam Green regarding feeds and aggregators and auto-discovery of feeds in a web page.

All this would be a huge fly in the ointment for just about every feed aggregator, feed parser, feed browser/grazer out there!! WTF?

I cant tell if these filings (one from Apples' Steven Jobs) have been accepted and processed yet, but buy, this could pose all sorts of problems.

OPML is not mentioned, per se, but there are so many methods of collecting and presenting feeds mentioned here, that various problems could arise, I think.

Has anyone else seen any further discussion and dissection of these patents? If so, could you let me know, as it could put the kibosh on a few things that many of us are working on. 

Max Headroom : The original video podcaster?

It was great to meet up with Steve Garfield and Carol the other evening, here in Boston. We went for dinner then off out to see Monty Python's Spamalot at the Colonial Theatre, which was a hilarious musical based around the story of the 'Holy Grail' movie. [The Colonial Theatre might be having a bit of disruption now, since being situated right next to where the crane accident happened the other day]

I was telling Steve how his video podcasting /citizen journalist efforts remind me of Max Headroom. For those of you that have never seen the movie, I suggest you do. The character played by Matt Frewer was a video/tv journalist, operating as a one man band, in constant direct-feed contact with his producers, roaming around investigating stories with just him and his camera. The character was investigating 'blipverts' and the explosive effects they had on viewers when he had an accident and hit a Max Headroom sign in a car park. It was the last thing he could remember. In the film, they managed to communicate with a catatonic Frewer by plumbing his psyche into a computer. Hence the animated character was born.

Steve Garfield IS Max Headroom 2.0

OPML Camp : May 20-21 2006

Coming up in May at the Berkman Center in Harvard, the first OPML Camp will be taking place. Organised by Adam Green, this looks set to be a interesting couple of days where lots of OPML geeks will get together and talk about some of the stuff they are building around OPML and share ideas and help eachother understand it. [I hear that Tom Morris may be on his way over to that, too.]

It's possible I may be over in Boston at this time, depending on schedules etc. And if I do, I may be able to show some people some of things I have worked on over the years, around OPML and also the stuff we are building over at podcast.com. I have created many products for the BBC in the past, where I used a 'made-up' format of a similar XML structure to OPML, and now I'm using OPML 'proper', along with extending it again, with some 'made up' attributes which I ned to get things done. It's OK - it's doesn't 'break' anything.

The week before the OPML Camp is anoyther great looking event at the Berkman Center called Beyond Broadcast, which does sound reeeeally interesting indeed. I was told about this, and invited by, Jake Shapiro of PRX.ORG [The Public Radio Exchange] who is also a Berkman Fellow. It was great to meet up with Jake the other evening, over in Cambridge and share thoughts and ideas about stuff like podcasting and public radio. Lots of synergy. I like it.

PRX.ORG is a very interesting thing indeed. It is a "web-based marketplace for public radio pieces. Programmers find and air work from other stations, independent producers and international broadcasters. Producers - station-based or independent - license their work directly to stations."

This is such an interesting idea and the list of shows and content picked up and used by other stations continues to grow, year on year. Impressive stuff. I'd like to see this idea go global and into the UK, since our BBC's 'Nations and Regions' seem to be continually marginalised in what they can do, I hear.

So, I hope I would be able to make both of these events, however it's very likely that Dr. Jo will be able to come over for the Beyond Broadcast event too, as it is right up her street, since she started as Senior Research Fellow in Digital Society & Media for the Institute of Public Policy Research - a thinktank which helps to inform the government on public policy. They set up OFCOM for example, a ombudsman for the communications sector which was much needed as communications and media technology evolved beyond telephones and television etc.

So. Lots going on before the summer time, when we have Gnomedex 2006 to look forward to and possibly SuperNova 2006. Phew! It's a good job that Glastonbury Festival is having a fallow year, this year!

Boston Weather

Is was told to expect changeable wetaher here in Boston. Last week was like a UK summer!! Now it's snowing!!! Madness!

Boston crane accident

Boston crane accident

Originally uploaded by kosso.

Just earlier, up the road from the office here in Boston, a large piece of crane holding up a construction gantry on the front of Emmerson College, facing Boston Common came away from the building and fell on top of a car killing all three people inside. A pedestrian was also killed in this tragic accident.

UPDATE: It turns out that the victim count was three. One man in a car and two construction workers. Two shocked survivors, who were friends, were in driving together through Boston in two seperate cars and one car had pulled between them. This was the car which was crushed. 

Another man who managed to walk from the accident, after having his car severely damaged from above is the grandson of former Boston mayor, John Hynes.

The were two more people injured in this tragic accident, which could be heard around the area as the lift supports of the construction gantry came crashing down this afternoon.

Apple in hard core photo scandal!!!

News just in: Apple has been found in a rather compromising position according to these photos. Apple can be seen involved in what can only be explained as hard core porn in hotel bathrooms around the United States of America. In one of the photos you clearly see two Apple representatives blatantly engaging in what purveyors of such delinquency call a 'side her'. 

Please take extreme caution when viewing these incredible photos, obtained from a secret sauce, who's name will be obvious to many at such a time as this.

You have neen warned. 

They call it a compliment

I was just in Shaws supermarket, here in Boston, USA buying some snacks and beers for yet another night in the hotel, with my head under the bonnet of podcast.com, playing with OPML and RSS (to the POWER of USERS) (ahh yes - thrills on a Friday night, eh?) and I was actually asked for ID to prove I was old enough to buy alcohol!!!

I have not been asked for ID since well before i was 18 (which is the age of ‘alconsent’ in the UK). I was regularly the one who had to go into the Off Licence to buy the booze when we were at school. Even then I was rarely checked, even though I was well underage at the time.

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Is my ever greying hair and grey-flecked beard not proof enough that I’m over 21??? Jeeeezuuuuuzz!!!!!!