A Day of Outages or Why I’m Sticking with RSS

Sam Harrelson on August 17, 2012

I’m becoming more and more convinced that the best way for the web to work is for us all to have our islands of identity that are linked via coral reefs and communication channels.

Today has been a heck of a day for the web.

First Twitter.

Now Charter.

Mediums that we normally associate with stability and user interest continue to disappoint and disgust.

I’ve often talked about how I want to “Bring it All Back Home,” but I’m really close to pulling that trigger and relying on tried-and-trusted RSS as the vehicle to deliver that information rather than a walled island that I have to (or will have to) log in to such as Twitter or Facebook.

RSS – Wikipedia

I don’t trust my identity and my content to 3rd party islands anymore. This is me and for me and hosted by my dollars.

So here’s to a free, open and federated web.

If you want me, I’m here. Grab the RSS.

Twitter APIocalypse

Sam Harrelson on August 16, 2012

And here we go…

Changes coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API | Twitter Developers: “At the end of June, I wrote about how we’re working to deliver a consistent Twitter experience, and how we would soon introduce stricter guidelines about how the Twitter API is used. I’d like to give you more information about coming changes to the API and the migration plan while offering insights into today’s Twitter ecosystem and why we’re making these changes.”

Sad to see awesome apps get called out:

That upper-right quadrant also includes, of course, “traditional” Twitter clients like Tweetbot and Echofon. Nearly eighteen months ago, we gave developers guidance that they should not build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.” And to reiterate what I wrote in my last post, that guidance continues to apply today.

This is not your parent’s twitter.

“People are crazy and times are strange, I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range, I used to care but things have changed.”

Hope this is true…

Wow, what a day.

Sublime Kicking and Screaming

Sam Harrelson on August 16, 2012

I didn’t think I could ever use another text editor besides TextMate, but I’m learning to like Sublime Text 2 and its tabbed goodness:

Sublime Text: The text editor you’ll fall in love with: “Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose.
You’ll love the slick user interface, extraordinary features and amazing performance.”

I do everything in a text editor that I save up to a sync’d Dropbox file.

This is a big big transition for me. Time to do it, though.

Kicking and screaming.

Taking Risks

Sam Harrelson on August 16, 2012

So very true at any school…

Time for us to grow young.

Spotting Pyramids from NC with Google Earth

Sam Harrelson on August 16, 2012

Fascinating story for the history and archaeological aspects, but also interesting to note that Maiden, NC is where Apple’s iCloud lives.

Lost Egyptian Pyramids Found? : Discovery News: “Two possible pyramid complexes might have been found in Egypt, according to a Google Earth satellite imagery survey.

Located about 90 miles apart, the sites contain unusual grouping of mounds with intriguing features and orientations, said satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol of Maiden, N.C.”

More here.

Facebook’s Crash

Sam Harrelson on August 16, 2012

I don’t think it’s hit bottom yet…

News from The Associated Press: “Shares of Facebook are plunging to all-time lows after the expiration of a lock-up period that has provided early investors and insiders with an opportunity to exit.”

#myspace2.0