In an attempt to bring RSS to the masses, and to have the masses understand it, the infamous Dave Winer has created http://www.reallysimplesyndication.com/ - with the goal of spreading the word and explaining RSS in a way people can consume. Good idea, when you consider it's all about making information easy to consume, don't-cha-think? ;-)

Every publisher that supports RSS has to explain what it's about, and every one tells a different and incomplete story.

Another clue is that most the hits on Google for RSS are sites for developers. Not much for a normal person who might want to use RSS or just know what it might mean for a person who's not a scientist.

So I wanted to start a site where people from the RSS users community can answer questions to help newbies figure out what to do with an RSS feed without requiring a PhD in XML.

 - Dave Winer

Jon Stewart is pretty darn funny. Read his commencement address that he gave a few days ago at William & Mary College, where he was a student back in the 80's. As always, he's both funny and makes you stop and think. And then, right when he's got you in serious mode, he slaps ya down with another joke.

“Lets talk about the real world for a moment. We had been discussing it earlier, and I ... I wanted to bring this up to you earlier about the real world, and this is I guess as good a time as any. I don’t really know to put this, so I’ll be blunt. We broke it.”

Classic.

I've always been fascinated by the planets, moons, stars, galaxies, comets, and things. It's amazing to think about all that's out there and how BIG it all is. Today I was checking out a friend's web site and found a link to really cool piece of (free) software called Celestia. Wow, if you're even remotely into this stuff, you need to download this and check it out.

The video I shot gives a pretty lame idea of what you can do with this software - only my execution doesn't do the program justice. Fly from one object to another and check out anything you want.

Here's a hint: Enter ISS as an object name with a distance of about half a mile. Neat-o.

“This fixes a critical problem where your blog cache can get corrupted. Just drop the enclosed DLL into your /bin folder and that's it.”

New web site files and setup MSIs also posted there.

I just ran across PeerFlix, which is using an interesting variation on the NetFlix business model. You let PeerFlix know what movies you own, as well as the ones that you want to see. Then you send your movies to others using the service, and they do the same.

Looks like the cost is lower than NetFlix, and they have a pay-as-you-go option as well as an unlimited number of monthly trades for $10 per month. You trade DVDs you own, and the company covers loss, theft, etc.

It's an interesting concept, and I might even try it out. I've subscribed to NetFlix for a few years now, but this looks like it has the potential to work. Not sure how the selection would be (although they claim 30,000 titles) or how easy it would be to get what you want (NetFlix is great for finding interesting titles on their web site that I otherwise might never know about), but it's intriguing, and I have a few DVDs around that others might be interested in, and for which I have no real use.

Might be a workable business model based on the “one man's junk” philosophy.

Seems like after updating to dasBlog 1.6 the emails normally sent when referrals and comments are made are pretty much hit-and-miss. Sometimes email gets sent, other times not. Or is it just my imagination? Anyone using v1.6 that's seen this behavior?

EDIT: since the hot-fix, problem seems to be resolved.

Nothing like a well-made DVD package to make a 200-minute film bearable. I wasn't a huge fan of the second film in the LOTR trilogy, and this third film's definitely long, but you have to hand it to 'em - pretty amazing what they did with all three films.

By the way: Why anyone would want to watch this film in the cropped, “full-screen” version is beyond me, but it's available if you're into that kind of thing. But I think they should make cropped versions illegal or something. Well maybe not actually illegal, but stop shipping them, they suck. Granted, not everyone has the home theater projector setup that I recently dropped some cash on (I need to post more about that and why it's a good idea and most cost-effective), but arbitrarily cropping a film is about as blasphemous toward the filmmaker as one can be, if you ask me. It's probably the former photographer in me that thinks that, but hey it's art, and I think one should enjoy it the way it was meant to be seen.

Anyhow, as I was saying, this is a film that was born to be seen on DVD as well as in a theater, and it's good that videotape is a thing of the past. Between the great (okay, awesome) CG work (Gondor is pretty incredible and the battles are amazing), the terrific enhanced digital surround sound, and the fact that you can actually pause it to take a [insert bathroom metaphor here] in the middle without missing anything (200 minutes is a long time, man...), this is a hi-def showcase film.

There's really only one thing about these three films that drives me freaking crazy: Every other scene is a cut over to Sam and Frodo climbing up or down some rocky slope of varying grade, and upon closer inspection, each of these scenes are essentially the same:

< Scene cut to Sam and Frodo and possibly Gollum >

Sam:  Ohhhhhh, Frodo!

Frodo:  Ohhhhhh, Sam!

Sam:  Ohhhhhhhhhh, Frodo!

Frodo:  Ohhhhh, SAM!

Gollum:  Hurry, hobbitses, Hurry! Come! Come!

Now that I think about it, the script reads a little bit like a (very) bad adult film out of context, but that's not my point. What I mean to say here is that I wish they had taken the Sam and Frodo characters' development a little further, past their simple and incessant whining about how sorry their situation is, over and over and over and... Anyhow, we got the point already. Or maybe it's just me, I dunno. I realize it's all about two little guys succeeding at the improbable, but sheez... Anyhow, I digress...

In contrast, the Merry and Pippin hobbit characters are more developed in this one, which was good.

Recommended. Fun film, and other than whiny “hobbitses” and the weird talking trees making a cameo return appearance, pretty darn cool. My sub-woofer got a real workout.

If you like movies that are meant to be played loud at home on your super-duper surround system, and if you like dark battles and stuff, it's a treat. And if you're still into this LOTR stuff at this late date, they have some cool screen savers and other stuff you can download.

The FindForward search engine leverages Google's Web API as well as technology from thumbshots.org. It's a nifty search engine interface, provides RSS and ATOM feeds from search results, and a whole bunch of other search categories in an easy to use menu format.

The search grid results are a new way of thinking about search for me - interesting.

Lots of fun ways to search here. Makes me wonder about what the future of search engines will be. When will news, email, instant messaging, web content, everything on my hard drive, and other bundles of info all be instantly searchable, and customizable to my tastes instantly and in real time?

The X1 local search program is cool, and when Longhorn (next version of Windows) is released, we can expect extensively increased capabilities in the area of searching for and using multiple types of information. But what will actually work?

Will be very interesting to see what happens.

Scott built himself a couple of nifty calendar views to extend dasBlog ther other day - Monthly and yearly views. Cool stuff, check it out if you're a dasBlogger, especially if you type a lot of blog entries and want to be able to visualize them differently than you can now. Scott hints that he'll make them generally available soon.

A friend and coworker of mine, Scott Hanselman, trapped me into lunch today as I was walking through the cafeteria. Well, okay, he didn't exactly trap me, he just waived me over and invited me to sit down, but “trapped” sounds better. His wife, Mo, was there as well. Earlier Scott had asked me if I would help him duplicate some DVDs from their recent trip to Africa. He made the a comment about how his DVD burner had crapped out and died on him, and then made some reference to how he had to watch DVDs on his tablet “during that period in my life when my computer wasn't working.”

Now, I have often heard people classify their lives into convenient or descriptive apportionments, like “when I was married to my third wife” or “back when the kids were still at home,” etc.

But Scott's comment started me thinking. Life in the digital age is - at least in my own experience and my observation of others - fairly consuming. Everything I do seems to have some kind of connection - either direct or not - to computers or other electronic devices and information. From the perspective of the hindsight-oriented crowd, it's a wonder the world functioned at all without all this technology. While I constantly find myself ready to hurl my Blackberry device off a cliff, I would not be able to function as effectively without it. Or at least it seems that way.

We've become a world of digitally-leashed animals, for better or for worse. Some have started to describe our lives in terms of “bandwidth” and available “cycles” when talking about how much time we have (or don't have), and for many of us, the idea of giving up our cell phones and email, while probably a welcome and wishful thought, in reality causes us to feel anxious. After all, how in the world could we possibly function?

Our interrupt-driven lifestyles may be the end of us. I wonder how long it will be before the average human lifespan in technologically-advanced countries actually starts to drop as a result of the stress of technology? Certainly technology has improved our collective quality of life to a degree, but at what point does the world start rotating backward? Lends a whole new definition to “mean time before failure,” doesn't it?

Every blog needs the obligatory picture of a cute puppy, and/or pet pictures. Here's mine.

He actually slept last night without crying or howling (unless I slept through it, that is). That's a miracle in and of itself.

Still have not settled on a name, but I am leaning toward Deeohgee. ;-)

By way of UtterlyBoring.com:

Because we have a moral duty to protect the ignorant people, please let your friends and family know about this important product recall:

Name of product: Martha Stewart Everyday® Safety Matches
Units: 588 boxes
Distributor: Kmart Corp., of Troy, Mich.
Hazard: These matches may ignite upon impact, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Uhhhhhh - yeah??? And the problem is??? I thought everyone knew if you dropped a box of matches enough times, it will eventually catch on fire... I'm sure there's some clever Martha Stewart joke in this somewhere, too, but I'll just let you think of it.

Over a week ago my (new) cat escaped out of the house when a door blew open. She disappeared. For a couple of days, I could hear her off in the woods meowing and stuff, and a couple of times when I called she came sort of close, but never stuck around.

She's definitely a 'fraidy-cat.

Anyhow, after a week of not seeing or hearing the cat, I had to assume she was coyote dinner. I mean, she was pretty small and young, so death by dinner seemed the only option.

Wrong. Kat's still out there, still meowing.

And apparently eating well, from the looks of her. I have no idea what she's eating (mice and/or rats I hope), but it's keeping her healthy.

I tried to catch her and bring her in, but she jumped and ran when I tried. Hey, fine with me.

Anyhow, Kat Lives. Kind of reminds me of those Darth Vader Lives pins when I was in grade school (yeah, yeah, no old people jokes), only different.

I can hardly believe the email I got today. This just doesn't happen...

You may recall I just signed up for Vonage's Internet telephone service. It's cool.

And this email just arrived:

Hello Greg,

We are very excited to inform you that your monthly phone bill is going DOWN! Our price on the Residential Premium Unlimited Plan has been dropped AGAIN!

The base price of the Residential Premium Unlimited Plan will drop from $34.99 to $29.99 as of your first billing cycle on or after May 17, 2004.

There is no need to contact customer care - you will automatically receive the 14% monthly savings. The new, lower price plan will be reflected in your next billing cycle.

By adding 150,000 customers to our network, Vonage has cemented its lead in the industry. As a reflection of our commitment to our customers, we would like to reward you by passing the operational efficiency and cost-savings we've achieved through our success directly back to you.

Again, thank you for your continued support and loyalty. Without you, we would not have been able to pass this significant savings along. If you have any questions, please email us at customerresponse@vonage.com with the words "Price Change" in the subject line.

Sincerely,
Rich Gale
Manager, Vonage Customer Care

Uhhhhh...

Uhhhhhhhh.....

Wow. You just don't ever see anything like that anymore. A price reduction?? I don't know what to say.

So far I've enjoyed using the soft-phone so far on my laptop (talk about nifty), and am waiting for the IP phone broadband connector device bridge thingie device to show up on my doorstep still, so have not been able to use a real phone on it, but will be sure to post a review once I get a chance to use it for a while.

Anyhow... Wow.

UPDATE/SHAMELESS-PLUG:

I just noticed - if you want to sign up for Vonage service, they have a referral program where I can send you an invitation and you'll get the first month free, and I'll get an equal service credit - good for everyone! Just email me here:  and I will send you the invite - be sure to send your name and the email address you want the invite to go to.