MSN Search has opened up the ability to search for/in RSS using the "feed:" operator. Cool stuff.

That probably explains the previous MSNBot behavior. Ah, it does, according to the MSN Search Blog over at MSDN.

I've been researching some specific technology needs, and figured I'd post here and see if anyone working in the collaboration/groupware/SharePoint world has any ideas. I've got my own research, and am speaking to a few others I know, but the community is bound to have some good input.

What I need is a Yahoo-Groups-like system, but it needs to be private and deployed on the LAN (for security purposes). Threaded discussions, with an email interface to contribute and receive updates. In a perfect world, it would build into SharePoint (we use it as an intranet platform), or at least lend itself to being displayed there. And while I am aware of future software possibilities, I can't wait for v.next in this case.

Indexed, searchable content, with opt-in and opt-out lists that can be moderated if needed, are also important.

Any ideas? Please - let me know!

Things I have considered:

• Groove - http://www.groove.net - and Groove Mobile Workspace for SharePoint, which looks like a possibility
• KAOrg - http://www.kaorg.com/ - which is interesting, but it's not very grown-up

The three brightest objects in the night sky - Venus, Jupiter and the Crescent Moon - all together at once...

(click for larger image)

President Bush has issued proclamations that the United States flag be flown at half staff through September 20th to honor the memory of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Another order requires the flag be flown at half-staff through September 13th to honor the death of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

For people with flags that are attached to a fixed pole, it turns out there is an appropriate way to fly those flags, even though you can't actually move them on the pole. I described that here last year, when several people I know asked me how to fly their fixed flags on their porches at half-staff.

For flags that can't be lowered, such as those on many homes, the American Legion says attaching a black ribbon or streamer to the top of the flag is an acceptable alternative. The ribbon should be the same width as a stripe on the flag and the same length as the flag.

If the flag is hanging on a wall, make three black bows from the same material and place one bow at each of the mounting points.

Bill Whittle is an expressive genius. He has a way of bringing out common sense and putting things in perspective, for me anyhow.

Rather than race, rather than religion, this time Bill focuses at length on a concept we all need to think about: Tribes.

"Courage isn’t free. It is taught, taught by certain tribes who have been around enough and seen enough incoming storms to know what one looks like. And I think the people of this nation, and those of New Orleans, specifically, desire and deserve some fundamental lessons in courage."

There's no way to concisely describe what he's written - so go read it for yourself. Yes, it's long and there's some harsh language, but the message is clear. Whether you agree with Bill on every point is not nearly as important as whether or not you take the time to read.

Now that Hurricane Katrina has devastated the South along the Gulf Coast, Joel Comm, author of AdSense secrets and general AdSense guru, has launched ReliefSense.com - where you can donate your AdSense revenues to the relief efforts. It's not a collection site - it's a place where you can pledge to donate to the agency of your choice.

http://www.reliefsense.com/

Earlier this year, when the Tsunami hit, I joined a few friends in asking Google to enable people participating in their AdSense program to have a mechanism built-in to donate their AdSense revenues directly to tsunami relief efforts. I got some response from Google, but not what you'd hope for - they were not able to set anything up at the time (of course, they did have donation links right on the Google home page).

Google - Can't you please find some way to allow us to make donations directly through your AdSense program??? Here's a little history (more linked from these entries):

• Google's response to AdSense donations idea: It could happen!
• Eric Rice Podcast Interview: Greg Hughes on Tsunami Donations

Joel's idea is great - and I have just signed up my pledge. But if Google could enable direct donations as well, it just makes sense that so many more people would find it easier to participate in helping.

Jeremy Wright's got something cool going on. He's a bit of an electronic entrepreneur, and posted this partial image on his weblog a week or so ago as a hint of what's up his sleeve.

So, I started poking around during an extended semi-bored period, and eventually figured it out - but it took quite a bit of creative thinking and searching (Google's pretty amazing, you know?). Jeremy then let me in on the secret a little - but since it's a secret, I won't tell. But you can guess all you want. 

It's basically all right there in the image though - you just have to use your eyes and brain a bit more than usual.

And - from Jeremy's blog today:

"The news? It’s a blogging network. The details are still largely under wraps, but we’re expecting to unveil it in the next 3-4 weeks. That said, if you can figure out what the name is from the logo, there are already a number of blogs live. In fact, if you can only figure out the first 2 characters in the logo, there are a number hidden links on Google to the new network."

Neville Hobson interviewed Jeremy on his podcast that was posted today, too.

It will be a cool business, when it happens. And no - that's not a swastika in the image.

Can you guess?

One of the things that keeps some companies from patching computers in a timely fashion is the potential for data loss if a computer being patched restarts and data open on the desktop is lost.

Windows Vista promises to fix that problem by "freeze-drying" any work open on the PC at patch time, allowing the user to reconstitute the work when the computer restarts.

Even better, they're making the patching process better, so restarts will be necessary much less often. Many apps can be patched while they're running, and are replaced at next restart. We have some of that now, but will have more of it in the Vista release.

Read more - Tech News at ZDNet

I rented Sin City the other day. Now, I was prepared for the fact that it was going to be a violent, even offensive film. What I wasn't ready for was the fact that it's an incredibly well-made, artistic film.

This movie, like no other made to date, truly feels like a dark comic book. It's all about the thousands of little details. From Bruce Willis' long coat blowing in the breeze in a way that could never quite happen in real life, to the stylized color (usually red) details on black and white film, it's all a fairly amazing visual experience.

That said, the comic-book-like style is more a description than an audience defining mechanism. This is not a movie for kids. It's completely and totally R-rated, all the way to the far edge of the rating system. It's violent, crude, sexual and doesn't hold back.

I don't know how many people get knocked out from a single punch to the face or have their heads shoved into an unflushed toilet in this film, but it's plenty.

If you're squeamish, don't watch this one. If you're into dark, dark, dark comic books and get into visual blood, gore and guts stylized somewhere between comic-book-fake and real-as-life, you'll probably like this one a lot. You're also likely a borderline sociopath, but hey - that's beside the point. Enjoy.

We all know it was predicted before, in terms of the potential impact of a large hurricane on the City of New Orleans, but what I did not realize is how accurately professionals in the area had come in their estimations.

There are excerpts from an article in The Natural Hazards Observer called "What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not Missed New Orleans?" that was written by Shirley Laska of the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology at the University of New Orleans in November 2004, after Hurricane Ivan:

"Approximately 120,000 residents (51,000 housing units x 2.4 persons/unit) do not have cars. A proposal made after the evacuation for Hurricane Georges to use public transit buses to assist in their evacuation out of the city was not implemented for Ivan. If Ivan had struck New Orleans directly it is estimated that 40-60,000 residents of the area would have perished...

"Regional and national rescue resources would have to respond as rapidly as possible and would require augmentation by local private vessels (assuming some survived). And, even with this help, federal and state governments have estimated that it would take 10 days to rescue all those stranded within the city. No shelters within the city would be free of risk from rising water. Because of this threat, the American Red Cross will not open shelters in New Orleans during hurricanes greater than category 2; staffing them would put employees and volunteers at risk. For Ivan, only the Superdome was made available as a refuge of last resort for the medically challenged and the homeless...

"In this hypothetical storm scenario, it is estimated that it would take nine weeks to pump the water out of the city, and only then could assessments begin to determine what buildings were habitable or salvageable. Sewer, water, and the extensive forced drainage pumping systems would be damaged. National authorities would be scrambling to build tent cities to house the hundreds of thousands of refugees unable to return to their homes and without other relocation options. In the aftermath of such a disaster, New Orleans would be dramatically different, and likely extremely diminished, from what it is today...

"Should this disaster become a reality, it would undoubtedly be one of the greatest disasters, if not the greatest, to hit the United States, with estimated costs exceeding 100 billion dollars. According to the American Red Cross, such an event could be even more devastating than a major earthquake in California. Survivors would have to endure conditions never before experienced in a North American disaster..."

TextAmerica and NBC Universal have teamed up and created http://www.missingkatrina.com/ - which is a photo blog that lets people submit the names, pictures and numbers to call for people missing in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area.

Missing People From Hurricane Katrina - 1-800-774-0512

This site is here to help you find missing persons from hurricane Katrina.
If you have their picture of the missing person you can post it to this site in one of two ways:

1. Upload their image directly from your PC using the upload form below. Once you have uploaded an image your will be prompted to enter other information like their name, your phone number and your email address.

2. Email or MMS your picture to callhome.123@tamw.com. Please make sure to put the missing person's name and YOUR contact phone number in the title or body of the email/MMS.

If you don’t have an image of the missing person or you can’t figure out how to upload or email in your information, then please call us at 1-800-774-0512 anytime between 9am and 9PM PST (7days). Our thoughts and prayers to everyone involved in this disaster. May you and your loved ones be safe.

And it is working. From one posted photo comes this followup:

Duoc and seven other Vietnamese were rescued late last night. They were transported to the New Orleans airport and are on their was to Houston airport where they can be flown home. I want to thank the owner of this site for the support they have given us.

September 3, 2005 - 7:04 am

E.J. is alive and well, he was bused to Fort Worth, TX and is at the red cross shelter For more info Email...

 

September 3, 2005 - 7:12 am

• International Red Cross: http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina/locate
• From nola.com:
• Missing Persons
• Tell Them You're OK

There's really nothing quite like first-hand experience when it comes to seeing what's happening in distant places. Let's face it - the mainstream media cuts things into little chunks that remove the full context of the place and situation, trying (usually without much success) to replace it with an explanation, usually written by one or two people.

In your mind, choose one or two people you know at random. Now imagine sending those two random people into a war zone with a camera and a microphone and telling them to accurately and completely convey what's happening, without personal bias. Would you tend to trust what they have to say? Yeah, me either.

That's what interests me most about Boots In Baghdad Films, a vlog that contains video posts (using audioblog.com's videoblogging capabilities) shot by soldiers on the ground in Iraq. It's first-hand video of real situations. It's not that soldiers are without any bias - but the soldiers and their experiences are part of what's happening, which makes this video much more real than anything on TV, and the few videos posted on this site have an unedited honesty that I appreciate. Note that there's some colorful language in some of the video shots - that's to be expected, I think.

Hopefully the content will continue to grow, but of course not for one day longer than the people filming it need to be there.

(via Eric Rice)

Do unto others: People are in need, and the Red Cross is spending money on hurricane disaster relief faster than it's coming in. Click below and give what you can. If you want to volunteer, contact your local chapter.

This is not just something nice to do - this is something we have to do.

From an IM session about 30 seconds ago:

Mary Beth says:
could u imagine at school if u had that in your room.. u would be the coolest chic in the dorm..

Use Skype? Want to use it? Well, a new and improved beta version is available now - v1.4.0.47

From the Skype web site:

• Our call quality is the best ever for talking, laughing and sharing stories.
• It’s now faster to get set up, and easier to add your contacts, so you can get more friends talking for free.
• You can forward calls on to mobiles, landlines and other Skype Names.
• Make calls instantly from Outlook email or Internet Explorer with our new toolbars.
• Personalise your Skype — play around with sounds, ringtones and pictures to show the world who you are.