Categories
RDF Specs Technology

RSS: The neverending story

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Hi, Evil Twin here!

I’m not sure why, but the very mention of RSS tends to bring me out of my quiet corner, where I sit filing my nails while Burningbird does her thing. So, while she’s off cleaning house and trying to get the next episode of that RDF Poetry Finder finished, I thought I would just sneak in here, and add a new post. Just for fun.

There’s been considerable discussion about RSS for Weblogs, and RSS profiles, and XHTML in RSS and RSS and FOAF, and so on lately. In fact, if RSS were chum, you could walk on water, there are so many sharks circling about. Sam’s is a good place to track most of the discussion, so start here, then here and here.

Much good input, lots of great ideas from smart people. However, it struck me as I leisurely meandered through all of the juicier bon mots, that what the discussion needed was a little perspective.

I got to thinking about the possible impacts that could occur if the same level of energy applied to the discussions of RSS were applied to other areas of human interest such as science and the humanities. Based on this, I came up with the following, my list of things we’d be doing now, if only RSS energy was universal.

 

1. Next vacation I’d just hang about in the next neighborhood. Andromeda.

2. We would have a cure for the common cold. Unfortunately, 1 out of 20 people who take the cure die.

3. Men will finally understand why they’re from Mars and women are from Venus.

4. We’ll be using cold fusion devices to chill our cans of beer.

5. We find Schrödinger’s Cat. His name is Bob.

6. The next blogging get together will have 200,000 people attending, all teleporting in. The remaining 300,000 will just pick up the details from their minds.

7. Virtual sex would no longer be so virtual. No, I’m not giving details.

8. Our SUVs get 1000 miles to a gallon of gas.

9. New techniques can compress 1000 gallons of gas into one, which will cost about $2,345.56 at the station.

10. Lie-detecting glasses will enable voters to see when politicians are lying.

11. New political laws will be created to allow governments to exist without politicians.

12. Computers will be smaller than a speck of dust, and hard wired directly into our brains. We think, we blog.

13. Weblogging tools will incorporate a new feature called the “Oh Shit! I didn’t want to print that” quick erase.

14. Someone invents a penis stretcher that really works, and a pill that melts fat. Not long after, Vogue begins to feature plump, voluptuous women as the new sex symbol, and men start wearing dresses. Loose dresses.

-and finally-

15. Time travel exists. I have seen the future. I know how RSS ends. I’m not telling.

Categories
RDF Specs Technology

RSS: The neverending story

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Hi, Evil Twin here!

I’m not sure why, but the very mention of RSS tends to bring me out of my quiet corner, where I sit filing my nails while Burningbird does her thing. So, while she’s off cleaning house and trying to get the next episode of that RDF Poetry Finder finished, I thought I would just sneak in here, and add a new post. Just for fun.

There’s been considerable discussion about RSS for Weblogs, and RSS profiles, and XHTML in RSS and RSS and FOAF, and so on lately. In fact, if RSS were chum, you could walk on water, there are so many sharks circling about. Sam’s is a good place to track most of the discussion, so start here, then here and here.

Much good input, lots of great ideas from smart people. However, it struck me as I leisurely meandered through all of the juicier bon mots, that what the discussion needed was a little perspective.

I got to thinking about the possible impacts that could occur if the same level of energy applied to the discussions of RSS were applied to other areas of human interest such as science and the humanities. Based on this, I came up with the following, my list of things we’d be doing now, if only RSS energy was universal.

 

1. Next vacation I’d just hang about in the next neighborhood. Andromeda.

2. We would have a cure for the common cold. Unfortunately, 1 out of 20 people who take the cure die.

3. Men will finally understand why they’re from Mars and women are from Venus.

4. We’ll be using cold fusion devices to chill our cans of beer.

5. We find Schrödinger’s Cat. His name is Bob.

6. The next blogging get together will have 200,000 people attending, all teleporting in. The remaining 300,000 will just pick up the details from their minds.

7. Virtual sex would no longer be so virtual. No, I’m not giving details.

8. Our SUVs get 1000 miles to a gallon of gas.

9. New techniques can compress 1000 gallons of gas into one, which will cost about $2,345.56 at the station.

10. Lie-detecting glasses will enable voters to see when politicians are lying.

11. New political laws will be created to allow governments to exist without politicians.

12. Computers will be smaller than a speck of dust, and hard wired directly into our brains. We think, we blog.

13. Weblogging tools will incorporate a new feature called the “Oh Shit! I didn’t want to print that” quick erase.

14. Someone invents a penis stretcher that really works, and a pill that melts fat. Not long after, Vogue begins to feature plump, voluptuous women as the new sex symbol, and men start wearing dresses. Loose dresses.

-and finally-

15. Time travel exists. I have seen the future. I know how RSS ends. I’m not telling.

Categories
RDF

The Enron executive who came in from the cold

It’s time for me to refocus back on the RDF Poetry Finder, and to that end I made a trip to my favorite place tonight — my local library. Among the prizes brought home are Folk Poetics: A Sociosemiotic Study of Yoruba Trickster Tales by Ropo Sekoni; Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris, and John Le Carré’s newest (for me that is), The Constant Gardener

I used to buy all the new Le Carré book’s for my father, who is a huge fan of his. I’d then borrow the books from my Dad to read, though this type of political suspense/thriller isn’t necessarily my favorite type of book. Still, I can admire a way with the written word, which Le Carré definitely has.

When I spotted The Constant Gardener, I checked the flyleaf to see what it was about. I was curious as to who could possibly be the new type of villain since so many of Le Carré’s stock and trade antagonists have turned out to be paper tigers. According to the cover:

 

A master chronicler of the deceptions and betrayals of ordinary people caught in political conflict, Le Carré portrays, in The Constant Gardener, the dark side of unbridled capitalism.

 

Oh my. Le Carré’s finally found a villain he can sink his teeth into and hold on for the rest of his career — western capitalism. Of course I had to bring the book home.

The Folk Poetics book covers Trickster from an African perspective and looks to be an effective blend of story and analysis, thorough but possibly a bit dry. As I was checking it out, I found that it also isn’t a popular book — it’s been in the St. Louis library system since 1994, but I’m the first person to have checked it out. It’s an old new book, with crispy, limp, dusty, fresh, bright, faded pages.

Anyway, back to RDF and the Poetry Finder now that the technician’s been silent, and the poets have had a chance to chat in my comments.

Categories
RDF

Because it seemed like the thing to do

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I’ve been talking at group sites this morning: at Blogs Unlimited and over at the threads list. Some of the communications were good, some not so good. I have a great deal of empathy with chopped liver at the moment.

It’s very discouraging to be invisible, did you know that?

I also want to thank the folks interested in poetry/writing/linguistics for taking time to help me get a better grasp of the ‘business’ for the RDF/Poetry essays. I am hard at work on next entry (yo, anyone excited about this), but to be honest, just not feeling great today. And I’m going in for Red Cross volunteer disaster training later today, too. (See, something the little woman can do.)

There’s really only one photo that appealed to me from yesterday’s storm (who knows why — it’s a bizarre little photo). No poem, though. Couldn’t find one that matched:

planejpg.jpg

Categories
Semantics Web

What’s it all about, Alfie?

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

A discussion about the Semantic Web is taking place at Bloggers Unlimited. My hope is that this conversation brings together the techies and the non-techies, and it seems like it is. At least a little bit.

More voices would be welcome — all views are welcome. This is a friendly thread. Honest.

As for my part, I’m talking at the discussion thread, and I’m continuing the RDF Poetry Finder essays. We’ll see how it goes.