RSS doesn’t get enough credit. Most people still think of some high-tech thing that only high-tech types or content junkies use. While I’ll admit that I’m an RSS addict (Yeah, I’ve super-revved up my NetVibes) chances are you, and the entire Internet-using world, are using RSS feeds more than you realize.
Anyone using iGoogle is taking in RSS feeds. Don’t believe me? Just look at the CNN widget on iGoogle. Take a look at the URL. That’s an RSS Feed. Use MyYahoo? Then you, too, use RSS Feeds.
So what’s the moral of this story? Don’t be afraid of RSS. It’s worth taking in, as well as sending out. Consuming some RSS feeds on your Web site can help your visitors find valuable related resources and keep your site up-to-date without constantly having to add content yourself. Sending out your own RSS feeds can keep your readership (both RSS junkies and light content consumers) up-to-date on your organization’s latest news.
We here at Beaconfire have used the Flickr online photo sharing website as a cost effective (ok, free) way to manage the back end of photo-based applications for clients. Flickr has allowed us do things that previously would have required a completely custom build and cost considerably more money. In these projects, we use the Flickr API to allow us to interact with photos stored in Flickr.
Flickr just launched a new site that collects all of the information needed for this kind of stuff together in one place. code.flickr includes a Developer Blog, ticket tracker and public SVN repository (for browsing the source code), and a forum with groups dedicated to the API and to the uploader.
Most of this information has been around for some time, but it’s nice to have it all in one place.
I love Hip-hop. Almost as much as I love Standards-compliant XHTML/CSS and its intersection with Search Engine Optimization. Mix the two together and you just can’t stop my head from bobbing. Enter The Poetic Prophet with “Design Coding”:
I blogged last year about Microsoft Surface and hadn’t really heard much about it since then. Back then I was imagining how different interfaces, like Surface, might impact the way we view web sites and the ways data could be shared between Web sites, or between Web sites and personal devices like cell phones or other hand held computers.
So, now engadget reports that Microsoft has announced the first public unveiling of Surface. They are teaming up with ATT to put out what looks like some sort of interactive kiosk where you can place AT&T phones on the “Surface” to learn more about the products. It’s not surprising that the first use is retail, considering how expensive these things probably still are. Nor is it surprising that Microsoft has partnered with another ginormous company to lessen any adverse financial impact to either of them. I just wish it was something a little cooler than comparing cell phone features. Like maybe something involving food. It’s a table, after all. I see it and just can’t help but think “food.” Are you listening TGI Fridays?
Editor’s note: Each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. This post was supposed to be for last week, but was delayed due to SxSW - please accept our apologies. This Last week, we asked the Beaconfire staff: How do you tech green?
Michael, Principal Consultant: I tech green by unplugging unused devices, buying highest efficiency models I can, and never computing on the weekends.
Kristin, Project Manager: Little things include:
Manually start my backup right when I leave for the night, and have my computer shut down once the backup is done (rather than leave my computer on all night).
Try and turn off as many of the blinky lights as possible when I’m not using them (monitor, etc)
And, of course, try to turn off lights in unused offices and conference rooms
Mark, Functional Consultant: My biggest move towards going green (in general) is I moved into the city into an old house and take mass transportation to and from work everyday. By doing so, I’ve offset parts of my tech carbon footprint, including leaving my home computer on most of the time in case I need to remote in to it. Though I do set the home machines to sleep after inactivity and have moved to an LCD monitor.
David, Software Engineer: I have a ‘Watt’s Up power meter device. I have audited every appliance and electronic decide in my house for idle and peak power usage, shop at My Organic Market which purchases 100% wind power energy for it’s store, wait to order from Amazon and other retailers until I have 4+ items to ship, In addition:
All my light bulbs are compact florescent and light to energy usage appropriate.
Motion sensor front walkway light
Water heater turned down
Energy efficient windows,doors, washer dryer, fridge, Hot water heater
Luckily had radiant hot water heating, which is superior energy usage to forced air.
Luckily an east facing home with large windows
Checked insulation in roofing and walls for air exchange.
7-day programmable thermostat for energy use only with people in the home.
Cleaned furnace and A/C unit yearly for optimum efficiency
Insulated A/C ducts to prevent cooling loss.
The net result is very small water and power usage. I’ve been researching solar panels for a while now and have a price point I’m waiting for.
Kate, Administrative Assistant: Well, frankly, I don’t do as much as I should. I do tend to think in terms of what’s going to keep the electric bill down, though, which helps a bit. This mostly includes keeping monitors off and making sure that the computer’s in ‘sleep’ mode when not in use.
John Brian, Marketing Consultant: This question actually came up as a result of an article about how a Second Life person uses as much energy as a resident of Brazil. For me, it’s mostly turning my computer when I can, though that can be tricky when you schedule defrags, downloads and updates to run while you’re sleeping or out. I also try to avoid leaving my peripherals plugged in except when needed - it’s not only good for the environment to not leave your cell phone charging all day, but it’s also often good for your battery’s lifespan.
At the office, we recycle paper, glass, and plastic, keep the thermostat turned down (or up) during non-work hours, encourage working from home, and use motion-sensor lights in conference rooms that people otherwise forget about. Most of us also have our monitors go to sleep when not in use, and when construction forced us to use the restrooms on the floor below, we lobbied to have the stairway unlocked so we didn’t need to take the elevator.
What about you, readers: how do you tech green at home or at work? Is there something Beaconfire should think about doing to be greener?
I’ve got friends who have a raccoon in their attic. They’ve been trying all sorts of stuff to get it out of there, but it’s being pretty stubborn and always seems to outwit (or at least be more patient than) them. The raccoon reminds me of domain name tasters - annoying critters who, no matter what you try to do to get rid of them (humanely, anyway), just won’t get out of the internet’s attic and stop chewing on our stuff.
Google and ICANN recently took measures that, combined, will hopefully put an end to (or at least a heavy price tag on) domain name tasting. This is good news in the face of the recent revelations that some domain registrars have been cheating the system (see my previous posts on domain name insider tradingfor more).
Google is planning to introduce a system to detect a form of domain registration abuse known as domain kiting. In so doing, the company stands to lose millions in advertising revenue, though it may gain far more in user trust and goodwill. [h/t Ars Technica]
Let’s hear it for not being evil. The gist of the article is that Google plans to block adsense from serving ads on those domains that seem to exist solely to generate adword revenue. While there are still other ad providers who may not be as scrupulous, Google is the 800 lb gorilla of the sector, and losing this resource would cost domain kiters significantly.
If this wasn’t bad enough for virtual prospectors, ICANN is cracking down on the loophole allowing people to "return" a domain within 5 days with no charge:
Under the current rules, domain registrars have up to five days to sample domains before committing to purchase them, typically at a cost of around $6.25 per domain. An additional 20-cent surcharge per domain goes to ICANN, but the group has always refunded that fee if the registrar failed to purchase the domain within five days of claiming it.
Until now. The new policy would not refund the 20-cent fee.
While 20 cents may not be a lot to you or me when buying one domain at a time, according to the article, many tasters only keep 1 domain for every 100,000 they taste, adding $20,000 per domain to their costs.
Why are these moves great for those of us who just want to be able to buy domains for our campaigns and for the internet to be easily navigable? Follow me below the fold for some analysis…
The API Framework includes an Excel evaluation tool you can use.
The creation of the framework was a collaborative effort led by Paul Hagen and Laura Quinn in partnership with NTEN. Beaconfire was the underwriting sponsor for the report and my colleagues Jeff and Alan were contributors.
APIs are all the rage … and for good reason. They represent a powerful and flexible approach to data exchange between systems. As we know from our own experiences, not all APIs are created equal. How do you assess if the API of a system you have is robust enough for your needs? How do you compare one against another? What’s important to focus on in these evaluations.
What Paul and Laura have put together with input from thought leaders across the sector is a highly useful framework for evaluating APIs. As Laura writes in the introduction:
Unfortunately, it’s not easy to evaluate data integration features. Some packages allow tremendous flexibility, some only allow a particular, prescribed method of data integration, while others don’t support any access to data at all. One may be powerful but completely undocumented (and thus nearly impossible to use), while another may provide access to only a tiny portion of the data that’s desirable or lack the scalability or security necessary in a robust system.
The framework for evaluation provides assessment criteria in six key areas:
There had been a lot of talk in my household, especially in the weeks leading up to the holidays, about the potential merits and downfalls of the new Amazon Kindle. For those of you who haven’t heard, this is the most recent wireless reading device to hit the streets. You know, a way to read all of your books without having to carry all of your books around. My Cousin Adam had been seriously contemplating the purchasing said device, but didn’t know if it would be $400 well spent. So we looked into it some, and I’m here to let you know what we came up with. (more…)
A few months back, I wrote a post linking to an AP story that suggested that some domain name registrars were using search queries to snatch up domain names that were about to be purchased. It seems that the suspicions discussed in the story were founded.
Earlier this evening, a story on Digg declared that Network Solutions was registering any domain name that was users searched for using their link to the WHOIS database. The comments provided copious examples of this practice, none of which are really appropriate to repeat here. I read the methodology described in the original linked post, and tried to duplicate it myself.
See how it turned out, and why you should be careful, after the jump…
The words are evil and insidious. But at one point we all hear them.
The Web site is down!
It is especially bad when someone else notices this before you do. We’re often left wondering: How long has our site been like this? Why hasn’t our host called us? Why does the Internet hate me?
There are some free tools out there that may not be able to prevent your Web site from going down, but at least alert you when it does.
One of my favorite tools is Montastic.com. Signing up is fast and easy, and the interface is super-simple. You can monitor up to 100 sites with a free account. You can get alerts via email when your site goes down, or monitor your sites in an RSS Feed. Leave the Green Page up, and you will always be informed of the status of all your sites. And the site is just funny (with option buttons such as “save” and “save not”).
Slightly more complex, but also data-rich and informative, is Mon.itor.us. Sign up, and you can monitor sites, compare site up-time, get detailed reports, and receive email alerts when your site goes down. Mon.itor.us is not as easy to use at Montastic, but the reporting is more robust. And since both services are free, it certainly doesn’t hurt to use both to monitor your sites.
blog
RSS doesn’t get enough credit. Most people still think of some high-tech thing that only high-tech types or content junkies use. While I’ll admit that I’m an RSS addict (Yeah, I’ve super-revved up my NetVibes) chances are you, and the entire Internet-using world, are using RSS feeds more than you realize.
have a raccoon in their attic. They’ve been trying all sorts of stuff to get it out of there, but it’s being pretty stubborn and always seems to outwit (or at least be more patient than) them. The raccoon reminds me of domain name tasters - annoying critters who, no matter what you try to do to get rid of them (humanely, anyway), just won’t get out of the internet’s attic and stop chewing on our stuff.
There had been a lot of talk in my household, especially in the weeks leading up to the holidays, about the potential merits and downfalls of the new 
registrars were using search queries to snatch up domain names that were about to be purchased. It seems that the suspicions discussed in the story were founded.