phillyfuture.org makes extensive use of feed and syndication to list area weblogs. It's important that you understand what these are, and make sure your website can provide them in order to be listed!
The following is from the website FaganFinder. You can find more detailed information about feeds, RSS Aggregators, and subscribing to feeds, there. Additional thanks should go to Pittsburgh Webloggers for finding this concise description.
What is RSS?
Before you go any further, realize this: RSS is really simple. Just because it is an acronym doesn't mean that it's complicated. Don't get scared away, there's really nothing to it. I said it was an acronym, but depending on who you ask and what version of RSS you are speaking about, it may stand for Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, or a variation on one of those. None of that matters to you anyhow. Another thing that you don't need to care about is the versions. There are 0.90 and 0.91 (created by Netscape), 1.0 (by RSS-DEV), and 0.9x and 2.0 (by UserLand Software) versions, but almost all applications that handle RSS feeds can read all the different versions.
When a website has an RSS feed, it is said to be syndicated. There are various other syndication formats besides RSS (such as Atom), but RSS is by far the most widely used and supported today. RSS files do not have a common file extension, although they frequently end in one of .xml, .rss, or .rdf(note that other extensions may be used also). The term 'scraping' refers to creating an RSS feed for a website that doesn't provide one itself (i.e. scraping the text off of the page). That is, scraped feeds are not created by the same people who created the content within the feed. Scraped RSS feeds may stop working if the page changes its layout.
What is Atom?
Atom is a format quite similar to RSS. It was created by people who felt that RSS could be improved upon, and some that disagreed with some of the politics regarding RSS. Some people are heavily involved in the (quite unimportant, in my opinion) argument as to which format is better. The Atom format is in development, but as of February 2004, Atom version 0.3 is stable. There are pros and cons to the format, but that's more complex than I am going to deal with here. The basic difference is that while Atom is somewhat more complex (for producers of Atom feeds), it is also able to carry more complex information, and it is consistent across the syndication, storage, and editing of information. Just about everything on this page which discusses RSS applies equally well to Atom. You can learn more about Atom at the official website, AtomEnabled.org.
What is OPML?
OPML is an XML format for outlines. You can read more about it on the OPML website. An OPML file can be made that lists all the RSS feeds you subscribe to, and this can be very useful. Many RSS aggregators can produce (export) OPML files, and many can read (import from) them. This is a very useful feature. Suppose that you are using aggregator ABC to read 50 RSS feeds. Your friend tells you that aggregator XYZ is so much better than ABC, so you want to try it out. Rather than re-subscribing to all 50 feeds from XYZ, you can export an OPML file from ABC, and import that file into XYZ, assuming that both aggregators have these features. Many people put their OPML files online, which would allow you to instantly to subscribe to all the feeds that they read. Share Your OPML is one website that makes use of information from many people's OPML files.
Submitted by Karl on December 1, 2004 - 7:57am.
"Turning a deaf ear to community groups and residents throughout the City, Governor Ed Rendell signed House Bill 1947 into law today which will abolish the right of any Philadelphia taxpayer to challenge zoning decisions in Court.": Read more at Hallwatch.
Submitted by Karl on November 30, 2004 - 2:00pm.
I called this morning and asked the Governor to Veto Bill 30. The system is quite easy - it says "If you're calling about Bill 30, Press 1." Then it asks you to leave your name and a message. I said I would like broadband internet access to be available for all people and I urge Governor Rendell to veto Bill 30. Please call this morning if you can. The background is below.
*****************************************
Dear MoveOn member in Pennsylvania,
Tomorrow, Governor Rendell will decide between universal, affordable Internet for Pennsylvania or media monopoly for Verizon. Ask him to make the right choice by calling today:
Governor Ed Rendell
(717) 787-2500
Earlier this fall, Philadelphia became one of the first major U.S.
cities to propose making Internet access available cheaply - or free
- to citizens, businesses, educational institutions and nonprofits using "Community Wireless" technology.
In response, Verizon and its high-priced lobbyists pushed a bill through the Pennsylvania legislature that would sink this plan and any other like it proposed by any town across the state. They're trying to cement their monopoly rather than offering cheaper, better Internet.
Only Gov. Rendell can stop this bill - and the clock is ticking - he must veto or sign it by Tuesday.
Don't allow powerful lobbies to get a monopoly on the Internet, too. Call Governor Rendell right now at (717) 787-2500. As always, your call will be taken more seriously if you are polite. Here's what to
say:
Please veto House Bill 30. We cannot let powerful corporate lobbies set up a monopoly over Internet access. Initiatives like Philadelphia's wireless plan are crucial because the Internet must be equally available to all, not just as a luxury. Thank you for your time.
Please let us know you're calling, at: http://www.moveon.org/callmade12.html
House Bill 30 would make it illegal for any town in Pennsylvania that is being served poorly by big Internet providers to supply their own cheaper, better service. The bill is strongly opposed by Philadelphia city officials, who say it would be "terrible for cities around the country, because if the telecommunications companies can stop it here in Pennsylvania, they'll probably be able to stop it anywhere."
Thanks for everything you do.
Sincerely,
-Noah T. Winer
MoveOn.org and Pennsylvania resident
Monday, November 29th, 2004
P.S. You can read the AP story on this battle at: http://www.freepress.net/news/5530
The only pic I could find of old Sears tower on Roosevelt Boulevard. If you have some, please send them to me or post them here.
A great pic of folks enjoing a baseball game at Shibe Park. Wish I could have experienced it.
A nineteenth century map of center city Philadephia.
Submitted by Karl on November 28, 2004 - 12:37pm.
This rant is late, but the issue isn’t going away so here goes anyway.
I am really sick of the “blue staters” hostility towards “red staters” thing. It has become the dominant way to frame almost any sociopolitical discussion since the election but it annoys me to no end. I suppose I asked for it, my last post on this site could be construed as a criticism of Texas rather than a criticism of what certain politicians are doing in Texas. And so, I watched as some anti-”morons living in the red state” remarks showed up in the comments. I urge you not to fall into the blue-red trap for the following reasons:
Submitted by Karl on November 28, 2004 - 12:20pm.
The Eagles can win the division today with a win over the New York Giants:
Philadelphia hopes to wrap up a fourth consecutive NFC East title and become the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot. Since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978, the only teams to win a division crown after 11 games were the 1985 Chicago Bears and 1997 San Francisco 49ers.
Click here<
Submitted by Karl on November 21, 2004 - 5:20pm.
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