Leave It Behind > Brian Bailey

The RSS Spec

The blogging and podcasting phenomena are built on top of something called RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. Essentially, RSS is a data format used to structure the content of a blog post or podcast so that any blog tool or podcast tool can work with it. The good news is that all of this is handled for you behind the scenes - every time you write a new blog post, you are publishing an RSS feed and every time you read a blog post in a newsreader you are consuming an RSS feed. The dominant version of RSS (RSS 2.0) has been in place for a couple of years and is used by millions of blogs and organizations throughout the world - it just works.

Behind the scenes, though, there is a continual battle to change, improve, or replace RSS. Many people want to modify the format to support additional features, but still call it RSS. This debate gets into some fairly technical issues, but here's the best summary available on why the RSS format should remain frozen:

RSS is by no means a perfect format, but it is very popular and widely supported. Having a settled spec is something RSS has needed for a long time. The purpose of this work is to help it become a unchanging thing, to foster growth in the market that is developing around it, and to clear the path for innovation in new syndication formats. Therefore, the RSS spec is, for all practical purposes, frozen at version 2.0.1. We anticipate possible 2.0.2 or 2.0.3 versions, etc. only for the purpose of clarifying the specification, not for adding new features to the format. Subsequent work should happen in modules, using namespaces, and in completely new syndication formats, with new names. [source]

Dave Winer, the man largely responsible for the format and its long-time advocate, has adopted this view and argued for it repeatedly publicly and privately. I'm on record as a Dave fan and I agree with him on this one. His efforts are motivated by a desire to do what's best for the users of RSS and the companies that have invested millions in the technology.

Here's another way to look at it. When Jerry Garcia passed away, the Grateful Dead had existed for 30 years. At that moment, the Grateful Dead ceased to exist. The rest of the band knew they would continue to perform, but they also knew that they would never perform under that name again. Over the next decade, the remaining members did shows as The Other Ones and later, The Dead. Whether better or worse, the new group was undeniably different than the original and they wanted to make sure it would never be confused with the Grateful Dead.

If you're building on top of RSS, create a new format and give it a new name. And if you want to work on RSS itself, involve Dave in the process. Unlike Jerry, Dave is (thankfully) still with us.

Tags: rss, dave winer

10 Things I can't wait to do when I finish the book

I love writing a book. I really, really do.

Well, mostly.

I have no problem admitting that it's hard. I struggle, get tired, and run out of things to write.  Then ideas start flowing, Lori and Ben offer their enthusiastic and sweet help, and I read a cool blog post that reminds of the impact this book could have.

This isn't a post about writing a book, but I'll throw in three things I've learned. First, writing a book in your spare time without any changes in your professional life takes a huge amount of effort and may be an indication of mental imbalance. Those of you who do it with such speed and focus have my complete admiration. Second, ubiquitous wireless internet access is a very bad thing if you have any interest in focusing on what you're doing. Third, writing blog posts is good, but incomplete, preparation for writing a book. Blogging encourages short to medium-length, self-contained, and somewhat simplified thoughts. It's hard to build a book out of that.

The book has been an incredible privilege and challenge, but with the deadline just 10 weeks away, I can start imagining what it will be like to have a life after 8pm and on the weekends (a mid-30's married life to be exact). Here's what I think about while I'm going to sleep.

10 Things I can't wait to do when I finish the book

10. Learn new skills

This is actually for work, but I really enjoy learning server and database command line management and it's been killing me to not have more time to invest in it.

9. Watch more movies with Lori

It's easy to take this one for granted, but I can't remember the last time I watched a movie without that moment when it hits me that I should be doing something else.

8. Go on vacation

Not a vacation from one kind of work to do another kind of work, but a real vacation.

7. Sleep more

It will be fun to go to bed whenever it sounds like a good idea. Sometimes it feels like I have homework every night.

6. Celebrate

Once I'm convinced that a lawyer from Jossey-Bass isn't going to show up and ask for their money back, I'm sure I'll have fun with some of it. And I know we'll have a nice celebration, too.

5. Read the Wall Street Journal every day

I subscribed in a fit of vacation-induced enthusiasm, but have since had to suspend my subscription until the book is finished. I loved it for those brief few weeks. Lori and I even got to share the Saturday edition over coffee like Paul and Jamie. I can't wait to start again.

4. Blog more

Writing a blog post is so much more fun now. There's no pressure and you get immediate feedback. I've had an endless number of ideas about things to write about it, but they've had to wait.

3. Watch every moment of the World Cup

I love national soccer! Lori, Ben, and I actually went to the recent U.S. National Team match in Frisco. It was our chance to prove that we still have some midwestern blood in us as we were forced to sit outside for 2 hours with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees. We loved it (yes, even Lori). Feel the cold.

The World Cup will dominate the month of June in the Bailey house (well, that and our 14th Anniversary).

2. Read books

I haven't read a book since I started writing one and miss it terribly.

1. Be a better dad

Work. Book. Work. Book. Work. I think that's all Ben has heard about for the past seven months. Lori and I have actually done quite well through this whole process - she's an incredible woman,  her job has been intense as well so we've had that to share, she's been a huge help with the actual writing, and she doesn't go to bed at 9:00.

Ben, on the other hand, gets me during the few short hours between day job and night job - not exactly when I'm at the top of my game! I look forward to being with him beyond just sharing a fun show or movie. He's so much fun to be around.

It's going to be an exciting 10 weeks...followed by an incredible summer (really Ben, I promise)!

Warning

If you're trying to convince yourself that you don't want a MacBook Pro, make sure you don't read this.

Chat finds a home in the browser

Google just added chat to Gmail and tonight, 37signals launched Campfire, a group chat tool designed especially for business. Both products are used directly in the browser and do not require any chat software to be installed. Not only does this make it simple to get started, it also means that no special network or firewall rules are needed.

I've used both tools and am convinced that chat is about to go mainstream in a whole new way. I've already used Gmail to chat with people who would never use a chat, but found this quick, easy, and useful. Both products make a big point about the ability to keep transcripts of your chats for later references. I love using both of them - they are very simple and well thought out.

Google Chat is free and designed for one-on-one conversations. Campfire is a minimum of $12 per month (30-day free trial) and is built for multiple chats featuring 3-40 people. Campfire also includes the ability to easily share documents. I think there's going to be a lot of teams using Campfire very soon. It's perfect for so-called third place workers who office anywhere and anytime, but still need to be connected to the team. Of course, I'm sure web and design shops will be the first adopters, just as they drove the adoption of Basecamp.

Following the 37signals design philosophy, watch for a cool new feature to be released for Campfire within two weeks.

Technorati tags: 37signals, campfire, chat

Valentine's Day

Forgive the horribly romantic nature of this post, but it is, after all, Valentine's Day. Many of you are at work right now, wishing you had something clever, something really different to send to that special someone. You've tried trite sentiments, song lyrics, maybe a slightly out-of-context scripture, and shaked your fists at Apple for not providing text as well as images with iCards. Don't worry, I'm here to help.

About a year ago, I watched just about all of the episodes of Mad About You. Wonderful show, very popular in its time, but now conveniently fading from memory for most people. One of my favorite episodes has Paul going in for a routine surgery. He realizes that there is always a chance that something could go wrong, so he pours out his love to Jamie. Later, while she's waiting for him to wake up after the surgery, she does the same.

Now, this is some very good stuff. First, how often do you find material written from both a man and a woman's perspective, meaning none of you are left out? Second, it is very well written, but in a casual, conversational way. Third, it can easily be customized to your particular situation and life experience  (you can't just cut-n-paste, unless you just happened to have played Juliet in the 5th grade or are willing to take a chance). Fourth, what are the chances that someone will recognize lines from a show that ended seven years ago?

Here it is, my gift to all of you on Valentine's Day. Use wisely. And if that special someone also happens to read this blog, I'm afraid you are out of luck. Send me an email and I'll see what I can do.

Paul to Jamie:

I want you to know that you are the single greatest blessing I have ever received. I don’t why we’re put here on this earth. I don’t know what they want from us, except I have always known that I am supposed to be by your side, and taking care of you, and having a family with you, and making you happy.

In a universe that’s 99% disappointment, you, you are the one sure thing. You are the proof that life is good. You are my life.

Jamie to Paul:

Oh my God don’t ever die.

Give me my Romeo and when he shall die take him and cut him out in little stars and make the face of Heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night.

Did I ever tell you that I played Juliet in the 5th grade? I did.

Oh my God don’t ever die. I have so much more to tell you and I’m not interested in telling it to anyone else. I’m not saying I’d be helpless, I mean, I’m bright and fairly good with money. And I guess I’m cute, right?

You would say, “What are you kidding me? You, my little friend, are a perfect example of beautiful.” And so I am. Because I am nothing more or less than what I see in your eyes when you look at me.

Do you know how long I waited for you? My mother used to say I was too picky, or afraid of commitment and that’s why I was still unmarried by the age of almost thirty, but the truth is I was just looking for you. Do you know how close I came to being a narrow, cold, mistrustful woman? But you have given me a life so big and full and good and fun. I don’t even know what we do really besides clean up and complain and wish we were sleeping, but with you, somehow, fun. And I’ll tell you a secret. When we got married, I couldn’t imagine still wanting to be with anyone all this time later, but I do. It’s a miracle to me, you are a miracle. You’ve made me happy, which is something I never, ever thought I’d be.

It's a hard thought, isn't it? Imagining life without the one you love? I know I take Lori for granted more than I would've ever imagined when I was writing poems and notes to her everyday in high school.  But things end. We have to be clear about this. They really do. Bad stuff happens, sometimes dramatic and newsworthy, sometimes so quiet you can barely hear the sound of hearts breaking. I've seen this happen more than I would like, to people who deserve better and to people who should know better.

It may seem like a sad thing, but the fact is that if you can't imagine it ever ending, you'll stop giving the one you love everything you have.

Somehow, I've been given the privilege of spending every day with a woman so beautiful, talented, and full of joy that I perpetually feel like someone who was given too much at the ATM and can't believe they're actually going to get away with it.

If you've been blessed with the love of your life, he or she deserves all that you can give. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Create an account in 8 simple steps!

This weekend, I started working on our taxes. As we all know, the first step is to gather all of your documents in one big pile. Lori and I live fairly simple lives, so this wasn't too difficult, but I did notice that I was missing our mortgage interest statement. I found an old mortgage document from Washington Mutual with an account number and 800-number on it and gave it a try.

The automated system asked for my loan number and the last 4-digits of my social security number. I entered both and was good to go. I navigated through the phone tree until I found "Your mortgage interest for the previous year" and got the information I was looking for. There was one problem though - the information was followed by a discomforting caveat: "This amount may not be the amount that was reported to the IRS. For the official amount, please visit wamu.com."

Now this was strange. What could possibly be the point of providing information that may or may not be reliable?

It's the IRS though, so I decided I should do my best to get the exact amount. I went to wamu.com and realized I had never created an online account. So, I clicked Create Account and landed on this page.

I actually started laughing when I saw it. Check out the informative line on the far right: Step 1 of 8. Just eight simple steps to an online account? I think that doing my entire tax return online last year involved fewer steps. Guess how many steps it takes to build the Mini Cooper of your dreams and order it from a local dealer? Six! Do you honestly expect me to go through 8 steps just to create an account? How many steps would it be after that to actually get the information I was looking for?

After a few minutes, I started thinking that the incredible number of steps must be due to stringent security requirements. After all, this is a banking site, so you can't be too careful.

But then I remembered that all I had to do just 10 minutes earlier was dial an 800-number, enter an account number followed by 4 digits and I was in. Complete access to everything about my Washington Mutual financial life. If I'm an existing customer, they have all of my information (name, address, phone, etc...), they just need to verify who I am. Here's a 1-page, 4-question version:

Email address:
Password:
Existing WAMU account number:
Last 4-digits of your social security number:

Needless to say, I left the site without creating an account. My time is too important and my standards too high. I'd much rather risk the wrath of the IRS and write a post about it.

Funny but true

Since the launch of the new website, it's been fun to watch the traffic and various referrers. All of our sites now use a customized version of awstats and we have much better data than in the past.

One thing that is so funny to watch, though, is strange links from other church websites. We track when a request is made for a file on our server that cannot be found and since the launch, we've had a lot of these. A little investigation reveals something we've seen many times over the years - there are a lot of church websites that actually serve images directly from our server!

Of course, designs and images are borrowed liberally across the web (how many Photoshop graphics start with a search of Google Images?), but it takes it to a whole new level when you create a page that actually pulls live images from someone else's site.

You would be surprised at how many websites have large image not found messages on them this weekend because the links are no longer valid. I'm sure they'll discover them soon enough and then probably try to locate the images on the new site. Unfortunately, most are gone; we wanted a fresh start so about the only images we moved over were ministry logos.

It certainly doesn't cause us any harm and I wish them all the best, but it is funny to see. I wonder how often this happens in the corporate world? If you come across red x's this week on a church site, you might want to view the source, just for the fun of it.

the new fellowshipchurch.com is here...

Yesterday, we launched the brand-new version of FellowshipChurch.com!

Visit the new site

Since we made the switch to open source and standards-based web development last April, this was the day we've been waiting for. We launched the new EdYoung.org in June and the new FellowshipConnection.com in August. Both of these sites were perfect proving grounds due to their scope and complexity. The FC site, however, was hundreds of pages across four different campuses and required a custom-built content management system, form builder, user management tool, and integration with our church database. At the same time, we were committed to building a site that was 100% standards compliant and functional across all browsers.

I've had the privilege of working over the past year with two of the most talented and dedicated web developers I know, Brad and Jeph. They are proof of the power of small teams when you have the right people in place - the new FellowshipChurch.com site was built in just 5 months, while still maintaining 4 other sites.

Take a look around and let me know what you think. Many of you are web developers, many of you are on staff at churches, and some of you are privileged to do both! I have no doubt you can provide invaluable feedback.

I'll post an overview of what our goals were, the cool features, and the behind-the-scenes technology soon. You can enjoy one of the pieces we're most proud of right now, though. A big challenge that every site redesign presents is how do you help your current users have an easy and enjoyable transition. Yesterday morning (yes, the morning of our launch) I had an idea.

A few months ago, we built a moderated online chat for FellowshipConnection.com. Very similar to Campfire, it is a clean, simple, elegant tool. It came to mind yesterday morning and I thought, "Wouldn't it be great to give people instant access to help with the new site through an online chat?"

Believe or not, the team retrofitted the application for the FC site in the middle of our launch day and by 6:00 last night, we were answering questions and getting feedback from many friendly, appreciative people. Have I mentioned how much I love this team?

You'll find a link to the chat on the homepage throughout the day, so stop by and say hello. It will be available next week as well as people start to use the new site.

Blog Power

I love to see the search results the bring people to this blog. I search for information constantly and know well the joy of finding exactly what I was looking for and the frustration when every link is a dead end. For instance, you'd be surprised at how often people search for information about sleepovers. The person I felt the most sorry for was the one who was looking for "gifts for political science majors" and ended up here.

One simple blog rule is that the title of your post matters a lot. If the title of your post matches a common search phrase, people will find your site on a regular basis. Now, I honestly have no desire for this kind of traffic; I'm not tracking eyeballs, running Adwords or anything. The number of readers I have matters a lot to me; the number of visitors not so much. However, I do want search engine tourists to enjoy their stay and find what they're looking for.

I noticed a large amount of Google tourists recently and discovered that a lot of people are searching for "west wing cancelled". You guessed it - that was the exact title of my recent post on the subject.

Here's where the power of a blog amazes me, though. If you search Google for "west wing cancelled" right now, this rather small blog is the number one result, above MSNBC, Answers.com, CNN, and Ain't It Cool News. Sometimes, it's good to be reminded just how much the world of journalism and media has changed.

Quick side note: It turns out the cancelled can legitimately be spelled with 1 or 2 l's, so those who search for "west wing canceled" will never see my post!

Get involved in what God is doing

Bono spoke this week at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. You can watch the speech on C-SPAN.org (unfortunately, Real Player is required). It's a truly powerful speech, well worth watching. I've included excerpts below.

Watch Bono

[1] God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing, we can all agree - all faiths, all ideologies - is that God is with the vulnerable and the poor. God is in the slums and the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives. And God is with us, if we are with them.

[2] This is not about charity in the end, is it? It's about justice, the good news yet to come. Look what happened in southeast Asia, with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to Mother Nature. Well, in Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month, a tsunami every month, and it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

[3] A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life, in countless ways, big and small. I was always seeking the Lord's blessing and I'd be saying, "Look, I've got a new song. Would you look after it? I have a family and I'm going on tour, please look after them. I have this crazy idea, could I have a blessing on it?" And this wise man asked me to stop.

He said, "Stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Get involved in what God is doing, because it's already blessed."