Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock
Wednesday, November 2, 2005. There is nothing simple about Really Simple Syndication. RSS makes little sense. I finally understand that with it I can create a personal Internet connection for all of my favorite sites to let me know when they update; I think I get a phone call. But why? One to 10 times a day I manually click my bookmarks of Romenesko, Salon, Slate, and Jon Carroll’s column and James Lileks’ The Bleat. Once a week I check Roger Ebert, and the Washington Post and New York Times book pages, as well as see if Moby Lives is still down. RSS does this for me? Big deal.
Rather than drop in some funny bit or longer, reflective and unfunny essay, I’ve spent some days trying to figure out how to make Brick a true blog. I’m not a hi-tech idiot, or a low one, either, but reading about code — and, worse, reading supposed clear explanations about code — turns my brain to a large cotton ball, not as white and fluffy as it should be, either.
Why? Actually, putting an answer to that in words and basic grammar is tough, but it clarifies what I want from a blog, if a blog is what I want. (Now there is a classic sequence of faulty logic.)
Blogs made with even freeware are sophisticated yet easy to update and easy to upload — and both can be done anywhere there’s computer access with an Internet connection. (Now, apparently, a blogger even can use a cell phone, LordLoveADuck.)
(I created this Web site with Dreamweaver 4 (circa 2002 C.E.) and still upload with the FTP “Fetch,” on what now is called Macintosh Classic. I have no trouble with either and have redesigned entirely and still maintain the Web sites of two non-profits this way.)
I am not interested in “trackbacks” (Google this yourself and best of luck) and certainly not putting the comments of others on my own site — what a lot to manage. It’s the searchability I think is missing, though. RSS provides this, as does the similar Atom business, by “pinging” when I make an update of my site. (Maybe I should take a break and do a ping myself. … Yes, I washed my hands afterward.)
I am pretty sure I can just cut-and-paste the XML code high in “currentbrick” for automatic pings, which refreshes the searchability of my Brick. I understand I could create a blog then direct it here to the Brick pile. Then again, my site has had two 400-plus-hit days in the last two weeks. That’s plenty. Who are these people? Perhaps I needn’t bother whizbanging it up. -30-
