Tag Archives: rss

Fun services to create with BitTorrent and RSS

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What could be a good term to use for a combination of Broadcatching and Appcasting?

Broadappcatching?

I guess it would be a good term to describe the syndication of software packages, software release notes and patches over the Internet-dependent BitTorrent file-sharing protocol using RSS.

Of course, this would seem like overkill from the face of it, but with the currently-developing proposal-stage DebTorrent protocol that combines Debian/Ubuntu’s apt-get with BitTorrent for a decentralized software distribution method, why not combine it with RSS’s <enclosure> tag to deliver the goods automatically and visibly, especially if the software (usually the alphas and betas) is being updated and downloaded on a frequent basis?

A Planet aggregator for audio and video podcasts?

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Can anyone tell me if the Planet aggregator software can be used by audio and video podcast feeds?

“Planet” refers to a server-side software that aggregates multiple feeds (usually written or created by people who’re interested or actively participating in a project or topic) into both an OPML format and a website that presents, on the front page of the Planet website, all the most recent posts to the included blogs by date and time of submission.

I’m wondering about this because, if the <audio> and <video> tags and Ogg Vorbis/Theora are to be supported by bigger players like Mozilla in the next version of Firefox (or so it is rumored), then I think that it would be a good idea to sort out how a Planet would handle feeds that display media formats in a way that would be friendly to both text-centric feed readers (Google Reader, NetNewsWrire, Bloglines), that will simply show you the link to the source file and an embedded player, and audio/video-centric feed readers (Miro, Juice, Amarok) that will play the media within the client.

Whether such a development will spur acceptance of Theora and Vorbis as default podcasting media formats for FOSS developers by is another question altogether.

Mythbuntu + Miro

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I’m wondering if a Mythbuntu box can wirelessly sync with one’s Miro libraries on a PC so that video and audio can be streamed from the PC to the TV, like a digital media receiver.

Furthermore, if MythTV is as great as this guy says, then I would like to be able to, through MythTV on TV with a remote, look through the Miro Guide and subscribe to appealing video feeds.

I understand that MythTV can do alot more than what Front Row on Apple TV can, but it seems like MythTV’s current concern and target is the cable/satellite-ripping (e.g., Tivo) folks, not those who are looking for a way to play their video RSS subscriptions (be it client-server or p2p/BIttorrent) on their TV.

Me, I’m trying to find other options besides cable/satellite TV, which is mostly on repeat for me since I tend to dwell in the 300s (movies and specialty stuff).

Forms in web feeds

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I wonder if it will be possible to syndicate whole forms through RSS or Atom feeds, in which a whole form (i.e., an input form for your name, date and comment with a submit button) can be syndicated as a web feed.

That will be especially useful for posted comment feeds from whole blogs or single posts, such as this, only with a built-in reply form that you could use from within the feedreader rather than having to view the post’s original URL before commenting.

To be closer to home, this would be a web feed equivalent of the LiveJournal feature where you can reply to subscribed comments via an email form.

Places and islands: the third social networking tier

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First you had profiles, then you had groups. Most social networks on the WWW are centered around these two components of the user experience. Multimedia posted through the user’s account are seen and reviewed by other users via their accounts, and the better, more pertinent ones are featured within multimedia “pools” maintained by groups, which are user-created, user-sustained mini-communities which are devoted to a particular subject or demographic.

However, the most bleeding-edge concept in social networking is the “place” or “island”, which are user- or group-created pseudogeographical positions which are fixed to a specific “area” of the world within the network.

As stated, these may be created by either single users or by whole groups, and could even serve more than one group during the lifetime of the “place”.

At current, the social network which has best incorporated the concept of “places”, and has probably marketed it to the furthest extents in recent years, is Second Life. The closest WWW-based equivalent to the social networking “place” is Wikipedia’s articles, which are designed to appeal to a specific subject within the online encyclopedia, but can be maintained and sustained by more than one group (or “WikiProject”) which all have vested interests in the contents thereof.

Thus, can the “places” idea be successfully brought to the WWW-based social networks of present? What kind of political arrangements could evolve out of the addition of a new tier to the social networking mores of MySpace, Tribe.net, Facebook or LiveJournal?

Finally, what technological advancements could accompany the development of “places” within these social networks? Could newer applications of the ubiquitous RSS feed (which is already used extensively for both personal and group productions) find a niche to fill in the “places” idea?

EDIT.

A few ideas for RSS updates+Places:

  • Events
  • Additions, edits and cleanups (for those who are interested in the construction and maintenance of the place)
    • New rooms
    • New exhibitions
  • Scheduled reboots? (Hopefully not; SL tends to have alot of those, and you can be logged out at any time without prior notice)