The return of the same ideas from the last bubble. Case in point, this phone call i just got from someone about an evite i was supposed to receive. I didn’t get the evite. I don’t know why I didn’t get it, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the system is silly and unnecessary. Pick up the phone, or send an email, you don’t need an evite or emeetup or e or i anything site. I leave it to the reader to do the time motion study of wasted motion necessary to use such a site. In this case of missing email address or wrong address, the inviter has no way to know that i don’t have the invite, and the system has no way of me letting him know. Had the inviter used his own email, he’d at least know if the mail bounced, and could check/correct the address himself.
Don’t believe the hype, just because something is new doesn’t make it good or even useful, always ask yourself how this simplifies or makes the task easier. Are you getting more information then by doing this manually? The evite doesn’t add any value or streamline the generation of an invitation and coordination of an event.
Oh well. As a side note, I also don’t have the $50 necessary for this little soiree.
The Mad Cow played Conan OBrian out on his last night in Chicago, see it here. I won’t even say what I think about the editing of this. At least they got some mainstream media attention.
The Mad Cows may b e on Conan Obrien tonight. Maybe. Rumor. Rumor. Rumor.
NetNewsWire, the best feedreader for OS X (IMHO) has been up-reved to 2.1. This is actually a new version, loaded with new features. I’ve been using the betas with no problem for a while, and written up my workflow which i’ll post later. The features range from great to ok. You now have the ability to post to online social bookmarking services like del.icio.us through third party applications (Cocoalicious for local searchable bookmark management, Pukka for multiple accounts, Postr for multiple online services). There’s a new Attention feature which functions like smart lists in iTunes, arranging the feeds by how often you read them. You can now share articles or just links by email. You can now print article and webpages. Lastly you can now sync with theNewsgator service, allowing multiple feedreaders on multiple machines to stay in sync (handy if you have a machine at work and you don’t want to read the same article twice, or if you use a PDA feedreader).
What is irksome is this report over on MacDevCenter that you must now register for Newsgator to update from a previous NNW license. Newsgator bought NNW from Ranchero last year. What you get is two years of the premium service, and free upgrades till 2008. What they get get is your email address-there is no charge for registering. You don’t have to use Newsgator, but if you choose to use the service they know what you read. Your copy of NNW will keep working even if your account lapses. On the one hand a great deal, more free updates then Ranchero promised before they sold to Newsgator. On the other hand your copy of NNW stops working in 30 days if you don’t register. The lite version remains unencumbered in this regard. Brent says ther’re doing this to transition from Kagi who Ranchero used to Newsgators own registration system.
While I’m not happy with this, I can’t complain-I can’t afford the product, I usually use the lite or beta versions (when I’m not testing out some other feedreader). NNW is also one of the least bunkered products out there, all your data belongs to you, and is easily removed from the program in standards compliant ways. You can export your subscription list in OPML, which damn near every feed reader on the planet reads, and you can export individual articles by either the post to weblog feature, dragging the headline to TextEdit (which will get you the whole article, links intact) or posting to a online social bookmarking service and pasting in the article’s text in the comment field.
Got Art? Need More? Get your art this Second Friday! be sure to stop by 4Art, Parts Unknown, EXP and Translucent Chocolate/Gallery 718 for the best of what Pilsen has to offer artistically. And don’t forget to tip your artists when your done. Once again you’ll be able to find me by following the sounds of despair and terror emanating from the crowds I trample in my new rocket assisted turbine driven exoskeletol wheelchair. Remember it’s spelled ART but it’s pronounced RAMEN NOODLES.
This just in:
Once again its time for La Bande Sans Fin +
and DJ SoundAnd Fury to make some noise +
at Phyllis’ Musical Inn +
Sunday May 14 – 4pm +
boy, have WE got a case of echolalia for YOU !
I recieved this in the mail a little bit ago:
Dear Friends,
You may have noticed that we are listed in this week’s
Chicago Reader as playing at the Version>06 Festival
on Sunday. Unfortunately this was never confirmed
with us and we will not be playing at the event.
We apologize for any confusion.
With love,
Mucca Pazza
That really sucks, both for the band and the people who will be showing for a gig that isn’t. I’m sorry to hear that the organizers are treating the bands with the same contempt they treated the public, as far as announcements and organization.
