If there’s one debate that keeps raging across the blogosphere, off and on, it has to be about RSS feeds. Even now, I hear occasional raves and rants about how partial text feeds are irritating and nonsensical, and all that.

What if (this may be a very silly what-if) the choice were left to the user?

What if I as a reader could decide whether I wanted a Partial-Text, Full-Text or Headlines only feed for a given site?

For instance, I’d prefer to have a Headline-only feed for heavy output websites like Slashdot and ZDNet while I’d prefer a full-text feed for sporadically updating sites, like friend blogs.

Alternatively, this can be achieved from the client-side itself, i.e. within the RSS reader. To me, it makes sense to open the feed in three stages:

Headlines >> Partial Text (Excerpt*) >> Full Text

In either of the cases, the publisher must provide a full-text feed.

Of the few readers that I have tried and tested, Google Reader comes close, offering Expanded and Reading views. Combined with keyboard shortcuts, these make for an amazing experience.

At the end of the day, reading RSS feeds is nothing but consuming content, and right now, there are only so many ways to do it.

I have a sneaky suspicion, things will be different soon.

(*caveat: I would define an excerpt as a paragraph or two, having a total of about 5-7 lines at least)

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My Web Hosting providers suddenly got into their mind that Blogging was an activity they did not want to allow on their web servers. And for some reason they thought that my YouTube videos were hogging their bandwidth. So they suspended my account.

Just like that.

Without information, without notice, without anything. And this happens right in the middle of a post submission!! No prior intimation, no update, nothing! So I did what anybody would do. Got myself pissed and mailed them immediately. 11 emails and 3 days later, i.e. today they ‘relented’ to my questions and ‘unsuspended’ the site.

Just like that.

In the course of the email exchanges I learnt that my site was blocked because of streaming and blogging activity. Huh? Blogging is a perfectly acceptable activity for a website. In fact I choose to use my blog as a website, instead of the other way round. As for streaming, the only streaming came from the YouTube video, which streams directly from source!

What irritated me further was this line in their Terms of Service Agreement:

Denial of Service: We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone at any time for any reason.

That line just absolves them of all liabilities, doesn’t it? So tomorrow, if their system admin turns out to be a BOFH, I stand to lose all my content?

Silly of me to give them ideas, isn’t it? But what irritates me is this fine print in the legalese. Why should one shirk from responsibilities? If it is an error, it IS an error. Accept it like a man, make amends and move on. Is that so difficult to understand?

Sigh, seems like a classic case of the Friday blues to me…

Well, here’s a quick roundup of the events in the last 48 hours. Not so much as a time-line, but more of an aggregation:

1. Jan 1st 2007, Haochi of Googlified posts a blog entry and follows up with a description of a demo exploit, describing how an attacker could use malicious XSS code to extract your contact addresses. He diggs his own story and gets a mute response (typical, Digg, did I hear you say?)…

2. Alex Bailey of Techread duly noted it on his blog which can be read here, which was then dugg and made it screaming to the front page as:
GMail Hacked: Visit ANY Website, and Your Whole Contact List Can be Stolen

3. About the same time as Digg, Slashdot picked up the story, and then, the whole world knew.

So, what exactly happened?

Apparently, when you log in to any Google-affiliate site, your GMail addressbook finds its way into your browser through some nifty JavaScript function calling. And someone, somewhere, forgot the mandatory checks and balances. What it means is, you can see all your Gmail contacts lined up here.

Don’t worry, only you will be able to see them and nobody’s using the link for any malicious purposes. Until today morning, the contacts could also be viewed in your browser. Google engineers acted immediately (well, 24 hours after the bug was posted by Haochi) and fixed a part of the bug. You can no longer see your contact’s list in a browser. However, you can still get them in the XML format.

The other part can still be exploited and is worse as it directly provides the XML version of your addressbook. Hope, the GTeam fixes this one up in time, before the email harvesters have a field day.

The standard warnings go with this one:

• Do not click on links from untrusted sources.
  Hey, when did you ever know a person who was named “DWickjasl Pfennry”?

• Do not click on suspicious links even if they come from trusted sources
  Your bank would never send you a referral scheme via e-mail. Period. And no, you are not gonna win that iPod (unless its freepay, and they do not operate in India. So, there.)

• Report all spam. It helps.
  Use that small button named “Spam” (or “Report Spam” in case of GMail). It really works, you know.

• All Links are NOT meant for clicking
  Use the status bar. Keep your nouse over the link and look to the bottom left, you should be able to see the address of where the link points. If it looks suspicious, DON’T click. Period.

• Above all, use your common sense.
  If you don’t remember participating in the Fifth Third bank International lottery, YOU DIDN’T PARTICIPATE.

So, there you go… Capisce?

Read it here: The Bond Walks Again.

But I am surprised, of the 45 comments (at the last count…) and through the entire post, there is not one true Bond fan.
Everyone keeps commenting on how Daniel Craig is un-suave and un-stylish, or at the very least less worthy than Pierce Brosnan and Sean Connery (Ye Gods!). I thought movies were meant for watching and *listening* as well.

For those who haven’t gotten the drift yet, check this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Fleming#James_Bond_books

And a complete Ian Fleming Bibliography can be found here:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/series/james-bond/

A ‘Casino’ Quickie
Casino Royale is Ian Fleming’s FIRST Bond book. The book is about a spy who has been recently promoted to a double agent status and given the license to kill. In casino royale, James Bond is a brash, short-tempered, somewhat uncouth (if I may say so) young man who believes in here and now. More often than not, he lets his heart rule over his head.

Casino Royale is not about the shaken-not-stirred martini Bond we know. Rather, it is about the man who became James Bond 007. It is about the process of finding and losing love that eventually hardens him into the ‘Bond, James Bond’ as we know today. Ever wonder why Craig never says the trademark Bond line (”The name’s Bond, James Bond”) except at the end? Now you know…

Everything about Daniel Craig in the movie, from his clothing to his Body language is raw, and exudes a different charm. The Bond babes are there and yet, not quite there, if you get my drift

But this post is not intended to be a review of the movie. It is meant to quash some of the misgivings about the ‘Bond series’.

The Bond Series

1. The Bond series is not a ‘Series’.
   Or rather, it is not in a chronological order. Check out Fleming’s bibliography and you’ll realize what I am talking about.
2. Daniel Craig looks gay/wussy/________ (Your adjective here)
   He’s meant to look raw. It’s his first ‘assignment’. Or sort of. He’s supposed to behave like an air-head. A promotion often does that to you.
3. Daniel Craig is not as stylish as ________ (Your choice of Bond here)
   See point 2.
4. Casino Royale is not as stylish/gadgety/______ (Your adjective here) as _______ (Insert name of a Bond movie)
   See point 2.

Oh by the way, did you know Casino Royale was written in 1953? You didn’t, did you? I figured…

Trivia:
In one of the scenes during the Poker tournament, Bond orders the bartender to make a drink for him. He proceeds to narrates the recipe from memory for about twenty seconds and ends with, …”shaken, not stirred.”

Yep, that is the famous ’shaken-not-stirred’ Bond martini. The more observant of you may even have noted down the recipe during the movie.

Pass it on, if you did.

1. quirk (kwûrk) pronunciation (n.)

1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: “Every man had his own quirks and twists” (Harriet Beecher Stowe).
2. An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.
3. A sudden sharp turn or twist.
4. An equivocation; a quibble.
5. Architecture. A lengthwise groove on a molding between the convex upper part and the soffit.

2. 42: DNA, H2G2 fans, rejoice!!

There’s still a lot of work to be done. This is just a stop-gap setup. Over the coming days (or weeks, or months) I intend to set up my own particular design, once I learn the basics of this thing…

Almost all the posts have been imported from Blogger along with your comments.

Here’s a hint:

Navigating these pages is easy. Simply, use the categories on the right! Or if you are looking for something specific, try the search box on the top.

For those who came from my Conversations blog on Blogspot/Blogger, you can find all the stories, in the stories category. Here’s a handy link:
http://42quirks.com/index.php/category/stories/

Thanks to everyone, who prodded me enough to set this up…

Yes, you read the last one right.

Blogger can no longer be accessed through certain Indian ISPs. The Indian Govt. has painstakingly put together a list of sites, running into twenty-two pages, that must be blocked by all Indian ISPs. Blogger’s one of them.

I am speechless. There are so many things, I want to say, but don’t know where to start.

Shivam Vij, tried to contact the authorities seeking a clarification about the issue. He was was made to (virtually) run from pillar to post, and ended up with a curt, “What’s your problem? Someone must have blocked some site. So?” Typical.

A few national dailies took it up and reported it. Hindustan Times and Indian Express each had a story to tell, but it was more of a report than a story. The Times of India (link not up yet), too had it’s own take on the entire affair. Notice the absolutely moderate, even submissive tone of the reports. It is as if they are trying to distance themselves from the entire fiasco.

Ok, I agree, some of the websites in the list might be classified as fanatic to the extreme. There might even be some Bloggers with extreme religious views. But a blanket ban? Why would anybody want to censor this blog? It’s stupid.

A few years ago, Yahoo! Groups was blocked because they found a few subversive groups using the tool to convey messages to each other. The same blanket ban was enforced even then.

Even if we assume that the websites are guilty of propagating theories and sentiments detrimental to the national interest. Wouldn’t it make much more sense if the owners of these websites were called in for questioning under the same clause? A blanket ban only serves to inconvenience everyone, while helping none.

The dilemma is simple: How far can you stretch the right to express your opinions?

Have the conversations gone a bit too far this time?

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Censorship, Religion

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Remember todays A-Lister could be tomorrows “remember him?”, and they all started out somewhere. The audience you are ignoring could be tomorrows A-List.

If you define your A-list according to Technorati Top 100 or equivalent, then yes, it could be so. Also, the A-listers have something we don’t.

Let me start with a tentative OD (Operative Definition) of an A-lister:

“A-lister: Any person owning or authoring a blog which commands statistical superiority in a particular category/subject/topic over other ‘fellow’ blogs (and bloggers) in certain matters of detail.”

The certain matters of detail being outlined below, along with tentative operative definitions, for a randomly chosen category:

• Traffic: Daily page views in thousands
• Reader-base: in thousands (RSS/Atom Feed Subscribers)
• TrackBacks: Anywhere between ten to twenty per day.
• Comments: Genuine:S**k-up ratio of 1:10 (may be)
• Flamers: Flames:Comments ratio of 1:10

And last, but definitely, positively, not the least:

• Private/Closed Beta Invites

Scoops. The A-listers get the scoops. And the public seems to hang on to every word. And you and I are equally to blame on that front.

Think about this. You visit a blog and read an excellent article. Then, you scroll down and see zero (0) comments and you think, “Hmmm, no comments? Looks like this guy gets no traffic at all. So why bother, he’s not gonna miss me any way, heck he doesn’t even know I came here!” The next guy comes along and does *exactly* the same thing. And the blog ends up wth a meagre 20-30 unique visitor traffic with no returning visitors.

On the other hand, an A-lister blogs about his vacation in Miami or his Blogosphere experiments and watch the traffic shoot!

Are we hypocrites or what?

I am not saying that we suck-up to them all the time, but if you draw up the stats you will see that 80% of the “A-list” bloggers’ posts have been reviews/reports of ‘the next big things’ or stupid PR experiments. Occasionally, there are a few flames too. When was the last time you saw an A-lister come out with something genuine and refreshing?

Bloogging may not be all about the traffic, but it is human tendency to seek some recognition especially if one believes he/she is worth it. I will not blog for the masses if they are not going to acknowledge me. What’s the point? Isn’t it a failure? It is like a startup which does great things but doesn’t sell.

Blogging for the market and Blogging for the masses are polar opposites. Blogging for the masses is when you provide value and generate conversations, even if it means discussing whether the weather is good for flying or not. Blogging for the market means that you HAVE to look at the traffic. Remember, your blog is no different than the advertising bill board off Freeway 66.

After all, you have to make every stopover count, right?

Disclaimer:
Intelligent readers will please note the following very important points:

1. I have not linked any of my subtle references back to Robert Scoble of Microsoft, PR guru Steve Rubel and Jeremy Zawodny, for fear of getting flamed.

2. The A-lister stats in the Operative definitions were simple guesswork. If anybody has conducted appropriate research and can give me the correct figures, I would be only too happy to post them on my blog.

3. Yeah I know, I am lazy.

Technorati Tags: blog, a-list, market, masses, peeves ]]> http://42quirks.com/2006/03/16/blog-the-market-vs-the-masses/feed/ http://42quirks.com/2006/02/28/the-capit-a-list-bloggers/ http://42quirks.com/2006/02/28/the-capit-a-list-bloggers/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2006 22:05:37 +0000 Shrikant Joshi http://42quirks.com/?p=22 The rich get richer and the poor get poorer…All humans are born equal. but we just have to admit the fact that some men are more equal than the others. The society was, is and always will be divided into classes based on the financial status. Money is the deciding factor. Some people will always have more money than the others. It doesn’t matter where the money comes from. What matters is whether you are able to sustain it.
There is always gonna be an invisible glass-ceiling stopping you from reaching there. If you are a novice and you want to break the glass ceiling, you have to either try VERY hard or circumvent it somehow. There is no short-cut of course. The only way to ‘circumvent’ it is to somehow grab the attention of any one of the elite class. If you have done that, you have done the hard work. The rest is simply smooth sailing.

So how do you grab their attention? There are two ways of doing it:
1. Flame them - Oppose them vehemently so that they rant against you. Like someone said, there’s no bad publicity, only publicity.
OR
2. Claim them - Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Give them good references and you will be rewarded someday.

Are you done reading it? Very well, now follow these instructions:

1. Replace every occurence of the words ‘humans’ or ‘people’ with the word ‘Blogs’
2. Replace every occurence of the word ’society’ with the word ‘Blogosphere’
3. Replace every occurence of the word ‘money’ with the word ‘traffic’
4. Replace every occurence of the phrase ‘elite class’ with ‘A-list’

Surprised, eh?

Yes, apparently, you can treat blogs the blogsphere on par with human evolution human society. Just as the human society is divided into classes, so are blogs. And, every blog is a part of some closed community.

The Flame approach worked for these guys who started off as a rant blog. Look where they are today - among the top 10 in WordPress Blogs.

Like society, there is no dearth of writing talent in the Blogosphere. It just takes some time to be discovered and some discoveries happen too late. Some happen too early.

Some don’t happen at all.

I think I know what hapens to mine.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, capitalism, A-list, society, comparison ]]> http://42quirks.com/2006/02/28/the-capit-a-list-bloggers/feed/ http://42quirks.com/2006/01/03/hex-blog-wmf-vulnerability-checker/ http://42quirks.com/2006/01/03/hex-blog-wmf-vulnerability-checker/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:55:58 +0000 Shrikant Joshi http://42quirks.com/?p=12 A vulnerability was recently discovered in the Windows WMF format which could lead to your system being compromised. Security analyst Ilfak Guilfanov has reated a patch for the this vulnerability.

You can read more about the vulnerability on Ilfak’s site or download the patch. The patch provided by him is on an AS-IS basis and unofficial. Yet, SANS security center advises that the patch be downloaded and installed on every Windows machine.

Note: The Sans guys have reverse engineered the patch and found it to be effective. Yet, install the same at your own discretion. Me, I have installed it. You?

Read more at www.hexblog.com/2006/01… ]]> http://42quirks.com/2006/01/03/hex-blog-wmf-vulnerability-checker/feed/ http://42quirks.com/2005/12/27/predictions-are-hot-and-blake-ross-is-on-fire/ http://42quirks.com/2005/12/27/predictions-are-hot-and-blake-ross-is-on-fire/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2005 13:03:00 +0000 Shrikant Joshi http://42quirks.com/?p=11 Blake Ross of Firefox comes up with his own list of 10 ‘predictions for the year 2006. Who knows, may be some of them will actually turn out to be true. He he.

Here’s a collection of my favs:

This one seems to be A take on 37signals, what say, Blake?

Although 37 venture capital firms will invest in AOL following the announcement, the blogosphere will scoff that AOL is “only for people who know nothing about the Internet.” Rupert Murdoch will thus acquire the company immediately, then merge it with his other recent acquisition to create online powerhouse AOL Gore.

This had me ROTFLMAO…

Yahoo, acclerating its bid to dominate the social space, will announce that it is buying the actual societies of 32 cash-strapped governments. Citizens will be allowed to link their existing names to their Yahoo accounts.

Will they, won’t they?

A uncanny sense of humour combined with fiery sarcasm makes Blake’s post a must-read. Those of you who haven’t yet seen it, I have one word for you: Subscribe!