PIPE DREAMS

So, on the massive voyage of discovery that the internet seems to be these days, in trying to work out how to 'mashup' information from the web into a single feed for my site I discovered yahoo pipes.

To say this online service is comprehensive is an understatement, it's like looking for a subway, but finding a gourmet deli counter, that's free. You can take any source of information from the web and combine, filter and tweak the information into an output format of your choice. All online. All through an easy to use visual editor.

I had no idea that yahoo offered services like this, but Yahoo Pipes is truly a killer service.

PUBLISHING RSS FEEDS IN HTML

I've discovered webrss.com, which has provided a partial answer to the immediate issues of how to publish content to my site. I've managed to combine multiple RSS feeds (for Free!) into a single home page, but am starting to realise that it's only part of the solution. Because the feeds are in javascript they take a while to load up - something that you can get away with in PHP. In refreshing my website I'm also starting to realise quite how much work it's going to take to re-build my site. I just can't believe wordpress is going to provide the solution, but we'll see. I'm starting to think a combination of RSS feeds in a PHP site is the only way. I must resist.

Update (10th June 2010) - Although WebRSS works it doesn't. Sometimes nothing appears on the page at all which is a problem when most of the page is now built using feed mashups. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to publish the content through feeds without using PHP.

PACMAN HITS 30!

As if there's wasn't enough about to remind us that we're getting old, even a neon yellow ball of joy can age. Google, as per normal, out did everyone IN THE WORLD by recreating their logo as a grid for pac man. Have a go for old time's sake at the Pacman 30th anniversary site

ONE STEP CLOSER

Ok. So I've worked out how to get a self-hosted wordpress.org blog up on my site, but still haven't worked out how to maintain a website outside of wordpress but maintain the blog within it.

Currently, the only option seems to be to build a new version of my existing site, which is currently in Html in PHP because the site needs to translate the RSS feed into HTMl. There is one other option, that involves using a site that converts feeds into html. I'll give it a go, maybe this will be the first post I use when I've cracked it.

To PHP or not to PHP?

Woah, the veil of technical complexity descends. I've managed to get to a point where I've realised that most hosting providers either support external blog sites like wordpress or blogger, but if you want to have control of your blog on your site it's all a little bit tricky.

So far, I've managed to get my hosting to set up a content management system (Drupal) on the www.futurish.com domain, but somewhat inconveniently the only blog service it seems to instantly support is wordpress not blogger. I'm now a little bit torn as to which one I should use.

The only alternative seems to be to create my futurish, or indeed any other site I want to host my own blog within my own functional site in PHP - something which to date is a little outside of my abilities. The question is whether or not it's a good idea to learn PHP just to solve this problem. Part of me is intrigued but another part of me is reminded that this is supposed to be something that is accessible to all not just to the few - I need to find a formula that makes it work for all.

The saga continues...

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Whether I like it or not, once I get an idea for something that, like an old town bypass, suddenly creates a quicker route from my mental or emotional A to B, I can't help but obsess about it. It is of course, simultaneously healthy and unhealthy to have such things in mind and as a result I've developed an equal ability to suppress such urges as I have to achieve them.

One thing that has always slightly stumped me and I should doubt anyone else, is how come people have blogs or websites but rarely both. Ok, so this sounds instantly geeky, but I think that's just a quick response to a slightly more fundamental question - which is why most websites are so humanless, whereas blogs are almost a bit to personal. It strikes me that this same aspect of the human condition to be unable to be simultaneously human and functionless and robotic and functional exists on the web.

The frustration also comes from the fact that I love building and creating websites, but that online blog applications are far better at it than I, at least in the simplicity and ease of doing so. It's blog applications that have really brought personalised websites to the masses and with that they have brought both genius and placed the internet in the hands of the non-technical. Which, let's be honest, is ultimately better and what the web is really about. Right on?

Anyway, this is all a meandering pre-amble away from the fact that I have decided to conquer this particular dilemma of mine and try to develop a site which is a mix of both blog & traditional website. Please note this is not just a technical challenge but also an attempt to create a style of site that brings both function and humanity.

Here we go.

Online TV services

For some strange reason, I've only just heard of TVcatchup. Nothing short of brilliant, particularly if you want to watch freeview TV in a room where you don't have a TV already - say the kitchen or your bedroom, but you do have a laptop.

It turns your laptop into a TV, giving you a choice of all the Freeview stations, along with an EPG / TV guide that actually works. You can't record programmes through it, but you can watch, seemingly to your heart's content.

TVcatchup (www.tvcatchup.com) is dependent on you having a good broadband connection, but if you're like me and you pay to have a good internet connection then it's both a great justification for paying the extra for broadband and saves me buying a TV for a room that only needs one on occasion.