Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Reuters.  CSIS buys into bad intel and claims al Qaeda is nearly finished in Saudi Arabia.  Extremely bad analysis.  Where do they find these people??  12:42:51 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Trade deficit by nation  Deficits we run with major trading partners.  Here's the major problem areas (per month!): China.  $16.63 billion.  Down slightly. Japan. $7.29 billion.  Up big. EU.  $7.72 billion.  Up big. Canada.  $7.3 billion.  Up big. Mexico.  $3.89 billion.  Down. 9:33:13 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

WSJ.  The US trade deficit rose to $60.3 billion in November (is there a link to the elections?).  A new record.  Despite a sinking dollar, the sale of US goods abroad dropped (down 2.3%).  This is terrible news.  The relative performance of the US vs. all other nations is on a slippery downward slope.  While we focus on military power, the rest of the world is focused on economic power. 9:28:00 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Global RSS Subscription Repositiory (GRSR)  Ok.  Let's put some more flesh on the bones of an automated RSS repository.  Here's what it is going to need: A button on the site that says "subscribe to this site" A single sign-on confirmation screen (username and password). A repository of subscription information. An API for aggregators to sign into and acquire subscription data. A set of screens for subscription management - or - a method for aggregators to add to or delete susbscription data (or both). A way to import existing subscriptions and subscriptions that use the legacy behavior (cut, paste, and click).  This could be done through the aggregator. Flash forward 5 years... The RSS subscription repository now has 25 million accounts.  It handles millions of interactions (transactions) a day.  It works with hundreds of different aggregators.  The best person to build a system like this would require: A familiarity with the RSS space (the spec, the aggregators, and the history). Able to handle large system development (one that can handle millions of transactions). Extensive experience with hard core security, single sign-on management, global replication, etc. 24-hour operations experience. Neutrality. 9:09:11 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

I'm trying to figure out the user behavior in Dave's RSS subsciption system.   What he is proposing is a system that stores your RSS subscriptions at an independent location.  This would be independent of the aggregator you select.  All the aggregators would need to point to the system in order to find automated subscriptions.  It would therefore be really easy to switch aggregators...  Of course, hand entered subscriptions (and there will be many, since most RSS icons still point to an XML page), wouldn't be included in this service.  Etc.  I suspect that the central service would request that those hand entered subscriptions be filed at the central location.  More on this as I think it through... 7:54:19 AM    Comment_ Trackback []