Blogging

Searching My BlogSphere...

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Searching the BlogSphere
Will Richardson points to a post by Jenny about a tool developed by Micah Alpern that allows you to utilize the Google API to create a search form that allows users to search the RSS feeds I subscribe to. It does this by accessing a file called MySubscriptions.opml that is created by NetNewsWire . (For those utilizing Radio as your aggregation tool, it too creates a MySubscriptions.opml file). I have set it up and placed it in my right sidebar.

Ben HammersleyMaking Feature-Rich, Movable Type RSS Files

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O'Reilly Network: Making Feature-Rich, Movable Type RSS Files [Feb. 28, 2003] The curse of metadata, once you get over the intractable issues of trust and standards and categorization, is that you never know how much to give. For the weblogging community, which produces masses of metadata, mostly without knowing it, this is especially true: we could be giving out so much more for others to play with, and with very little effort.

Ben Hammersley explains how to replace the default Movable Type RSS 1.0 template with a template that takes advantage of the many features of RSS 1.0 and Movable Type. This includes including comments and trackbacks (is that a word?) in your RSS feed.

Audblog....

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audblog : sounding out
audblog is a service that provides bloggers (so far just Blogger) with the ability to post audio to their blogs from any phone. [by way of...Scripting News]

Kind of interesting, is pretty nice that you can post from a phone... Here is the result....
Powered by audblogaudblog audio post

The Macromedia Flash tool that is being used currently by Pam's students and tools such as QuickVoice also allow you to create files that can be linked to from your blog...

Using QuickVoice, I recorded and converted this mp3 file: My son Fernando talking while looking out the window of an airplane...

QuickVoice can also be used along with other tools, to create audio post cards as outlined in this O'Reilly article by Derrick Story.

MovableType Plugin Directory

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MT Plugin Directory Movable Type offers the option to create plugins for the program. These plugins allow for new external outputs, and thanks to a great group of plugin authors, we have a wide variety of things to try out! This plugin directory lists all known MT plugins and provide information for using thems.

One stop shopping for MT plugins... Also noted today an update to Movable Type to version 2.6 and the announcement of a Pro version coming this summer...

One Great Teacher...

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Mrs. Stewart's Classroom News Today I had the great honor to work with Priscilla Stewart. Priscilla is a teacher at Buckman Elementary in Portland, Oregon. She is new to using weblogs, but after just a few minutes you could tell she understood the power of being able to easily publish information about her classroom for her students and their families.

We are using Movable Type to publish her classroom blog. After playing around with the features we began to discuss the use of the blogging tool by her students. This lead us to create another blog for her students to post daily classroom updates. Using the RSS feed from this blog, we employed a JavaScript to capture the RSS feed from the student blog and have it feed into her main classroom page, so those visiting the site can see her classroom information, and also see the most recent postings from her students.

Movable Type as a Journal Tool

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Movable Type as Journal Tool Students in this beginning German class at the University of North Carolina use Movable Type to publish their journal entries. Another exciting use of weblogs in education. I have wanted to do this with our Linux Terminal Server Project schools, but rather than make them public, they would be used as learning logs for only the student and teacher to read and comment on. RSS could be used to alert the instructor of new entries. Lots of possibilities... Now if we can only convince our IT folks to install Movable Type on the LTSP boxes...

Another reference to Traci

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Traci Smolen's Weblog: Last lame poem I will write... Traci this is a test. This is only a test... Traci this is a test. This is only a test... Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...Traci this is a test. This is only a test...

More About Samuel Pepys' Diary...

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Phil Gyford: Writing: An introduction to weblog terms for weblog readers Phil Gyford's Samuel Pepys' Diary, is gaining quite a few readers. (For background BBC News has a nice introduction... ) As a result, he has come up with a list of blogging terms for those new to weblogs and their conventions.

If you haven't seen Samuel Pepeys Diary, be sure to check it out. What a great way to publish historical documents. I love the comments section under each entry. Today several folks are speculating why the Thames froze over in 1660.