Hello.

I'm struggling to get the BlogItemBacklinkCount tag to display backlink counts for my Blogger blog hosted on my own server. I suspect it might not function in this setup, leading me to believe the entire backlink system isn't automatic as advertised. Has anyone else encountered similar issues? Read More

I've created a basic JavaScript Object Model for OPML, which you can find here: http://www.kinlan.co.uk/AjaxExperiments/opml.js. It's not entirely finished yet, but the core structure is in place. I plan to write proper documentation soon. Read More

I'm developing a JavaScript Object Model for OPML, a first as far as I know! This is essential for my AJAX Tagger version 2, enabling dynamic OPML creation, flexible saving options, and real-time user interaction updates. Read More

I've just released version 2 of AJAX Tagger, and it now includes a Related Images feature! It pulls images from Flickr that you can easily insert into your blog posts. While it works great, be aware that downloading many images might be slow in Internet Explorer due to its concurrent request limit. I believe this is a fantastic addition and can significantly boost traffic to your blog, especially considering images are known to attract readers. Read More

I reported two issues with the Yahoo API over the weekend: one regarding the result number restriction not working as expected and another about the contextual term extraction API failing to process text after encountering HTML tags. Yahoo responded promptly on Monday, confirming that one issue is a bug being addressed and the other has already been fixed. I'm very impressed with their responsiveness and quick turnaround. Read More

Our baby boy, Jack Paul Francis Kinlan, was born on October 11th, 2005, weighing 8lb 11.5oz. Both mom and baby are doing great! We waited a week before sharing the news to enjoy some quiet family time. Read More

David Sifry of Technorati reports impressive blogosphere growth, doubling every 5 months and reaching 19.6 million blogs by October 2005. Around 70,000 new blogs are created daily, though spam blogs account for 2-8%. Sifry's data also shows a staggering posting rate, with 700,000-1.3 million new posts daily. While acknowledging Sifry's valuable contribution, I'd like to see more discussion regarding Technorati's API strategy and how they plan to leverage it for future development. Specifically, I'm interested in how Technorati is engaging with the community and incorporating user feedback, especially regarding feature requests on their Wiki. Read More

I've been pondering the use of tags lately, and noticed a lack of diversity in tagging practices. Many use tags for blog promotion or linking related content. I favor the latter, as it aids in content discovery. However, popular tags on sites like Technorati are often too broad (e.g., "books","blogs") making them less useful for finding niche communities. I propose using more specific sub-tags alongside broader ones. For example, if blogging about Asimov's Foundation series, include both "Asimov" and "Foundation Series" as tags. Tools like my Ajax Tagger and tagyu.com can help suggest relevant tags. I encourage everyone to use a wider range of tags to enrich the tag space and improve content discoverability. Read More

I often disagree with Jacob Neilson's views on usability, but his recent article on blog usability is spot on. I plan to implement several of his suggestions, especially adding a personal photo to my blog. Read More

I'm disappointed with Blogger BackLinks. I thought they'd automatically pull in links to my posts from Google Blog Search, but they don't. Users have to manually add them, which isn't ideal. I plan to create a version that automatically queries Google Blog Search and updates my page with backlinks from there. Read More

This blog post asks readers for their opinion on including event announcements related to blog post topics. For example, if a post is about Apple Macs, I wonder if readers would like to know about Mac Expos. Similarly, for a post about World War 2, it asks if announcing related events like commemoration days would be useful. Readers are invited to share their thoughts in the comments or via email. Read More

James Manning left a comment on my blog post about compression, pointing to a Microsoft article about built-in decompression support in .NET 2.0 for SOAP replies. While I appreciate the comment, Yahoo APIs don't use SOAP, so it won't be helpful in that context. However, this information could be useful for working with Amazon APIs, which do have a SOAP interface. Read More

The IE team has announced that some CSS hacks used to fix issues in IE5 and IE6 won't work in IE7. This means web developers targeting IE7 will need to update their sites to address these breaking changes. The IE team encourages developers to check for common CSS hacks and replace them with standards-compliant code or conditional comments. While a CSS-based solution would be ideal, there currently isn't a standard for this issue, prompting a call to action for developers to update their code and support the move towards better standards compliance. Read More

In a follow-up to my previous post about the scarcity of Bluetooth libraries for desktop PCs, Mark Arteaga brought 32feet.net to my attention. This site offers a managed Bluetooth library which I plan to investigate further. Initial impressions from the sample code suggest it's straightforward to use, with device discovery appearing as simple as calling a function and communication happening via streams. Read More

I just discovered that Latricia updated the XML::Feed CPAN module to merge RSS/ATOM feeds into one ATOM feed. This is awesome! I had a similar idea for AJAX Tagger 2.0, where I wanted to offer a combined feed of all tagged results. If this module works as advertised, I can use it directly instead of building my own tool. This might be a better solution than my initial plan of using OPML. Read More

This post discusses the security implications of cross-domain XMLHttpRequest access. While some argue that such access increases the risk of phishing attacks and unauthorized data access, others contend that these risks are minimal and that the benefits of cross-domain access, such as reduced bandwidth costs for "mash-up" applications, outweigh the potential downsides. The current security model, which requires proxying requests through the originating server, is seen as costly. I propose a server-side security model where third-party servers can control which clients can directly access their data, addressing the bandwidth theft concerns. Read More

I'm considering compressing Yahoo Search results from my proxy, as suggested in a Yahoo Developer Blog post. I'm unsure if it's easy, worthwhile, and where to implement it (client-side or proxy-side). I'll need to handle browsers without compression support. Any advice? Read More

My recent blog posts seem to be using trackback links automatically. Apologies to Blogger for the unintended behavior, however, I maintain my earlier criticism regarding the insufficient documentation provided for this newly launched feature. Read More

I'm developing a complex new version of the AJAX Tagger (2.0) with enhanced features for adding data to journal entries. However, I'm curious if there's still interest in a simpler version like the original AJAX Tagger. Please share your thoughts and comments! Read More

Blogger has a new Trackbacks feature, but enabling it with custom templates is tricky due to incomplete documentation. While new features are appreciated, completed documentation upon release is essential. Read More