cogdogblog: Ahhh, this Makes RSS More Understandable

February 19, 2004

Note: CogDogBlog has a new WordPress powered home at http://cogdogblog.com/. All entries from this version have been moved there, so as a guide dog service try finding this article in its new home by title search.

Ahhh, this Makes RSS More Understandable

Amy Gahran, publisher of CONTENTIOUS (all caps) thinks RSS is confusing because of the acronym. So she is running a "contest" aimed to "rename" RSS (this dog thinks the cat, er, meme, is out of the bag).

So here is the update on the "front-runners", and judge for yourself how much the label affects the intuitivity of using RSS:

1. Grapevine 2. Feed 3. efeed 4. newsFeed 5. SiteFeed 6. WebFeed 7. DeskFeed 8. Elert 9. Flashfeed 10. Really Simple Sharing 11. Relay 12. Snipple 13. WebWire 14. Webstract

So catch the latest news on Amy's Grapevine! Works great, eh? Soon she will change her e-mail tagline to read:

GET ANNOUNCEMENTS BY GRAPEVINE! If you prefer to read about new CONTENTIOUS postings in your Grapevine reader, rather than by e-mail, subscribe to my Grapevine in your grapevine reader: http://blog.contentious.com/index.rdf

Much more clear to the newbies!

About the only thing going for it is a catchy theme song.

blogged February 19, 2004 07:47 AM :: category [ rss ]

Comments About "Ahhh, this Makes RSS More Understandable"

Feed for comments on this entry

Feed for all CDB comments

I think it's silly. People aren't that stupid. I mean, they had no problem with more difficult concepts, such as frequency modulation (FM) and limited amplitude simulated emission of radiation (LASER). If anything, the new name will confuse things. Especially is a name such as 'grapevine' is chosen, which is really misleading.

Commented by: Stephen Downes on February 19, 2004 09:30 AM

It is extremely silly, but good targets for lobbing blog bombs ;-)

In addition to FM and laser, there is also zip code, scuba, radar, sonar, snafu, which have molded into english words from a start as an acronym.

Let 'em choose "snipple", who caras? It will never get adopted.

Commented by: Alan Levine on February 20, 2004 05:31 AM

Spammers Have Force Our Hands...

Note: Those nasty blog-spamming roaches have forced us to take action to prevent their spread- all entries made to this blog will remain open for comments for 30 days after the original posting date. After that, it is old news anyhow, correct?

If you really need to make contact with the chief dog around here, please submit a request via our feedback center