Use Reader's subscription trends to eliminate dead blogs

By chance I discovered today that Google Reader has an excellent feature for detecting and eliminating dead subscriptions.

It's not a new feature, so rather than add to the blog clutter with a screen shot I'll direct to a nice post with images ...

Using Trends In Google Reader To Manage RSS Overload

... The Subscription Trends can be very useful because it has a list of Inactive feeds where it shows rss feeds which haven’t been updated since months. Hence you just need to start clicking on the delete or trash button and start unsubscribing from those inactive feeds which are just a burden in your reading list...

I found a bunch that have been inactive for 2 years. Some people, like Tim Berners-Lee only publish every 6-18 months, but these don't fall into that category.

Great feature.

Pixelpipe, Picasa and my Google password

I've used PictureSync for years to upload images from iPhoto SmugMug. Lately I've used a specific iPhoto plug-in for Picasa and SmugMug uploads, but the app did well when I needed it.

Now the author has launched a web service that performs similar functions: Pixelpipe. The beauty of the service is that he can create single high quality uploader for OS X or iPhoto or Windows, and then the middleware will route the image to one or more services.

The good news, at least with regard to Picasa, is that you don't have to provide Pixelpipe with your Picasa/Google password. That would be unthinkable -- I have far too much wrapped up in my Google password to hand it over to a 3rd party. [Update: see comments.]

Google has a good API for this sort of thing. If you're authenticated with Google, then Pixelpipe requests access and Google asks if you want to grant it. Pixelpipe never gets your Google info.

I'm sure not all the services work that way, but Google is the one I care about. My SmugMug un/pw is only for photos, but my Google un/pw is a big chunk of my digital identity.

Update 11/9/08: Signing up for SmugMug does require a un/pw, but that's a much smaller risk than handing over my Google credentials. I commenter tells us that SmugMug will also move to the "OAuth" standard, so even that won't be necessary. I recommend, however, that when you share a password like this you use either a unique password or, more practically, the password you use for all the stuff you don't really care about.

In the crash of '08 a big advantage of Pixelpipe is you can spread your risks. I pay for storage at both Picasa and SmugMug -- and I have lots of it. Might as well replicate anything I send to SmugMug at Picasa.

Apple blocking email to some domains

I've had a Spamcop address for years.

Apple has been silently deleting email sent to Spamcop.net accounts, possibly it's a bug, possibly for fear that bot-captured MobileMe generated spam will add MobileMe to a blacklist ...

macosxhints.com - A caution on MobileMe outbound email domain filtering

This is a hint regarding a serious problem for MobileMe users: Outgoing mail via smtp.me.com may not actually be sent if it is sent to certain domains. If a message is caught in this domain filter, it is silently dropped without notification to the user. None of the recipients of the message will receive it, even if they are not in the filtered domain. This problem occurs with mail sent through Apple's Mail app, on the iPhone or on Mac computers. It does not happen when sending via the MobileMe webmail interface. So far, only spamcop.net has been identified as a domain filtered by smtp.me.com, but there may be others.

This problem is testable and repeatable as of this writing; you can test it yourself as follows. On a Mac or iPhone, use Mail to create a new message using your MobileMe account. In the To field, put support@spamcop.net, in the CC field, enter a valid personal email address, and in the Subject field, put test, then send the message. You will not receive the cc message, and you will not receive an acknowledgment from spamcop.net. Try sending from a non MobileMe account; you will receive both very quickly.

More discussion of the problem can be found in this thread on Apple's discussions site. This has been happening for months, apparently since the transition from mac.com. The problem has been reported to Apple, and apparently some in frontline support are aware of it, but others are not. In the meantime, all MobileMe users should be aware that their outgoing mail is apparently filtered by domain. If you're sending to a spamcop.net address, be aware that the mail will not be sent to any recipient, nor will you be notified of the problem.

It's the silent policy that's unforgivable. If this is policy rather than bug then Apple has jumped the shark.

So that brother who's not speaking to you any more? Maybe it's because you didn't respond to the desperate email he sent from his MobileMe account a month ago, the one Apple silently deleted.

Excellent single page Excel keyboard shortcut reference

Many I didn't know but should use: Free Microsoft Excel Cheat Sheet to Download and Print.

Camino - the best of Safari and Firefox

I've been using Camino on our ancient G3 iBook for ages. Amazingly, it runs pretty well!

More recently, I gave up on using Firefox 3 on a G5. I think it really expects a dual core CPU; it's dog slow on a single core machine. I use it on my MacBook, but on my G5 iMac I use Camino.

There are some page issues -- especially with Google's more obscure applications (Page Creator). Some sites serve up 2nd rate pages because they don't recognize the browser; in most cases Camino would do fine with their Firefox stuff.

Mostly, though it's been great. Since it's a Cocoa app you get OS X services, classy looks, use of the system dictionary, use of the Keychain etc.

Now we have Camino 1.6 with some great features. Among them are excellent AppleScript support and feed detection (but, happily, not a feed reader) that works with your preferred reader.

There's only one little glitch with 1.6. Sometimes Camino windows get "stuck" to a (Spaces) Space. I can't easily move them to new "Spaces" the way I do my Firefox windows. It's inconsistent, but annoying. Since it's erratic I assume it's a bug, not a misguided feature. Mostly I can move the windows.

I'm sure it will be fixed soon.

Camino is a great piece of open source software.

Update: It's supposed to work with Google Reader, but danged if I can make it work using the Feed Reader preferences setting! There's zero documentation other than the mention of the feature, and I found nothing in my web searches.

Update 12/4/08: See comments for a recommendation about optimized builds and this terrific site. I'm still trying to figure out how we're supposed to be able to subscribe to a feed using Google Reader!

Share anything in your Google Reader Share feed

I'm addicted to Google Reader on my desktop and my iPhone. I love the ability to share posts and add quick comments; I wish more people advertised their shared posts (here's mine: web version and feed version).

GR is really a work of genius. There are so many fine touches, like navigating a feed list by spacebar, great keyboard shortcuts, search options, etc. The only thing I miss is Yahoo! Pipes compatibility.

I've become so accustomed now using GR's shared items option that I resent being unable to comment on plain-old 20th century web pages.

I dimly remembered there was a way around that problem. Sure enough ...

Official Google Reader Blog: Share anything. Anytime. Anywhere.

... Share anything with a bookmarklet - Just drag this link from the Notes page up to your browser's bookmark bar and click, click, click your way to easy, no-subscription sharing in Reader. You can share any content from any web page, even if the site doesn't have a feed. For even more control over what gets shared, select some text from the page before clicking the 'Note in Reader' bookmarklet and your selection will appear as the item's body. There's also a space for you to add an editorial note when you need to let your friends know why you are sharing something. You can always uncheck 'Add to shared items' if you want to add something to Reader without also adding it to your shared items...

I just tried it. If you look at my shared pages web view on 12/3/08 you'll find an excerpt from a NYT article on a peculiar health insurance initiative.

It's a great middle-path between simply reading and blogging. Now if Google would only add a "starred item" option ...

EMC Retrospect's fake Mozy online backup integration

A recent update to my Retrospect Professional for Windows [1] put a Mozy link on my Retrospect left sided navigation bar.

Well that seemed interesting. I followed the link to setup a free Mozy account. Mozy would be interesting if I could treat it like any other Retrospect backup set. A Google search turned up a plausible explanation ...

EMC’s Iomega and Mozy Divisions Offer Combined Desktop and Cloud-Based Backup | Xconomy

The three units are Walnut Creek, CA-based Dantz Development Corporation (acquired by EMC in 2004), makers of Retrospect backup software for Windows and Macintosh computers; Utah-based Mozy (acquired last September), which offers online backup services for consumers and businesses; and San Diego-based Iomega (acquired in April), which makes external hard drives. The organizations said that starting this summer, new portable and desktop hard drives from Iomega will come with instructions on how to download a free version of Retrospect Express that also helps buyers sign up for the free or premium versions of Mozy’s online service

I sign up for the free 2GB account. Of courses I'd never buy without testing.

Ok, now to fire up Retrospect Pro and ...

And Mozy does not show up in my Backup Set options. It doesn't appear in the Help file. There's a page on Retrospect's site but, you know, it isn't very precise about how the two "work together" ...

No. It can't be. I've been conned! It's just a stupid hyperlink! There's really no integration. Argghhhhh.

And I was just starting to think kindly about Retrospect. It's much less buggy than it was two years ago. Still way too complex for non-geeks, but reliable is good.

That'll teach me to think kind thoughts of software vendors! EMC just ripped off 20 minutes of my too-short time on earth.

How bloody annoying.

[1] It mostly backups my Macs, but it works so I keep it on my ancient XP box.