Nick Bradbury

RFC: How can I auto-disable TypePad comments?

I'd like to change the "Individual Archive" template for my TypePad-hosted blogs so that comments can only be posted within seven days of an entry's creation. Basically, something like this for each entry:

<MTEntryIfCommentsOpen>
 if within 7 days
   show comment form
 else
   show "Sorry, comments can no longer be posted."
</MTEntryIfCommentsOpen>

Does anyone know if this is possible, and if so, how it's done?

The Browser Wars Reignite

Nigel McFarlane reports on the new web browser war (via Slashdot).

FeedDemon 1.10 RC5

Okay, I lied about RC4 being the last FeedDemon 1.10 pre-release :) Out of necessity, I'm making one last pre-release available. RC5 contains a number of fixes related to how Japanese characters are displayed, and it also includes a new "Web Search" feature along with support for IE's form auto-completion.

• RC5 release notes (please read!)
• RC5 download link (2.03MB)

If you encounter a bug in RC5, let me know by posting in the FeedDemon Support Forum. Please include 1.10RC5 in the subject line of any message you post about this pre-release.

Note: Translators, I apologize for yet another change, but there are two new strings in this release. If you'd prefer not to send me new FDLANGs, please feel free to simply email me the translations for the strings shown below.

<const name="S_StatusPopupKilled" value="Popups were blocked on this page. Press &quot;Ctrl&quot; when clicking to allow popups."/>
<const name="S_SearchWeb" value="Search Web"/>

www.ReallySimpleSyndication.com

Yesterday Dave Winer launched Really Simple Syndication, a site devoted to helping non-tech users learn about RSS.

"Every publisher that supports RSS has to explain what it's about, and every one tells a different and incomplete story."

The above quote certainly hits the nail on the head. Once people use a feed reader such as FeedDemon, they know what it's all about - but it's a slow road to get to that point.

BTW, I'm sorry to see that the usual Atom vs. RSS comments have already started in this site. Get a clue, folks: this endless bickering is slowing the adoption of both formats.

CSS Naming Conventions

Here's a discussion about core naming conventions for CSS (via Anil Dash).

Bookmarks for standards testing

Joe Clark has put together an enormous list of standards and accessibility bookmarks (via WebStandards.org).

Japanese FeedDemon bug fixed

Among the bugs on my "must fix" list before releasing FeedDemon 1.10 is the one described here, in which FeedDemon shows garbage in the status bar when running on the Japanese version of Windows.

Well, I'm happy to report that after much hair-pulling, I've finally found the cause of this UI bug and fixed it [screenshot].

This was the last high priority bug on my list, so if all goes well FeedDemon 1.10 will be released on Monday.

They'll have to pry TopStyle from my cold, dead fingers

Newsgroup posts like this one make my day :)

My son's first concert

Like most kids his age, my soon-to-be-five-year-old son Isaac loves music. We listen to a lot of music together, ranging from kiddie tunes to loud rock-and-roll - and he always likes the loud rock-and-roll the best. In fact, for quite a while he's been asking to go see a rock concert, but there obviously aren't many real rock shows I'd let him see at this point.

So, when I found out that Rush was kicking off their 30th anniversary tour here in Nashville, I decided to take Isaac. I was worried, though, that it would be too much for him, and we'd have to leave after the first song. I mean, he's not even five - how could I expect him to deal with the overload of a Rush concert?

Turns out my worries were a waste of time, though - he loved the show. Believe it or not, he was pumping his little hand in the air during YYZ, and he even shouted "Hey!" with the rest of the crowd during 2112. Yes, I was a proud papa :)

Digital Web reviews FeedDemon

Digital Web Magazine features a nice review of FeedDemon.