Primordial Ooze

i-podder.js

I created a batch file so my BloglinesBlogRollExtractor.py can be used to write a feeds.txt needed by i-podder.js (available from ipodder.org).

The batch files is trivial:

@echo off
setlocal
set IPODDER_DOWNLOAD_PATH=E:\Music Library
echo %IPODDER_DOWNLOAD_PATH%> feeds.txt
python BloglinesBlogrollExtractor.py >> feeds.txt
endlocal

I schedule this to run every few hours. Feel free to tweak it to your liking. I'll be more than happy to help you if you have any trouble.

This has only been tested under Windows XP.

Bloglines Podcast Extractor

Over the past few hours, I hacked together a simple Python script which pulls down my Bloglines 'Podcasts' OPML folder and copies them to favorites.txt used by iPodder (the yellow lemon one, not Adam Curry's version). This script frees me from manually updating my new podcasts in two places (Bloglines and iPodder).

Centralized administration baby.

I originally thought that Bloglines didn't supply OPML for their blogroll but that's because I only looked at their BlogRoll API (which are just simple http links and javascript). Stupid me, I should have looked at their SyncApi.

I am posting this immediately after I got it working on my setup so expect it to be very buggy or at least very inflexible for your situation. I have only tested this under Windows XP.

You can download the script here. To run it, follow these steps:

• Install Python 2.3
• Download the file and put it in he same directory as iPodder. Please backup your favorites.txt.
• Change to your iPodder directory (usually C:\Program Files\iPodder) and execute this command:
• C:\Python23\python BloglinesBlogrollExtractor.py > favorites.txt

That's really it. If you want to schedule it, that's fine, but you should realize that iPodder doesn't re-read your favorites.txt until you exit and restart. I can work on a solution to that but perhaps I'll send a note to the iPodder dev team so they can listen for manual changes to the file... or perhaps they can support this natively.

One tip on scheduling. File redirection doesn't work unless you use cmd.exe /c. So, you might see this in your scheduler:

Run: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c "C:\Program Files\iPodder\BloglinesBlogrollExtractor.py" > favorites.txt
Start in: "C:\Program Files\iPodder"

Good luck and let me know if you find this script useful. I would be thrilled if someone actually wanted to use it and wants me to improve it somehow.

Bloglines and OPML

I finally got around to organizing my blogroll on Bloglines. I'm really diggin' bloglines lately and I'm totally sold on the idea of a server-based aggregator. At least for my digital lifestyle. There are so many solutions out there that it took me a while to find something that seemed natural and causes me the least pain.

I was a die-hard NewsGator fan and I thought it insane to read blogs on anything but Outlook. There I was with a solution that brought everything right to my doorstep. Until I was home. Sure, I could login to my corporate VPN but this was an extra step that I started getting annoyed with. Sure, I could read my blogs offline with NewsGator (since Outlook provides that) but I eventually found that it was too cumbersome to have my laptop out on the train.

I tried to use bloglines and newsgator simultaneously, but my list of feeds kept getting mismatched. So, I made the switch to bloglines and I can't see myself going back.

For one, bloglines downloads the latest blogs at the server so I never have to wait for a feed poll to finish. A handy client notifier application allows me to get alerted whenever my feeds get updated.

Plus, my blogroll is accessible via JavaScript or through direct http. This allowed me to include my blogroll in my blog's right panel (go see).

I find that I don't need the offline capabilities of NewsGator on the train since I've been listening to a neverending playlist of Podcasts.

Next up, I want to write a client application that will pull off my Podcast folder from my blogroll and insert it into feeds.txt or favorites.txt file that i-podder.js and iPodder use. Unfortunately, the blogroll is in an XHTML fragment. To manipulate it I'll have to parse it which  won't be nearly as much fun as parsing OPML.

Enclosure Test

Get a hold of iPodder and see if this mp3 flies!

The direct link to the mp3 is needed to give Brandon Fuller's MT-Enclosures a clue that there is an enclosure present.

I suppose this would be a reason to upgrade Movable Type from my free version to the paid version. I could probably click on an enclosure link and have it all done automagically without needing to create a dummy link in the entry.