Category Archives: Internet

Xanga RSS

I always had a problem with Xanga RSS not working in NetNewsWire.

So I hacked up a solution in the form of a php file:

<pre><?
$f = escapeshellcmd($_GET["q"]);
$g = shell_exec('curl -s http://www.xanga.com/rss.aspx?user='
. $f . ' | sed -e "s/<rss version="0.91">/'
. '<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/'
. '02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns="'
. 'http://my.netscape.com/rdf/simple/0.9/">/"'
. ' | sed -e "s/</rss>/</rdf:RDF>/"');
echo $g;
?></pre>

And then I just call the script by subscribing to http://path.to/script/?q=username. It’s ugly, but functional.

A copy is also available for download.

One Bug Down

Argg. I just spent all morning figuring out why some pages on this site wouldn’t load. The issue came down to a call to getimagesize in wp-content/plugins/textile2-new.php.

The change that fixed it (in unified diff format):

--- textile2-new.php.old        Tue Jun  8 23:36:12 2004
+++ textile2-new.php    Sun Jul 11 15:19:04 2004
@@ -2805,7 +2805,7 @@
         }
       }
     }
-    return @getimagesize($file);
+    return;
   } // function image_size

   /**

Read on for a more detailed discussion.

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A is for Asynchronous

Nick Stein makes an argument that AOL Instant Messenger is a misnomer. He argues that the messaging isn’t so much instant as it is instantaneous. I think he’s getting lost in the semantics.

If it were up to me, I’d choose Asynchronous Instant Messaging. (Or if you are Nick, maybe Asynchronous Instantaneous Messaging).