Firefox 2 now has support for external RSS subscriptions instead of stupid Live Bookmarks. This means I can use my favorite reader Netvibes whenever I see the happy little orange icon in my address bar.

Netvibes is not one of the default RSS subscription engines, but this post includes a one-click update that couldn't be simpler.

I also dig the new notification style that just kind of appears at the top of the viewport. I know pop-up blocking and plug-in notifications have been appearing in this space for a while now, but I like this a lot better than an alert window.

Firefox has supported RSS since (I think) version 1.0, but this allows me to consume RSS in exactly the way I like. Why is this important? If I don't read feeds at all, the old school Live Bookmarks feature at least lets me know they exist, and lets me check them out if I am a bookmark whore. Firefox also provides 3 default choices to subscribe, being Bloglines, My Yahoo, and Google Reader; arguably the 3 most popular feed readers, and 3 of my least favorites. Because I know that Mozilla makes money by all sorts of content partnerships, I can imagine that they somehow got sponsored to include these three, and not any others.

Another lowered barrier to entry is the way the browser "skins" unskinned RSS, instead of displying raw XML. NO web browser should display raw XML, but there should be a developer hack to override the default, always.

Apparently Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista will have support for RSS. Hooray. Sadly, not for podcasts or netcasts, boo. More on this later.

Oh, and View Source doesn't exist in IE7. Why?

In an effort to scratch my own itch, I remembered a time when I wanted to burn some files to data CD or DVD and thinking "there must be an easier way to do this". Enter Automator, basically the most powerful and underused feature on any Mac.

I created a simple workflow I called "Burn to Disc..." that I installed to the right-click menu of my Finder. Now I just select one or more files in the Finder (they need to all be in the same directory in this case) and choose Automator > Burn to Disc... No software needed.

I decided to to use the actions "Get Selected Finder Items" and "Burn a Disc". Then I chose to "Save as Plugin..." to the Finder, which means it shows up in the right-click (ctrl + click) menu.

If you are making workflows that act on files in the Finder, choose File > Save as Plug-in... Then name your plugin and choose Finder. The option will show up when you right-click or ctrl+click on any number of finder items. To select multiple items, use shift+click or cmd+click.

You can also choose to save the plug-ins to Folder Actions, iCal Alarm, Image Capture, Print Workflow or Script Menu. Think: iCal Alarm = CRON Jobs from Unix, or Scheduled Tasks from Windows. Send an email at 3PM, destroy an incriminating file at a future date, send that virus to everyone on the network days after you've left on vacation.

If you are an RSS subscriber, there are also 2 more quick examples there... oooh! RSS only features! How does he do it? Thanks Feedburner!

Thank you for 37 Signals. I've been watching David Heinemeier Hansson's RailsConf 2006 Keynote Address about CRUD and REST, and some of these quotes are great for people who have been in the trenches.

If you're defining a new schema [in Rails], and you want to use composite primary keys, YOU'RE INSANE!

...and he's right! By creating constraints, they're creating a new generation of competent, agile, powerful programmers.

Also, back to my rant about personalities selling products, services and ideas:
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are the right people to bring a Rails way of thinking to the world. Their personality, opinions, practices and public faces are the things that are making this different than a framework. It is more like a religion.

If you think you're the mastermind who can create the perfect pressure cooker and close the lid just once, you get Java.

I am not saying they're going to get sent to jail and become tabloid fodder or anything, but I find it very interesting the number of people who pay such close attention to these guys. It's almost like there are a lot of college Computer Science teachers out there who maybe didn't get their job done right, or that we need a new class of college professors to train the up-and-coming web-savvy developer kids of the future.

This past weekend was the first ever Orlando Film Festival... in case you missed it, and it's likely you did. The people who put this thing together are well-known and respected in the Florida film community. I got a chance to sit down with the programming team, Brian Quain and Michael King. You may recognize Brian as the inventor of a phenomenon only known as "The Game". Michael is known mostly in Orlando for his Writing-Producing-Acting role in his film The Way Back Home.

Go get the Podcast at Make it Short, part of Liberatr.net if you are interested. About 11 minutes. Just use your right mouse button and download it like a good kid, or subscribe.

I found out tonight while watching Vision TV's Behind the Indie Camera with Ralph Clemente that The Way Back Home was produced largely at Valencia... Good to know. A bit pretentious to interview people from a film you were in on your own show, but who doesn't want to be proud of the institution they have put years of blood, sweat and tears into? If I ever get braggy about my projects, let me know.

Also on the film front is local startup Caféshorts. This is the sort of thing you have to see to believe, and now I believe. Brett Jaffe, a local writer/producer and FSU alum, got the idea to help bars and restaurants get some extra patrons on their slow nights by supplying 4 or so short films and (I think) sharing profits that come in from reservations - the reservations are key. They take 10-15 minute breaks to give people time to talk, order another drink, and eat their food with the lights turned on, then they get on to the next film. Pretty simple.

Halfway through we were presented with a comment card. According to the Caféshorts site:

96% of patrons surveyed indicated they want to attend the next caféshorts night and 100% indicated they would bring someone new next time to introduce them to caféshorts

It's true. In fact, I invited friends before my first screening because I knew the programming and the venue would be above average. I hear rumors about places you might be seeing Caféshorts nights soon, but I'm sure I'm not allowed to say...