What became of Radio's POST button? 

An interesting story of evolving software.

In 2002, my company shipped a product called Radio UserLand. It was a very popular blogging tool, but it was also the most popular RSS reading tool of the day. And because it was both things, we could do integration that no other product had ever done before, or since.

Adjacent to every item in the aggregator was a button that said POST. When you click it, you flip to the blog post entry screen with the text of the item in the big box. You could add your own words, shorten it, whatever you like. When you were done, hit Submit and you'd have a post that pointed to the original article with your comments.

As an aside, this is where the RSS <source> element came from. We'd embed that, invisibly, in your post so tools could find their way back to the original. This was in response to an outcry from bloggers that we were helping people steal content. Seems like a foreign idea today, doesn't it?

Anyway...

Fast-forward to 2009, and I'm back at work in AggregatorLand, and like it or not, Twitter is where we push links to these days. So now instead of a POST button look what's there in its place.

Now, it is very much more clever than the POST button was back in 2002. Just how much clever -- you'll have to wait to find out, because I'm still working. But when you see my links to test.teamrss.com on Twitter you'll know that I'm testing the new stuff. Murphy-willing it should be released to River2 users tomorrow.

TopTwits tracks your Twitter linkage 

When tr.im announced that it was going open source, I said I would also release the code of the app that does my Top 40 page and that of Jay Rosen, Kevin Tofel and Zach Seward.

TopTwits is that app. It runs as an OPML Editor tool. This means you must have the OPML Editor installed on your machine, and then install topTwits.root in the OPML Editor.

YWFFTMMR 

When you get something going all of a sudden the parasites opportunists swoop in and want to take control. Funny how they leave you alone when you're not so hot.

I suppose I should see it as a good sign, but they all resort to the same kind of character attacks when I decline their offers. Some nastier than others. The offers amount to me working my ass off to make them rich, for which, in turn -- I get nothing. $0. Bupkis.

Only in the tech industry do people have the audacity to look you in the eye and say You Work For Free To Make Me Rich. YWFFTMMR.

The stupid thing about it is that's at least part of the reason I'm trying to get out of Twitter. I don't like their economic proposition but, I do like microblogging. I figure if I'm not going to make any money off my work, then I'll work in an environment where no one does. It's weird that the people behind Twitter are supposedly capitalists yet seem to not understand that very simple idea. People don't work for free. They don't pour out their passion in the cause of making you wealthy. They might be motivated to do it if they saw some upside.

I'll let you know when someone approaches this space with respect and an offer that isn't usurous.