Ahem! Items-in-transit

Sorry for the overly contemptuous nature of this post, but I simply must emphasise the erroneousness of Chris' last blog. He, being so caught up with his "buzzwords" (obviously a symptom of his self-diagnosed "dependency on metaphorical crutches") that he totally understated just how much the revamp of the "items-in-transit" model has improved the TouchStone Attention Engine and API ;)

What I am sure he meant to say was:

We have completely replaced and re-engineered the entire array handling methods of the core. We replaced the visualization array with a powerful collection of item objects, and collected these together, extending the standard .NET collection class to handle specific scenarios for the needs of the TouchStone Item Cache and the Visualization Widgets. This not only increases the overall efficiency of the core, but means future innovation implemented with a minimum of code changes.

The new system allowed us to eliminate HUNDREDS of lines of code, and more clearly abstract the various moving parts of TouchStone - something both of us are always working to do.

This new mechanism (it's currently being debugged now) should also allow greater opportunities to expand and clean the current code, which should assist us greatly in releasing the limited alpha sooner then expected.

Oh and go Ariel!

The Would-be Yeti

Just an update on my previous post about us approaching the public alpha. Good news! I managed to get the touchstone memory footprint from 50mb to 13mb (much more respectful). I guess this means people won’t want to stone me to death when they install the alpha! ;)

Integrating user feedback

Hi everyone, just an update to let you know that we are getting great feedback about the Alpha

As a result, I’ve reworked the entire OPML import feature and it now works a little better. It's still a little buggy, but in the end, you will be able to track multiple OPML files in-place on your hard-drive (maybe eventually on the web too!) We have also reduced the overall memory footprint (we WERE up to about 50mb footprint!) by optimizing various data structures in the RSS adapter and Attention Engine

Overall, things have been moving much slower then before but the outcome is positive

Since Alex Barnett has visited, we have received a sharp rise of communiqué about TouchStone and the whole thing has been very exciting and encouraging.

Don’t forget, that while the private alpha is technically reserved for the elite few, if you really, really want it – let us know! Oh, and don't forget to see Chris' screenshots.

What's My Server Doing Anyway?

While sitting at my workstation, working away (and listening to Alex Barnett’s PodCast on Attention and OPML) – I realized that my system uptime screensaver for my Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Server was doing many things I want to know about, behind an otherwise black screensaver.

It got me thinking another PERFECT job for Touchstone.

There are RSS, ATOM feeds and other things going on (such as the current state of my Azureus downloads, sever up time and load etc) and Touchstone provides the ultimate engine to bring these together as a screensaver visualisation!

I can imagine, in the near future, LCD screens scattered around a house, streaming attention information to a person based on their current physical location (if I’m in the kitchen I might want to see feeds related to food and current events, while in my living room, my wall is showing me productivity and work related items).

With the ever decreasing price of LCDs and the power of Touchstone, the on-going effect of an attention engine could be greater then we ever imagined.

The Bandwidth Is Behind The Tomato Sauce

Continuing our current topic of distributed network load sharing (a.k.a Bit Torrent) I was thinking about another way to divert the bandwidth load of syndication feeds even more. It’s possible through the TouchStone architecture to develop a syndication adapter which, by using a centralised tracking server, spreads the load of syndication feeds across other TouchStone clients. This method is quite handy, because it actually moves the data off the web servers completely.

Obviously the idea needs fleshing out, and we’re not about to integrate it ourselves (unless someone else wants in and wants to do it), but its handy idea which has a number of useful applications.

Also, I was thinking about another fair easier option – shared feeds. An adapter which allows you to share the RSS feeds as your updated, so your buddies can get the feed off you instead of the actual web server.

Very exciting stuff.

An Interesting Conversation

블๑bourboN๑블* says:
yeh
블๑bourboN๑블* says:
u need publicity
블๑bourboN๑블* says:
like just curious, what is ur aim with touchstone ?

There is something very scary about being asked this question, so in the interest of being clear, I thought I would mention it here.

I want it to be popular. I want it to be a synonymous with RSS. When people think Instant Messaging, they think MSN/ICQ/Yahoo - when people think alerts management system, I want them to think TouchStone. I want it to facilitate attention management and augment many of the awesome and popular news readers.

I want TouchStone to be one of those apps you simply have to install before your nice new 'puter, or recently reformatted machine, feels right - the type of app that makes people wonder how they ever worked without it!

It’s funny though, because the more I look for TouchStonesque RSS gadgets on the 'net, the more I find things like this!

According to Site Meter stats the average reader spends 96 seconds reading the average blog. Do our bosses know this?

I know this isn't really anything to get excited about, but I have to say that I’m really excited about us getting ranked 1 and 2 on Google. I think I really want to get ranked 1 for "rss gadget" but I guess we have to start somewhere.

BTW, TouchStone pre Alpha is running at the moment with Chris' FeedDemon OPML file and "The Office - Email Scandal..." - apparently. ;)

I also had an argument with a person I work closely with (in the real world - as opposed to the 'TouchStone' world I seem to have found myself in recently) about the intrinsic value of blogs and other personalised content on the web. They were claiming that blogging is just as bad as the old days of the internet when every second person had a dodgy website made from Word saying "Under Construction" or "this is my website and i have 2 cats and a dog".

I disagree with this. Passionately! I argued the virtues of blogging and RSS. Blogging is the long tail of publishing. And on the internet, nothing is as important as the long tail.

If you think something - and write it down - then the odds are other people in the world feel the same way. It's a way for us to connect to other people we otherwise never would/could.

I just did something very stupid but Chris still loves me.

I just opened a .vb file from another project, and upon closing the window (and subsequently not saving) I realised all too late, that Visual Studio had in fact oped the file inside the Touchstone project. You can probably guess the outcome.

So off I go again, recoding the complete structure of the BagItAndTagItParser class – be assured that I wont be opening any “stray” .vb files for the rest of the day! Chris is ok with this though, because we just implimented the first ticker system and its actually reasonably functional!

It’s interesting, starting this project has opened my eyes to a whole subculture of RSS, which I was previously unaware of. I think that reading the excellent intellect of Nick (from FeedDemon) and others regarding some sort of solution to the growing ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is inspired.

With the rapid expansion of content sources, the more ways we can think of to manage this content without hindering productivity (I am a pragmatist after all) is where we need to redouble our efforts.

This is the philosophy behind Touchstone – and I’m coding as fast as I can. Aside from the heavy setback today, I should have the Bag it and Tag It Parser complete before the coding marathon tonight.

If you feel inspired enough to chat with us through comments on this blog, please do – we like to feel popular.

I Should'a Put This In a Comment...

As you would expect, I read Chris’ last post probably the moment he posted it, and while this is technically a reply to his post – I felt its simply too important to bury.

The point, dear bloggers, is that RSS readers are all well and good… but nothing exists to manage your feeds when your being productive – as Chris said, when you’ve got your readers (or other apps) minimised. Having all 120 of your feeds managed and given to you in a way you can actually digest, is what we’re actually talking about.

By the way, the BagItAndTagItParser class is well underway.

Names are important!

Well.. first let me re-iterate, that i still stand by my initial feelings that our names for the three distinct areas of the Touchstone Core are appropriately and awesomely named, but I have to say...damn!

"Namespace TouchStone.Core
Public Class BagItAndTagItPaser"

It is getting very annoying to type "BagItAndTagItPaser" every time Ii need to create an instance of the class...bah!

On the other hand I have perfected the rounded form code. It's pretty cool how VS.Net 2003 allows you to bind a form's boundary to a defined region, but i have to admit that its not really easy to use. I found a cool little site with a bunch of useful apps - in particular, one that allows you to get the coordinates of a mouse drawn window. I had to tweak the output, but it's great for anyone interested with the idea of non-standard window.

This brings me to the reason for my post tonight, the first OFFICIAL screenshot of the TouchStone Core GUI. I admit that it needs some tweaking, but overall, I think Chris' plans for a simple, clean and elegant GUI are a complete success.



I think the man has to go actually. I think it needs to be replaced with the TouchStone "balls". I estimate that the "BagItAndTagIt" Passer should be complete by Monday night. Here's hoping I guess.

Online again...Mostly

A follow-up to my last post I have to say - I was without my precious internet for only a few days and I’m a little rugged from the experience.

It also reinforced what might happen to TouchStone if a person is offline for a while and then get their feeds updated. Could be chaos - better bring the buffer back? I'm not sure. Perhaps I should pass the buck and make sure that the UI buffers content it can't show rather than hold up the alerts by adding buffering to the core? mmm.....shit.

While Chris is partying away I’m left to make the really hard choices.

Like, should I include Ninjas or not?

He leaves ALL the hardwork for me.

Offline.....and hating it!

After a fiasco resulting in the temporary disconnection of my internet connection, I am suddenly faced with the harsh reality of being disconnected from my regular (and only source) of information.

Now it's a true statement that im not an RSS junkie (like Chris) for the simple reason that I was grossly unhappy with the delivery of RSS feeds into my machine - or is that my life. I have tried RSS in the past, and enjoyed the simplicity, but it was full of holes, and poorly (and ugly) executed.

So as I found myself feeling more and more isolated from reality without the net, I found myself appreciating more and more the power of TouchStone.

Now...."Show me the Gadget!"

Just call me Big Kev

I'm excited. System Tray Alert UI behaviors are well on their way and we have completed the alert buffer subsystem (and watched it work). I feel refreshed, tired, but refreshed. I found myself marching forward with new passion and determination.

Next: the audacious task of developing the custom event triggers.

The Bane of my Existance

Interactive Scrolling Marque's are going to be the death of me. Already i have started to dream about them. Apparently, the windows GDI device doesnt like Interactive Scrolling Marque's . Under VB.Net when a label is given a transparent background, and then moved, it apprently takes 40-50% of my CPU grunt (constantly) and the animation is far too slow anyway. Bah! I shall have to experiment and see if i can fake the transparency with duplicate background images.

Overall the interface demos are comming along quite well. Once i nail this problem, the real fun will begin.

Hi Everybody.....

This is my first (of many) official posts regarding, what we are so modestly describing as the "universal gadget". I thought that of a way of commemorating such a momentous occasion, I would upload a screenshot of our first UI brainstorm sessions.

I am extremely excited about this project. Somehow there is something idealistic about it. It's something that’s a piece of something far bigger (the web 2.0 evolution) and it has awoken something in me which has been dormant for a long time – I’m not sure what that is yet, but it's like being on the edge of a large cliff face,and yet being completely unafraid of what the future holds.

To me, this is more then technology. I want Touchstone to become an experiment in sociology. I want us all to use technology to become more than what we are.

I want it to become a piece of all of us.