RSS Enable dpchallenge.com - DPChallenge Forums

05/27/2004 09:35:54 AM · #4

I think this is already on the (long) list of "ideas of things to do in the future", along with the idea of a "PDA friendly" interface for certain things so that people on PDA's, cell phones, etc. can easily check their scores, see the current challenges, and check who ribboned in the recent challenges without the overhead of the "full" site.

(For those that don't know, RSS = Really Simple Syndication, a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content.)

Message edited by author 2004-05-27 09:38:16.

KevinRiggs

Canon EOS-1Ds

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

05/27/2004 09:39:09 AM · #5

RSS is a way for client computers to subscribe to data on sites.

Technically its an XML data feed to which clients (you and I) subscribe. The provider (DPChallenge) would update their feed (say one for each forum and one for Open Challenges and one for User Challenges), your computer would poll the data feeds to which you subscribe (perhaps I select User Challenges and Photo Discussion but not Rant or Open Challenges). My computer would immediately alert me (either via Outlook and NewsGator or SharpReader or some other news aggregator) that something I'm interested in has been updated and I'd probably be able to see a brief synopsis of the update. I could then click on some portion of the update to be taken to the original website/article to view it in its entirity.

For example I subscribe to the Canon forum on Photo.net and during the day I get anywhere from 5-20 updates and I generally let them go until I need a break about 2:30 or 3:00 and I take a 15-minute "smoke break" to read up on questions or answers people posted.

I've wondered if Drew or Langdon would want to farm out this code but I never felt like I was interested enough to pursue this with them. It's not much code; I'm sure like all other coding its just a matter of getting the other "have to's" out of the way before you can toss in the neat little things that are racy.

Kev

Message edited by author 2004-05-27 09:42:43.

David.C

05/27/2004 12:28:47 PM · #6

Originally posted by KevinRiggs:

I've wondered if Drew or Langdon would want to farm out this code but I never felt like I was interested enough to pursue this with them. It's not much code; I'm sure like all other coding its just a matter of getting the other "have to's" out of the way before you can toss in the neat little things that are racy.

Kev

I suggested something similar in this thread, but the thread died shortly after my post. :(

David

langdon

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/27/2004 02:13:49 PM · #7

I'd consider doing this since it's pretty quick and easy thing. What kind of information would you want in the feed? A list of challenges in the submit phase, in the voting phase (along with your scores), and in the results phase (along with winners) -- or all challenges with their statuses and winners?.

I'm not sure how to effectively depict the information though, since I've only seen RRS used for article-type content (news and blogs). Anyone want to draft up a feed?

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

05/27/2004 05:29:45 PM · #8

Originally posted by langdon:

in the voting phase (along with your scores)

Are there any security implications associated with publishing an individual's current score via RSS?

Will there need to be some kind of "refresh rate" restriction to prevent the equivalent of automated "Update Now" requests every minute?

neverbeaten

Minolta DiMAGE X20

05/27/2004 05:56:37 PM · #9

I'd subscribe.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/27/2004 06:20:27 PM · #10

just make a WAP site so i can check scores on phones!

langdon

Canon EOS-20D

05/27/2004 08:22:06 PM · #11

Haha, WAP is pretty fun to write -- but does anyone actually ever their phone to check the web?

As far as security issues, we'd generate a URL with a hash value in it. Then the only security issue is giving our your URL..

05/27/2004 08:23:35 PM · #12

Originally posted by langdon:

id do it! only when my shots doing well.

ClubJuggle

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

05/27/2004 08:26:07 PM · #13

Originally posted by langdon:

I do, all the time. It's great for getting baseball scores when I am at work.... sports sites are blocked, so is DPChallenge.

-Terry

05/27/2004 08:33:47 PM · #14

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

Originally posted by langdon:
Haha, WAP is pretty fun to write -- but does anyone actually ever their phone to check the web?

As far as security issues, we'd generate a URL with a hash value in it. Then the only security issue is giving our your URL..

I do, all the time. It's great for getting baseball scores when I am at work.... sports sites are blocked, so is DPChallenge.

-Terry

you mean dpchallenge isnt a sport?

ClubJuggle

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

05/27/2004 08:35:07 PM · #15

Originally posted by hsteg:

you mean dpchallenge isnt a sport?

Full-contact, if the Rant forum is any indication.

-Terry

05/27/2004 08:39:47 PM · #16

nope, blocked off the homepage.
I dont feel like hearing people whine about who they wanna vote for.

dsa157

Canon EOS-50D

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

05/27/2004 08:41:47 PM · #17

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

when I was first developing WAP apps, I made a screen scraper to the CBS website to get Letterman's Top 10 lists on the phone.

Dave

Koriyama

Nikon D200

05/27/2004 08:46:05 PM · #18

Originally posted by langdon:

Haha, WAP is pretty fun to write -- but does anyone actually ever their phone to check the web?

In Japan, the mobile phone for the web market is huge.

terje

Apple iPhone

05/28/2004 08:34:14 AM · #19

langdon,

Sounds great to me! :-) How long do you think it would take to get this up and running? I'd subscribe in a minute..

blemt

Nikon D70

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

05/28/2004 12:56:47 PM · #20

Just what I need. Now I can spend my days at work clicking to refresh via phone. Yay!

Clara

dsa157

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/28/2004 01:14:43 PM · #21

Originally posted by blemt:

Just what I need. Now I can spend my days at work clicking to refresh via phone. Yay!

Clara

I assume the idea here would not be to have personalized content like your own current scores be updated via a feed as that is not really what a feed is. RSS is designed for general interest broadcast content, so you'd want to include things like the current challenges open for submission, current open for voting, site news, etc

Dave

langdon

Canon EOS-20D

05/28/2004 01:36:49 PM · #22

Originally posted by dsa157:

It is designed for broadcast content, though there's certainly no reason we couldn't include score details per user in the details of the challenges currently in the voting and viewing phase.

The only problem I see is that I personally wouldn't want to type my password or a 20 digit hash code into my phone..

We have two things here now... and RSS feed and a WAP/WML/WDSL application. The RSS feed is the only thing I'm not 100% sure of.. what applications do you guys use to check RSS feeds? Since RSS is basically a list of NAME:VALUE pairs .. how should we format the output?

Konador

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

05/28/2004 01:44:58 PM · #23

I use Trillian Pro + News addon for RSS

I'm not sure if that type of display is the norm for RSS, but when you double click the headline it takes you to a html page in your browser with the full story.

Message edited by author 2004-05-28 13:50:24.

KevinRiggs

Canon EOS-1Ds

05/28/2004 02:13:01 PM · #24

I use SharpReader.

dsa157

Canon EOS-50D