Zed Shaw is angry about feed readers(zedshaw.com)
zedshaw.com
Zed Shaw is angry about feed readers
http://www.zedshaw.com/rants/i_want_the_mutt_of_feed_readers.html
36 comments
I can't wait for angry ranting to go out of fashion.
For now, it's an easy way to get traffic. People like it when you're willing to call it like you see it and skewer the mediocre things that surround us.
As an alternative, what's a forceful way to critique the central problem Zed discusses in his rant, namely the practice of blindly copying a (questionable) UI metaphor from another application category, email, without resorting to ranting?
In general, lengthy writing on the web works best when you have a story with a conflict and resolution -- Zed is frustrated by all the products he encounters, and he finally finds one that matches what he wants. Joel Spolsky uses this heavily. The way to promote a product these days, I guess, is to make the story about you, the potential customer, who has a problem the product solves (hooray!). An angry rant fits into that well enough that it's a tempting, easy route.
As an alternative, what's a forceful way to critique the central problem Zed discusses in his rant, namely the practice of blindly copying a (questionable) UI metaphor from another application category, email, without resorting to ranting?
In general, lengthy writing on the web works best when you have a story with a conflict and resolution -- Zed is frustrated by all the products he encounters, and he finally finds one that matches what he wants. Joel Spolsky uses this heavily. The way to promote a product these days, I guess, is to make the story about you, the potential customer, who has a problem the product solves (hooray!). An angry rant fits into that well enough that it's a tempting, easy route.
Do you have a comfortable chair and an umbrella drink?
Since the day man discovered how to string the letters "F, U, C and K" together to form a word, angry ranting has been in fashion. Historical trends are against you here, I'm afraid.
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My favorite line:
"That should be a 2 minute job finding something someone else already wrote on CPAN and another 2 minutes writing a single line of Perl nobody else will have to read again (because they can’t)."
Q: What's the difference between reading an angry blogger at work and listening to a loud mouth drunk in a bar?
A: They're both irritating, but in a bar, you can be drunk too, so it seems less irritating.
A: They're both irritating, but in a bar, you can be drunk too, so it seems less irritating.
Angry rants can be hilarious but he's veering into net kook territory with reviews of console based feed readers. I'm anxiously awaiting the next article where he gives us his Ham radio call sign, rips the authors of various Amiga emulators a new asshole, and then reveals his latest project - an album of bird calls he performed on the tenor recorder.
"... Angry rants can be hilarious but he's veering into net kook territory with reviews of console based feed readers ..."
The problem with limiting your repertoire is your response becomes one dimensional and tired. Maybe "Angry Zed" is following the Joel Spolsky "Rule 1" in Painless Functional Specifications Pt4, "Be funny" ~ http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html The only thing is Zed is not funny. Now if you want Angry try emulating "Angry of Mayfield" (Kenny Everett)~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXkxJkjCk-c or how about Mr.Gumby (Monty Python) ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIlKiRPSNGA or if you want a quick essay read the "Argument sketch" (Python again) ~ http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/monty-python-arguement.ht...
Once you have made your "Angry" point you should move to a different style. Unless of course you want to be a "blub" blogger like Jed.
The problem with limiting your repertoire is your response becomes one dimensional and tired. Maybe "Angry Zed" is following the Joel Spolsky "Rule 1" in Painless Functional Specifications Pt4, "Be funny" ~ http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000033.html The only thing is Zed is not funny. Now if you want Angry try emulating "Angry of Mayfield" (Kenny Everett)~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXkxJkjCk-c or how about Mr.Gumby (Monty Python) ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIlKiRPSNGA or if you want a quick essay read the "Argument sketch" (Python again) ~ http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/monty-python-arguement.ht...
Once you have made your "Angry" point you should move to a different style. Unless of course you want to be a "blub" blogger like Jed.
The only thing is... I thought it was funny. I wasn't offended in the slightest by the rant. I know I have a bizarre sense of humor but he's doing something right.
A: You can stop reading the angry blogger at any time, but while in the bar you have to listen to it.
Zed is always angry. That's why we love Zed!
You beat me to it -- I feel like the "is angry" is implied.
Now, I’m sure tons of people will scoff at the idea of not having graphics in their feed. They’ve gotta have that curvy candy coated interface with the flash video about Steampunk Buttplugs posted by BoingBoing blaring right in their fucking face or else they don’t feel alive. They don’t feel young. Dammit, they want to augment that Nerd ADD with a feed reader that goes to eleven!
Rock on, Zed.
Rock on, Zed.
I sense a new startup idea.
A form that reads:
Zed Shaw is angry about [textbox]. [textbox for link].
Posts to all the aggregation sites like reddit and HN ;)
A form that reads:
Zed Shaw is angry about [textbox]. [textbox for link].
Posts to all the aggregation sites like reddit and HN ;)
Really since the 'is angry' is implied by the 'Zed Shaw', you could get away with just 'Zed Shaw - [topic]'
(Edit: I love Zed, just so we are clear. Of course, I loved Maddox too, and I don't expect everyone else to like him just because I do.)
(Edit: I love Zed, just so we are clear. Of course, I loved Maddox too, and I don't expect everyone else to like him just because I do.)
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That's not a startup idea, that's a joke.
Great idea, but please not HN.
It seems a bit odd to me that he would go on about the functionality of feed readers but he wasn't willing to try google reader based on a completely different merit?
Wouldn't you want to read feeds in your browser, where you can follow the links without switching windows?
What makes you think I have a browser open all the time? At least on my system, I'm far more likely to have a terminal open.
And no, I don't want to read feeds in a browser. (Actually, ideally they'd show up in my inbox as emails, but that's a different topic)
And no, I don't want to read feeds in a browser. (Actually, ideally they'd show up in my inbox as emails, but that's a different topic)
Besides being angry, Zed is posting some very useful information. "The mutt of feed readers" isn't something I'm looking for right now, but for the handful of people who want it, it's a great thing to find.
Perhaps he wants Hacker Top:
http://www.catonmat.net/blog/follow-hacker-news-from-the-con...
http://www.catonmat.net/blog/follow-hacker-news-from-the-con...
Try Canto! It's a curses based reader that is fast and easy to use.
http://codezen.org/canto/
http://codezen.org/canto/
Seriously though. What's with Obie's pictures?
Zed Shaw has mastered link baiting.
use rss support in gnus for emacs. tada it can read email too. so he can get rid of mutt. not sure how much more minimal you can get than rss-as-news-articles
and what is with this trend of people buying core2duo boxes to run dvtm? top won't bother reporting idle of greater precision than 99.9 %
anywho, it seems emacs can give him his console orgasm while dropping a dynamic runtime that ties it together. news, email, irc, im (via bitlbee), web, and of course editing text now and then
and what is with this trend of people buying core2duo boxes to run dvtm? top won't bother reporting idle of greater precision than 99.9 %
anywho, it seems emacs can give him his console orgasm while dropping a dynamic runtime that ties it together. news, email, irc, im (via bitlbee), web, and of course editing text now and then
He states he uses Vimperator and listed Vim before Emacs at the end of the article--he uses Vim, not emacs.
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I don't understand the bit about Mutt not having folders. I use Mutt and have folders. Is he talking about using it with IMAP or something?
yeah, i'm not sure what the hell he's complaining about. i use mutt with maildir and imap folders, even nested imap folders.
my mutt is compiled with the 3rd party sidebar patch and i have a view just like gui mail programs with a list of all my imap folders showing me which have new mail and how many.
my mutt is compiled with the 3rd party sidebar patch and i have a view just like gui mail programs with a list of all my imap folders showing me which have new mail and how many.
You know, I think these guys have grown up watching people like George Carlin and come to think that throwing around petty insults and profanities randomly is somehow funny in itself. There's an art to it, you guys. Carlin knew what he was doing. You don't.