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Apple Breaks RSS with Photocasting
Barry Norton writes "VNUNet reports that the Photocasting feature in Apple's iPhoto application violates core XML and RSS standards. Perhaps the worst part is that, in many cases, this isn't even a case of 'embrace and extend', but just plain doing it wrong. Dave Winer, essentially the creator of RSS, says, 'It's pretty bad. There are lots of errors, the date formats are wrong, there are elements that are not in RSS that aren't in a namespace.'"
The source code for FeedValidator is freely available on SourceForge
Why can't I moderate something "Wrong" or at least "Grossly Misinformed"?
Sometimes standards are extremely difficult to follow. Now, the RSS standard isn't an overly large one. But there are some industrial standards that when printed run to five or six volumes, 900 pages each. It's very difficult for one person to have a solid grasp of all that material, especially when there are deadlines to meet.
Of course, interpretation of standards can cause problems, too. Often times what appears to be a broken application is just a matter of other applications it must interact with not following the standard, either.
In any case, it is quite obvious that Apple was not trying to create an anti-standards service there. When you're adding technology such as photocasting into an existing product, and such functionality it isn't necessary covered by the standard, you may have no choice but to create a standards-incompatible product.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
And, as Mark Pilgrim's original email which is the basis of TFA points out, Apple haven't even implemented XML namespace support correctly.
Using HTML in email is like putting sound effects on your phone calls. Just say <strong>no</strong>.
Perhaps the worst part is that, in many cases, this isn't even a case of 'embrace and extend', but just plain doing it wrong.
Yeah, seriously. I, for one, am outraged that Apple has merely made mistakes in implementation, and is not making deliberate attempts to hijack an open standard. It just doesn't get any worse than that.
That's a property list. You might try processing it with Apple's property list APIs to see if you can make it more useful for you.
Atom 0.3 is anathema now that 1.0 is out.
No, it allows the inclusion of HTML that has been escaped according to XML syntax rules. The way you are talking, it sounds as if you think you can just put HTML in directly. This is not the case. RSS is XML.
By the way, Atom also allows you to do this - check out things like <content type="html">. That's exactly how RSS handles HTML inclusion.
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
I never used Dave's software, so it didn't matter to me at all when he suddenly increased the price from $0 to $900 a year. So no grudge at all.
If you really want to see my first publically posted criticism of Dave Winer and his software pricing, you'll have to go back to at least 1992. Nice try, though.
Perhaps you missed the bit about how Dave Winer did not in fact invent RSS--he co-opted Netscape's invention and pretended it was his own.
I guess he has sycophants, just like he has enemies. I just think he's a bit of an asshat.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
You might also have to escape the occasional quote character if it occurs inside an attribute, like so:
<element attrib="this is "my" text"/>
Without the escapes, that attribute value will fail to parse correctly, since the text appears to end halfway through the string.
"The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat