You can get the Windows XP Service Pack 2 full installer (272 MB), or you can wait a few days for the update to become available (in a much smaller size) from Windows Update. Also, for those using Panther, v10.3.5 is now available from Software Update. The only problem is that it doesn’t set the disk permissions properly. To fix this, go into Applications → Utilities → Disk Utility, and choose to repair permissions. Voila!

Responses to the release of SimplePie 0.8 have been very positive. SimplePie has accomplished it’s goal of making it easier to create online feed readers, or anything else that requires RSS parsing. The only complaints that I got were mostly speed-related. Most people who sent me feedback thought that SimplePie was just too darn slow. Unfortunately, the speed issues were directly related to my use of Magpie RSS as the parsing engine. So, I decided to re-write it completely from scratch.

Hmmm… very interesting. Here are my stats as of, well, now. Internet Explorer 6.0 - 39% Gecko browsers - 22% Internet Explorer 5.x (Win & Mac) - 19% Crawlers/Search Engines - 12% Netscape 4.x - 3% Safari - 3% Opera 7.x - 2% Gecko browsers are gaining on IE 6.0 here at Skyzyx.com. It’s good to know.

First, read Darice’s post, then come back and finish this post. I agree and disagree — both concurrently. On one hand, I see people going overboard about making sure that absolutely everything is flawless code, or else they freak out. On the other hand, I see people who intentionally invalidate their code to try to make a point. Both groups are wrong. Standards-compliance is a journey, not necessarily a destination. It’s a matter of doing the best you can with the tools and options before you.

Apparently, RealNetworks has reverse-engineered Apple’s FairPlay software. FairPlay is the name of Apple’s DRM (digital rights management) software. RealNetworks has been trying to get Apple to license their FairPlay software so that Real can sell iPod-ready music files from their online music store. Apple has consistently denied their requests. My biggest issue is just wanting to play the music that I’ve purchased anywhere I want. Hymn is a very good DRE (digital rights enabler) for iTunes Music Store files.

Taking my own advice, I’ve updated my “crappy browser” messages to include Internet Explorer 5.5. IE 5.5 is now 5 years old (1999), and it’s time to encourage more and more people to move up. Since IE6 supports the correct CSS box model (in “almost standards” mode), I’m not going to bother with the CSS box model hack in the new design. This is 2004 people… get with the program. If users insist on hanging on to outdated technology, then they need to understand that at some point they’re going to be left behind.

It’s almost 2am, so I really need to get to bed. Before that, however, I’d like to share some really good new software I’ve come across lately. The first is Gaim. Gaim is an IM client for Windows/Linux that can log into AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, and others. I know that a lot of people use Trillian, and it already does that. Two features that make me suggest Gaim over Trillian are: You can give people real names (you can set aliases), rather than being stuck with screen names.

I want everyone to do me a favor. If you’re going to add me to your buddy lists and contact me completely out of the blue while I’m at work, that’s perfectly fine. Just don’t be a psycho asking me super-personal questions. If you want to ask me questions about code, scripts, the web, etc., that’s fine. If you just want to randomly chat about nothing, I’d suggest getting an AOL account. If you start (or continue) to ask me questions like where exactly I live, or what my phone number is, you’re only going to piss me off.

Have you ever wanted to create your own online RSS/Atom feed reader? Did you fiddle around with other solutions that just plain sucked? Did you try to use the awesome Magpie RSS, and just couldn’t get it to work like you wanted? Personally, I’m still fairly new to PHP, but I have a solid understanding of scripting principles and grasp of basic PHP syntax. Even still, I found Magpie a bit confusing sometimes as I was starting out with it. Because of this, I figured I’d try to make it easier for people like me to leverage Magpie’s power with a simpler command set.

After buying my PowerBook G4 last month, I’ve been wanting to add another 512 MB stick of RAM to it to bring the total up to 1 GB. I compared Apple’s prices to other manufacturer’s and found that the best deal was from Crucial.com. I’ve ordered memory from Crucial several times and have always found their prices, shipping speed, and customer service to be simply phenominal. I give them my business whenever they can. After two days, my memory chip came in and I went to install it.