Last week, when I moved this weblog to its new home, I left some loose ends. I'd meant to redirect my old homepage and RSS file to their new counterparts, but i t wasn't immediately apparent how to get Radio to upload a page containing a client-side redirect. Then last night I realized that I ought to be able to use the same XML-RPC calls that Radio uses to talk to xmlstoragesystem.com. And sure enough, this worked:
params = {"0100887", string.hashmd5("xxx"), {"index.html"}, {"<HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV=\"refresh\\" CONTENT=\\"0;URL=http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/\\"> </HEAD></HTML>"}};
scratchpad.t = xml.rpc ("xmlstoragesystem.com", 80, "xmlStorageSystem.saveMultipleFiles", @params, rpcPath:"/RPC2");
I couldn't work out how to do the same for the RSS file, though, so I uploaded this final item instead:
<?xml version="1.0" ?><rss version="0.92"><channel><title>Jon's Radio</title><link>http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/ </link><description>Jon Udell's Radio Blog</description><copyright>Copyright 2002 Jon Udell</copyright><item><title>Redirection</title><link>http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/rss.xml </link><description>This feed has moved tohttp://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/rss.xml. I've used a client-side redirect (HTTP-EQUIV="refresh") for the home page, but haven't figured out how to do the same for the RSS channel. If you see a way, please clue me in. Otherwise, if you want to keep subscribing to my feed, you'll have to switch your aggregator to the new link. Sorry for the inconvenience! - Jon</description></item></channel></rss>
Did I miss something? Is there a way to make an XML file redirect without server-side control of the Content-type header? Inquiring minds want to know.
It has occurred to me that this transition may topple me from my recently-achieved position as the first "Jon" on Google . Oh well. Easy come, easy go. Of course, this is one more example of the need for a more durable notion of online identity. Google's PageRank has real economic value, as discussed in this article by Jill Walker:
When I link to B, I give B a link. That link translates to a precise (though undisclosed) value in Google's PageRank and in other indexing systems like Blogdex. The link has a clearer value to B than the content of B's page has to me or to my readers. I pay B for B's content with my link. [ Links and Power: The Political Economy of Linking on the Web ]
And yet, when you stop to think about it, it's not B -- the person -- to whom you are assigning value, but rather some page whose association with B may be fragile and temporary. It would be interesting to have a parallel to PageRank called AuthorRank, based on a convention for digitally signing web pages.
Former URL: http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2002/08/13.html#a382