A couple of things that I love about RSS ("Real Simple Syndication") is that it is XML ("eXtensible Markup Language"), and that it is a fairly straightforward format, that can easily be used on both the server side and the client side of web applications. I've been in love with "Adobe Photoshop" since it was previously labelled "Aldus Photostyler", which some of you old school techies may recall from the "Windows 3.1" days. The day I found out just how powerful and simple it was to create photorealistic pictures on a computer, I knew that would be an arena where I would be spending quite a bit of my future.

In this post, I'll demonstrate how to use Photoshop to create a RSS feed of your favorite images. Photoshop has a feature that has been in the last few versions, starting about the time that the Internet started to become more mainstream. This automation feature allows a Photoshop user to create a simple collection of web pages that display a folder of images in a HTML frameset. I usually save all my images in both the Adobe *.psd file format, and various sized copies and versions in the *.jpg format. To find this feature in the current Photoshop "CS" menu, click "File" or key "ALT-f, then click "Automate" or key "u", then click or key down to "Web Photo Gallery". This will bring you to a dialog windows where you can select a pre-defined template, and define some parameters, but we will come back this shortly.

As I mentioned, there are several templates for web galleries that get installed to your computer,when you install Photoshop, and we are going leverage these to create our RSS template(s). The following directions are for Windows user, as that is my only experience, and I don't currently have access to Photoshop on any other platforms.

First, let's find you Photoshop install location on your hard drive, using Windows Explorer. For exmample: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS". Next, you will want to locate the subfolders "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Web Photo Gallery". In this folder, should reside several other subfolders of various names that contain some HTML files, and in some cases, yet another subfolder labelled "images". For our purposes here, copy (CTRL-C) one of the folders, and paste it into the same parent folder ("C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Web Photo Gallery\copy of GalleryTemplate\"). If there is an "images" folder, feel free to delete it, as it serves us no purpose in this example. When running, Photoshop reads the subfolders from the "Web Photo Gallery", as uses that as the list of template in the aforementioned "Web Photo Gallery" dialog window, so let rename our copied folder to "RSS", so we can identify it later.

At this point, you should have a folder path that looks like this: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Web Photo Gallery\RSS". Now let's get our hand dirty with editing the HTML files. There are 5 HTML files typically in this new folder, and are listed as such:

1. Caption.htm
2. FrameSet.htm
3. IndexPage.htm
4. SubPage.htm
5. Thumbnail.htm

Do not actually delete any of these files, as this will cause an error when attempting to run of automated RSS template from within Photoshop. We will only be using two of these files for RSS Template, "IndexPage.htm" and "Thumbnail.htm". The other three pages are not needed (unless someone has an idea on how they might be useful in this context), so we are going to open those three and remove all the text/HTML, as save them as empty files. You can do this in Windows Notepad or a free HTML editor such as Visual WebDevelop 2005.

Next, let's focus on "IndexPage.htm". Open this file in you favorite text editor, and remove all the previous text/HTML, except for the specific text - "%THUMBNAILS%". I should mention that if you read the original HTML, you will see other text that contains % signs, and Photoshop uses these variables only if the image file itself has these attrbiutes. This variable ("%THUMBNAILS%") is used by Photoshop to call the "Thumbnail.htm" file recursively, and places the HTML/XML from "Thumbnail.htm" in it's place. Next, we are going to modify the contents of "IndexPage.htm" with a very basic RSS template, should resemble this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- generator=http://yourdot.com -->
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<generator>http://yourdot.com</generator>
<copyright>(C) 2006 Sean Gephardt and Zillinois.com, All Rights Reserved</copyright>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST</pubDate>
<lastBuildDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST</lastBuildDate>
<managingEditor>your.email@yourdot.com</managingEditor>
<webMaster>your.email@yourdot.com</webMaster>
<language>en-us</language>
<category>guitars</category>
<link>http://www.yourdot.com/</link>
<title>The title of this RSS feed for yourdot.com site</title>
<description>The description of this RSS feed, from yourdot.com</description>
%THUMBNAILS%
</channel>
</rss>

<item>
<title>Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Masterbuilt 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Image - %ALT%</title>
<creator>Zillinois.com</creator>
<link>http://www.zillinois.com/50th/gallery.aspx?i=%ALT%</link>
<pubDate>11/12/2006</pubDate>
<category>guitars</category>
<guid>%ALT%</guid>
<description>
&lt;a href="http://www.zillinois.com/50th/gallery.aspx?i=%ALT%"&gt; &lt;img src="http://www.zillinois.com/50th/thumbnails/%ALT%" alt="%ALT%"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.zillinois.com/50th/gallery.aspx?i=%ALT%"&gt;%ALT%&lt;/a&gt;
</description>
</item>

Well, as I mentioned previously, I was a bit apprehensive about attending the Alice in Chains show on November 24th, 2006, at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. The opening band, "Hurt" (sweet web design, guys!) did their best to warm up the motley crowd of younger folks and old "scenesters" like myself. I'd never heard them before, but they performed very well, and the overall sound from the PA sounded crisp and clear. I met up with some friends, new and old, and settled in for what would be over two hours of glorious "grunge" music.

Some things are not meant to last forever, and given the tragic history of the band, this show presented it self as more of tribute to the history of the band, than a re-launching with new members. There was nothing publicly said about whether or not this specific line-up would continue on under the "Alice in Chains" moniker, but given the obvious chemistry of all involved, it was clear to me that they could move forward musically, and be successful.

The set the band played was split into three sections, starting with the obligatory loud, grinding metal electric guitars and throbbing rhythm of the song "Again" from the band's self titled album. It's a bit surreal hearing 3000+ people sing along to every verse and chorus, but I was just as guilty of singing along as well. After about 35 minutes of what I consider some "classic" AIC songs, the band took a short break, to allow the stage to be converted to a more "living room" like setting for what was about 30+ minutes of acoustic staples from the Alice back catalog. Ann Wilson, from the band Heart, sat in with the band for almost picture perfect rendition of "Got Me Wrong". The acoustic set was followed by a return to all things electric, and the remainder of the more popular songs in the bands repertoire.

To the delight to everyone one in the audience, was the video tribute dedication to the memory of Layne Staley. Shown in between the changes of the stage decor, this was a obviously personal collection of rarely seen pictures, video footage and other assorted home video style clips from over the years. Featuring the lighter side of Layne, this montage had the crowd cheering, laughing and possibly even shedding a few tears in loving memory.

It was good to see Layne's face again, albeit though only through photographs and pre-digital video. Indians in the old west and tribal peoples in general sometimes claim that a "photograph steals a piece of a person's soul". But if it weren't for photography and video, I'd hate to think of all the great memories that would have been lost, and never revisited. Old blues music legend has it, that you could make a deal with the devil for fame and fortune, at the price of one's soul, and sometimes, in a philosophical mood, I like to ponder that statement. Like many people, I hope that Layne has found some semblance of peace, wherever or whatever happens in the after life.

From the song "Long Gone Day", from "Mad Season - Above":

"See you all from time to time,

Isn't it so strange how far away we all are now,

Am I the only one who remembers that summer?

Oh, I remember.

Everyday, each time the place was saved,

The music that we made,

The wind has carried all of that away"

Here is the official online collection of Alice in Chains music videos, from Sony.

http://sonybmg.com/musicbox/video/aliceinchains/

I'm done with a nice relaxing, week long vacation this Thanksgiving 2006, and will be heading back to the office next Monday, but first, tonight brings the Alice in Chains show here at Seattle's Paramount Theatre, and it is a long time coming. I've been an "Alice" fan since they started playing in the most famous or "infamous" Seattle clubs such as the Vogue and Pioneer Square's "Central Tavern" back in the very early days of "Grunge". I've also been lucky to be good friends with "Baldy" for many of those years since, as we share an affinity for great rock music and golden, delicious corn. In fact, a band I was in back in the early 90's was also lucky enough to have a very brief "brush with fame", which allowed us to open a concert for AIC and Seattle legends, Gruntruck, during the beginning of the "Dirt" tour. I also consider myself lucky to have the chance to hang out with Layne on several occasions, and one particular ice cube throwing battle at the show room at the famous Seattle landmark nightclub, the Off Ramp, stands out to this day. Another involves Layne, late Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon and myself sharing a joint at the now defunct Seattle RKCNDY night club, after Blind Melon's amazing concert to promote their first release.

So I'll attend "tribute show" with a bit of trepidation, as it's obviously been a long, strange and tragic trip. For most rock bands (and popular musical groups in general) past and present, the lead singer is focus and the "heart and soul" of the band. Obviously, people can relate to singers easier than the other musicians, as singers express themselves with words, language, and emotions that are more easily understood, than say some fancy chord progression. Layne Staley was the face and voice of AIC, that in my opinion goes without dispute. I, by no means, mean to imply that the rest of the band (especially Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, Mike Inez and guest vocalist, William_DuVall) don't contribute to the mystique and essence that is AIC, it's just that Layne's presence was so much of the allure. It's my understanding that part of the concert features a video tribute to Layne, which is said to be very emotional and very well done, and I look forward to seeing that presentation, as I'm sure everyone from the old Seattle scene is also.

an allocation of allotments, reminiscent of unenducated time

From time to time, when connections are split, yet still connected

there are still spirals and circles of using, no sounds can enter, nor found escaping, viscerally

crashing while before leaving, dispassionately holding the assembly location

susceptive and conspicuous, as conscript for this irascible campaign

claims of revolutionary abstraction, unfounded and depleted

If only to ask also much, with answers shy of accuracy

there will be the enevitable reset, within pressing cycles...

Even more cool new Windows based technology, "Windows PowerShell 1.0" was recently released also. The byline:

"Microsoft Windows PowerShell command line shell and scripting language helps IT Professionals achieve greater productivity. Using a new admin-focused scripting language, more than 130 standard command line tools, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell allows IT Professionals to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation."

You can download "Windows PowerShell 1.0", and you can keep up to date via the "Windows PowerShell" blog.

If you are reading this, you can obviously see that I've spent some time recently re-designing this web site. I've taken the actual HTML layout and removed the <table> tags where I could, though my blog software still uses <table> tags for some of it navigation components. I'm still working towards XHTML compliance, but I may have to switch blogging software to reach that goal. You may have also noticed that I've moved away from "Google Ads", and replaced the text ads with graphic ads. I did this strictly because I wanted more control over which products would be viewed as being "endorsed" by myself, and Zillinois.com as an entity. I've also exposed several RSS category based feeds, and may in fact add 1-3 more, depending on the categories I choose.

As for blog content, I'm going to posting several desktop wall papers, as well as, interesting and compelling links from around the WWW. I also plan on posting some audio files for guitar players, such as scales, chords and the wide selection of different tunings. I'm also working on a data-driven "Members only" style v-root, that will use ASP.NET and AJAX, which will host any and all images of the now famous 1954 Fender Stratocasters.

As always, I welcome any critical feedback and or suggestions as to the design and layout.

"GeeksAreSexy" Tech Blog has this Windows XP registry hack for Moving your IE7 Menu Bar Back to the Top. Sorry, I'm old school, so I had to give it a try, to make sure it works. I've also included a simple *.reg file that you can use in Windows XP and Windows 2003 with IE7.

IE7MenuTop2003.reg (.3 KB)

Some old friends from MSDN, Brian and Duncan give us a demo of the new Microsoft Zune Player. You can find different formats (including of course, the new Zune format) for this video here.

Video: Microsoft Zune Player

The Microsoft .NET Framework is now officially in version 3.0. Obviously, you can find the info on your own, but here are some of the key links to programming on this framework:

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0

Windows Communication Foundation ( Resource Documentation )

Windows Presentation Foundation ( Resource Documentation )

Windows Workflow Foundation ( Resource Documentation )

In fact, there is even an online "virtual lab"!

You can download Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 at this location.

If you are a developer, you may also need to download the Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for WF and the Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for WCF, WPF.

I'm playing around with a beta version of XML Notepad 2006, and came across some what is been label "Late Breaking" code samples in the .NET 2.0 SDK folder ( "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\LateBreaking\" ) on my main dev machine. Digging around in there, I was playing with "CalendarNavigator" project, which displays the current date based on the following different calendars:

1. Gregorian ( 11/10/2006, Era 1 A.D. )
2. Julian ( 10/28/2006, Era 1, A.D. )
3. Hijri ( 10/19/1427, Era 1 )
4. UmAlQuar ( 10/19/1427, Era 1 )
5. Japanese (11/10/18, Era 4 )
6. Hebrew ( 2/19/5767, Era 1 C.E. )
7. Persian ( 8/19/1385, Era 1 A.D. )
8. Chinese Lunisolar ( 10/20/2006 Era 1 )
9. Japanese Lunisolar ( 10/20/18, Era 4 )
10. Korean ( 11/10/4339 )
11. Korean Lunisolar ( 10/20/2006, Era 1 )

Interestingly, the sample UI shows that each calendar still subscribes to having 7 days in a week. This is also sort of new territory for me as I research software globalization and localization, so I thought I'd share the values with everyone, just in case you need an idea for an April Fools' Day gag or just want to confuse your friends or co-workers.

Speaking of co-workers, one just sent me this screensaver of the infamous Windows "BSOD" or "Blue Screen Of Death".

Microsoft Live Labs has a great demo of it's new Photosynth software. This runs as an ActiveX control within IE (Sorry, OSSers), and looks great. You can read more at the Photosynth blog, and you can view the demos here. If for some reason, you get an error about video card performance, be sure to read this Help Article (related to Microsoft's "Virtual Earth 3D" software that is used by "Local Live".

No, not me specifically, but this morning I'm pleasantly surprised to see that the Democrats are poised to take back both the House & the Senate, giving the donkey party essentially complete control over Congress, for the first time in 12 years. It's really too bad this couldn't of happened sooner, how about 4 years sooner? Regardless, it is nice to see that when the people of this country finally get sick of being manipulated, that they can turn out and actually make a change in their government. I've been looking for a republican conspiracy here, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how losing the congress benefits the Republican party (in the short term). I did take the liberty, as I always do, to "write in" myself on several locations on my states ballot. There were several state judges positions in particular, that were uncontested, which is a shame in my opinion. Am I still dreaming? It's all over the news and blogs, Rumsfeld actually "resigned"? I suppose next, someone will tell me I won this weeks PowerBall lottery.

Man, this day just keeps getting better. Hell, even the sun finally broke through here in Washington State, so maybe "Flood Watch Fall 2006" is finally over.

31 real verbal catalysts to be used by a wife and/or girl freind, as to excuse them from the act of having sexual relations with her husband/boyfreind. One for every day of any given month. Other tentative titles - "How to pick a fight with your boyfriend", "If you have to ask, I'm not going to tell you." and lastly, "I reserve the right to change my mind".

31. "I have headache."

30. "The kids are still awake."

29. "Oprah has Paris on tonight."

28. "It's that time of the month."

27. "Suzy really needs me tonight. I can't believe that Richard did that to her!"

26. "Didn't we just do it last week?"

25. "Can we just wait until Saturday?"

24. "My parents are coming over tonight."

23. "I just don't feel fresh."

22. "Is that all you think about?"

21. "I'm more than just a sex object."

20. "I was hoping we could just cuddle."

19. "I just need a good nights sleep."

18. "Oh, you remember [an ex-boyfriend's name], I just ran into him at the mall. He looks great!"

17. "Do think my [best freind's name] is attractive?"

16. "I'm a nice girl. I don't do those kinds of things!"

15. "Why don't we ever talk anymore?"

14. "Your freinds are idiots!"

13. "You've had too much to drink."

12. "I've had too much to drink"

11. "I don't feel like it."

10. "Last time, it hurt."

9. "You are selfish."

8. "I have to work early/have a meeting tomorrow morning."

7. "When are we going to talk about having kids?"

6. "I forgot to take my birth control."

5. "You are never romantic anymore."

4. "You sound just like my dad."

3. "Why do you hate my freinds?"

2. "Just let me finish this one more chapter."

1. "I just changed the sheets."

Of course today is "Election Day" 2006 all across the United States, and as usual, I'll be writing my name into ever open slot on those crafty digital ballot boxes. If "they" can "robo-call", I can at least write myself in. Obviously, I'm trying to pick the "lesser of two evils".

Michael Moore, never without an opinion gives us "5 good reasons to vote". Reason #5 - "2,836 + 655,000. Each one of them, American and Iraqi, are no longer with us because of the decision by one man to start a war. Each one of them represented a precious, God-given life that no man had the right to take away. Each one of them had a mother and father, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, friends and loved ones, little boys and little girls. It's mad, my friends, utterly mad, this senseless loss of human life."

20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA.

Charles Madigan of the Chicago Tribune, gets us started today with a message "To the winners: Listen up!".

It's only 10am, already we are seing "Voting problems crop up early".

Sen. Allen's phone call campaign warns a voter against voting.

Daggett County "vote stuffing".

Unrelated to voting, Utah police were able to capture "Utah's Public Enemy #1", which should have been easy once take a gander at this chap.

Appearently, I'm turning into "Dr. Evil" by putting quotes around everthing, maybe I should clean my teeth with my pinky nail.

There is a new "tribute" stratocaster coming from the Fender Custom Shop, and it is the official Eric Clapton "Blackie" replica. Ok, ok, take a deep breath, it isn't available yet, not until Nov. 24th, 2006. This limited edition will only consist of 275 pieces, with 90 available outside the US. I'm going to fetch a guess and say these are already probably all sold. MoneyCentral has a press release for this also, which is sort fo wierd. It means that serious investors are considering musical instruments as serious investments.
And of course, the "real deal" that sold at Christie's can be found here.

Update: The Fender.com "Blackie" web site has been updated with some cool "behind the scenes" video footage, as well as, a dynamic image gallery. Guitar Center is now taking orders for this instrument here.

Of course, in this modern age, every word should be in the dictionary. 

The Rude Pundit is saying for all American voters, "Fuck Them", when it comes time to vote.

The current state of the Paris riots, crazy as fuck.

Actually, what happens at court, after a gang rape trial in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is even crazier than fuck.

The New York Times CBGB Slide Show, an ode to one of the few places in NYC that regularly chanted "fuck 'em".

No "Halo Movie", ah fuck.

The "C is Efficient" Language Fallacy, geeky as fuck.

Some Halloween costumes that are sick as fuck [NSFW]