North Atlantic Radio episode 6

It may be late, but it’s perfectly formed. And you get an extra five minutes this time around, so count yourself lucky. Twenty minutes of chat about URL shorteners, the state of RSS, Google’s new static maps API, and more.

URL shorteners

Brian and Matt discuss the problems inherent in using proprietary third-party systems to shorten URLs. Can you trust them to stay around? What happens if and when the go bust and disappear? What are the alternatives?

• Tr.im decides to close its service
• Tr.im becomes community-owned
• Flickr URL shortening

Is RSS dead?

RSS is a technology nerds can’t do without. But the average ‘man on the street’ has yet to find it exciting or useful. These days, Twitter and Facebook are replacing it as a user-facing technology. Has RSS come to the end of its useful days?

• Eddie Izzard is running forty marathons, the fool

Google static maps

Google recently released version 2.0 of its static maps API that allows you to embed maps in your pages as lightweight images rather than heavy javascript functionality. We review it and come out impressed.

• New Google static maps API
• OpenStreetMap static maps test

Site of the episode

Prezi. Presentation software without boring, linear slides. Let’s all use a giant canvas instead!

What we’re reading

• Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life, by Len Fisher
• How Would You Move Mount Fuji?, by William Poundstone
• The Stuff of Thought, by Steven Pinker
• The Pillow Book, by Sei Shonagon
• The New British Constitution, by Vernon Bogdanor
• Imprimatur, by Monaldi and Sorti