...but before that, this message, brought to you today by the letter X:
uh-uh, Anna... you don't think those of us who live in Hawaii are Americans, eh? (::chuckle:: background reading here: Xelopai's sliver of light)

why right now? well, the first 1 million registrants get a free account (for life). otherwise, it's $12 per year. so, go. NOW! hurry! lol

i had been watching developments on XNS since late spring, but that went onto the backburner as soon as my busy summer intervened. then, i suddenly remembered it again when my savvy Aunty Cherry wrote about it on my clan's webconferencing site yesterday. as it turns out, XNS has "gone live," within the last couple of days and you can now get your own XNS service account. again, it's free-for-life for the first 1 million people who sign up. the response has been massive, so you can bet the FREE accounts will be gone soon.

so, what, in fact is XNS -- eXtensible Name Service?

for you kids who've taken my AIC class, it's an application based on XML--which itself is revolutionizing the way data and information is presented on the Web. as for what XNS does... in a non-technical and non-jargon description: it's an application that simplifies the exchange of information over the Internet while at the same time giving you privacy and protection for your personal data.

although XNS was developed by a Seattle-based startup, OneName Corporation, it's based on open Internet standards and its code will be made readily available as open source. that is, it won't be owned by a single company (read: Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Sun, etc.). the fact that XNS is open source and non-proprietary clinches the argument, in my mind. you can read more about XNS in the link above, or here.

XNS is not a sure thing, i hasten to say--for it to really take off, broad, universal adoption is required... kinda like the way IP is now. no one company "owns" the IP protocol, and if XNS gets to that point, then it's home free. it still needs to prove itself in the marketplace, but it's by far the best idea i've come across in terms of having your personal data integrated across Net applications and platforms... and having that data secure. if, like Anna (yes, Xelopai) you're very concerned about privacy and security issues on the Net, XNS is most definitely worth trying. if it doesn't take off, that'll be a huge pity, imho. if it does... then YOU will have been involved in the cutting-edge of yet another breaking Internet wave. like you always have been, in AIC/TIC. :-)

last Friday, in a discussion on archiving our weblogs, i alluded to ATDP getting our own Manila server. currently, our weblogs are courtesy of the free accounts from EditThisPage. but as already discussed here, there are drawbacks to this setup (including more frequent slowdowns and outright blackouts at editthispage).

so, running our own server is a no-brainer, and that's exactly what's going to happen here. (anyone can actually get their own weblog server and run one from home--assuming you have a 24/7 DSL or cable connection, for instance. but the Manila webserver app (Userland Frontier) costs $899 a year for a single license. happily, educational institutions like the UC Berkeley ATDP can get it at a mere fraction of that -- $99, which is eminently affordable. thus, sometime before i leave for Maui, i'll be setting up a weblog server on one of my G4s here at ATDP, and you'll have the cool choice of migrating your weblog over to my server. the upside of doing so...?

• speed and reliability ... no slowdowns since ATDP will not be hosting thousands of weblogs. (of course, the system will be rebooted from time to time, but not anywhere near as frequently as editthispage seems to be doing nowadays.)
• more system-level customization ... you will have the ability to create directories and store files and docs as you see fit.
• bigger gems ... not entirely sure of this, but quite possibly. i.e., we'll be limited only by practical hard disk storage space (which for now is not an issue).
• you know the sysadmin ... ::ahem:: that's me. so, if you need super-user access to the weblog server for whatever reason, all you will need to provide is the appropriate bribe, and off you go. ;-)

migrating a weblog (with all past daily logs and entries, all uploaded pix and gems) is fairly easy, as i understand it. the functionality is already built into editthispage, and apparently all you have to do to download your site (to run off of another Manila server) is to append the string "/downloadMySite/MySite.root" to the end of your editthispage URL. full and easy instructions on this process can be found on this page. but don't do this just yet, if you're interested in having ATDP host your weblog... i still don't have the weblog server, and won't for a couple more weeks. i'll let you know when you can do so.

the only possible downside to having your weblog on ATDP is the URL. most likely it will be something like this -- http://atdpweb.soe.berkeley.edu/kasskat/ (which is longer than http://k.editthispage.com). but then, you can always use a free URL redirect service if you want a shorter and snappier URL. if anyone can think of other downsides to having your weblog served via ATDP, let me know and i'll list these here.

{ net.casting }
^