Category: Uncategorized

As predicted, adding new channel elements has proven easy. Adding new subelements to the item elements is only slightly more difficult and moving forward at good speed.

One more thing needs to be accomplished before returning to the automation of the Seven Gates newsletter, however:  a Grammar Captive podcast landing page — a place to go once the newsletter has been received and interested in the current week’s podcast has been generated.

I am building a funnel, but it is not out of the box.  It may succeed right away; it may require further adjustment.  Certainly it will not have been copied once complete.  In any case, it will be custom Grammar Captive.

Roddy

I was beginning to think that it would never happen, but yesterday evening, just before leaving the office, there it was — my first automatically created podcast feed.

Although there were only seven variables in my test feed, adding the rest should be a piece of cake in comparison.

After three different PHP libraries I finally discovered one that not only services ATOM, RFD, and RSS2 feeds, but one that is rock solid in design, very flexible in application, and actually works.

Best wishes to Anis Uddin Ahmad and Michael Bremmer for making FeedWriter what it is!

Roddy

Selection of the appropriate software for the creation of an automated RSS feed for Grammar Captive’s podcast series and Seven Gates — Grammar Captive’s weekly newsletter — has proven problematic.

Although an important lesson has been learned and much accomplished in regard to the manipulation of Grammar Captive’s database, the first selected piece of software has been abandoned and replaced.

This delay, although most unfortunate, will lead to greater and more reliable flexibility than was previously expected.  Grammar Captive continues to move ahead.

Roddy

The English language has become the world’s premier lingua franca. There are a variety of reasons for its dominance; foremost among these are political and economic.

During the course of World Wars I and II the British empire changed hands. Where before the British pound had reigned, today it is the US dollar. This was not the way intended by America’s founding fathers, and the world should be loathe to follow in America’s footsteps. For, as a nation the American people have abandoned the principles set forth by their founding fathers.

Look not to America for world leadership, look to its founding documents and the writings of those who founded America. For therein lies the notion of political and economic liberty and the essence of good government to the extent that any government cans be considered little more than the necessary evil understood by America’s founding fathers.

Happy July 4th!
Roddy

My very best to the Muslim world, especially my Arab friends.
May your holiday celebration bring you joy. And, may your family prosper.

That peace and free markets reign!

Roddy

The technical integration of Grammar Captive’s new introductory video has been realized and work on the automated generation of Grammar Captive’s RSS feed has begun.

In order to see the new video simply click on the “captive” on Grammar Captive’s landing page at www.grammarcaptive.com.  Many thanks to Richard Wu at Precarious Heights for his superb cinematic creation and promotional effort on behalf of Grammar Captive.

Roddy

Once the structure of a table is created the code necessary to fill the table with the form data must be written and tested. This task has now been completed. With one click the data from three distinct form fieldsets is loaded into three separate MySQL tables.

Next up is the creation of a corresponding automated podcast feed. Before the code for this task is initiated, however, Grammar Captive (GC)’s new introductory video will be integrated into the GC landing page. The code to achieve this integration is already underway!

Roddy

In order for Grammar Captive to succeed it must be easily accessible no matter one’s geographical location, technical preference, and interests. As RSS feeds are cross-platform XML data files that can satisfy many different hosts simultaneously, it is important that the data contained in each be accurate and consistent across episodes or editions.

As there are many popular sites, each with its own set of specifications, it is also important that each host receive data that is both accurate and timely. To these ends I have created an offline form that insures that the data received by Grammar Captive’s online database is both accurate and up-to-date. This form automatically tracks each episode by number, creates a security code (guid) for each podcast transmission, calculates the length of each podcast in milliseconds, and sets the date of each publication in the format required for an RSS feed. In addition, the form automatically captures the link of each newly created podcast and transforms it from a relative localized link to a public absolute link appropriate for RSS feed distribution. Further, data that does not change from podcast to podcast is automatically entered.  Also, empty boxes for special feed instructions are left open and easily filled. Finally, there is a built-in mechanism that prevents any data from being sent to the data base until all required data has been entered, and that informs the data entry person about what data is missing.

This was a major task including 45 separate XML data entries that should yield many future benefits.

Roddy

The MySQL tables required to handle the creation and distribution of Grammar Captive’s upcoming weekly podcast feeds have been created. These include one each for channel and item elements, as well as an additional table for the iTunes namespace.

Roddy

After wading through the subtleties of MySQL column definition and table creation the seven MySQL tables necessary to create, host, and distribute automatically the Seven Gates weekly newsletter have been completed.

Roddy