RE: [syndication] Re: XML-RPC and the Need to Cash In

[Morbus Iff <morbus@disobey.com>]

>I've found one solution to this problem. Novobot keeps local cache of
>displayed headlines, and each channel has its own expiration day count,
>after which its headlines are deleted from the cache (usually it is a
>week or two). When a headline is displayed, it is added to the cache,
>and if the same headline appears again, it is not displayed any more. I
>don't know if this is a good approach, but it works quite well.

My problem with that [1] is that we're assuming too much about user 
activity. I know a book writer who loads up AmphetaDesk in the morning, and 
then goes about his morning routine. He may not actually view the headlines 
in AmphetaDesk until six that night.

If AmphetaDesk says "well, hey, he loaded me, therefore he read me", and 
deletes the item from view, then that person will no longer be able to see 
the item, even though he never saw it in the first place.

The same holds true for the daily expiration - if someone loads AmphetaDesk 
on Monday, gets sidetracked and doesn't load it again until Friday, they're 
going to be missing the Monday news.

[1] Note, this is by far, not all I have to say on the topic. I have a 
zillion other emails to answer, but wanted to quickly chime in.

--
Morbus Iff ( i am your scary godmother )
http://www.disobey.com/ && http://www.gamegrene.com/
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