I’ve made some good progress so far on the technology side of the blog.

• Fixed a problem with this theme that caused it to fail at very high resolutions.
• Implemented FeedWordPress syndication which allows me to syndicate content selectively based on author or post tag. This will be used in a super secret skunk works project known only by its proposed URL: genderista.org. :-P
• Implemented the Twitter Tools plug-in so that a daily digest of my tweets will get posted which makes tweeting cooler. It also will send out a tweet every time you post a blog entry. How cool!
• Implemented WordPress Mobile Edition which strips rich formatting from the blog so it displays nicely on mobile displays.
• Implemented Akismet filtering to eliminate comment spam

There’s still a bunch to do though:

• Post pictures from mobile phone to blog
• Integrate with del.icio.us
• Integrate with feedburner
• Investigate integrating with facebook
• Add XFN and additional links back to the footer
• Integrate with BlogHUD in Second Life
• SMS me whenever a comment is posted
• Setup special mobile phone email account
• Integrate AdSense just because
• Enable post via email
• Two-way comment notification
• Embed a chat client
• Link to my public google calendar, resume, picasaweb albums, etc…
• ACTUALLY POST NEW BLOG ENTRIES! :-)

Lots to do but lots of fun! :-) I am SUCH a GEEK!

There are actually two parts to this story. If you are simply interested in “music discovery” Mercora’s Radio 2.0 web-site is the place to go. Once there you can search for music by artist, genre, or DJ and legally listen to digital quality streams for free. There’s a surprising amount of good music there so it’s well worth a visit. What’s more, to listen to music in your browser there is no need to download any plugins, extensions, or other client software. Using the power of so-called web 2.0 technologies (thus the 2.0 moniker) Mercora’s broadcasts are streamed to your IE or Firefox browser (shame on you if you still use IE, by the way) without the need for additional software.

If, however, you are interested in exploring your “inner DJ” head on over to Mercora’s web-site and download their IMRadio client. Once installed you can legally share your music with listeners worldwide free of charge. That’s a pretty neat trick given the RIAA’s history of antipathy toward traditional p2p music sharing. Before I explain how Mercora manages to pull this off first allow me to direct your attention to my personal Mercora web-page. From this page you can click the listen button (located just under my handsome countenance) to hear the music that I’m listening to right now. Pretty cool eh? WARNING: I hope you have an eclectic taste for music!

You’ll also notice I’ve added a “Jani’s Playlist” option on the navigation strip on the right hand side of this page. If you’ve got the mercora client installed you can click here to listen to my webcast. If not, you’ll be prompted to install the client software. Too bad listening to broadcasts via a blog or homepage isn’t as seemless an experience for the listener as it is when listening via the Radio 2.0 web-site.

So how does Mercora perform the fancy footwork necessary to liberate users to share their music over the Internet free of charge? Well, because the music you listen to on Mercora is broadcast rather than downloaded as per the old Napster model and also because Mercora pays the fees associated with each broadcast. Very nice of them although I suspect they make a bit of money from banner ads and will likely ad the option to purchase music in the future. Just a hunch…

As cool as Mercora is it’s not without it’s problems. Mercora Radio 2.0 is officially “alpha” quality software so, as they say, buyer beware. Also, it’s frustrating that there is little in the way of documentation to explain to DJ wannabee how to set up her broadcast. Your best bet at this point is to choose the “My Groups” option within the IMRadio client and select the “MERCORA” group. This will reveal an online forum where you can ask questions and read previously posted answers. This is a useful tool but its marred by the lack of a search feature. As you can see, although the system technically works the Mercora developers have a bit more work to do before its ready for prime time.

That said, if you’ve struggled with setting up an icecast or shoutcast server, cringed at the thought of paying a third-party service for the right to share your music with others, or are tired of taking your chances with the RIAA’s lawyers Mercora is definitely worth the effort.