Does Automattic have a penchant for strange decisions?
14th June 2007
WordPress.com has retired its Feed Stats feature. While there might have been problems with it for some, I do find it a strange decision not to spend some time on it. After all, given the existence of Google Reader and its kind, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that more people read blogs with RSS readers than by going to the sites themselves. In fact, I peruse blogs more often with Google Reader than by visiting the websites themselves. It's enough to make me wonder if I could use Feedburner with this blog.
To follow on from this, I am beginning to wonder if that Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com, seems to be a quirky company that makes decisions that are questioned by its customers. After all, they did remove the post preview functionality from blog post editing screens, and that has generated numerous comments. On self-hosted WordPress, you can add a plug-in to correct this, but that option is not open to WordPress.com users. The answer that I got to a theme change request earlier this year adds to the impression, as does seeing a company having staff apparently work from home all over the world.
Automattic seems an unconventional beast alright; could that lead to their undoing? Though it is king of the hill with blogging world for now, there is nothing to say that will last forever.
Could the Ricoh Caplio GX100 be my backup digital camera?
14th June 2007
Because my digital SLR has needed to be sent away for cleaning for a while now (meanwhile, I have got handy at using Photoshop Elements to clean up pictures...), I have been on the lookout for a backup camera so that I can add photos to any trip reports on my hillwalking blog without having to wait for film to be processed.
Previously, my eye was on Ricoh's GR Digital, but the same manufacturer has now introduced the award-winning Caplio GX100. The zoom range is a very useful 24-72 mm in 35 mm film terms, and that removable electronic viewfinder looks very neat. Having a 10 megapixel sensor adds to the appeal and advanced exposure modes like manual and aperture priority.
The feature list has almost ensured its ousting of the GR Digital from any wish list that I might have; the only thing outstanding is seeing how it performs in a photography magazine's full test review. A thumbs up from there might even get me onto the acquisition trail...