The archive.org puzzle appears to have been solved. There are at least two URLs you can use to access the RSS 2.0 spec on the Harvard website. When I looked up the one with the apparent problem, it was one they only started tracking in 2016? I don’t know. Kye Fox on Bluesky found an archive of the spec that is available on archive.org starting on July 22, 2003. Here’s the archive for this blog for July 2003 (the actual page, not on archive.org). This is the URL we were using at that time. It hadn’t been moved to cyber.law.harvard.edu yet. So we have found a snapshot of the spec from 2003. And it was my mistake, not archive.org’s. The statement that it had been at the same address for all 20+ years was not true. I am sorry for my mistake, and thanks to archive.org for doing such a good job of maintaining the record of this document and all the rest that they do. 😄#
22 Nov
Scripting News Annex 
Posted by elle on November 22, 2006 at 9:34 am
Dave
You’re right about Mike Arrington on this one. This doesn’t help the credibility of Arrington, Denton or Calacanis.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on the fact that this was the top story on TechMeme this morning. As more and more bloggers comment on stories they see in TechMeme, the “news” that rises to the top increasingly tends to be these sort of gossipy discussions between polarizing bloggers.
Posted by amyloo on November 22, 2006 at 10:00 am
This must be a sign I’m supposed to put The Wire in my queue. I read your review, then get in the car and what’s the first thing I hear but Terri Gross interviewing Ed Burns on Fresh Air today. I often like the same entertainment you like, Dave, though I can’t make myself get into Deadwood. I think I’ll put that in my story.
Posted by pete on November 22, 2006 at 10:04 am
Posted by Jason J. Thomas on November 22, 2006 at 10:20 am
I have to admit that I thought Season 3 to be one of the slowest, but I think a combination of factors contributed to that. Burns and Simon made a conscious decision to turn their attention to the political side of the story they are telling. They also show the politics seeping into both sides of the story–the police and the drug-dealers. You get to see Marlo consolidate and rise to the top of the Baltimore drug trade, and you see how truly screwed the system is considering the political nature of the beast.
As someone who lives in Baltimore–and one who was born here–there is an element of truth here. Moreso given Burns, Simon, and other advisers connections to the Baltimore PD. This season is tough, since you see promise in what Bunny Colvin does in Hamsterdam, only to see it dashed for political expediency.
Season 4 tackles the problem at the root level, and from what I have heard Season 5 will look more at the socio-economic roots of the inner-city ills.
Sure, it may not cast my hometown in a great light, but it is damn good story-telling.
Posted by Michael Markman on November 22, 2006 at 10:23 am
If it weren’t for my DVR, and it’s instant replay feature, I would never have made it through the first two seasons of The Wire. It’s the densest TV I’ve ever seen. It’s not only fast, but is filled with slang, cant, and impenetrible accents. There were some bits I had to play three or four times before I got it. Sometimes, I even had to turn on closed captions.
I’ll bet the network considered this a two-edged sword. “Could you possibly make the show a little more accessible to viewers?” “Do you have to make your audience work so hard to keep up?”
James Thurber once wrote an essay on radio soap operas that examined how they were deliberately written for listeners who weren’t paying close attention or who might miss episodes. The radio soap (and the TV versions that followed) were background chatter for people doing housework. Endless conversations in which characters explained the plot to each other. You could miss weeks at a time and catch up.
The first two seasons of the Wire is the polar opposite. You can’t miss a nanosecond.
Posted by Michael Markman on November 22, 2006 at 10:24 am
sorry about the apostrophe. (Dave… can you provide a preview feature or an edit feature for comments?)
Posted by Larry Bouchie on November 22, 2006 at 10:44 am
Dave — wonder if you’re surfing too quickly. The “Nail Michel” blog post you link to is actually taken from Scoble’s post.
Posted by Brian Sullivan on November 22, 2006 at 11:31 am
I am confused — the post that you refer to as from “Nail(sic?) Michel” is a quote from Scoble isn’t it?
Why didn’t you just read/point to Scoble?
Or is this an oblique joke?
Posted by Jonathan Boutelle on November 22, 2006 at 11:56 am
If you just started season 4 – don’t give up on it. I, too, was disappointed in the way season 3 got kinda loose and that bled into season 4, but the last couple of episodes have been much better (once they got past the primaries and really started focusing in on the kids).
To clarify another posters comment about season 5 (which will be the last season) – it is my understanding that S5 will be focusing in on the media’s role in the whole mess of politics, crime, poverty, and drugs.
That said, even the worst episodes are better than anything else on television. The Wire is the perfect blend of social commentary, story telling, and outstanding acting. My only disappointment is that not enough people watch it. If they did, then maybe we could eliminate some of the absolute crap that is on TV and replace it with quality content (Wife Swap – I am talking to you).
Posted by Alexis Sarthou on November 22, 2006 at 2:31 pm
i couldn’t agree with you more about ‘the wire’…both about the first two seasons being the best television maybe of all time, and the somewhat let down in season three…
however, so far, season four has risen to the standard set by the first two seasons, and might be the most heartbreaking of them all…the kids storyline is incredible…and i have a feeling that the end of this season will not be ‘hollywoodized’, nor happy, nor expected…
“All in the game yo, all in the game.” – Omar
Posted by David Jacobs on November 22, 2006 at 3:09 pm
This is going to sound painful, but now you have to watch the Wire again. On the second watching, the third season stands tall. The fourth season is still marinating.
Posted by amyloo on November 22, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Here is a link to the NPR interview I mentioned
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6524743
Posted by Kosso on November 22, 2006 at 6:01 pm
I did the same with the LOVE album today, as it happens. I quite like it. But not all of what they have done to the originals that I grew up listening to, once I had worked out what the wooden thing in the corner with all the black circles did. 😉
Oddly enough, I have been listening to alot of The Who recently too, after watching a great rockumentary on them on BBC4, which rekindled a desire to hear it all again.
Posted by Kosso on November 22, 2006 at 6:04 pm
And fwiw, I’m diggin Lost and Prison Break from this side of the net too 😉
Posted by Daniel Morris on November 22, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Love The Wire too. Snoop doesn’t use the nail gun as a murder weapon. He uses it to nail shut abandoned houses where he and Chris leave each of their murder victims marinating in lime.
Posted by Jonathan Boutelle on November 24, 2006 at 1:30 am
Is there another jonathan boutelle besides me? Or is someone taking my name in vain? ;->
Posted by petercook on November 24, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Now that you have surround speakers I hope you ordered the 2 disc version of Love. You can pop in the DVD and listen to the Beatles in surround. It’s great for revealing things you may not have noticed before and in some cases much more emotionally involving.