Hot RSS [dive into mark]: Mark Pilgrim has a pretty funny post where he subtly and effectively slams CNet for creating a new RSS format, incompatible with any current newsreader.
OK, now we’re grooving. <product> instead of <item>, <producturl> instead of <link>, <summary> instead of <description>. Praise Murphy, and pass the ammunition! But wait, there’s more: don’t forget <prodlink>, nestled in there with its inline (and unescaped) HTML content. Gonna need quite an ultraliberal parser to pick up on that one, eh? Don’t worry, I got you covered there. More on that in a minute.
Also, my eagle eyes have spotted another important incompatibility: <date> instead of <pubDate>, and this time it’s in D/M/Y format instead of Y/M/D. No, wait, that’s M/D/Y format. Confusing? Maybe. But hey, this is Hot RSS. Doesn’t it deserve its own date format… again?
I enjoyed that post as well, though I read later - think on Scripting News that it was in fact an error and actually CNets' internal CMS.
