Matt Croydon::Postneo

Day: July 17, 2005

  • Django: Python on Rails?

    Let the buzz over Django begin. I first saw it fly by very early this morning as Clint Ecker pointed to some documentation. Simon Willison has given it a proper introduction this morning.

    I definitely need to take a close look at Django if it can approach the productivity of Rails while speaking my native Python. I could be missing something, but I think one very important thing that Django needs in order to have that running start in development productivity is to ship with a small HTTP server available by default. Rails uses WEBrick for this and allows development without the need to mess with Apache or lighttpd in order to start coding. It should be trivial to add similar functionality to Django (with CGIHTTPServer and all).

    I don’t mean to rag on the new framework on the block. I think Django has a ton of potential. It’s off to the right start, having been extracted from a working environment being worked on by some really smart people.

    We’ll see how this turns out, but I’m extremely excited.

  • XM Radio: The Tipping Point?

    XM LogoWhile walking around the electronics section at Target last weekend, I began to wonder if XM Radio had reached the tipping point, and I”m beginning to think that the answer is “yes.”

    XM claims to have over 4 million subcribers, vs. Sirius‘ 1.4 million. It remains the horse to beat, something that I’ve felt since the two satellite radio services launched.

    Why do I think that XM is reaching the tipping point? Many reasons actually, but I think it all hit me in the electronics aisle of Target. First off, they’ve been playing a heck of a lot of Live 8 content on some of their channels, which is cool.

    The second part hit me when I actually used an XM device for a bit a few weeks ago. It’s actually my parents equipment in my old bedroom at their place. Yep, my parents have XM, not me. XM has an amazing range of content. There’s stuff that my dad loves, and stuff that I really like too. Two of my favorite channels so far are XM Cafe and The Loft. In addition to a station playing Live 8 stuff I found myself flipping between these two channels because they offered that sort of eclectic mix that I can never seem to get enough of.

    Everything came together when I saw the XM receiver kit that my mom had bought my father on the shelf at Target for $50. Holy crap, that’s cheap. XM is also sneaking its way in to car CD players, new cars, boomboxes, and home stereo systems. It’s really starting to pop up everywhere. I also love the idea of the XM2Go portable receiver which is bigger than an iPod but smaller than a CD player, goes with you everywhere, and lets you record up to 5 hours of content.

    Call me slow, but I think XM is at its tipping point (if it’s not well past it and I just didn’t get the memo) and it’s smooth sailing from here. Heck, for the monthly subscription fee you can also listen to some of their channels online.