revjim.net

March 13th, 2008:

bags and the end of the world

An email I received today from an old friend:

I do believe if you ever find the “perfect” bag the world will end.

I think she may be on to something there. Those of you who haven’t atoned for all of your sins… you may want to pay attention to my bag updates. I’m just saying.

Disqus and OpenID

Disqus announced the addition of OpenID support yesterday. YAY!

But they get it all wrong. BOO!

They have implemented OpenID through the use of another site, ClickPass. This is where the problem lies. Instead of implementing OpenID themselves and allowing additional functionality through ClickPass, ClickPass has basically become a required stop in the chain of event required to use OpenID.

With there current system, using OpenID works something like this:

0) Write my comment and then realize I can “login” so then erase my comment (this assumes a user even recognizes that “login” applies to them. Otherwise, OpenID is never even considered)
1) Click “login”
2) Click on hard to see “Open ID” icon that doesn’t even look clickable
3) Fill out URL
4) Press submit
5) read note about Clickpass
6) Press submit again
7) Verify OpenID Identity
8) Tell Disqus I don’t have an account yet
9) Confirm my information
10) Press Submit
11) Write my comment
12) Press Submit

The “OpenID” bit should be automatic based on the “website” or “URL” field. The OpenID logo should be displayed next to it to show that it is enabled there. Having to press “login” is not intuitive since commenters don’t know that they have an account to “login” to. If the URL box is filled in when the user submits the comment, Disqus should then do some magic to see if the URL is OpenID capable, and, if so, log the user in and work whatever magic they want to at that point. The comment should be saved immediately if the URL is not OpenID capable, and should be saved as soon as the OpenID is authenticated if it is OpenID capable. This way, all steps after authentication are optional. With this in place, the new path is:

1) Write my comment
2) Fill out URL field
3) Press submit
4) Verify OpenID Identity
5) OPTIONAL stuff that is not required like Clickpass, Disqus account, picture upload, blah, blah

I hope they fix this soon because, with the way it is now, it may as well not be a feature.

backpack Frenzy!

I leave for Palo Duro tomorrow and, in true form (due to far too many circumstances to enumerate here), I’m scrambling at the last minute thinking about — of course — BAGS.

My last hiking backpack, of fairly decent design, lost one of its belt clips in a freak car door accident about 6 months ago. Since then, I’ve used a hodgepodge of older bags that really never quite worked to my liking and would be utterly unsuitable for this weekend. So, I search.

At REI yesterday I hastily bought a bag that, now that I consider it fully, may not have been the best choice for me. It has lots of pockets and will carry a lot of cargo, but, for the price, I could probably find something with two D-Rings on the shoulder straps to help carry my camera.

I also just realized this morning that I can probably just replace the missing belt clip. I guess that was just too simple to consider the first time around. So, I’ll have to dig out that old bag and see if it’ll work if it actually had both of its clips.

I’m also trying to find something that will slide on to a strap and provide a hook/eyelet. This will allow me to clip on smaller bags (for lenses, etc) on to the belt itself without too much trouble and still be able to unclip them and pack them away if the climb gets rough.

I’m, telling you all of this now mostly because I’m very hopped up on Coffee and am actually considering brewing another pot.