The right message.
Today was a lesson in getting the right message out. I learned (somewhat late in the day) that FeedTree was quietly discovered yesterday and quickly spread around (including quite a few del.icio.us links).
The problem is, when Kevin Burton (Rojo developer and influential syndication blogger) mentioned it, he immediately dismissed it, saying there’s no way to trust the data you receive; he based this statement on a skim of the paper, missing the portions describing the security mechanisms in place in FeedTree to deal with this. He went back later and amended his original post with the correction, but not before that first reaction had been carbon copied around the Internet.
I’ve moved some of the security language front and center on the main website and the wiki, so hopefully there’s more clarity around this point going forward.
Update: Dr. Wallach rephrased this as a much more succinct (if a bit hackneyed) aphorism: “First impressions are key.”
Update 2 (10/7): Kevin wrote again to clarify his stance. No worries, Kevin—I think we’re all straightened out now.