<img src="http://static.flickr.com/35/97329052_83e237710f_o.png" class="alignright" alt="So when creating blog posts, I’m constantly scrambling for some self-lovin’ link, something I actually wrote from awhile back, a link to a friend or two, or something that I read on the web, either recently or way back when. And there’s permutations there within, but what I’m talking about are linking to things from within and without the experience that makes up my life.
Write what you know, the saying goes.
Well, I tend to, except constantly typing in aye aych REF quote aych-tee-tee-pee-colon-backslash-backslash [link] gets really tiresome after awhile.
And filling out acronymns and abbreviations. Guh. I know what they are — calm-poo-tor, why don’t you fill in my lonely readers with what I’m brevifying?
So I had this idea for a feature a long time ago, except I envisioned it happening ipso post facto… once you were done writing the post, you’d run a little “linkification app” that would run through and fix your abbreviations, acronyms and even linkify words and phrases that you’d linked up before… So when I type Tantek, well, it knows that I’ve typed Tantek before and can add the link that I used back then, complete with XFN attributes and hell, even a title. Oh, and sure, turn it into an hCard while you’re at it.
But so here’s the brainstorm I had this morning (in the shower, where all my good ideas come from — don’t ask me why — but I really would love one of those scuba boards next time you want to buy me somefing nice). The idea is a small adjustment to this concept… Hey, if the browser is indexing everything I’m visiting, and we’re grabbing events and people data from microformats, why not autocomplete in real time — pulling in from my events, my locations, my friends and contacts — even from the photos that I’ve uploaded? If the the browser is your context for composing, it knows everything (well almost) that you’ve touched on the web — including comments you’ve left, photos you’ve uploaded, pages you’ve favorited it. Yeah, Matt could even do this with a Greasemonkey script for WordPress.com that autocompletes from your delicioius account.
Anyway, point being, I at least tend to write about my experience — and things that I come into contact with. Why can’t the browser (or whatever editor I’m using) make it easier for me to link to the things that I’m talking about so that other people have a richer understanding of what it is I’m usually rambling about?
Factory Joe 