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OpenID 2.0 spec released

Portland-based JainRain has announced that the OpenID Authentication 2.0 Draft 12 is now available.

What’s this mean to you?

In the next month, we’d like to see implementers update their libraries or applications to be draft 12 compliant and perform interoperability testing. Once this period is over (October 1st), we should call the specification final, pending final IPR clearance from contributors. If we have IPR clearance by that point, we can call the spec final on October 1st.

Interested in participating? Have questions? Check out the OpenID channel on Pibb.

Making PHP act like Rails

The Portland PHP users group, pdxphp, has scheduled its next meeting for September 11 at CubeSpace. The topic? Implementing Rails concepts with PHP.

The meeting begins at 6:30.

The Portland PHP Users Group is a community forum for people to share, meet and learn about PHP and Open Source technologies. The group strives to be a valuable resource for anyone interested in PHP regardless of their skill level or background. Through sharing and communication we believe we can foster a creative and successful community of PHP developers.

For more information, stay tuned to the pdxphp site.

Sneak peek: Jive Clearspace

We’ve got another swanky get together for you to add to your social calendar. We know people. What can we say?

Jive Software has plans to launch a new version of its Clearspace product. And, you’re invited to get an early glimpse of it.

Plus, free food and drinks. Oh, and the option to blog about the new features two days prior to the official release.

Jive is releasing a new version of Clearspace with what we think are some really cool improvements on Thursday, September 13th. We thought it might be fun to invite the Portland blogging, podcasting, and influencer community in for a sneak peak. Everyone is welcome to attend!

For more information, see the Upcoming page for the event or the Fast Wonder blog.

Josh Bancroft: Domain names free to a good home

Josh Bancroft, an admitted domain-name-aholic and well known Portland-area blogger, is offering a few of his registered domains to good homes. All it takes is a good idea:

That’s where you come in. If you’re interested in one of the domains below, and have a good idea for something to do with it (basically, NO SPAMMERS!), post a comment telling me which one you want, and what you’d like to do with it, and it’s yours. If multiple people are interested in the same name, then I’ll decide which idea I like best. Oh, and I can be persuaded with cool gadgets or cash, if you’re so inclined.

Interested in seeing what’s available or maybe trying to adopt one of these domains? Visit Josh Bancroft’s Tiny Screenfuls blog.

Attensa and Kapow co-host Webinar on RSS and Web 2.0 apps

Portland-based Attensa and Bay-area Kapow Technologies will be co-hosting a Webinar on September 6, Attensa’s blog announced today. And it will be bright and early for you late-night coder types:

On September 6th at 8:30 am PDT see Kapow’s Mashup Server and the Attensa Feed Server in action and join the conversation between Stefan Andreasen, Kapow’s CTO and Charlie Davidson, Attensa’s CEO as they discuss and demonstrate the ability to create feeds from any web based source using the Kapow Mashup Server and channel role based feeds to specific users and groups across the enterprise with the Attensa Feed Server.

This is part of Kapow’s Mashup series. You can register to attend the event on Kapow’s site.

By intelligently analyzing information about RSS articles and how readers are interacting with the articles, the Attensa RSS network can deliver more relevant, timely information individuals on the devices they choose and businesses can take advantage of RSS technology to streamline communication with employees, partners and customers.

For more information, visit the Attensa site.

[NOTE: In related news, former Portland-area exec John Cimral has recently been named CEO of Kapow.]

Northwest Innovation interviews YourList CEO

YourList, a recently launched classified service headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, is the latest offering to take on mainstream media classified ads. Oh, and a little Web site called craigslist.

Charlie Parks, CEO of YourList, recently sat down with Northwest Innovation for an interview, discussing YourList and its place in the crowded classified ad market:

[Charlie Parks:] No question that the online classifieds space is crowded right now. A lot of companies are trying to offer a different take on the established Web sites. There is a lot attention on the industry and new sites keep coming out with different business models as they compete for market share. We’ve spent the last couple of years studying the sector and believe there is a lot more room for growth –if you pay attention to the needs of the online consumer.

To read the full interview, visit Northwest Innovation.

WordPress plugin: AJAX Search

Portland-based developer Matt King has released an AJAX search plugin for WordPress. It is currently available for download from his site.

Matt describes the inspiration for the WordPress AJAX plugin on his blog:

I use the Spotlight feature in OS X an awful lot. While some people would rather use things like Quicksilver, I like just hitting command+space and typing in what I’m looking for, be it a document or even an application I want to open.

That’s the inspiration for AJAX.search, a search system built on Prototype’s AJAX framework. It will make a call to a URL you specify and display the results under your search box like Spotlight (and now, like the search at Apple.com). From there you can hit the up or down arrow keys to select a result and then hit the enter key to visit the link.

For more information on the plugin, to see the search in action, or to download it for your WordPress blog, visit Matt King’s blog.

Buy Local: OpenID support

Are you the developer of a Web app? Do your users have to login?

Well then why in the heck aren’t you supporting OpenID yet?

What’s OpenID, you say?

OpenID means the elimination of multiple user names and passwords and a smoother, more secure, online experience. For businesses, this means a lower cost of password or account management, the opportunity for easier and higher numbers of new user registrations and the elimination of missed transactions because of user frustration with lost and forgotten passwords. OpenID allows for innovation in the authentication space beyond just using a password to “unlock” your OpenID identity, but the ability to strongly protect your OpenID and have that benefit move with you everywhere you go online.

And recent news from Portland-based OpenID-proponents JanRain indicates that the OpenID ecosystem continues to grow. But it’s not so big that it can’t use a few thousand more sites supporting the cause.

Over 1,000 website operators have not only lowered the bar for entry to their site by implementing OpenID support but have also taken the extra step and made it easy for new comers to get an OpenID from MyOpenID.com by becoming an affiliate. The more people who get an OpenID the more the OpenID ecosystem grows and everyone benefits, not just the individual website operator who sees an increase in sign ups, but all other affiliates and OpenID supporters get to ride the tide as well.

And, just to put my money where my mouth is, you can now comment on Silicon Florist by using your OpenID URI.

If you’re looking for an OpenID to use on Silicon Florist or any other of the OpenID-enabled sites, you might want to look at JanRain’s myopenid.com.

For more information on OpenID, see the JanRain post or visit the OpenID site.

Gigs: FINE is hiring

San-Francisco-based FINE is a high-end studio focused on the marriage of form and function. The company approaches every project with a fresh perspective and open minds, and strive to determine the most appropriate solution for the task at hand. They believe subtleties in design and behaviors make an important difference.

Think you’re subtle? There may be a gig for you—in Portland.

That’s right. They also have a Portland office.

FINE Design Group’s looking for developers with advanced skills in HTML and CSS layout, able to work with variety of web technologies: PHP, JavaScript and maybe even a little JSP.

I’d love to provide a direct link to the gig descriptions, but the entire site is Flash. So, I can’t.

Please visit FINE Design Group or email josh@finedesigngroup.com.

(Hat tip Portland Web Innovators)

Jive Software releases Clearspace 1.5

News keeps rolling out of Portland-based Jive Software, this week. More money. More customers. And now, more, um, well, more recent software, with the release of Clearspace 1.5.

The change log for Clearspace 1.5 reveals at least four new features and more than 40 bug fixes.

Clearspace is enterprise software built from the ground up for teams, companies and communities looking for an easy and productive way to work with each other without time or location limitations. Eliminate redundant conversations, meetings, emails and ideas by opening doors to new co-workers, partners and customers.

For more information on Clearspace and Jive Software, visit the Jive site.