First Say Project Opens

FIRST SAY is a syndicated content aggregator that uses XML/RSS syndication feeds. FIRST SAY is web accessible, built upon the open source platforms of the POSTGRES database, Apache Web Server and PHP scripting. The MySQL database will also be supported by the project.

Begun October 2003, currently in its alpha phase - that reflects three months solid work on my part - this project was initially a joint project between myself and Phil Goldman - the founder of Web TV and alumni Macintosh engineer - who died tragically of a heart attack at age 39 on December 26, 2003.

We had always intended that the project should be open source and while none of the source we now have was in fact written by Phil, he was the initiator of the concept and had agreed to fund it. This is the project he was working on when he died and we had exchanged several emails about his related research just hours earlier.

The absense of his funding means that I have to change our plans but in honor of Phil and our work together over the years I donate the project to the Open Source community and will continue its development.

It was Phil's vision to build the technology that would enable the ultimate first page that people use in their web browser.

Designed primarily to make a first page presentation, FIRST SAY shows the most recently updated content from a collection of selected feeds in categories established by the user.

For example, FIRST SAY would be the first page that would load in the web browsers of enterprise team members showing the most recent Weblog content generated by other team members. Divided into twenty categories FIRST SAY can ensure that certain feeds have priority, thereby allowing content from team leaders or performance data to be at the fore.

In addition, FIRST SAY allows the easy management and navigation of multiple collections. For example, it allows executives to monitor activities in multiple divisions of the organization.

The principal objective of FIRST SAY is to place the most relevant and current data at the top of an information pile for each individual and category of user.