Blog Posts About: Technology in Plain English

I'm always on the lookout for useful ways to describe what is happening on the web from a macro perspective. Just recently I found one courtesy of my friend and neighbor Josh Petersen of the Robot Coop. He was quoted in the book Wikinomics:

He likens developments in the new Web to the early history of cinema "There was a period of time where cinema was a very technical art. You practically had to be an engineer just to run a camera." As the art form evolved, directors stepped up to become storytellers who were less and less preoccupied with cinematic engineering and more concerned with craft rich and engaging experiences. "I think something like that is happening on the web today," says Petersen.

For someone who works in the online community world and does not have a technical background, his point hits home in a big way. Recently I was in Vancouver and shared this point with Darren Barefoot who later made the point that the same was true for artists - in the early days artists needed a technical knowledge of chemistry in order to manage the paints and colors.

What all this boils down to is an evolution brought on through the lowering of technical barriers. Technology is absolutely necessary, but becomes immensely more powerful when combined with other skills like visual design, collaboration, storytelling, narrative, discussion, media, etc.

This also reminds me of riding in a car with JF Groff, the CTO of NetVibes and asking him about Web 2.0. He doesn't like the term - he refers "Web Renaissance".

From my perspective, the magic of Web 2.0 is made possible by technology, but is based in new opportunities for less technical people to step into the fray and have a profound impact on what we think the Web is really about. Call it Web 2.0, but maybe it is a Web Renaissance where the Internet is being reborn in a form that is open for everyone.

If I could see two things about you, I bet I could make a pretty accurate decision about how much we have in common overall.

Consider a grocery list and a music collection. If I could see those two things about you and see that we are similar in those two ways, I’d bet we’d find a host of other consistencies. I would probably like your blog.

Isn’t this what social networking is all about? When we form personal/professional networks, join groups, share lists and display them on our pages, isn’t it the same thing as sharing a grocery list? Aren’t we exposing things about us that enable other members to have the context they need to join our network or build a relationship?

To me, this frames what is missing from many “traditional�? online communities. In most message board-based communities, members are limited by a reliance on discussions. The discussion is one of the only ways for members to build an identity -- which can be a starting point for new relationships. Lurkers have limited ways of building new relationships in the community and that’s a shame.

If you’re looking for new ways to bring community members together, think about the grocery lists- what can you let members share about themselves (publicly) that enables them to build identity outside of discussions? How can you help match people based on what they share?

You might find that tofu-eating AC/DC fans are your biggest, but least vocal, constituency.

A similar article: Comparing Social Networking to Online Communities

Last night we had dinner with an interesting guy named John Rodsett who is a movie producer and a former professor of Sachi’s. Among other things, we talked about our mutual love of TiVo and I spent a little time talking about RSS. During the conversation it occurred to me how much TiVo and RSS (including RSS aggregators) are similar. Some notes:

• TiVo makes TV watching easier and more manageable
• RSS makes web reading easier and more manageable
• TiVo helps you focus on shows that interest you most
• RSS helps you focus on web sites that interest you most
• TiVo is focused on what's going to appear in the future
• RSS is focused in what's going to appear in the future
• TiVo helps you skip commercials
• RSS helps you skip commercials
• TiVo works on a subscription model
• RSS works on a subscription model
• TiVo is on-demand
• RSS is on-demand
• TiVo enables you to save a personal list shows you can’t watch for a while
• RSS enables you to save a personal list of web articles you can’t read for a while
• TiVo has throngs of enthusiastic customers
• RSS has throngs of enthusiastic users
• TiVo is disrupting the TV advertising industry
• RSS is disrupting the web advertising industry
• TiVo turns TV from a flow to a stock
• RSS turns the web from a stock to a flow
• TiVo acts as a personal filter for content
• RSS acts as a personal filter for content

There are also a couple of things that TiVo does that RSS aggregators don't, but I wish they did.

• TiVo knows what I like and suggests/records new things automatically
• TiVo gets rid of the old stuff I didn’t watch, but warns me first

Here we are at the Web 2.0 Virtual Games and next up we have a fight to the death between the veteran collaboration tool, Mean Mr. Message Board and the upstart Bad Bad, Leroy Blog. This will be one for the record books folks…

Before the action, let’s take a look at how these contenders got to this point…

Mean Mr. Message Board has been around the block more than a few times. He traces his lineage to the very beginning of the virtual world, where he first enabled virtual collaboration. This experience has made him a standard, with a very wide fan base. Some say he’s outmoded and commoditized to the point that he’s not effective. To get here, he battled Wild Wacky Wiki and Long John Listserv.

Bad Bad Leroy blog is hot-hot-hot these days with rapidly growing fan base. A relative rookie, the Leroy blog brings with him young talent and a deep selection of tools in his corner. Some say Leroy blog is overrated and we’ll see his bubble burst soon. To get here, he went head-to-head with Evil Email Newsletter and the formidable Dirty, Dirty Diary. This will be a test for the upstart.

Here we go… DING DING

Message board is clearly trying to dominate early by intimidating Leroy blog with his throngs of dedicated users. Group voice is his real advantage- you never know when a member is going to come in with a powerful blow. With so many authors, the Message Board corner is wide with experience.

In talking to Leroy blog before the match, he sees the broad experience of the Message Board as a weakness he can exploit. We’re seeing that strategy come to life now as Leroy puts a laser like focus on his ability to look deeply into a single person’s world. He’s betting that his power lies in the ability to have access to the inner thoughts of individuals.

Mean Mr. Message Board is looking strong in the early rounds. Before the match, he was convinced that the Leroy Blog’s biggest weakness is a reliance on one person. He stated “Give me a break, you can’t even have a discussion with the blog, how can anyone learn? Comments are silly and superfluous�?. He’s pulling out the big guns now and showing the blog what a threaded discussion looks like.

Oh man! The point counter-point structure of the message board has the blog looking weak. It’s looking bad for Leroy Blog; the message board’s ability to bring out group knowledge is looking insurmountable.

What’s this? Leroy Blog seems to have a second wind! We might be seeing something here…

In these late rounds, Leroy blog is showing new strength. Can you see that look in his eye? He is focused like I’ve never seen before. You can see that he’s relying on his ability to dig deep, focus and really take control of the match.

Did you see who was in his corner between rounds? I saw RSS, Technorati, PubSub, Feedster, Blogpulse and other blogs all helping him rally. I really think this is going to get tough for Mean Mr. message Board.

I was right, Message Board is looking a little confused. Because he relies on a group for direction, he’s losing focus. The message board is becoming a little scattered. He can’t seem to focus on the match because the users all have a say and they are sending conflicting messages. He really needs focus here.

Bad Bad Leroy Blog is getting power from somewhere- this is quite a comeback. He has really taken control. I just received word from the Leroy’s corner that he’s about to drop a bomb that will finish off the message board, this will be interesting…

Oh uh, Leroy has Mr. Message Board on the ropes, this doesn’t look good. He’s really wailing on him with a combination of his focus and some thing new. Unexpectedly, it’s something simple but powerful- he’s relying on simple hyperlinks from other blogs. Is this his secret weapon?

Wow, these links ARE the secret weapon. They are enabling Leroy Blog to draw power from other blogs and making it possible to have conversations in new ways. The message board’s conversations are suddenly looking a little limited. It’s like the message board conversations can’t get visibility or power on an Internet-wide scale.

OK, here we are in the final round and the Bad, Bad Leroy Blog is looking tougher than ever. Mean Mr. Message Board has come out swinging, but it’s the same strategy he’s had all night- reliance on a group. Meanwhile it looks like Leroy blog is about to…

Wait- what’s this? It’s over! It’s OVER! Bad Bad Leroy Blog has defeated Mean Mr. Message Board in the final round.

In the post-fight interview, here is what LeRoy Blog had to say:

He’s a tough competitor and I have a ton of respect for Mr. Message Board. He has a lot going for him and he’ll always be around, especially supporting customers. He taught me a lot of what I know. When it really came down to it though, it was a combination of things that helped me win.

First, it was the ability to focus and control the events. Then, it was open orientation and links to other blogs that helped me gain power in the late rounds. Mr. Message Board has a great set of users, but it’s a closed resource. I was able to draw power from the whole blog world; from people I don’t know even. I really want to thank the tools in my corner for making that power a reality. Big-ups to all the other blogs and blog tools out there. This one is for you!

It took me a while to get into del.icio.us. My initial impression was that the interface is not ready for prime time and seems too geeky. That impression stands, but has been surmounted by experiencing del.icio.us's sheer usefulness and simplicity.

What I’m describing today is a way to bookmark a web site using Del.icio.us and have that bookmark (along with others from that day) automatically show up on your Movable Type blog, once every 24 hours. The blog posts looks like this.

I figured out how to do this by stumbling through and I hope this post will keep others from spending too much time on it.

• First, you need a del.icio.us account. You can do that here.
• Second, to benefit from these directions, you need to have a Movable Type blog. My version is 2.65.

With these things in place, you can get started.

Step 1: We're going to get your browser set up for quick bookmarking. (If you use a bookmarklet to post to del.icio.us, move on to Step 2)

You should see a part of your web browser that is called “links�? or “bookmarks�?. In most cases, you should be able to drag a hyperlink (sometimes called a "bookmarklet") into the “links�? section, where it becomes a persistent part of the browser.

Once you've found the Links area, log into del.icio.us, go to the "post" page, where you'll find the link that says “post to del.icio.us�?. Drag that link into the Links part of your browser. new and improved links are here.

Once you have the link in your browser, you have an easy way to bookmark web sites - and you’re done with step one.

Step 2: Set up the Daily Links. Be logged into del.icio.us and click on => Settings => Daily Blog Posting. This will take you to a page with a table and link to “Add a New Thingy�?. Click the link and you’ll see this:

I know – it's wicked geeky and has no documentation…I'll walk you through it.

• job_name: This can be whatever you want, just give it a name. I called my first one “CraftLinksâ€??

   

   

• out_name: The username you use to log into Movable Type

   

   

• out_pass: The password you use to log into Movable Type

   

   

• out_url: This one can be tough. Inside your Movable Type Directory, there is a file called “mt-xmlrpc.cgiâ€??. You need to be able to provide the hyperlink to that file. So, the url would be: http://yoursitedomain/nameofyourMTdirectory/mt-xmlrpc. For example, mine is: http://www.leelefever.com/mt/mt-xmlrpc.cgi.

   

   

• out_time: The time you’d like the links to be posted every day. The value should between 0 and 23, based on GMT. A value of “7â€?? means a post at midnight, Seattle time, 3am New York time.

   

   

• out_blog_id: To find this, log into Movable Type and click on the blog you’d like to post to. Notice the “blog_idâ€?? at the end of the url. The “blog_id=Xâ€?? is your blog ID. Mine is 5.

   

   

• out_cat_id: This one is optional and I haven’t figured it out yet. I can’t get the posts to post to a category. However, you should be able to find the ID by logging into MT, click “Categoriesâ€?? on the left and then “edit category attributesâ€?? for the category you’d like to post to. After you click the attributes link, look at the URL. The last number in the URL is the category ID (I think).

Once this is filled in, click “Submit Query�? and you should see a table with the information you provided in the correct fields and something that says: “results: new job -- nothing yet�? This just means you haven’t tagged anything yet.

Adding a Del.icio.us bookmark

You should now have everything set up to start bookmarking and having the bookmarks show up on your blog.

I encourage you to do a test run and go to a web site and click that handy bookmarklet you added to the links on your browser. Clicking the bookmarklet will take you to a del.icio.us page, with some fields filled in. If you want, add an extended description and tags. Click “save�? and you’ll return to the original page. Sometime in the next 24 hours, you should see a new entry appear on your blog that contains the link to the site you just bookmarked.

Thanks to a couple of sites that helped me get started…

Kevin Wen
How Now BrownPau

If you use WordPress, this might help you.

Check out all the cool tools you can use to extend your del.icio.us experience too.

Scott Moore reminded me of a series of posts that started one year ago tomorrow right here at Common Craft. These posts, though a bit sprawling, mean more to me and what I do than perhaps any other.

Why? Because it's a framework that can be used to describe social tools. Either they flow (timely and engaging) or they are stock (archived, organized reference). I'm resurrecting them because the framework will be a big part of Social Design for the Web.

This graphic makes the distinction.

• Part 1 of 3:Introduction to Stocks and Flows in Online Communication
• Part 2 of 3: Weblogs, Wikis and RSS (My favorite)
• Part 3 of 3: Back to Basics