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November 24, 2004
Blogs are the Selves in the Public Space We Call the Web
Zoe
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- First I wish the iPod had Bluetooth so that when my phone rang, it would automatically pause. I got called three times and each time I had to pull the iPod out the zippered pocket I had it in, pause it, and then answer the phone. Moreover, since the recording was MP3, it lost its place each time as well and I had to go searching for it.
- As Dave talks about encyclopedias, the Dewey Decimal system, and the quest to create a system of knowledge, I realize that knowledge (the classification and relationship of information) is not something external in the sense that Aristotle would have thought about it, but something that's internal. We each create our own system of knowledge over the course of a lifetime and that more than anything defines who we are. Knowledge is inherently experiential.
- Dave talks about the Internet as a parallel public space. I think this ideas is in his book, Small Pieces Loosely Joined, as well. He refers to blogs as the way we populate that public space with selves that have a voice and are persistent. That's a good way to think about blogging, I think. Its how I establish an identity on the Web.
This point about the Web being a place, brings to mind this post by Doc Searls where he contrasts the way the entertainment industry sees the Web and the way others see the Web. I'm convinced this differing world-view is what causes much of the strong feelings on both sides. Do you think Orrin Hatch sees the Web as a place or a plumbing system? I'd bet more the latter.
04:46 PM | Recommend This | Print This
Booxter Keeps Track of Your Library
I just ran across a cool little program called Booxter. Booxter is an OS X program for keeping track of books. Of course, there have been book databases for almost as long as there have been recipe programs (the killer app for computers in the home, if you believed the 1980's hype). There are several things that made this program stand out for me:
- Most impressive is its use of an iSight or other camera for scanning ISBN bar codes from books. I scanned half a dozen books in under a minute.
- Once it has the ISBN, it fills in most of the rest of the information you'd want to store from online sources including Amazon, Books Online, and the Library of Congress.
- There is a handy section for keeping track of who you've lent a book to and where it is. I have over 1000 books and I sometimes forget which books are home and which are at work, leading to some wasted time or trips.
The camera scan worked pretty well just holding the book up in front of my iSight camera, but it would be faster to have the camera mounted so that its looking down on the desk and just slide books under it for scanning in volume. It also can be finicky when its not in focus or square to the lens.
If you're a book lover and collector, like me, you'll like the idea of just having a record of your collection. I've resisted up until now because I was not willing to type all the relevant information into the computer. Now, I don't have to type anything. Works for me.
12:08 PM | Recommend This | Print This
Vintela Scores Microsoft Investment
Lindon Utah (yeah, that's where I live) based Vintela scored an investment from Microsoft yesterday rumored to be around $10 million. Vintela makes a product that allows Linux hosts to use Microsoft's Active Directory for authentication tasks. This is a product was found on the dustbin of SCO a year or so ago. When SCO started their rantings against Linux, they couldn't be working on a Linux product, so this got put aside. Some enterprising folks picked it up at fire sale prices and started a company with it. I know a few of the folks over at Vintela; they're good people. They've done well.
10:44 AM | Recommend This | Print This
Paul Allen, Blogger
Paul Allen, one of Utah's entrepreneurial lights and a friend, has a blog that's one year old yesterday. He takes the opportunity to talk about the power of blogging and makes a great reference to Benjamin Franklin. Ben signed his name B. Franklin, Printer, in spite of all his other accomplishments. Paul says:
I think I know why.
Words are powerful. According to scripture, they are more powerful than the sword.
Through the power of the press, Benjamin Franklin helped rally a nation to fight for independence from the British crown. He had helped Thomas Paine emigrate from England in October 1774.ÊWith some assistance fromÊFranklin, Thomas Paine went on to publish theÊpamphletÊCommon Sense, which more than any other tract rallied Americans (including George Washington) to fight for independence. It is reported that more than 500,000 copies of Common Sense were printed in a nation of just a few million people.
A great nation was formed by the power of words and the freedom of the press which gave expression to those words.From Paul Allen: Internet Entrepreneur
Referenced Wed Nov 24 2004 08:58:00 GMT-0700
Paul goes one to talk about the things blogging has brought to him and signs off P. Allen, Blogger. Very good.