Tue, Oct 31, 2006
WikiWednesday and Web Mondays #
Two "days" coming up worth attending, for those of you in the BayArea. Tomorrow is WikiWednesday at SocialText in PaloAlto. Three good reasons to go: (LGI)
- KirstenJones will be talking about SocialText 2.0. (LGJ)
- EvanProdromou and MicheleJenkins, founders of WikiTravel and two reasons why WikiOhana is so awesome, are in town from Montreal. (LGK)
- There may be other topics on people's minds. (LGL)
Next Monday is the third WebMonday SiliconValley, this time at Cooley Godward Kronish in PaloAlto. Sadly, I won't be able to make this one, but I spoke at the last one, and I had an one excellent time. (LGM)
/events | Posted at 9:45am
Google Acquires JotSpot #
Congratulations to ScottMcMullan and the rest of the folks at JotSpot! His commute just got a bit longer, but a whole lot easier. (LGF)
/business | Posted at 9:29am
Mon, Oct 30, 2006
The Google Gradient #
AaronSwartz wrote an interesting piece about the so-called Google bubble. He then proposed a way around the bubble, which he called the Google "gradient." Having just wrapped up an event that Google sponsored, I can give some first-hand thoughts on Aaron's piece. In short, the gradient already exists, and boy, is it a doozy. (LG0)
Both AllenGunn and I have worked with many, many generous companies on events like the FLOSS Usability Sprint, and we both agreed that Google was unquestionably the easiest, most accomodating company we've ever worked with. Here's a snapshot of my experience: (LG1)
- Earlier this year at DCamp, I meet RickBoardman, a user experience engineer at Google. We talk about the FLOSS Usability Sprints, and he says, "That's pretty cool. If you ever want space for a sprint, we can do it at Google." (LG2)
- Gunner and I decide it's time to do another sprint. I email Rick. Rick says, "No problem. I'll dig up food for you guys too." I look down at my list of negotiation points when dealing with potential sponsors, reread Rick's email, shrug my shoulders, and throw the list away. (LG3)
- I check out the space, and it's outstanding. Wide open room that's reconfigurable, lots of whiteboards, plenty of breakout space, open WiFi. (LG4)
- Rick introduces me to LeslieHawthorn, who's involved with Google's OpenSource programs and managed SummerOfCode. Leslie is the epitome of a YellowThread. Here's an example of a common exchange. Me: "Leslie, I know it's last minute, but can you do [insert any number of requests here] for us?" Leslie: "Sure!" (LG5)
- I get to Google early on Friday. Leslie gives me a walkthrough. To my surprise, she has Google schwag bags for all of us. She also has special badges for us, so that participants don't have to sign the usual visitor NDAs. (LG6)
- There are about six security guards surrounding our space throughout the whole event. This should have been unnerving, except they were all very friendly, they kept opening doors for the participants, and they made it safe for us to leave our computers lying around the entire weekend. (LG7)
- Leslie supplies us with snacks, beverages, and most importantly, coffee throughout the event. We eat lunch both days at Slices, one of the excellent cafeterias on campus. The food is local, organic, and delicious. (Gunner and I do our best to cancel out all this healthy food by bringing pizza and donuts and by taking the group out for adult beverages and more unhealthy food afterwards.) (LG8)
- Four Google employees participate, including Rick and Leslie. All of them kick butt. I didn't know Leslie's background beforehand, but as it turns out, she completely rocks out with the Drupal team, thus increasing my respect for her by another order of magnitude. More common exchanges with Leslie during the event. Me: "Leslie, can you help us with [insert many more requests here]?" Leslie: "Sure!" (LG9)
- Total number of pain-in-the-rear problems that the Google bureaucracy creates for us that are inevitable when working with large companies on open events like these: 0. (LGA)
Perhaps this was an isolated experience. Perhaps the next time we work with Google, this so-called "bubble" will be in full effect, and we'll curse and swear about how terrible the bureaucracy is there. All I can say is that I'll be able to tell you all for sure soon, because I fully plan on there being a next time. Many thanks to Leslie and Rick for being such outstanding hosts! (LGB)
/collaboration | Posted at 10:18am
Scary Open Source and Usability Community #
The problem with doing these events is that participants never have any fun. (LFX)
(Photo courtesy of PeterTrudelle.) (LFY)
/blueoxen | Posted at 8:24am
Thu, Oct 26, 2006
Granular Editing #
I've been working with DokuWiki a lot recently -- it was what we used for the StLouisCollaboratory workshop -- and it reminded me of yet another reason why GranularAddressability is more important than we think it is. (LFO)
My biggest takeaway from working with DougEngelbart on the HyperScope this past year: Addressability is for more than linking. Indeed, HyperScope takes advantage of addressability to support some powerful navigation capabilities. (LFP)
Well, addressability can also be used for editing. And in fact, it is. Both MediaWiki and DokuWiki support granular editing. The reason? MediaWiki is designed for encyclopedias (specifically, Wikipedia. DokuWiki is designed for authoring documentation. In both cases, you end up having long pages. Editing long pages in your browser is a major pain in the rear. It's much easier to edit specific sections. (LFQ)
Augment, of course, also supports granular editing, except the granularity supported is much finer. (LFR)
This is yet another example of the following law of CollaborativeTools, which I first mentioned in my manifesto: (LFS)
Good ideas get reimplemented over and over and over again, often independently. It behooves us to identify these ideas, name them, and implement them interoperably. (LFT)
(This is also the fundamental principle underlying PatternLanguages.) (LFU)
/tech/hyperscope | Posted at 7:19pm
Collaboration Humor #
ScottFoehner recently reminded me of the most excellent Demotivators, highly recommended if you have some spare wall space. Here is some of their commentary on collaboration: (LFJ)
/collaboration | Posted at 1:23pm
Visual Thinking and Shared Understanding #
One of my favorite conference moments occured at the Computers and Philosophy 2002 conference, where both BobHorn and I spoke. I sat next to Bob during the other talks and peeked over his shoulder as he took notes. That man is insane. My notes are barely legible scribbles; his are pristine visual diagrams. (LEX)
A few years later, I got to work with BryanCoffman at the MGTaylor 7-Domains Workshop. As with Bob, I got to see Bryan's notebook and concluded that he also was insane. (LEY)
Visual languages are extremely powerful and totally underutilized in collaboration today. Part of the reason for this is that the techniques seem inaccessible. If you can't draw a straight line, you're probably not going to be doodling your notes, much less doing it live on a whiteboard in front of a crowd of people. Tools like Compendium and MindMapping are great in this regard, but they represent only a fraction of what's possible. (In the case of Compendium, I think it's question-orientation is as important, if not moreso, as its visualization capabilities.) (LEZ)
When I found out earlier this month that one of DaveGray's mentors was BobHorn, I told him I had to peek at his notebook. No problem, said Dave. He posts many of his sketches on Flickr. (LF0)
Dave also told me about an exercise he likes to do at his workshops, which is to ask participants to draw a diagram of a toaster. You can see the results from a workshop he recently did in [Toronto]?. I like this exercise a lot, because it shows the very different ways that people think about a relatively mundane device in a very concrete way. Each of those pictures are clearly different, but they are all also accurate. (LF1)
This technique is great for building SharedUnderstanding, and there are all sorts of great variations. You can have people draw, build things, and so forth. LukeHohmann had us design cereal boxes at DCamp last May that would make people say, "DCamp -- gotta buy that conference!" (LF2)
MichaelEakes recently blogged about a sixth grade exercise, where the teacher asked her students to draw MickeyMouse from memory. (LF3)
Read Michael's analysis of the variation; it's fascinating. (LF5)
/collaboration | Posted at 12:57pm
FLOSS Usability Sprint III #
This weekend, Aspiration and BlueOxenAssociates are once again co-hosting FLOSS Usability Sprint III, the pre-eminent event for bringing usability to OpenSource projects. This year, we've moved venues from SanFrancisco to MountainView. Thanks to Google and especially RickBoardman for sponsoring the event! (LET)
As always, we have a great set of participants, and it should be both productive and fun. What's even cooler for me this year is that one of my projects, HyperScope, will be a participant. I love it when things converge! The other projects are Drupal, SocialSourceCommons, Socialtext Open, and Sustainable Civil Society. Really looking forward to it! (LEU)
/blueoxen | Posted at 12:16pm
WikiSym 2006 Keynote Video #
The keynote that DougEngelbart and I did at WikiSym this past August on HyperScope and Wikis is now available on the Web, thanks once again to MortenBlaabjerg. There are three parts: (LEO)
(Also posted this item on the HyperScope blog.) (LES)
/talks | Posted at 12:03pm
Scanning Large Texts with HyperScope #
Speaking of capabilities, while digging up relevant passages in 1984, I really wished I had a digital version of the book so that I could use HyperScope on it. Specifically, I wanted to find the passages that contained the word, "dictionary." (LEH)
With a standard Web browser and an HTML version of the text, I would have hit Alt-F, typed "dictionary," and scanned the surrounding paragraphs of each found instance, most likely scrolling up and down to examine the context. (LEI)
With HyperScope, I would have changed the ViewSpec to wi;"dictionary";. This would show me only paragraphs containing the word, "dictionary." I would then scan each paragraph, and if I found something that piqued my interest, I would Jump to that Item with the ViewSpec lj, which would show me only that paragraph and its sibling paragraphs (a "plex" in Augment terminology) with the previous content filter turned off. (LEJ)
If HyperScope had multiwindow capabilities (which it will eventually), I could do each of these operations in its own window, which would allow me to jump back and forth easily between different views of the same document. (LEK)
This is a great example of how ViewSpecs and GranularAddressability allow you to navigate through a large text easily and effectively in ways that aren't possible with today's everyday tools. (LEL)
/tech/hyperscope | Posted at 1:22am
Reversing 1984: Augmenting Language #
BradNeuberg and I were having a conversation about HyperScope earlier today, and Brad said something interesting about language. He said that HyperScope expands people's vocabulary. He contrasted that to GeorgeOrwell's 1984, where NewSpeak is constantly shrinking. (LEA)
I loved the Orwell reference, and thought it would be worth rereading the relevant passages. (I ended up rereading much more. It's such a well-written and engaging book, it was hard to put down.) (LEB)
"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Eidition, we're not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there's no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It's merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won't be any need even for that. The Revolution will be complete when the language when the language is perfect." (46) (LEC)
If reducing vocabulary and narrowing language are prerequisites for diminishing our ability to think, then it follows that augmenting our ability to think results in an increase in our vocabulary. DougEngelbart always talks about augmenting existing capabilities while adding new ones. You could replace the word "capabilities" with "vocabulary," and you would essentially be saying the same thing. (LED)
/tech/hyperscope | Posted at 12:59am
Tue, Oct 24, 2006
Uncle Eric's Visit #
I spent the past weekend visiting my older sister, Sujean, her husband, Isaac, and my nephew, ElliottMarcellusWatras, in Cincinnati. My other sister, Jessica, was on break from law school and joined us as well. Elliott, who recently turned two, is highly opinionated about many things, so once again, I let him guest blog. -EEK (LDE)
Last Thursday afternoon, Mommy stuffed me in the car seat and started driving. I got bored and decided to take a nap. When I woke up, I was surprised to find Uncle Eric sitting next to me. Being well-versed in manners, I said, "Hello. How're you doing?" Apparently, Uncle has never heard a toddler talk before, because he went nuts, further confirming my assessment last year: He's either crazy or a fool or both. Ah, family. (LDF)
As we drove, Uncle decided to take a picture of me. Since Halloween is around the corner, I decided to show off my monster face. (LDG)
Afterwards, Uncle and I flipped through a book of marine life, and I told him the names of the different animals. When I told him my favorite was the shark, Uncle put his hand on his head and started humming the Jaws theme. He even did a hammerhead impression. That was pretty fun, so when we got home, we both ran around pretending we were sharks. I also made Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Jessica play. We played that game every day for hours. Damn, that was a good game. (LDI)
Uncle gave me a book called, Animals on Strike at the Zoo. I heard him joke to Mommy that the pictures were great, but that the story was anti-labor and that the Republicans seem to have gotten to the children book authors. Yes, the book did imply that the animals were striking unreasonably, but I think his assessment was a bit harsh. The commentary seemed directed more towards the unions of, say, professional athletes than those of factory workers. I also liked the pictures of the monkeys. (LDK)
Later, I showed Uncle the toy cello Daddy gave me for my second birthday. I got bored with pretending to play it, though, and decided to show Uncle my skills with the real deal. (LDL)
I like cello, but I really enjoy the drums. (LDN)
Last year, I gave Uncle a loving head-butt every time I saw him. I've added a mean left hook and a body slam to my repertoire, and I decided to practice all of my moves with Uncle. Mommy and Daddy got mad at me, because they don't want me to hit people. Uncle agreed with them, but added that it was okay to play fight, and he let me clock him a few (hundred) times. (LDP)
Uncle taught me how to give him a five last year, and since then, Daddy's also taught me the high-five and the fist tap. Mommy and Daddy were much more lenient about me practicing these with Uncle, who also showed me how to ask for a five in return. He promised to teach me the forearm bash next year, but he said I'll need to be much older before I can attempt the chest bump, at least with him. (LDR)
While I was showing Uncle my room, he pointed to a picture of a train on the wall and asked, "Who painted that?" I responded, "I think Daddy did." Once again, Uncle went nuts, and he went running to Mommy and Daddy to tell them that I understood the notion of uncertainty. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was just repeating what Mommy said whenever I asked her the same question. [This was my sister's theory, but I don't buy it. I think Elliott understood exactly what he was saying. -EEK] (LDT)
I loved playing with both Aunt Jessica and Uncle Eric, especially since they were so easy to manipulate. All I had to do was look longingly at Uncle and say, "Cake?", and he would dig up something sweet. Mommy kept hurling dirty looks at him, but he assured me that she's been doing that for thirty years and that he was totally immune. (LDU)
Not to say that Aunt and Uncle didn't return the favor. They apparently suffer from narcolepsy, because they kept falling asleep at random times, and they would only wake up if I kissed them on the cheek. One time, Uncle fell asleep while holding his camera. I thought that was strange, but I kissed him anyway. (LDW)
On Sunday, Aunt Jessica baked cookies, and she let me help! While we waited, Uncle taught me a new game, "Bounce," where he bounced me up and down on his air mattress like a trampoline. I loved it so much, I kept demanding that we play again. Unfortunately, Uncle is pathetically out-of-shape, and while he was catching his breath, he tried to stall by asking me, "Who's your favorite uncle?" I saw through his ploy, and decided to have some fun with it, so I pretended to think for a long time, then responded, "Jessica." We repeated this exchange several times, until Uncle started ripping his hair out in frustration, and Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Jessica rolled around with laughter. Uncle tried to bribe me with M&M's, which I gladly accepted, but I still wouldn't give. Finally, I tired of this exchange and put on my sad face, at which point Uncle started playing "Bounce" again. (LDY)
I had a good time. It was especially fun to see Aunt Jessica and Uncle Eric at the same time. I can't wait to see my favorite relatives again soon! Okay, back to my cookies. (LE0)
I can't wait to see you again, too, Elliott! More pictures are available on Flickr. -EEK (LE2)
/personal | Posted at 10:55pm
Story of Digital Identity Podcast #
For over a year, AldoCastaneda has been documenting the contemporary history of DigitalIdentity and particularly the recent UserCentricIdentity movement with his podcast, "The Story of Digital Identity" (Stodid). Last week, Aldo interviewed KaliyaHamlin and me on the reinvention of IdentityCommons. (LD9)
/collaboration/idcommons | Posted at 9:23am
The Joys of Being an A-Lister #
I've enjoyed the responses to my posts about the CIA workshop last month. The most surprising and amusing response has come from skeptics who have labeled me and the others who spoke at the workshop of being "A-listers." (LCT)
I know something about A-lists. I went to Harvard. I knew many brilliant, cool people there, so I know that A-lists can deserve their reputations. I also knew many idiots there, so I know not to make too much of A-lists. (LCU)
I'm not naive about what it means to be an A-lister. I know that folks look at me differently when they discover that I went to Harvard or that DougEngelbart is one of my mentors. I know that most of my business comes via word-of-mouth, which is a fancy way of saying "reputation." (LCV)
I know all of these things, and I don't give a damn about any of them. I worry about being the smartest, most capable person I can possibly be, and about being the best human being I can possibly be. I apply these exact same standards towards others. I don't worry about what lists I or others are or aren't on. (LCW)
This attitude not only pervades my personal and professional life, but my philosophy about collaboration. Given the right space and good process, I believe that large, diverse networks will always be smarter than any individual. I shy away from work where people are looking at me to tell them what to do. My goal is to help groups achieve their potential, not to convince them of how smart I am. (LCX)
The authors at Kent's Imperative wrote an insightful essay on how large-scale collaboration can affect how intelligence is gathered and analyzed. I thought everything they wrote was spot-on except for their read on last month's CIA workshop: (LCY)
The rapid rise of distributed collaborative analysis through the blogsphere has been an amazing thing to watch.... (LCZ)
The community would do well to pay attention to this phenomena. Some tentative steps have been made at documenting and re-creating this dynamic, most notably in response to the 2004 Galileo Award paper, "The Wiki and the Blog", by Dr. Calvin Andrus; but much work remains to be done. It is not at all clear that the primum mobile has been established to support this effort within the walls. And your authors in particular are unconvinced that the best way to drive this effort is through the use of Beltway consultants "debriefing" teams of "A-list" and technology savvy bloggers. The native development of a culture of discussion and exchange, enabled by the new technologies and freed from the constraints of stifling managers and visionless mid-grades, is not something that will emerge from even the best run boardroom meeting, no matter how well intentioned. (LD0)
What is most disappointing, however, is that out of this process (however flawed) no doubt emerged more insight and innovation than has been seen from many of the so-called academic experts championing intelligence studies. (LD1)
I don't blame them for interpreting the positioning of the workshop the way he did, and I actually liked the post a lot. However, their interpretation of the workshop is wrong in subtle ways, and there are larger lessons that warrant discussion. (LD2)
First, I would hardly equate a two-day workshop to a strategy of bringing in A-list consultants to "drive this effort." We weren't there to kick-off some huge consulting gig to transform intelligence. We were there to talk to the CIA, and all of us were just as motivated to learn from them. This attitude was reflected in the process of the workshop itself. (LD3)
When MarkOehlert asked me to participate, most of the "panelists" had already signed on, and three things stood out to me about the group. First, two of the participants -- JayCross and MarciaConner -- came from the learning world, not the world of blogs and Wikis, although both are active bloggers. (As it turned out, Mark falls under this category as well.) Second, we all cared more about helping than selling. Third, we all shared similar philosophies about collaboration, although I was undoubtedly the most zealous of the lot. Before signing on, I sent Mark an email suggesting that we not do a panel or presentations, but instead try something more collaborative and meaningful. Mark responded with a smile, and said, "We're going to get along just fine." Turns out he was way ahead of me. (LD4)
The end result was a facilitated conversation between the CIA and the outside world, a conversation that the CIA could not have easily had under normal circumstances due to real constraints (unlike the artificial constraints that many organizations impose on themselves). There was also an important secondary effect that resulted from the workshop process: StoneSoup?. This particular network inside the CIA became aware of itself. The champions within the organization were evident right from the start, and the conversation was as much between the analysts themselves as it was with us. (LD5)
Second, bringing in outsiders can have a catalyzing effect on transforming an organization's culture, provided their role is framed correctly. We weren't there to fix anything. That would have been naive, because there was no way we could have fixed anything. We were there to tell stories and participate in discussion. (LD6)
The path to shifting a dysfunctional culture within a homogeneous organization is to expand the network, to make the problem bigger. The CIA is not the only organization working on these issues, so by including other organizations in the conversation, you enrich your network and raise the collective intelligence of your group. Outsiders in the right roles are critical to change. If you try to solve the problem in a bubble, you are more likely to kill the organization than you are to change anything. (LD7)
I have no illusions about whether or not we changed anything in those two days. My goal was to expand the group consciousness, if only slightly, and we certainly achieved that. That's a small step in the right direction, but much, much more needs to be done. (LD8)
/collaboration | Posted at 9:17am
Fri, Oct 20, 2006
Designing for Emergence #
Towards the end of the StLouisCollaboratory workshop this past Wednesday, I said something about designing for emergence. DaveGray thought enough about the point to note it in his own special way: (LBW)
(Full size picture at Flickr.) (LBY)
It's not an exact quote, and his sketch is a bit stingy on the hair, but it captures the essence of the point. A more verbose version of what I said goes something like this: (LBZ)
Designing for emergence is scary. I've facilitated several of these types of gatherings, and I've attended several more, and they always work. But they always stress me out, because you never know what's going to happen. And that's exactly the point. (LC0)
What prevents me from going completely nuts is complete and utter faith in the following principle: If you get great people together and get out of their way, great things will happen. Good processes ultimately get out of people's ways. (LC1)
If you have great people, and if you trust your process, you have nothing to worry about. But I still get stressed. (LC2)
I said something similar, but more general, at the first "Tools for Catalyzing Collaboration" workshop. The gist of it was: (LC3)
You can't organize self-organization. You can't control emergence. (LC4)
The biggest mistake that people make is that they point to Wikipedia or to MoveOn, and they say, "I want that." Then they install a tool or spend a lot of money, and they expect some grand end state to emerge. That's not how things work. (LC5)
You can create conditions and space, and you can facilitate and catalyze what happens in that space, but you can't control it. As soon as you try, you break your conditions, and you will fail. (LC6)
On a similar vein, KelleeSikes passed along one of MarciaConner's sayings: "Stay on course, not on target." (LC7)
/collaboration | Posted at 12:40pm
Something Special in St. Louis #
There's something special brewing in StLouis, and it ain't Budweiser. My side of the story begins in the BayArea. We've got this special culture here in California. It's a culture of openness, of collaboration, of entrepreneurship, and of tolerance. Combine that with a wonderfully diverse and intellectual community, and you get a tremendous amount of good vibes and innovation. The BayArea is so wonderful, most of us don't see any need to go anywhere else, and those who do often experience severe culture shock. Yes, Virginia, not everyone is like us Californians. (LBJ)
In some ways, that's a good thing, but in many ways, it's sad. True, California is beautiful. True, the people here are brilliant and wonderful. But, there are brilliant and wonderful people who live outside of California, and there's no reason why those folks can't enjoy the same community vibe that we do out here. The Internet allows us to transcend geographical boundaries and form a virtual community with a similar vibe, but it still pales in comparison to the experience of being physical immersed in this type of environment. The barrier to this sort of vibe emerging in a geographical community is usually culture. (LBK)
Is it possible to shift the culture of a community (or an organization) to be more collaborative, more tolerant, more innovative? Absolutely. It's not easy, but it's possible, and like all great things, it starts with great people, and it has to start small. (LBL)
StLouis has these ingredients as well as a growing consciousness about what is possible. The right people are there, and they are starting to discover each other. If this growing community fosters these opportunities, a wonderful prairie will emerge. (LBM)
This past Wednesday, I did my part by co-facilitating the first gathering of the StLouisCollaboratory, which was formed by KelleeSikes and three of her colleagues (MarkRichman, DonnaMickens, and ValerieHartman). (Pictures from the event.) The gathering was modeled after the "Tools for Catalyzing Collaboration" (TCC) workshops I co-organized with JeffShults earlier this year in SanFrancisco. Kellee attended our second workshop, and enjoyed it so much, she decided to try and bring a similar experience to her community in StLouis. (LBN)
Kellee, Mark, Donna, and Valerie recruited a fantastic and diverse group of participants. We had folks from both non- and for-profits, from large and small companies, from technology, health care, and organized labor. These people were thoughtful and open-minded. They came into the workshop with a healthy dose of skepticism, but also a willingness to play. What surprised me the most was that several of them had thought as deeply about collaboration as anyone else I've ever met. (LBP)
I learned a tremendous amount listening to this group and watching them work. I could write 50 blog entries about the things I learned, stories I heard, and insights I gained. (I'll be happy if I manage three.) (LBQ)
At dinner later in the evening, I told several people that it would be a travesty if they did not continue engage with each other. You can do amazing things in a day. My goals were to expand their consciousness, to make them aware of each other, to start seeding SharedLanguage, and to give them an opportunity to experience a different kind of collaboration. We met these goals, but they barely scratch the surface of what's possible. (LBR)
The opportunity is there. Kellee and company are planning another workshop in January, and hopefully some of the participants from this week will play a more active role in designing the next event. Moreover, there are complementary events cropping up in StLouis. (LBS)
Through a serendipitous conversation with JayCross last month, I discovered DaveGray, the founder of StLouis-based XPLANE, which does visual modeling and facilitation. Dave introduced me to MattHomann, a lawyer by trade who recently formed a company, LexThink, to organize more collaborative gatherings. Matt has been experimenting with a different kind of networking event in StLouis known as IdeaMarkets, and the second one just happened to be this past Tuesday. It was an excellent event, and I'd encourage people from the area to go. This style of event is a dime a dozen in the BayArea, but we rarely see the mix of people that Matt managed to draw. (LBT)
What's different about StLouisCollaboratory and events like IdeaMarkets is that they're not about DriveByNetworking. They're not about, "What can you do for me?" They're about, "What can we do with each other?" That, my friends, is what collaboration is about. I'll be watching these developments closely to see what emerges. (LBV)
/events | Posted at 12:37pm
Mon, Oct 09, 2006
Nick Baran Wins Pro Bono Service Award #
Congratulations to NickBaran for winning the State Bar's 2006 President's Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award. Nick was the editor-in-chief of NT Systems Magazine back when I was an editor at DrDobbsJournal. We used to go out for dim sum a lot and talk about the state of the world and how we could improve it. Then I'd kick his butt in a game of chess, and we'd go on our merry way. (LBA)
In 2001, after a long and illustrious career as an engineer, an editor, and an author, Nick decided he was done just talking about the world and decided it was time to do something about it. So he went back to school, got his law degree, and has been practicing pro bono work ever since. (LBB)
Here's what the press release had to say about Nick: (LBC)
Baran worked mostly on family law cases for the Bar Association of San Francisco's Volunteer Legal Services Program, and on domestic violence cases for the Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness. He helped the center obtain nonprofit status and also worked with low-income clients on divorce and custody matters, restraining orders, wills, conservatorships and transactional work. (LBD)
"He has taken on many clients that others would not and has demonstrated patience and true concern for the overall well-being of his pro bono clients," wrote BASF officials in a nominating letter. "Mr. Baran has particular compassion for women and children who have suffered from domestic violence, helping many domestic violence survivors secure their safety and self-sufficiency." (LBE)
Many of his clients were non-English-speaking immigrants, including a Cantonese woman whose American husband told her that because she hadn't produced a child, their marriage was over. He told her she would get no spousal support and none of his assets, and he dropped her off at a cheap hotel with a small amount of money. (LBF)
Baran was able temporary spousal support and a share of community property as he continued to work on her divorce and immigration concerns. He has helped other women in abusive relationships get the hearings and representation to which they are entitled. (LBG)
Congratulations, Nick! Well deserved. (LBH)
/personal | Posted at 11:10am
Wed, Oct 04, 2006
Montreal WikiWednesday Today #
I'll be dropping by WikiWednesday in PaloAlto tonight, but I can't stay for long. My softball team dominated the regular season, and the playoffs are tonight (assuming it doesn't rain). Although I'm bummed I'll miss most of the festivities in PaloAlto, I'm really wish I could be in Montreal, home of next year's RecentChangesCamp. Tonight's Montreal WikiWednesday will be excellent, with Wiki celebrities such as SunirShah, EvanProdromou, SebPaquet, AlainDesilets, and AnneGoldenberg (who's doing an awesome job organizing the next RecentChangesCamp) in attendance. If you live in Montreal, definitely drop by. Have fun, folks, and I'll look forward to reading about it on your blogs! (LB4)
/events | Posted at 8:19am
BarBar Redux #
Thanks to those of you who dropped by BarBar last night! Not surprisingly given that ScottMcMullan and I organized, it was a very Wiki-oriented crowd: folks from JotSpot, SocialText, and Atlassian were there to relax. (LAT)
If you want to know what makes SiliconValley great, this picture says it all. Where else in the world is it commonplace for competitors to get together for beers after work and talk openly about their work and their lives? We had great conversation (not all of it Wiki-related), and I had the chance to preach WikiOhana to my enterprisey peers. (LAV)
The highlight of my evening was enjoying the sweet fare of the TamaleLady for the first time. (LAW)
They were ridiculously tasty. How is it that I've lived in the BayArea for over ten years, and I had never heard of the TamaleLady before? Ah well, now I'm in the know (and so are you). (LAY)
/events | Posted at 8:08am
More on Spiel #
MarkOehlert dug up the reference on play he cited at last week's CIA workshop. (Thanks, Mark!) It's a quote from DavidMiller taken from a Smithsonian exhibit on "Invention at Play" a few years ago. Miller tells the following anecdote about the Heidelberg philosopher, HansGeorgGadamer: (LAK)
Not long after the book's publication, Gadamer came to be a visiting professor at Syracuse University where I was teaching. Every Thursday afternoon, after his seminar on Aristotle, he and I would go to a local country club bar to drink German beer and to talk. I knew that he had read my book, and it is not difficult to imagine my growing anxiety when week after week went by without him saying a word to me about it. (LAL)
Finally, after many weeks--what seemed an eternity to a young professor in the thrall of a wise mentor--he turned to the topic of my book. I was full of fear and trepidation, as it turned out that well I should have been. He said: "Professor Miller, you almost got the point!" I was crushed! What was wrong? It did little good for him to aver that it was not entirely my fault. "English," he explained, "has a doublet for the idea: play, the verb, and game, the noun, are different words in English, whereas German says it with one and the same word, ein Spiel spielen, as does French, jouer un jeu." So, he explained to me that I had wrongly thought that play has something to do with fun and games. "Very American!" he said in a way that was not at all reassuring. (LAM)
So what was the point of play? Gadamer asked me if I rode a bicycle. I said that I did. Then he asked me about the front wheel, the axle, and the nuts. He remarked that I probably knew that it was important not to tighten the nuts too tightly, else the wheel could not turn. "It has to have some play!" he announced pedagogically and a little exultantly, I thought. And then he added, " . . . and not too much play, or the wheel with fall off." "You know," he said, "Spielraum." (LAN)
So that was it: it is not a matter of games (which are the domain of specialists and not of bricoleurs). It is rather a matter of what we, in English, call "leeway." "Lee" is the sheltered side of any object, so it is the side of a ship that is turned away from the wind. The point is to have som leeway, some play, as in a bicycle wheel, a little space, some distance, Gelassenheit: education and teaching without why. (LAO)
AlexSchroeder and ChristophSauer were right (of course): I must have misinterpreted Mark's original point. Spiel has two meanings in German, and although both meanings apply to the English word "play" as well, the second usage is not as commonly used. That said, I'm glad I posed the question the way I did, because it turned up RickThomas?'s very interesting reference on Leik. (LAP)
/collaboration | Posted at 7:50am
Share Your Slides! #
Congratulations to RashmiSinha and her partner-in-crime, JonathanBoutelle, for the beta release of SlideShare. SlideShare allows you to publish your slides in YouTube-like fashion. It can read PowerPoint and OpenOffice (sorry Mac users, no Keynote yet). (LA5)
Here are my long-promised-but-never-published slides from WikiSym 2006 this past August and the InternetIdentityWorkshop last May: (LA6)
- "The Augmented Wiki" (August 22, 2006) (LA7)
- "User-Centric Identity" (May 1, 2006) (LA8)
I've got a love-hate relationship with slides, and I try to avoid them when possible, but as RossMayfield noted, sometimes they're useful. And when they are, SlideShare is a fantastic way to share them. I will most certainly be using this service. (LA9)
This is a beta, and I suspect we'll see Flickr-like SocialNetworking? capabilities eventually. My only gripe: There should be PermaLinks for each slide, not just for the entire deck. (LAA)
I've got a few more invitations left, so if you'd like to play, drop me a line. (LAB)
/collaboration/tools | Posted at 7:34am
Mon, Oct 02, 2006
Spiel und Leik #
Two of my most excellent German-speaking associates (who also happen to be doing some of the best Wiki work in the world), AlexSchroeder and ChristophSauer, responded to my recent question about German words for "play": (L9W)
MarkOehlert had a wonderful response to this. There are apparently two words for "play" in German. (I know one is "Spiel." Can someone tell me the other?) One meaning of "play" describes the looseness that allows a wheel to turn. If there isn't enough play, the wheel won't turn. This latter meaning of play can be easier to rationalize in the workplace. T (L9X)
According to both Alex and Christoph, Spiel is used for both contexts of "play." Christoph offered these examples: (L9Y)
Das Rad hat zuwenig spiel. ("The wheel is not loose enough to turn" -- spiel is used as a verb.) (L9Z)
Das ist nur ein Spiel. ("It's just a game.") (LA0)
However, my post also triggered this response from RickThomas?: (LA1)
I recognized the idea from the book Homo Ludens: a study of the play element in culture, by Johan Huizinga (1938). Amazing, recommended. (LA2)
The other German root is leik or leikan, which connotes looseness, leaping, dancing. It has found its way into words related to erotic play: English lechery, German laich (spawn), Swedish leka (copulation). (LA3)
By the way, this whole blogging thing is kinda cool. I think it might take off. I ThinkOutLoud, and I'm rewarded with instant responses from a few friends on the other side of the globe, plus I learn something new from someone totally new! (LA4)
/collaboration | Posted at 12:55am
BarBar This Tuesday #
ScottMcMullan, I, and our other co-chairs decided to disband the SDForum Collaboration SIG. We had an outstanding run, but it just wasn't compatible with our collective schedules. (L9S)
Still, Scott and I didn't want to let go completely. Actually, I just wanted an excuse to have a beer with Scott every once in a while. So this Tuesday, October 3 at 7:30pm, we're going to meet at Zeitgeist for burgers, beers, and conversation about all things collaboration. (L9T)
In honor of BarCamp, we're calling it BarBar. It will be casual, fun, and enlightening, and you all are invited. RSVP on Upcoming.org, drop me an email, or just show up. Bring friends. And don't be shy. We like people, even those we don't know. See you on Tuesday! (L9U)
/events | Posted at 12:09am
