eekim.com: EEK Speaks

Mon, Jun 18, 2007

HyperScope Sprint, June 30 in Sebastopol #

Last month, we held a HyperScope sprint at JonathanCheyer's house in SanJose. (MCC)

It was so productive and fun, we've planned another one at the end of this month, Saturday, June 30, from 10am until we drop. This time, we'll be meeting at ChristinaEngelbart's house in beautiful Sebastopol. (MCE)

Please join us! This will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the HyperScope and to hang out with some very interesting and cool people. RSVP at Upcoming or contact me if you'd like to attend, and I'll forward more details. (MCF)

/tech/hyperscope | Posted at 1:07am

Thu, May 10, 2007

HyperScope Sprint this Saturday in San Jose #

BradNeuberg, JonathanCheyer, and I will be meeting at Jonathan's place in SanJose this coming Saturday, May 12, at 10am for an ad hoc HyperScope sprint. Please join us! This will be an outstanding opportunity to meet the team, learn about HyperScope, and help us move the project forward. If you'd like to participate either face-to-face or remotely, please drop me a line or RSVP on Upcoming.org. Hope to see you there! (M8T)

/tech/hyperscope | Posted at 1:41pm

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

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

Mon, Sep 18, 2006

HyperScope Talk at Planetwork #

I'll be giving a brief presentation on HyperScope this Thursday at the Planetwork Forum, 6-9pm at Stanford University (450 Serra Mall, Building 460, Room 126). The event is free, and the other talks look great as well: (L6D)