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This blog is a branch of echovar.com. |
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005Attention and Majestic Research Steve Gillmor has been talking about the value of "attention data." But no one's been able to pinpoint what attention is actually worth. It looks like Majestic Research is looking at attention data to try and predict the direction of stock prices. And that's worth some money. Would you spend 2 million to make 20 million? If Majestic can get it right, there's money to be made. Of course that's a big if. But it's not your data or my data that's worth money. It's data that adds up to a large enough sample size to understand consumer behavior as an emerging event -- and then tie that to specific sectors, companies and stock direction. Of course there may be other models, but here's an early one. Sunday, October 09, 2005Web 2.0 Browser We'll know for sure there's another bubble brewing when we hear about a VC funding an ajax and web-based web browser. Because only a Web 2.0 browser can really browse Web 2.0 content. All applications will move from the hard disk to the web, including the browser. Wednesday, September 28, 2005It's the User, Stupid Lot's of chatter about Web 2.0 these days. To me, Web 2.0 is about the user and the user interface. For years and years, actually since the beginning the backend, the operating system, the number crunching part of technology ruled. There was only a certain amount of computing power and capacity available, and the backend always won out. To some extent, the backend is becoming commoditized. But the frontend, the user and the user interface has never been allowed to flourish. The Web needed speed and so the UI suffered -- smaller file sizes and simple interfaces were the most usable and popular. Usability ruled. Creativity was considered the enemy of the user. Web 2.0 is making the Web better for the user. It's investing in the user and making things easier through RSS, OPML, Ajax, Flash, Laszlo, DHTML, Widgets, Gadgets, Contraptions. The new Web appeals to the senses of the user. We're still in a primative state with user interfaces on the Web. There's a lot to learn from what was done on desktop software, but Web UI designers skipped those lessons because they didn't apply to Web 1.0. Now we all need to listen to the people who built the classic desktop apps to learn the language of Web 2.0. Saturday, September 17, 2005Exclusive Ways and the Hippy Ethos Dave Winer is upset about the exclusivity of a number of events sponsored by Technology companies. Presumably this why he created the "UnConference." Of course businesses believe that they can profit from controlling standards and information asymetry. These ideas come from the paradigm of the economics of scarcity. Viewed through the glasses of the economics of abundance, these tactics seem old fashioned. I've said it before, but I think Winer is hippy. In the best sense of the word. Tech companies try to be hip in a geeky sort of way. But they have no idea what it means to be a hippy. It's kind of a shame. Sunday, August 28, 2005Googling Eric Schmidt The Sunday NY Times has an article about the CNET / Google dustup. It occurs to me that as we think about privacy and the internet -- nothing could be more important than Googling Eric Schmidt. I would contend that every publicly available piece of information about Eric Schmidt should be aggregated and posted. Mr. Schmidt is in a position to affect the future of the internet and privacy. I think the CEOs of financial institutions should also be googled and exposed. It's only when these folks see what's available today will they begin to think about the issue of privacy. I'm not talking about censorship, but the right to privacy. Google is used to invade privacy. Google's CEO should be made aware of the power of his company's service. The crushing of dissent is evil. Google has made very revealing mistake. What's needed is more public debate and thought on the topic of privacy and the internet. Is Google saying, "Google anyone you like, but don't Google us." Saturday, August 27, 2005OPML Community I haven't had sufficient time to play with the outlining functions in the editor. But my mind has been bubbling with thoughts about the structure of information and the outline. Outlines, xml, unix file systems, taxonomies -- pretty much all look the same if you take off their skin and dance around in their bones. The promise of OPML is a simple way to generate this format, and then really do something with it. Not by writing a lot of code, but by using simple tools. So, the community testing this OPML Editor needs to start pointing to interesting work being done by other members. I'm adding the OPML Search Engine to my blogroll -- and any other cool OPML sites I find. The coolness needs to be in the "OPML-ness," rather than in the "Blog-ness." Friday, August 26, 2005The Linux Fund Who will give the Linux Fund a home? Seemed like such a cool idea when it started. Use your credit card and some percentage of your purchase goes to support the Open Source movement. I understand they have a couple hundred thousand dollars that should be given out in Open Source grants, but no one to do it. When I think of the work being done with RSS, OPML and Attention XML, and even Microformats. I have to think that this would be a good use for the funds. Perhaps its a method for work created for the commons to get funded. Although the proper amount and method of funding will always be an issue. Thursday, August 25, 2005This is a test Testing taking a screen movie, with sound. Trying to use a Logitech headset with Mac OS X. I'm not sure it's going to work. Also, this my first go round with Snapz. Ok, my first attempt was a failure. But here's another test. This is my final test. It seems to work. Will this link to a .mov file in my decorations folder? Nope. It'll have to live on echovar.com. Here's a funky first movie. I hope to get a little better at this. Wednesday, August 24, 2005Gallery Sites I've been thinking about things to do with OPML. I've been building Artist Portfolio sites for friends who need a way to show their work. I'm wondering if I could create these sites in OPML. The information is highly structured -- thumbnail image, large image, title, date, medium, etc. If I had a number of sites using an OPML format, I could mix and match pieces from the sites to create something new. Question: Including outlines in outlines. Does it have to be a whole outline, or can it be a section of an outline. Or should outlines be built in small sections and then included in larger outlines. Then the larger outline could be included in an even larger outline, or small outlines could be put together in different ways to create outline mixes. I've got to start playing with this -- and making some screencasts of the stuff that works. Pictures. Gotta Do Pictures So, I haven't really gone beyond text with this blog. I have say I'm getting into this outliner format for blog entries. I usually use Vi and text files -- but I could get used to this. So let's see a picture next to a blog entry. This a painting from my wife's Web site: xcariati.echovar.com. She paints in Gouache on paper, very fine, detailed work. Check out her site. OPML Editor on Mac Glad to hear that Dave bought a Mac. Must have been a weird experience for him. I understand why he has "feelings" about Apple. I think if I developed a scripting language that glued together Mac applications -- and then Apple came out with AppleScript, I'd be kinda annoyed. I guess I might even hold a grudge. I like it because it means that the OPML Editor will get better on the Mac. I use a Mac at home and a PC at work. I prefer Mac -- What I like is that I've got Unix and a Shell plus an nice user interface. Apple has made a living off of limiting the power of the user interface through excellent design. By imposing limitations, they've created an interface that's more usable by more people. But by building it on BSD/Darwin, they've created something that also works great for developers and geeks. So you don't like Safari or iTunes. You don't need to use them. Firefox is great. I listen to podcasts on my Palm T5 with a 1Gig SD card. I can plug it into a PC or a Mac and move podcasts on and off. I have a iPod, but I've been more interested in listening to IT Conversations -- and I tend to do that on my Palm. Once you get past the platform, it's really all about the Web anyway. Screen Movies and OPML Editor So I downloaded a copy of Snapz Pro. Apparently it does screen movies and can accept input from a microphone. Once I figure out how to use it, I'll start making some screencasts as I explore the OPML editor. I really think that screencasts are a great way to provide feedback to software application developers. What better way to document a bug? Show exactly what happened. Explain what you thought was going to happen, and then show what happened on your screen as it happens. Words and text are great, but there's nothing like a movie. I looked around for Mac OS X screen movie programs, but I was very disappointed. This is another area where Mac needs to take the initiative. Microsoft already provides Windows Media Encoder as a free download. Apple doesn't even realize there's such a thing as screencasts yet. Monday, August 22, 2005The Blogging Bit By the way, the blogging bit in the product isn't about the OPML Editor. It's about the community. It's about getting the word out. It's sorta like including a printing press, a radio station or a television channel with a product. Hey, while you check out my product, why not tell the world about how it's going. Yes, I know they're going to be bugs, and some stuff won't be perfect -- but it's cool. Just tell everyone how it's going with you. It's feedback that'll get put into the product. That's a good thing. Screencasting and the OPML Editor I made five screencasts at work today. I've been trying to evangelize TWiki and decided the best way to introduce people to editing Wiki pages was to make screencasts. I broke each part of the process into a separate movie. I occurs to me that the OPML Editor could use a similar treatment. Inspired by John Udell, I downloaded Windows Media Encoder, put on a Logitech headset with microphone and started making movies. At home I use a Mac, so I'll need to find some software that'll do the same thing Macside. Since I know Steve Jobs reads all these OPML blogs after bumping into Dave in SF -- Steve, I need a free download that'll let me make screen movies on the Mac. OPML Roadshow Notes (raw) I'm a bit late on this, but here' s my stream of typing coverage of Dave's Roadshow the other night. I haven't really edited it, but I did put it in some basic HTML to make it more readable. It was typed into a big text file using a Palm T5 and a wireless keyboard. |
Last modified: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 1:18 AM.
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