New Civilization News: Today, News Logs    
 Today, News Logs12 comments
picture19 Mar 2002 @ 01:13, by Flemming Funch

It is interesting how different environments inspire different kinds of things to go on in them. Now, I'm particularly thinking about that in terms of online programs. Like, this News Log program is structured so that when one posts something it is a bit of an event. That is, one has an article or a poem or something, or at least a link to it somewhere else. And one posts it and everybody notices it, and a bunch of people comment on it, etc.

You know, that is contrasted to an environment where it makes more sense to post many little items. I'm comparing with some of the other programs in the class that the News Log program is in: Web Log programs. Logs made with tools by Userland or Blogger are more suited to mentioning many little tidbits that one might be interested in during the day, without any of them having to be any very big item.

This News Log program is modeled somewhat after programs like Slashdot which is more suitable for actual news items than any of those other log programs are.

Anyway, I'm saying that I'm sometimes missing that angle on it - the more continous diary, containing many little tidbits. Like, today I've been busy with various things during the day, which potentially might be of interest to others, but I might not have an actual article in me.

Some of the other web logs I read often are by techies, kind of like myself, who're working on different things and often referring to what other people are working on. And many of those little references are very useful to their readers, but most of it would be rather cryptic to people who aren't that kind of Internet programmer types, and who wouldn't know what they're talking about at all. And because they write to the same kind of people as themselves, they don't really have to waste much time explaining what they're talking about.

Anyway, I'm considering adding features to the News Log program that might facilitate that way of working with it, as an option. Some of these other programs are structured as a diary, where there's one major entry for each day, and one can fill many little items into that.

Now a few other things ...

I'm playing with different instant messenger programs. The one I use all the time and which is invaluable for me in work is ICQ. But I also have accounts with AIM, Yahoo and MSN, as I occasionally have people I need to speak with on those. And it is a bit silly to have 4 different instant messager programs running all the time.

So, I'm looking at things that can tie that together. There are some programs that will access multiple of these services in the same program. On my Mac laptop I use one called Fire.

And right now I'm trying one out on my Windows desktop called Rival, which does both ICQ, AIM, MSN and Yahoo. And it does that through Jabber, which is an open source instant messenger scheme. The service doesn't seem to be super-reliable, though, possibly because there are too many people on their server. So I'm considering installing the Jabber server program on the NCN server. Which opens up other possibilities, such as integrating instant messenger functionality into the member area here somehow. You know, like being able to get an instant message when somebody enters your favorite chat room or when somebody answered your message or whatever. That's all quite possible.

Btw, the company doing Jabber was started by Andre Durand who started the company doing CommunityWare, which is a conferencing environment I previously had quite some experience with.

One thought: I'm looking for the tools that will best show our unique stories, and the story of all our intertwining stories.


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12 comments

19 Mar 2002 @ 03:57 by istvan : Good
The current format may be getting too restrictive for the increased traffic, so thanks for experimenting with other, perhaps more expansive ways.  


19 Mar 2002 @ 04:05 by ming : Expansion
Yeah, I'm looking for both how we can specialize more, and how we can reach bigger groups, and how we might be accommodated in our different styles and preferences in how we communicate, all hopefully in ways that lead towards greater clarity, and not chaos.  


19 Mar 2002 @ 04:10 by istvan : Emphasis on subjects
What i have in mind is more emphasis on the subjects of research and interest of individuals on particular objects?; if this makes any sense.
Somewhat like this:
"when no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist.
When thougt objects vanish,
the thinking-subject vanishes,
as when the mind vanishes,objects vanish.
Things areobjects because of the subject (mind);
the mind (subject) is souch because of things (object).
Ubderstand the relativity of these two
and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness. (Sengstan)  



19 Mar 2002 @ 04:20 by scottj : Interesting comparison
A notice board could have very cryptic messages linking out to more detail .

everyones posts would be on the same window making it easier than this news page.

That would be very useful although it starts to lose the effectiveness once it gets too big. A searchable database so you can load up archived topics?

Don't know about messengers though, I have found them a perfect recipe for getting nothing whatsoever done for long periods.  



19 Mar 2002 @ 04:25 by jstarrs : Ming, what about...
...a short descriptive/headline of the latest posted Newslog item next to the Newslog title? Just a thought...  


19 Mar 2002 @ 08:08 by ergodicity : Vista
facilitates use of AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, jabber, IRC and Email. Haven't really used it long enough to know if it really works. Would be interested in trying out the instant messaging. The only one I've signed up for is Yahoo.  


19 Mar 2002 @ 13:35 by ming : Good suggestions
And as to Instant Messaging, I use it like people in Finland seem to use their cell phones. Not for chatting, but for brief business-oriented messages. Which saves me a lot of time, in that I can stay on top of a lot of things at the same time. Whereas I can only have one phone conversation at a time and it takes much longer. And I'm very sensitive to not having anybody misuse my Instant Messaging channels. No striking up of smalltalk conversations. Much too valuable a medium for that. For me at least.  


20 Mar 2002 @ 00:40 by jstarrs : Headlines
Thanks very much for the headllines on the logs, Ming - I think it works, no?  


20 Mar 2002 @ 04:36 by ming : headlines
Yeah, I think it helps in better knowing what new you'll find before you enter into a news log.  


20 Mar 2002 @ 14:10 by jewel : Headlines
I don't see the headlines!  


20 Mar 2002 @ 14:15 by jewel : subjects and objects dancing into one
what zendancer writes above... the idea of a 'global brain' where all the info. can be accessed/ shared cross-platforms, cross-databases, cross-circles and cells of info.... from place to place... I like the idea of how the links can be illustrated, immed. accessed on a screen, or stream of screens where all the synapses can be SEEN.

I hate having to go thru the hierachy of how the info. is categorized.. so laborous.... I want to see the design, the synchronicity.... like, what we talk about here is relevant to other groups I am in... how can these notes tie in to other relevant conversations on other flat pages... how can the dimensions be shown, seen? Does it all have to be so flat and logical... how we link it all...that is the buerocracy of current information, is it not????  



20 Mar 2002 @ 14:35 by ming : Information hierarchies
Yeah, I think we need to evolve beyond having to buy into somebody else's hierarchy of how information should be organized. Rather I think we should be able to each do it our own way, and still interact in meaningful ways. Doesn't mean it is easy to make a system like that. Like here in NCN, I've made the list of Subjects, which is never going to be perfect for everybody. But it is better than no categorization at all. And gradually we can evolve things towards that we can cross-relate and organize things at our whim.

The headlines we were talking about above is just that I added the title of the latest article to the listing of news logs in the Communicate page.  



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