03 June 2003

What is a blog? CLONMEL HOTSPOT -- A few weeks ago, I started a meme "What is a blog" and I've noticed some definitions and such as "a blog is a tool that allows the unedited voice of single person to speak." Dave Winer contrasts this with content management systems (workflow drowns out individual voices) and wikis (your contributions can be edited by others). Dave Winer: "What makes a Weblog a Weblog?" x_ref1256

02 June 2003

Tripod Blog Builder now available LYCOS -- I've known several people who depend on Tripod. Now, premium users can avail of Tripod Blog Builder. The function is available in both Tripod and Angelfire subscription packages, letting consumers create, edit and publish online without learning complex software commands. Tripod Blog Builder x_ref1256

Irish bloggers meeting tomorrow GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- Providing I can compress an afternoon meeting into the morning, I am going to The Central Hotel in Dublin for an 8PM meeting on 3 June of Irish bloggers. I always like to put faces next to the names. And I hope to be able to point to my new URL: UnderwayInIreland.com, along with subtly soliciting links to it. x_ref1256

Joi Ito meets Karlin Lillington IRELAND -- Karlin Lillington went to Zurich and observed first-hand how Joichi Ito believes the communications mesh in the blogsphere has real power. He spend at least five hours a day tied to his main weblog, considering it "like a conversation, not like publishing." He calls blogigng "a very messy online phenomenon." He regularly scans through some 900 other weblogs to keep up with what the rest of the Web world is saying. He also keeps a communal Wiki in shich anyone can come in and edit or contribute content on his paper entitled Emergent Democracy. More than 3m weblogs exist now, with 4% of Americans regularly reading or maintaining them. I've watched Usenet groups, mailing lists, discussion boards, thematic networks and now weblogs serve as focal points for various interests. For the moment, blogs have the critical mass needed to congeal an emerging mob mentality. Whether that evolves into an emergent democracy or a blaying rabble is up to the content that's repropagated and communicated. Karlin Lillington: "Blogging at the centre of emerging democracy" x_ref1256

Blogging towards emergent information nodes GARRINGREEN ISDN -- Twenty years from now, when I look back on this weblog, I wonder if I'll perceive it as a form of electronic note-taking. Five years from now, when this weblog is established as a credible signpost on the Worldwide Web, I hope its topical synopses feed thousands of Instant Messenger aggregators. Three years from now, I want snippets from this blog to appear on electronic paper in the hands of commuters. And a year from now, I hope someone in the mainstream press will cite a finding from "Underway in Ireland." x_ref1256