Demosthenes Tantalidis' Radio Weblog

New Book Coming Up

Essential Blogging Public Review
by Nathan Torkington
May. 22, 2002

Essential Blogging will be available in stores in August. Aimed at a technology-literate O'Reilly audience, Essential Blogging shows how to install and use the major weblog tools: Blogger, Radio Userland, Blosxom, and Movable Type.
Written by bloggers (Cory Doctorow, Rael Dornfest, J. Scott Johnson, Shelley Powers, Benjamin Trott, and Mena G. Trott) who use the tools every day (and, in the case of Movable Type and Blosxom, who wrote the tools!), Essential Blogging aims to be useful without being boring. We need your help to make sure it meets that promise.
Please download the PDFs of the tech review draft of Essential Blogging and give it a read. Is it good? Did we forget to cover something? Did we talk about something that's not really useful? Our goal isn't to be definitive and show you everything that these tools are capable of, but instead to give the beginning blogger enough to be dangerous. Did I say dangerous? I meant productive.
The book isn't aimed at people who already blog, although many such readers will find useful information such as customizing their blogging software. Picture your coworkers who haven't discovered blogging yet--they know how to work their computer, they've seen a couple of blogs and figure they want to run one themselves. You should be able to give them this book and it'll educate them about choices of software and hosting, walk them through installing and using their chosen software.
The zip file contains a cover letter that explains what we're looking for and how to send in your comments. I'll be sending the authors your comments on Tuesday the 28th, so have them in by the end of next Monday!
In addition, we're also looking for contributions to a "Blogging Voices" chapter. Pass on your words of wisdom and experience.
I look forward to your comments!
--Nat

Nathan Torkington is an editor, co-chair of the O'Reilly Bioinformatics Technology Conference, and content planner for the O'Reilly Open Source Convention.

Shouldn't the "Blogging Voices" chapter in this book have The Shifted Librarians contributions?

demos

Could not resist

My first and last time to violate the unwriten rules, here is a link to the K Worker's musing's.

From Demosthenes-

"XML#.

XML is the most over rated technology of the 20th and 21st century!!!"

Care to elaborate, Demosthenes? I know nothing about XML and would love to know why you think it's overrated. -Jeb [Jeb Trowbridge's Radio Weblog]

Been a while since I looked at all the logs!

I assume that overrated is in the context of a busines solution, as a technology solution I fail to see how in the history of computing it had anything more to offer than ASCII. In fact ASCII helped better in inter-operability in most of computing histort including the present than XML. XML would have to help us either in business model innovation or as a product innovation. I fail to see where the product innovation comes in since XML by it-self is nothing more than another SGML. The root of all mark-up languages including HTML. SGML description were standarized and that is great. Unline HTML XML can have its own tags. Which means an XML document can conform to a "tag" schema decribing the allowed tags or elements so to speak of the document. In HTML this is part of the spec and does not change from version to version thus HTML 4.0 is very well understood because it is constant between versions, which is a plus but very bad when you want to descibe data (HTML descibes visual presentations,at least intended too) differently depending on who you are and who is the audience. Here is were XML comes.

The original intention was to have a way to descibe data and come out of the need to re-describe schema and come up with new versions; This mostly was positioned inthe marker as an EDI (Electronic Data Exchnage) a very weel understood and robust specification for business which has been in use for decades (the dawn of computing). No what XML did was to give poeple the ability to describe data in an SGML formed way basically using tags or document elements AND also said that the schema of its document is up to the author. The reader can then receive the document without the schema and try to figure our the data but will still know that the document conforms to a readable version (in XML speak it is well formed). The reader if he has the schema will be able to validate the document against the schema and know that the intendend meaning of each element is ( assuming the reader understands the schema and was agrees with the sender of its meaning) and that the document is actually following the schema (in XML speak it is validated) the document can contain additional information that are not part of the schema and still the reader will be able to see if it is well formed additional information can then be interpreted by the reader as he wants to.

This might be the point to mention that independent of protocol and transmittion and network specifics XML documents are in human readable form basically ASCII characters.

Our UserLand logs are XML documents, and that is what RSS is just another XML document which happens to have an XML schema that says Title/Link/Categoy/Enclosure/Message Body etc are part of the document. That is all.

Therefore all readers can read the RSS and undestand the intent of the document having the Syndication being define by the XML schema. BTW the XML schema is also a readable ASCII(text) document with meta-data about the XML document elements and is also in XML form. (by virtue of being an SGML document) I think so older SW implementations of XML if not still around might have used the DTD instead of XML-schema . DTS =document type descriptor i think

So I don't see it as a technological or product innovation, at all. First it failed to replace EDI or its adoption cycle is more than 10 years which is highly unusual for a SW technological innovation. Then i think it got re-positioned in the market as the inter-operability solution. Just because we have an XML schema that everyone has does not mean that you can actually use it in the same way as everyone else. Also it does not mean that anyone with a 1970s computer using ASCII could not come up with communication SW to accomplish the same thing. Besides 1980s technologicy such as CORBA has addressed the inter-operability questions. And in the 1990s it was eclipsed by Jave Object Serialization. BTW 1970-1980 non-relational database or Object Oriented datbases could process (parse data) with the same flexibility as XML. Keep in mind that XML does not mean Software code only the SGML specification IBM/MS and everybody else on the planet have their own SW to parse and validate XML which is standard but what does the application SW do with the data after it gets it? STill has to know what the XML schema elements means. Therefore meaning and knowledege or inter-operabilitiy is still an issue. This is the second missed the train for XML event. Now XML is a de-facto standard and everyone is on it. What happened?

Is it a global mistake, the lights were off when SW was developed?

Is it overjealous technocrats creating another abstraction of the most mundane technology and calling it the best next things since sliced bread?

Is it lazy programmers that wanted to have an easy way to see and manipulate data over networks and "parse" the #$#$ of it for what ever purpose it pleased them except being cool?

Is it because the Java came into play and that made XML make sense? I don't think so, one has nothing to do which each other. Althought I would tend to think that most XML parsers are written in Jave at least till recently.

And where is the business innovation? Is it because everyone decided to do XML that the network externality pushed this into mainstream?

Or is is because business wanted to have a solution and in the midst of the 90's 100Billion overspend in SW it made it way throught to people that did undertand that the same benefits could be achived with even legacy systems?

Or is is not over-rated because it did help business manage process, people and data. No integration returns have been solely attributed to XML. More like good best practices , and traditionaly KM tools such as SW develpment methodology and business analysis tools help for increasing value through process integration and improvement.

These are my quick thoughts!

And I am not going to go to wheather XML is a programming language, a markup language perhaps.

More Thoughts

Knowledge Management Research Group - Sweden.

The KMR group is a research group at CID, the Centre for user oriented IT design. We are driven by a desire to create new and powerful ways to structure and communicate information in order to support its exformation into knowledge and transmutation into understanding. Our problem domains include educational, industrial as well as administrative settings.

Here's a group over in Sweden looking at the intersection of KM and learning.

[Jim McGee: McGee's Musings - TEC924]

So should'n the browser of the semantic web be a concept browser vs. being a Hyper-linked browser of dumb pages and links?

This web site has big implications one that meaning is about interaction and that usefull learning might be as easy in the future as operating a doorknob. We might reach a time were there is no ink or event eink needed. Direct communication verbal and visual will be enough. The digital divide will then be the make-sense divide where even if speaking the same language one would not understand each other because the experiences between two people might be so vastly different that we will think of them being from another planet. (This happens today also but not for learning reasons)

Since not all communication actuall leads to structured and value added learning I predict that the 'synaptic'concept browser will emerge first. Something that will fire our neurons in a less coherent way similar to reflections or 'browsing' of blogs.

I am not so excited about the use of ULM at CIT (UML derivation) for internal modeling purposes I guess I can live with it I am not so excited of modeling because of the same reasons we talked about it captures K in information and encodes it with a pattern ( that is literal in this case) then we can use that for illustrative purposes but we have to go back and do it all over again +1 sec later where the modeled world changed.

KM and INFO (demosthenes's Radio Log)

Creg wrote:

In class we discussed this idea of whether or not computers can have knowledge or do they just have information. The example was a calculator adding 2 + 2: is that knowledge of addition? I'm still not sure what I think here. My general reaction is that this is the processing of information but I'm not sure how that differs from knowledge. Does the ability to follow a procedure or execute an algoritm require knowledge? What about IBM's Big Blue Chess computer? Does that have knowledge of the game of chess?

I personally like the idea that knowledge requires human interaction - it requires cognition, context, experience, etc. However, I'm not certain that this is true. Nonetheless, I think it is this type of knowledge that is more interesting and has more value within organizations. That is dynamic knowledge vs. static knowledge.

[Greg Harmeyer's KM Weblog]

Yes the answer is that yes a calc does have knowledge because the calc has also knowledge of the (+) that is the algorithm, which has the knowledge encoded it in much like a manual that instructs the computer what to do. Algorithm comes from the Greek Algos which mean "labor (pain)", therefore an algorithm is supposed to be mechanical and manual and repetative, however that procedure

NOTICE NO DOUBLE LOOP LEARNING in the 2+2 THIS IS HARD TO DO IN COMPUTERS

(I think you refer to Dynamic K as the double loop learning, humans call one aspect of the double loop learning their mental model, BIG blue has that mental model encoded again on an aspect of its algorithm or optimization technique, it would be interesting to point out that these algorithms or techniques are also very hard to describe or formulate a-priori therefore in the computer field they are called heuristic algorithms, same as an ad-hoc human approach that we know works.)

However the BIG BLUE not only has algorithms that encode mathematical knowledge in order to evaluate moves but also has Exprert K( database of previous games and analysis) on top of this it also had double loop learning (adaptive learning or AI techniques). And Guess what the adaptive learning is also algorithm(s) (or optimization techniques which I will treat the same) that AI experts have encoded in a program and Is that all information or is it knowledge?

In the KM world, seems that we should only talk about information that encodes K and ALLLLLL information encodes knowledge. The information that does not encode K is just noise. In the case of big blue as in the case of the class case people could and wrote the manual or algorithm (to much use of labor) to beat Casparov or make sure RAs will know what to do with HS students.

Following a procedure does require some K ( for practical reasons I will assume it does not since not everyone is an automaton, for computers yes)

My thoughts.

All information has K encoded in it
Information with out K is noise and should not be the study of KM
Humans only affect the way information and K is encoded and managed.

I have created knowledgeworker.blogger.com anyone with some FTP capable space so we can get it going after June with group access ids? It seems that the Userland space cannot be FTPd from earthlink or Kellogg. Any ideas?

demos

Getting it Right?

... cell phones and gaming PDAs when cool - and affordable - games start showing up in that sphere. The first winner in the race to that goal line that gets that combination right will gain untold reputation, loyalty, and revenue numbers.I was going to note that Net Gens will drive this revolution and while that's true overall, my generation (Gen Xers) are big video game nuts, too, and we have even more disposable income than they do.

[The Shifted Librarian]

That is a very good point , it might be true, one tip in marketing I got last week was that MS should have pulled Xbox from the market instead of cutting prices. Doesn't this send a singal that the Xbox did not worth it? MS should have pulled it back and re-introduced something much more complelling. Hopefully they are going to get it right since I hear their top execs will be getting some Kellogg help.

demos

Sounds Good

Because I was realllllllly bored with the interaction I had with the web. I wanted a "Website" to make me aware and keep me interested. No ammount of push content can do that!

demos

QUESTION

I am seduced by the concept of the weblog. I was asked why

WEB LOG IN EDUCATION WEBSITE

Here is on link for blogs in schools, might help for Jim's comment follow up.

http://www.schoolblogs.com/

demos

WEBLOG derivative

---------------------------------------------LINK CORRECTED!!!!!

A weblog spin using the concepts of threads , I suppose people are more comfortable with a distilled version of one line comments, still it does not appear this is a powerfull site but it points out that weblog technology might be catching on.

demos

Thought

Information SILOs will serve INTEL well, how are they divisions organized? I wonder!

Only the paranoid survive. Or Better yet only the schizophrenic are taken seriously because they are serious

Is INTEL not getting it? I thought it is really interesting that this is coming from INTEL. Maybe not so, I remember a case from Greenstein's course (Technology Management) and the strategies that INTEL employed to both collaborate with and eliminate its competition, one case in particular only AMD survived from the group of CPU chip manufacturers. (Was not their philosophy only the paranoid survive?) Certainly that paranoia might exaplain why they care on copyrights, just in case everyone else is whiped out from the information landscape and they are left with the digital key to the whole world. What explains then the schizophrenia on embracing tyranic copyright laws and then doing nothing to their products to enforce the brand new world.

(BTW the INTEL CHIP ID , supposedly turned off by default, but any 8-year old with an x86 assembler can turn on, is alive and well in every Pentium class CPU in the world.)

Perhaps this schizophrenia is very deliberate and a sign that it is OK to enjoy the freedon and openess of this market but just in case statue turns things around they can be ready to create THE MONOPOLY and make that Gorilla seem like a puppy.

Which brings me to the most exciting point, imagine what kind of K sharing INTEL has institutionalized in order to operate as both a strong competitor and close collaborator I wonder if anyone has seen any KM stories from inside Intel.

INTEL STATEGIC ISSUES INCLUDED.

•

Technical leadership & the patent portfolio

–Using patents as a bargaining tool (FTC probe)

–Internal info as bargaining tool (also FTC probe) (Not sharing internal docs with OEMs I think was the issue)

•The move to smaller chips/low margins

–AMD got there first

–How Intel responded; was this wise?

•New market development

–Future mismatch of mkt need & Intel’s design?

–Using existing assets or moving direction toward them

HERE ARE KEY POINTS THAT INTEL HAS PLAYED VERY WELL FOR YEARS.

•The frontier/compatibility tradeoff

•The collaboration/protection trade-off

•The paranoid executive

–Anticipating industry evolution

demos

Check out the Gilmore link in particular. Then ask what it is about large organizations (Intel, MPAA, etc) that causes them to be so completely disconnected from the real world............. when they appear to get it.

[Jim McGee: McGee's Musings - TEC924]

Too much info to handle and store (I am not going back to threads/newsgroups)

I second that emotion. Radio wish list: Aggregator Improvements.

(............. Rick;s posting ..... on Radio imporvements )

[tins ::: Rick Klau's weblog]

I, too, have become a serious news aggregator addict. These are all excellent ideas for improvement. Here's another thought. Take Marc Barrot's ActiveRenderer developments and integrate those ideas into the aggregator.

[Jim McGee: McGee's Musings - TEC924]

Some of the impovements were about control and storing more information which will probably not be read later, I thought the 7 day rule for bloggers was on of the strengths of the community and ephimeral natures of this tool. On the other hand why don't we give more control to the computer for things that are not so ephimeral, there are some recent summarization tools from inxight.com a HP-Invent spin-off for both distilling texts and visualizing structures of information. ( will try a post later on this so people can run it live using alink). In short I would prefer the machine to help out on older information and my self to be in control of the real time stuff.

demos tech924

Linux DVD MPAA?

Now that is some page, while exploring if I can use my DVD burner on my Linux.

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/

Some interesting points on Intellectual propery some of these came from the Napster case. Is this fight for knowledge silos going to go on for ever? Not-Sharing can tell us something about sharing.

XML#

XML is the most over rated technology of the 20th and 21st century!!!

WEB LOG PROBLEMS?

Check that your password is the correct one because if it is not it will not work for upstreaming, if still having problems reinstall you will not loose your postings

myUrl = adrcapabilities^.serverCapabilities.yourUpstreamFolderUrl

This line is what fails on the code. Looks like my server does not know what the cloud server atrtributes are, for posting? Nothing in the PREFS. Oh well

Class Notes W6

Transformation of Knowledge

What are the forms of Knowledge Tacit/Coded, Types of Transformation are Institutional and Individual

Transformation is happening all the time everywhere within an organziation

How to make KM work more visible, Toyota had the System of Clean Things where you could identify where things were in what state by visualo inspection only, this was meant for labor workers and not Knowledge workers. In similar terms, a visual inspection of KM is already happening by email logs, HTTP proxy logs, and other tools that can quickly get a snapshot of person, team and org behavior , however these are primitive and no-one knows what info piece is more valuable.

Post here to force my log to upstream, hope this works, after disabling my firewall!!! here we go.

That's why no one seems to care about what I posted, also I am worried about using mutltple machines with my web log, would a shared drive keeping my Folder contect work? Will have to figure this out soon.

I don't now why my blog is not upstreaming things are sitting around in my local folder, changed the settings. I figured for people that have no coffec cups to use for adding them to your log you can use the link of their weblog nad suerid number and adding rss.xml at the end.

"http://radio.weblogs.com/userid/" + "rss.xml"

http://radio.weblogs.com/0106067/2002/04/29.html

Some one mentioned ROI and Strategy? If only I could get the search engine here to find out, or do I really need that?
From Stratigic to Tactical to Operational Decisions,
This cycle might be only partially adopted in companies were decision might not take this 3 step route
Then ROI just becomes another Tool if these were followed, because in the process the raw information and
processes would be there to support it. But how do organizations really "learn" as institutions?

Who have to take 2 steps back to be able to advance one step forward. (popular quote?)
KM Tools at the organization level
Steering Committees centered on a specifical topics
Task Force
RRT TCON
Architectural Board
Architectural Steering Committee
Lunch Bites Meetings (mostly centered on a concrete topic, and across departments)

The best learning I think occurs where the learning is cultural ,
perhaps in companies that have been around for decades and
have created a brand and strategy that is humming along,

Regarding the blog phenomenon, I remember in 1988 I was using a ancestor of the Internet
called BITNET, (BBS dialups were still around then at 2400 bps)
mostly an educational network but there were gateways to other networks also, some GOPHER servers
came on shortly later in the 80's (short of HTML like, same functionality)

Granted the tools to navigate this mess were not that great, email was there and with the exception of the @ addressing
(if i recall correctly) the collaboration tool I had in front of me was tremendous that being email.

As hyperlinking and the internet was used by early adopters, I again remember in the early nineties
wondering why would anyone care about graphics on the "net" what we really needed was
communication and collaboration tools.

I have been using newgroups and other tools and am trying to get this blog in my mind,
one aspect of not having a clear posting thread is interesting! You just navigate around.
Another interesting aspect is that not everything is public, only small connected logs are
seen by the people that are interested on them. (Some better management is needed in the blogs)
BTW all is implemented with of the shelf late 90's technology and we really do need to have 100 settings to choose from
which are remnants of the tech people that designed the program, Yes Linux Open Source Developers care about these
including myself but the average person does not need to use whois on an IP.
Unless some Korena or Chinese person is trying to get through his DSL router
(I am spending more time trying to stop that latelly!!!)

Test Category

ROI. A picture is worth 1000 words, What is a thought worth? My answer: IT IS EITHER PRICELESS. OR TOTALLY WORTHLESS

Capturing tacit knowledge makes sense only when trying to Teach Archealogists how to appreciate dead languages, Greek, ?

Thought Experiment, Turing Test of KM

Capture encrypted knowledge and only transfer the use of it per transaction Knowledge Worker is protected?

Instead of Codifying the K of a worker.

Honda Case, Where is the Strategy? Where is the KM, only need Best Practices to use knowledge or rent it don't capture it or transfer it outright