Isn't There a Word for This? There must be a word out there that describes this: When you have something new, this is especially common with gadgets, there is a lopsided histogram path of enthusiasm towards that thing. When one is riding the left taller part of the curve, one has no crediblity to give recommendations. It's almost like a conflict of interest, but not quite. Example: I caught up with my friend Sylvia this summer. The last time we had met we were struggling with the Tomcat-Apache configuration files on her machine ("just work, damn you!"). This time she informed me that she hired some whiz kid down the street to iron it out for her. He also had set up Ant. "Have you tried Ant?" Sylvia asked me. I had seen 'Ant' mentioned all over the java google groups. No, I told her I hadn't tried it but am curious as to what Ant is. "What is Ant??? ANT, my friend, is absolutely anything you want it to be. AND, on top of THAT, if you don't make Ant into something - [now she is whispering] there is the Default Ant which already does everything for you." Sylvia was too new to Ant to give a credible recommendation. Ant is very cool, by the way. I bring this up because I am consciously keeping my lips buttoned when the subject of weblogs or personal websites or (god forbid) Radio Userland comes up in face time conversation. I am still riding the upper curve of the lopsided histogram. If someone were come up to me right now and ask if I find that this k-log or weblog or thing called Radio useful for knowledge management, this would be my reply: "Is it useful? Oh absolutely. You see: klogs...or generally keeping a weblog, - it makes you smarter than you really are." Credibility: blown. Better wait a couple months to start evangelizing. [Update]: BJ, my coworker, says he is super close to an Ant configuration that brews him a cup of tea. 8:05:18 PM    comment []

Good Etiquette Requires Knowing Your Role I posted a remark (humor was my intention) on the radio message board the other day. After ten minutes I removed it because I'm a little new to be poking jabs. A veteran would probably be perceived as a harmless jokester. As a newbie, I decided that was inappropriate given my role. Klogging Roles.. I forsee several klogging roles. Catalyst. Alpha blogger. Someone who klogs well, leads by example, provokes and inspires others to join a klogging community. If you've used Blogtree, naming your inspirations, you know what I mean. Coach. The person who helps newbies, builds internal FAQs, nurtures laggards, acknowledges great posts. Soft skills, communication and social skills, are not evenly distributed. The coach helps everyone join and get better. Chief metablogger. Armorer. Works with IT to develop configs, scripts, integration with enterprise apps and messaging services. Power macros. Engaging templates. Technologist and architect. Practice leader. Informal leaders of subcultures in larger organizations. The one in legal who drives the whole department to start klogging. The rep in the Cincinatti sales office who gets her colleagues to start customer-specific blogs. Watch for lists of like-minded colleagues. They may also connect to like-minded communities at suppliers, customers, and the wild blogosphere. Mix and match. Recruit for excellence in one or more. Hire ringers if your community is large enough. One other point: I beleive (without hard numbers) that blogging and klogging can improve your personal marketability. I'm exploring this at Bloggers for Hire. Suggestions welcome. [a klog apart] 12:22:48 PM    comment []

Nicely Done: Poalo's Format Clearly Distinguishes Quote from Annotation Do to templates, the look may change but Poalo accomplishes quote and annotation with elegance. This blockquote is both indented and italicezed. It's further set off by a vertical dotted line as its left alignment boundary. This style removes the need for quotation marks. His annotation is outdented and non-italicized. Very clear, nicely done. 12:10:01 PM    comment []

I've GOT to get my hands on Paolo's Distiller RSS Distilling courtesy of Paolo. Haven't tried it yet, but I will. Oh yes..... I WILL try this. 11:59:20 AM    comment []

First Entry in Jargon Glossary Category : ROTFL rolling on the floor laughing. [Ken Dow] 11:07:39 AM    comment []

No Excuses Clagnut could make the rest of us look bad. When I stumbled upon him I subscribed right away because of his simple presentation that used color to accomplish subtle emphasis. Turns out he's color blind! Thoughtful dialogue. "I love the new version of TopStyle (Pro 3). Its colour picker is a piece of genius, packed with so many features (all of them useful in their own way), particularly to colour ‘blind’ users such as yours truly." [Clagnut] 10:34:04 AM    comment []