What are the 'Deficiencies' of Current CMS?

I have joined this fascinating discussion (in the Comments) on the 'Deficiencies' of Current CMS (Content Management Systems [for education]).

under(a)ware

These video shorts(almost literally) are darkly brilliant.

The blurb:

"contemporary chastity proposals for 'underwearable' technologies.


Medieval chastity belts were deplorable objects of power and control - as symbolic and physically debilitating as shackles - and an indication of the then view of infidelity.


The following are 6 proposals for devices that experiment with the notion of contemporary chastity belts.


As sexual, social and emotional power-balances have changed, these devices embody an evolution from medieval objects: exploring various sensing and network technologies rather than physical obstruction.  


Some of these devices are intended to be worn by people who are aware of their function; others provide opportunity for clandestine surveillance by jealous, concerned or paranoid people."

Aware

These guys' project could be just the sort of thing that could make our capsules a possibility:

"The Aware platform is a design tool and a production environment. It allows for collective publication and syndication of mobile media. The focus is upon relations between objective and subjective contextual information, such as proximity, location, temporality, theme and event.

Important strategies are:

—working from the lowest common technological denominator to maintain flexibility and inclusiveness

—open-source solutions within propriety networks

—human relationships and experience

—context and situatedness"

capsules

I visited Gunpowder Park on Monday afternoon with my girlfriend, Charla. We met up with Keith Watson there, the Field Station Manager for the Park. Keith showed us around the grounds, which look for all the world like long-established meadow land, but which in fact have been completely remade in the last few years. Gunpowder Park used to be a weapons testing facility, so the old, contaminated topsoil had to be replaced and then all the carefully-planned species of plants planted.

My impression of the Park was that of verdant pre-civilization. A blank slate, not in terms of nature but in terms of human culture.

Keith mentioned his interest in mobile phone-based network services that allow the user to associate SMS messages with specific geographical locations (utilising their mobile phone’s Global Positioning System). Charla, who works as a drama therapist, was much taken by the idea of being able to, as it were “etch in the air”. I posited a network whereby users could leave rich media (text, sound, images, video) “capsules” at any location within the park and “discover” other capsules simply by moving around the landscape with a mobile device.

I gave some more thought to this concept yesterday. I realised that the Gunpowder Park website could be developed to centre around this digitally-enriched landscape: an interactive map could allow the user to move around, zooming in and out, and to discover the media “capsules” at any given location within the Park. What could be really exciting would be to have the whole web site integrated into this virtual landscape, so that the various strata of information about the place (history, info about the organisation, plans and forthcoming projects and events, “capsules” from previous projects and events and so on) would all be accessible through the same map (while being clearly differentiated from one another). In this way, the web site could become an extension of the physical site.

Capsules could be accessed according to various combination of criteria: not only location, but also date and time, media type, the capsule creator’s name and so forth. So, for instance, one could revisit a location one year on from a project held there and build on what was created one calendar cycle previously. Or perhaps work with the sound capsules stored at the location from each of the four seasons of the year. Or work with video material created by a particular group in various locations from the same time period. Imagination is the limit!

Blogware for Kidz

This software looks pretty simple to use compared to other blogging tools like Movable Type or Blogger.

Many-to-Many: Reputation and Society

Clay Shirky is as perceptive and cogent as ever in this piece on Reputation and Society. Lots of resonances here with the i-together software's own (top-secret as yet!) organic reputation-tracking system.

Browser Wars 2004: The Industry Makes An End Run Around Internet Explorer

J. Hobs on Browser Wars 2004: The Industry Makes An End Run Around Internet Explorer.

Browser-based RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) that can be dragged onto the desktop and continue to function, integrating local and remote data sources?! It's speculation, but if it's true, it could herald some exciting times ahead, and at last a viable challenge to the Microsoft IE hegemony.

Gunpowder Park

My friend Keith Watson has just landed an arts co-ordinator position at Gunpowder Park in Essex, a new project, sited on the biggest green space in Greater London, that is focused on promoting "collaboration between artists, scientists, ecologists, schools and universities". Keith is one of the i-together foundation's founder trustees, so he's already on our team.

I am imagining an interactive exhibition of kids' creations, physical and virtual, based on a physical project at the Park itself, perhaps with linkups via the i-together weblog network to groups of kids in other countries/locations...

Hub flexibility and freedom

To pick up on an issue that Blake has raised in an email to me today, it's worth clarifying some of the flexibility and freedom that each hub would enjoy in the i-together meta-network. The topics I've suggested ("tree planting", "stone carving" etc.) are simply examples, so they might be replaced by event-specific ones, more general ones in terms of subject, or even omitted altogether, initially or permanently!

The main thing is that the facility is there as and when it is required by each hub and client, so projects can be organised with optimal proportions of focus and freedom. In terms of our pilot project, we could leave topic categorisation aside until we have the basic blog network up and running and people comfortable with the process. The topic categorisation stuff could then be added progressively as required.

Blogging — the Ultimate Social Software?

This piece by Peter Caputa on how (in his words) Blogging is the Ultimate Social Software resonates strongly with the i-together software concept. Lots of useful links to follow, too. Now let's get clear on the benefits that i-together can offer beyond what's described in the article...

weblog network newsfeed aggregation (part 2)

Here are some more thoughts on how we might organise the i-together/Global Generation newsfeeds.

Firstly, a diagram showing how the posts on each network-member weblog (both those of staff and clients, but in this example one of the kids) could dynamically feed into the appropriate topic area within the appropriate section (staff, educational group or kids) of the G.G. hub weblog:




Secondly, an illustration of how each hub could be the "end point" of these topic-differentiated newsfeeds, with the i-together superhub linking to an aggregated feed of all posts within each section (staff, educational group or kids):




The reason for this is partly technical, as it makes sense for each hub to manage their chosen topics both on their hub and on the client sites. In explanation: say G.G. added "wind power" as a topic on their hub, they would also add that topic remotely to each client blog. That way, when a kid or group want to contribute to that topic, they merely have to select it from a menu when posting.

Another reason for prioritising the hubs over the superhub with finer granularity of newsfeed differentiation is to give the hubs unique value beyond that of the superhub, which then acts to drive traffic to the hubs.

weblog network feed aggregation (part 1)

I've been thinking some more on what we can do with those newsfeeds... Here's a diagram showing how topics on the G.G. hub weblog could be divided into (at least) three sub-sections, for posts by G.G. staff and clients (i.e. kids and their educational groups), and saved searches of the blogosphere (blogs across the web - this third category would allow us to pick up on the most popular and well-regarded material on the topic from blogs beyond the G.G. network, thus potentially cross-pollinating our own work nicely):



And here's a diagram showing how those topic sub-sections could in turn be made available as individual feeds, in addition to the combined feed for the topic as a whole:



More on this topic soon...

Displaying an RSS Newsfeed on a Movable Type Site

Hooray! I found this useful article which describes how to pull in content—via RSS—to a Movable Type weblog:

Displaying an RSS Newsfeed on Your Site

worldKit

worldKit "is an easy to use and highly flexible mapping application for the Web. It's a Flash based app, configured entirely by XML, data fed by RSS, and requires no programming or extra software."

...this could be a brilliant tool for mapping i-together weblog communities around the world.

weblog network ideas

I had a great discussion yesterday evening with Blake and Robin of Global Generation about creating a weblog network for kids with a central hub weblog—or perhaps multiple hub weblogs—to facilitate and focus projects. Here's a diagram suggesting how the various weblogs could be constellated, with only the non-optional connections (Blake with his own organisation, kids with their educational group etc.) marked in. It shows an idea that came to me this morning of developing multiple hubs (perhaps under the auspices of the i-together foundation) which would be free to affiliate with each other or not. i-together could serve as a hub of hubs "superhub", taking responsibility for facilitating the "meta network". At the same time, the educational groups might work with just one or many of the hub organisations. So we could have Global Generation, Children on the Edge, Walking Eagle's project and so on, each with much in common with the other, but at the same time run independently. Feedback (Somebody PLEASE leave my very first Comment—I'm beginning to feel I'm talking to myself here. : )?

A transparent and open macchiato, please

Starbucks makes a great deal of their social and environmental concerns, with words such as "organic", "Fair Trade", "sustainability" and "community" peppering the promotional messages within their shops.

I was having an espresso macchiato yesterday evening with a friend, and, assuming that I'd been served the non-organic, unfair trade brew because I hadn't expressed a preference otherwise, wondered aloud to her just how easy it would be to buy an organic, Fair Trade version of the same to drink there.

You can't.

The friendly barrista was happy to explain to me what was what: bags of ground organic and Fair Trade coffees were for sale; the coffee of the day, which is served in filter coffee only, is sometimes Fair Trade (it was that day); it is possible to order organic coffee to drink in, but it's not advertised on the board and they have to make it in a caffetiere.

"Uh...so how many people would normally order organic coffee in a day?"

"None."

Manipulative brand messages, don't you love them? I've been going to Starbucks—occasionally—for years, for the convenience and comfy furniture if not the coffee's quality. I always buy organic, Fair Trade ground coffee at the supermarket, and yet at Starbucks, somehow the combination of reassuring brand messages mentioning the right keywords and a lack of obvious corresponding options on the menu (and plethora of others) had allowed me to fudge the issue in my mind.

I have a coffee to relax, to indulge, even. I don't want to have to turn investigative agent to do the right thing at the same time. I want to be given clear information and choices, to be guided effortlessly. I want the brand to serve me, not merely its own self-image.

But so long as we buy into the whole brand monolith way of ensconcing us in lullingly feelgood messages and images, an orange-lit "home from home" that is really no-one's home, I can't see that happening. I want to be able to put my own sign up on the wall, next to the soft-focus images of happily-toiling coffee growers saying "Thanks for the comfy chairs and friendly service. But how about making it a bit easier to buy organic and Fair Trade coffee here?".

Global Generation proposal

Here are some ideas for a collaboration of i-together with Global Generation, an NGO that encourages kids to explore their lives in terms of the whole world, particularly with regard to the environment.

Global Generation is already working with several schools and youth groups in London, and has plans for projects in Africa and other overseas locations. I put it to Blake Ludwig and Robin Daly, two founding members of G.G., that social software such as weblog tools (and, in the longer term, i-together’s own software), could give them and the kids they work with an online, geographically independent platform and set of tools for developing, presenting, exploring and communicating about the offline, geographically focused projects they create. Blake and Robin are really positive about the idea, and Blake tells me others in G.G. are similarly enthusiastic. We have provisionally arranged to install Moveable Type (weblog software) on Global Generation’s servers next week, but in the meantime, Blake asked me to put together a written proposal for the project. As we are talking about using weblogs, I thought I would post the proposal here, and then people can use the comments facility to add their suggestions and ideas!

So, here goes. Given that the i-together software will not be ready even for trialling for a good number of months, I will focus my main analysis of the online dimension of the project on available software tools such as weblogs, the TypeKey authentification service and newsreaders.

=========================

Weblogging, or blogging, is fast growing in popularity across the developed world as an easy and powerful way of expressing oneself to a global audience, networking with other like-minded people (through links to and from other weblogs) and engaging them in dialogue (through adding comments to weblog entries). Furthermore, the ability to subscribe to a dynamic “newsfeed” (RSS) from a weblog (including those of an increasing number of large organisations, such as the New York Times and Greenpeace), or even from a particular subsection, allows users to read all the recent entries from their favourite sources in a newsreader application (such as NewsGator, which integrates with Microsoft Outlook) without having to visit each site in turn to check for new material. In effect, newsfeeds and newsreaders allow the creation of a completely customised virtual “newspaper”.

Whilst the majority of current bloggers are adults, there is also rapidly increasing interest and activity in schools around weblogging. Peter Ford, of the consultancy ICT 4 Schools, is a leading proponent of school blogging in Britain, and he has expressed enthusiasm to me about i-together and the prospect of working with organisations such as G.G. to promote global and holistic ways of communicating and thinking. Weblogs give kids and their teacher a chance to get proactive with curriculum-centred topics, creating something of their own to present and share online with others rather than focusing their study solely on exam preparation. They also encourage original, critical and creative thinking and the development of good writing style: the public nature of a blog provides a great incentive to develop these crafts and hence the ability to say something interesting and convincing that others will then (hopefully!) read, comment on and recommend.

The mission of i-together, the organisation that my friends and I are in the process of establishing, is to provide opportunities and tools—both online and offline—for people to explore their identity through creativity and relationship. With regard to the online dimension of i-together, I have designed an original web-based application which synthesizes key aspects of weblog, online social network and search services into a simple, transparent, powerful, integrated and intuitive whole. My vision for i-together’s online incarnation is to make a space where people can express themselves and relate to one another with complete freedom within the bounds—enshrined in the space itself—of a mutual respect for one another’s identity.

Developing such software will take time and money. But in the meantime, there is so much we can do to start building online networks with much of the same functionalities (weblog creation, newsfeeds, linking, commenting and drawing interactive boundaries around content) with the existing software tools I mentioned above. It will just need a little technical support, guidance and supervision—support which I am happy to provide!

So here are a set of provisional steps I propose we take along this path:

1) Install Moveable Type weblog software on Global Generation’s web server

Robin Daly and I should be able to work out the installation process (touch wood), and we now have the ftp details from Blake at the ready.

2) Plan, design and implement a Global Generation weblog using Moveable Type

We firstly need to sit down and discuss just what content and features you would like to have in the G.G. weblog. There are some great software tools I haven’t mentioned yet that would be well worth exploring to add interactivity and convenience to the site, so we can take a look at some of those. The planning process will also need to cover the way in which the G.G. weblog can function as a central resource and focus for the satellite weblogs of the individual and groups of kids taking part in G.G. projects, including use of newsfeeds, newsreader software and TypeKey authentification for comments to create a semi-closed community with the network of G.G. blogs.

Having done that planning process, I would recommend having a designer make a “look and feel”, including stylesheets for text formatting. This can be based on one of the templates that come with Moveable Type, thus saving time and money. Once you have this professional design, the implementation will be free (Robin and I should be able to do this fairly quickly), as will updating the site (which, of course, is the whole point of weblogs!). We may also like to think about creating templates for the kids’ weblogs at a later date.

I know two leading designers, who designed the two demos for kids- and i-together: Micael Reynaud at dunun.com and Jonathan Clark respectively. Micael is a lot cheaper and just as good—I used Jonathan for the second demo because the original and complex concepts we needed to implement necessitated a native English speaker (and he is a fabulous designer, well worth the money!). I would guess that we could have Michael customise a single template—based on the existing G.G. site, if you like—for around £150-250.

As I said, I’m happy to donate my time for the project. At the same time, I see this as a first step in establishing i-together itself, so perhaps we could put a link to i-together.net (which must be developed also!—we could link to my blog meanwhile) reading something like “made in association with i-together” on the G.G. weblog?

3) Plan supplementation of forthcoming offline Global Generation projects with online dimension

Brainstorming would be good for this, as there are so many possibilities! We can use text, images, video and audio, potentially. A caveat is that text and still image are most newsreader-friendly as the technology stands, which is perhaps why most weblogs focus on these media. But we can easily get round that limitation using links from textual descriptions of video or audio to the files themselves, so it’s just a question of thinking clearly about how to structure things. Live collaboration—as Blake mooted—is quite another thing! Also do-able, but technically much more involved. Any ideas, Keith?

This stage of planning will also clarify how best to structure the various weblogs—whether to have a main blog for each group and then sub-blogs for each kid, or just the kids who are particularly into the blogging idea, or not at all. Or start with the group blogs and let it build organically (often a good idea... many people start blogs, myself included, in the past, and let them peter out, lacking a sufficiently compelling reason to persevere).

It’s difficult to predict costs at this stage, but they are likely to be primarily from hardware such as digital cameras, digital video cameras, scanner, recording equipment. If things really take off, you’re looking at paying a premium for bandwidth—due to the millions of hits you’re getting on your site, so I’m sure you wouldn’t be complaining! Storage of the rich media (digital video files etc.) is progressively becoming a marginal cost as hard drives get cheaper year on year.

4) Implement online-offline G.G. projects

Stand back and light the blue touch-paper!


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So, I hope that’s all helpful and makes sense. I enthusiastically encourage you to communicate your ideas and feelings about the above, and to suggest any ways in which you feel you might like to get involved, by using the Comments facility below, rather than in personal emails to me. That way, we can get a debate going in one central location where everyone can get to know each other (and get used to using weblogs to collaborate and relate! : ))

Companion Toolbar and Community

Amplify is a toolbar-based web app that allows you to (in their words) "find, collect, save and share content from multiple online sources in personalized pages called Amps. After you create an Amp, you can save it as a Web based multi-source bookmark and access it from the companion toolbar or any computer with an Internet connection. You can also share it with anyone with just a single link. The Amplify companion toolbar also lets you block pop-up ads, search the Web or navigate directly to any category on the Amplify.com community."

An Amp is like a patchwork of content from diverse sources. Very interesting, and highly resonant with aspects of the i-together concept...