Finally managed to get the farm web content up and running under the new JSPWiki - now I just have to hack the templates to conform to the new scheme of things. The advantage is that I'll be able to secure the content-editing using the new permissions system in JSPWiki, instead of my old scheme of having two different template sets. Means I will only have to maintain one template set in future.
JSPWiki is just such a great piece of software; the guys who develop it have a fine sense of "as simple as possible, but no simpler".
27 June 2006
23 June 2006
The Next Wave in the 'Net
A new idea is blowing around in the (cold!) wind: A community blog/newpaper for the South Cape region. Do a quick search on any search-engine of your choice to see what is happening in the South Cape. Good search terms might include "South Cape", "Garden Route", "Knysna" or "Outeniqua". The overwhelming majority of links that come back are tourism-related, and almost all of the rest are real-estate advertising.
Almost everything on the 'net about this region is outward-facing; there's next-to-nothing there for local people to find out what is happening where they live. Caveat: There is a small quantity of inward-facing content in the 'net for South Cap locals, but it is certainly not well placed in the search engines. Perhaps I should try one of the local (South African) search engines, but they all suck.
My initial concept is more like along the lines of a "community blog" than a conventional newspaper. It has everything along the lines of bottom-up content, community-driven development and community-managed editing, etc. that I think are good things to foster. Think along the lines of Slashdot for ordinary people, and with a regional focus. But, given how limited access is to most people in the area, it makes sense to me to try and find ways to tie the "bits" world (the 'net) back into the "bricks" world where most people live.
It's also a fact that, even people who /do/ have some level of 'net access, also run Real Lives(TM) and don't spend a major amount of their time in the 'net. Mostly those who do "live in the 'net" are hacker types like me, or retired people with time on their hands (and the money to fund it, and lower levels of real-world energy). (Note: That's "mostly", not "all".)
I have come to believe that the next wave in the 'net (and most of the real world, or "bricks" world, hasn't yet caught-up with the current wave) will centre around tying the bitworld back into the brick world, and an application of the same bottom-up notions to brickworld. My startup venture (if it ever flies! :-) is a direct application to test the theory.
The news thingie is a sharper application of the same question: Can we get the real news from ordinary people who "see stuff happen" instead of an "ordained ministry who pre-chew our pap"? Including those who lack the advantages of decent 'net access!
If we can be modestly successful at that, then, along the way, we will surely make some money, too.
Almost everything on the 'net about this region is outward-facing; there's next-to-nothing there for local people to find out what is happening where they live. Caveat: There is a small quantity of inward-facing content in the 'net for South Cap locals, but it is certainly not well placed in the search engines. Perhaps I should try one of the local (South African) search engines, but they all suck.
My initial concept is more like along the lines of a "community blog" than a conventional newspaper. It has everything along the lines of bottom-up content, community-driven development and community-managed editing, etc. that I think are good things to foster. Think along the lines of Slashdot for ordinary people, and with a regional focus. But, given how limited access is to most people in the area, it makes sense to me to try and find ways to tie the "bits" world (the 'net) back into the "bricks" world where most people live.
It's also a fact that, even people who /do/ have some level of 'net access, also run Real Lives(TM) and don't spend a major amount of their time in the 'net. Mostly those who do "live in the 'net" are hacker types like me, or retired people with time on their hands (and the money to fund it, and lower levels of real-world energy). (Note: That's "mostly", not "all".)
I have come to believe that the next wave in the 'net (and most of the real world, or "bricks" world, hasn't yet caught-up with the current wave) will centre around tying the bitworld back into the brick world, and an application of the same bottom-up notions to brickworld. My startup venture (if it ever flies! :-) is a direct application to test the theory.
The news thingie is a sharper application of the same question: Can we get the real news from ordinary people who "see stuff happen" instead of an "ordained ministry who pre-chew our pap"? Including those who lack the advantages of decent 'net access!
If we can be modestly successful at that, then, along the way, we will surely make some money, too.
16 June 2006
mikro2nd.net Stage 2 retro rockets firing
So, Stage 2 of my experiment is now working - integration of the wiki (JSPWiki - the best wiki engine out there) with the blog system (Blojsom, in case you didn't notice, and also a best of breed piece of work). Next I'll probably fiddle with wiki templates for a while to get some working the way I want things. OTOH I don't want to drop too deep into Look and Feel issues before adding Forums. (Isn't it a pity that "Fora" is such an ugly word that almost nobody gets without blinking? Correctness sacrificed for common use.)
I'll probably go for using MVNForum, and have never yet had the pleasure of installing it, so I would really, really like to hear from anybody who has strong opinions (for or against) MVNForum, particularly from the viewpoint of installation and administration.
I'll probably go for using MVNForum, and have never yet had the pleasure of installing it, so I would really, really like to hear from anybody who has strong opinions (for or against) MVNForum, particularly from the viewpoint of installation and administration.
22 May 2006
Front Door Syndrome
Ever on the lookout for god and bad ideas in software user-interface design, here is one on LinkedIn really blows me away. Its a classic case of what I term Front Door Syndrome.
Front Door Syndrome is a website misfeature most often designed-in by web designers who come from the conventional advertising or conventional media world - a world where there really is a Front Door - a single point of entry. Somehow they try to keep hold of this idea in the web, where it really doesn't apply at all. They forget, or never absorbed the fact, that every page in a website is a Front Door. And, in a world of such abundance that the only realistic way to navigate to content we seek is through search, every page is guaranteed to be used as a Front Door: A First Point of Entry into a website.
We've all seen those sites; if you're lucky its just a big page saying "Welcome to Fubar.com. Click <here> to enter." If you're less lucky it is a great ugly Flash animation. Personally I never get further - my mouse finger has reflexively clicked me away to somewhere safer and more pleasant in the 'net.
So what has this to do with LinkedIn? I searched for the name of someone I knew long ago, and their name turned up on LinkedIn. I clicked the link from the search-results page to take a look whether this page really belongs to the person I was looking for. Something like http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/801/801 (I'll use my brother's LinkedIn page to illustrate, firstly to protect the unwary, and secondly because I know he won't mind some publicity).
Go ahead - click the link. I'll wait here for you....
...Good! You're back. If you're using a decent browser you can have both pages open on different tabs so you can see exactly what I'm about to tell you about. But I digress...
On the destination LinkedIn page, there are a couple of links enabling non-members of the LinkedIn network to Join Now. Very good. Very viral. But I am already a LinkedIn user.
Where is the link allowing me to log in? Where is a link to a login page? Nowhere.
No wonder LinkedIn is seen by geeks as a tool purely for spammers and fools.
Front Door Syndrome is a website misfeature most often designed-in by web designers who come from the conventional advertising or conventional media world - a world where there really is a Front Door - a single point of entry. Somehow they try to keep hold of this idea in the web, where it really doesn't apply at all. They forget, or never absorbed the fact, that every page in a website is a Front Door. And, in a world of such abundance that the only realistic way to navigate to content we seek is through search, every page is guaranteed to be used as a Front Door: A First Point of Entry into a website.
We've all seen those sites; if you're lucky its just a big page saying "Welcome to Fubar.com. Click <here> to enter." If you're less lucky it is a great ugly Flash animation. Personally I never get further - my mouse finger has reflexively clicked me away to somewhere safer and more pleasant in the 'net.
So what has this to do with LinkedIn? I searched for the name of someone I knew long ago, and their name turned up on LinkedIn. I clicked the link from the search-results page to take a look whether this page really belongs to the person I was looking for. Something like http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/801/801 (I'll use my brother's LinkedIn page to illustrate, firstly to protect the unwary, and secondly because I know he won't mind some publicity).
Go ahead - click the link. I'll wait here for you....
...Good! You're back. If you're using a decent browser you can have both pages open on different tabs so you can see exactly what I'm about to tell you about. But I digress...
On the destination LinkedIn page, there are a couple of links enabling non-members of the LinkedIn network to Join Now. Very good. Very viral. But I am already a LinkedIn user.
Where is the link allowing me to log in? Where is a link to a login page? Nowhere.
No wonder LinkedIn is seen by geeks as a tool purely for spammers and fools.
14 February 2006
Total SNAFU
Woke up to find the offshore (UK) server down again. This after having spent the best part of yesterday playing exactly the same game. No response from the datacentre for two hours! Eventually it took a phone-call to my provider to get some action going. Eventually we got the server back around 1 o' clock, but not before I had everyone screaming. I've asked the provider to replace RAM and PSu in an attempt to stabilise the thing, but we really have to look for a fail-over server. Trouble is that the cashflow right now just doesn't cover the costs. As it is, I am getting absolutely nothing out of this deal -- zippo! -- and am beginning to wonder if its worth it.
I mean, its all really very nice having your own server to play with, hosting your own wikis, blogs, etc., but I ask myself, "Is it really worth the bother?" I could probably move everything that I personally want and use onto a small/cheap VPS machine for a relatively small cost that I can carry myself as a hobby cost. Particlarly as I am likely to be able (Telkom-willing) to be able to get ADSL connectivity in a month-or-so, which will about halve my connectivity costs, so I could spend a little of that on a purely private VPS.
Just to add to everything, it looks like someone broke into the shed last night and made off with a bag of old clothes. They must have been disturbed by OB the PHD (pointy-headed dog.) I did hear a noise and her barking, and investigated sometime around 10:30 last night, but saw nothing -- not that I looked very well. We're so used to OB barking at bushpigs, bushbuck, porcupines and other night-wanderers that its a far-from-unusual happening.
What happened to all those dreamers who thought that 2006 was going to be the Turning Point? A Great Year?
I mean, its all really very nice having your own server to play with, hosting your own wikis, blogs, etc., but I ask myself, "Is it really worth the bother?" I could probably move everything that I personally want and use onto a small/cheap VPS machine for a relatively small cost that I can carry myself as a hobby cost. Particlarly as I am likely to be able (Telkom-willing) to be able to get ADSL connectivity in a month-or-so, which will about halve my connectivity costs, so I could spend a little of that on a purely private VPS.
Just to add to everything, it looks like someone broke into the shed last night and made off with a bag of old clothes. They must have been disturbed by OB the PHD (pointy-headed dog.) I did hear a noise and her barking, and investigated sometime around 10:30 last night, but saw nothing -- not that I looked very well. We're so used to OB barking at bushpigs, bushbuck, porcupines and other night-wanderers that its a far-from-unusual happening.
What happened to all those dreamers who thought that 2006 was going to be the Turning Point? A Great Year?
18 October 2005
Fun Being a Techie
Having fun being a techie again, catching up on some gaps in my knowledge of building webapps in Java. Its fun stuff, and I find myself wondering why so many webapps are so badly designed and implemented; many of them are truly awful. (No, I won't mention them by name :-)
It's soooo tempting to just stay with doing "real" stuff, rather than "suit" stuff.
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