A View from the Isle

In the beginning, there was email

Web-based collaboration tools and strategies has been one of my professional passions for a decade now. Beyond that I always thought it was cool, I started telecommuting in 2000, so needing easy and complete solutions was high on my priority list.

Over the years, I think I’ve tried nearly all the solutions around with varying degrees of success and failure. Almost always success or failure has been determined by either the willingness of the team to adapt and change or the ease of use of the tool. Even a tool that has the potential to save time, money, even your precious sanity will fail if it isn’t intuitive and easy to use.

Can blog engines provide a solution?

I had played with the original Prologue theme when it was launched about a year ago. It was pretty useful then, but I didn’t have something to apply it to (not that I didn’t try to use it). I had heard and seen demos of the successor P2 and thought that there was some potential, but I didn’t get it until I read Matt’s post about how Automattic uses P2 internally:  How P2 Changed Automattic — Matt Mullenweg

The part that brought it all home was the video:

Now that’s when the light came on. I saw a lot of potential there. It would be great to be able to have our team at M2O use it to update projects, scripts and ideas. The problem was that if I wanted it to be most useful it needed to be on the public Internet, but still private to just us. Being able to update/use it from iPhones and Blackberries would be important, and I wanted to add a little twist using Twitter. So here’s how I did it:

• Basic WP 2.7.1 install
• P2 theme
• Registered Users Only plugin
• WordTwit and WPTouch plugins from my friends at Brave New Code

That’s it. Okay there is one more thing. I set up a Twitter account with its updates protected to post updates to from the blog. This way the team can be updated via Twitter, but the tweets aren’t public.

Will it work?

I think P2 is about as easy as it can get. It even highlights for you the new items since your last visit. It can stand alone using Prism or Fluid to make it an “app”. What’s left? What’s missing? Getting the team to accept and use the tool. Since I think there is a lot of potential here for projects, classes, updates, and messaging I’m going to keep at it in hopes that I can get some momentum.

There are some special tweaks I’m going to look into, but that is another story.

Interested in my P2 collaboration solution? How would you improve on it? What’s missing? Would you use it? Ah so many questions, but that’s half the fun isn’t it?

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We owe a huge debt to Johannes Gutenberg. Here’s a guy who just wanted to wrestle publication of The Bible out of the hands of The Church and monks and unwittingly (perhaps) set the stage for blogging.

The movable type printing press revolutionized how information was disseminated. If you wanted to rail against the government, printing up a broadsheet didn’t mean you and a bunch of folks hand copying your treatise, you wrote it, set the type (with the aid of your friendly neighbourhood printer), and just stay up running off copies. Labour intensive, sure, but nothing like hand copying.

So let’s flash forward a few hundred years (about 570 years, actually) at publishing is at a cross roads, bloggers, who are very much like the rabble rousers printing up newspapers in times of political change, are making the folks printing on dead trees shudder, quake and worry. In fifteen short years, people sitting at computers publishing short missives to websites has changed how we consume news, what makes news, and discuss news.

I think Gutenberg would be stoked.

Regardless, in about an hour from now a group of us are going to gather at The Shebeen Club and discuss what new media means for old media…

[From Facebook | Old Publishers Have New Think Coming]

Which, if you think about it, is pretty much the same way all revolutions got into swing, groups of liked minded folks gathering in pubs, bars, and coffee houses gathering to discuss what was going on (and then take those ideas to a printer to distribute in the morning).

I think tonight will be no different, with the exception that the world will know a lot faster.

So who’s with me in this new revolution?

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Beyond the post Oprah-on-Twitter hype, the majority of folks I know and chat with on a regular basis are tweeting business as usual. So while Ashton, CNN, and Oprah were getting headlines and new Mac Twitter app was being chatted about in my Twitter stream.

Tweetie for Mac is a desktop app brought to you by the same folks who brought us Tweetie the iPhone app. The first public beta dropped today, and despite my attempts to get it early, I had to wait until today to give it a try. I figure I’m not the only one since there was a good amount of “Tweetie for Mac” related chatter on Twitter. Not surprising after reading several pro-Tweetie posts: louisgray.com: Tweetie Desktop for Mac Is Clean, Simple and Robust-Tweetie’s Desktop App for Mac Has Potential, Integrates Conversation Tracking | SheGeeks-First Look: Tweetie for Mac | Take A Plunge

The first thing that I knew would be a problem is the lack of support for grouping people you follow. This was no surprise given an earlier post from the Tweetie developers-Twitter Groups-which douses some seriously cold (and snarky) water on using groups. Personally, “unfollow people” doesn’t cut it as an information management strategy. Even if I only followed 100 people, I’d still want to group my tweets into News (CNN, BNO, ZDNet, etc), Friends, and maybe one other category. This is just smart information management. Yeah I could have say four accounts to manage my info streams this way, but frankly that would be a royal PITA.

When I launched Tweetie for Mac this morning I tried it with one of my work accounts that I use to push posts out into Twitter. Few followers, few updates, so the info demands would be small.

I will say that Tweetie didn’t disappoint in terms of UI and slick style. It certainly looks great. As expected, no groups, but well I pretty much banked on that so okay. I ran into a show stopper when I tried to add my primary Twitter account. Yeah I guess it doesn’t like long, complex passwords. After making sure that I had the password right after the first authentication failure, I chalked this up to a first-release bug.

My verdict: I’m going to wait for the next release so I can give it a full-on test. So what about my other preferred desktop apps Nambu and TweetDeck? I’m flipping between the two of them right now. Both of them have a groups feature and are multi-column layout enabled which are two key things for me as a heavy Twitter user, the problem I’m having is that Nambu is still a might buggy and has a memory leak somewhere because when I leave it open for a while, it can gobble up a gig of ram after a few hours. TweetDeck has a similar problem, which has been squashed for the most part I’ve found.

As far as UI I like Nambu better. Even though I can’t move columns in Nambu like I can in TweetDeck I can set up a four column layout and use the pull-down menu to change what is displayed in each column. Verdict: too close to call.

For me the lack of groups is something that kills a Twitter app for me. I just need them to organize info. Does everyone need groups? Of course not, not everyone follows 4800+ people. At this point I don’t know how I could cull the list, short of using UnTweeps, with that many pages to go through.

[Took a break for a meeting]

By the time I got back to my desk there was Tweetie 1.0.1 and I could use it with my primary, and ginormous, account. Again, it looks lovely and is very responsive, but without groups it’s not the app for me.

The question then becomes, are Twitter groups in a client a must-have option for a Twitter app or just for the edge cases?

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So an actor named Ashton gets a million followers and a talk show host named Oprah joins Twitter and the world rejoices. Twitter has hit that magic point of becoming mainstream.

Of course, there isn’t universal cheering, but that is to be expected. I’m sure the academic community was aghast when AOL users could send and receive email from the Internet proper.

The questions on my mind were echoed by Fredric on RWW:

Can the Mainstream Handle Twitter?

On its own site, Twitter will also have to explain its utility better if it wants to draw in all the potential mainstream users who will hear about Twitter for the first time today. Twitter, after all, still asks you what you are doing, even though that is probably the least interesting way of using Twitter. It is also important to note that Twitter, being the small company that it is, barely has any tech support besides its Get Satisfaction page, so a befuddled new users doesn’t have any place to go to ask questions about how to use it.

Can Twitter Handle the Mainstream?

This sudden mainstreaming of Twitter, however, doesn’t mean that Twitter has finally jumped the shark. In the end, Twitter going mainstream will barely affect most current users. After all, once you manage to unfollow Ashton Kutcher again, most of us won’t have to deal with Oprah, Kutcher, or any other celebrity on the service, though, who knows, you might soon be getting DM’s from your mom…

[From Twitter's Big Day: Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher Bring Twitter to the Mainstream - ReadWriteWeb]

I feared that Twitter would tank today, which would be a bad, bad thing if you’re going to be on Oprah. Twitter, however, has stayed up and seems to be functioning as good as ever. The larger question is: what now? To which I answer: Open servers.

The reference above to AOL was a lead in to this. Long-time internet users will remember the days of having several email addresses because CompuServ, AOL, BITNET, and EDUNET couldn’t reliably communicate and send email back and forth. Not an efficient way to communicate, to say the least.

Then came standardized email gateways, POP, and SMTP and an AOL address was as good as a .edu and email exploded into the mainstream. Now it’s micromessaging’s turn.

Right now the leading contender is laconi.ca (aka Identi.ca) and what it will take is for the servers to have a protocol mapping so that trishussey@twitter.com connects to my Twitter account and have tris [at] media2o.com be able to be mapped to a laconi.ca install. Just like tris.hussey [at] gmail.com works for email and chat.

What’s it going to take to get it working? More laconi.ca servers and more people using them and more clients out there to connect up to. Then…

We have to use them.

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Getting new, fresh ideas for posts can be really hard. Honestly, now that I’m not pro-blogging anymore I just don’t seem to have the post output I used to have. There are hundreds of posts on how to get ideas for posts, but this post from the Reachd blog caught my eye:

Here are the steps that I would follow if I were to use keyword research to generate blogging ideas

1. Go to Google Keyword Tool

2. Enter a broad keyword in the box on that page

3. Sort the keywords by “Average search volume” by clicking on that particular column

4. Look for topics or searches with no less than 100 / month. It is difficult to decide what a perfect minimum number is because it varies by industry.

After I’ve got my topic or keyword phrase I would write a quick blog post about it.

[From Use Keyword Research to Get Blogging Ideas « Reachd Blog]

Hmm. Okay so you pick something like “blog”, see what’s popular, and then use that to inspire a post. Here are the results for “blog”:

From the looks of this chart then lots of people search for blog free (free blog then should work) and how to blog. Hey, great topics for a post. Choosing a free blog platform is something I’ve often talked with people about (I always recommend WordPress.com of course).

How to blog is something I’m writing a book about (I do talk about other stuff, don’t worry) so I know that’s pretty interesting to most folks. The question is then: are you getting ideas for things that people are interested in or are you pandering to SEO and Google?

My gut feeling is that it’s a little of both, but tipping a hair too far to the SEO side for a personal blog, however if you’re writing a business blog or are trying to increase your traffic it could be gold.

For example if I were still writing on my men’s grooming blog (it might still come back) and wanted to talk about beards:

So, do you think I’m being too hard on Reachd?

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All that is old is new again, or so we’ve been told. This weekend the Twitterverse has been slammed with a couple of bothersome worms that propagate rapidly using basic social engineering: we like to click links from friends.

Mashable [mikeyy: Second Twitter Worm on the Loose] and ReadWriteWeb [Twitter Worm Could Take Over Your Computer (in Theory) - ReadWriteWeb] covered this charming present from the Easter Virus Bunny over the weekend but it seems that most folks missed a basic point while pointing fingers at Twitter: we’ve seen this all before. Remember the early days of HTML email? Remember being told to just disable HTML email in Outlook Express and Outlook because just opening a bad email could infect you? Well those days are back, at least for the moment with this Twitter worm.

The “Mikeyy Worm” and others are so freakin’ clever you have to give them props. Basically you see a Tweet from a friend with a link to check out a site or later how to prevent infection and it goes to an infected Twitter profile with a charming piece of Javascript buried in it that infects your Twitter account as well.

Nope not your computer per se, but your Twitter account/profile. It propagates by putting the nasty code into your profile and sends out a tweet on your behalf to keep the whole cycle going.

Ah let’s virus like it’s 1999…

So is this Twitter’s fault? Of course it is.

Is this unexpected? Hell no.

Are we ever going to be rid of things like this? Also a resounding, hell no.

The problem is that most of these kinds of attacks use basic social engineering tools. Click on links from friends, click on links saying your account has been compromised, give “tech support” your username and password…they pray on trust and our assumptions of safety.

Yes, we all need to be careful and skeptical, but honestly not ever clicking on links from friends defeats the purpose of sharing through Twitter (and others) doesn’t it?

So we’ll all be more careful. We’ll make sure that we know how to quickly close off all Twitter related apps, blow out browser caches and cookies, and reset passwords. Man their could be a great AppleScript or Automator script in there…

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Are you not familiar with “The Queen of the Engines” (fine that’s a reference to The Difference Engine)? Ada Lovelace wasn’t just the first programmer, pushing Charles Babbage’s Difference and Analytical to beyond what Charles himself envisioned, I’d venture that Ada was the world’s first geek girl.

Here’s a women who bucked the Victorian trends of the day and did some kick ass stuff with “computers”, and we should all be grateful to her. Thus today, Ada Lovelace Day, a day to blog about women in tech you admire.

Honestly I had a really hard time picking someone to blog about, because I know a raft of amazing women in tech. So with no slight to any of my friends, I have chosen two women. I’ve chosen a woman of right now and a woman-to-be who I know will do some rockin’ tech things.

I’ve picked Justine (iJustine) Ezarik (now) and my daughter Aislinn (future).

Most of us have heard of Justine, and I think all too many people write her off or dismiss her off hand. You see a cute blond talking about tech and being a goof on camera and think, yeah whatever. Oh you are so wrong.

I first heard Justine speak at the first BlogWorldExpo with Leo Laporte, and in the misguided interest of getting the post out fast, I didn’t stay for her whole talk. What I did hear blew me away. She started her first website at twelve because a boy dissed her and she wanted revenge (the true mark of a geek, vengeance). She is smart, savvy and together.

Later I had the pleasure of being on a panel with her at Affiliate Summit West talking about social media and affiliate marketing. Again, amazed. Talking with her is fun, because she is smart, easy going, and really loves to geek out with the best of us.

Now, my second person, my daughter Aislinn.

Of course I’m a proud Dad. She wanted her own blog at 9 (yes, she has one but it’s private). She took up digital photography last year and is just gifted. She rocks Club Penguin and Webkinz online. She intuitively understands how the world of social media has changed the world. She just groks it. I know that she might not always be into tech, but any girl who could out tech support her teacher in Grade 1 and was asked to be on TV with Leo Laporte at 10 has it seriously going on.

I am so proud of her, l love her, and miss her dearly.

Who are your choices?

And not to slight the feelings of my son, he’s my choice for Charles Babbage Day is there is one.

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I decided to do it on the M2O blog instead, so saunter over there.

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With the end of act one …

Heck you can you can read the others for a plot synopsis (Kimli, Tanya, Rebecca, So Misguided ), for me this is about Sheila. I came to see her and would have gladly paid top dollar to be here.

What can you say when you get to see the person you love on stage, doing what they love, and doing it … well awesome of course.

Read the rest of this entry »

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I’m getting ready for Blogger Night at the Opera: Rigoletto and I thought you might like a little behind the scenes insight into preparing for a performance.

It’s very important before a performance for a performer to feel ready. Relaxed, rested, stress free. What this boils down to is sleeping in, PJs most of the day, and relaxing.

Okay relaxing entirely because there is a tradition to give gifts opening night so Sheila was preparing things for people. I won’t spoil the surprises, but they are very nice.

Myself I helped her choose her dress for the after-party, this is key because Sheila will be introduced because she has a role, and buying a new pair of dress pants.

Okay I also pressed a shirt she likes to see me in an bought a bouquet of flowers for her.

We’re supposed to be at the QueenE by 6, so I better get cracking!

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Let’s go for a third live blog:

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Raul is up next, how about another live blog?

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Why not live blog this…

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Welcome to Third Tuesday Live blog from Vancouver…

Flickr set from the evening:

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Going to do this post in segments…first my slides:

This is the “magic” code that fixes the problem with having a pre-set “Home” button:

<?phpwp_list_pages('exclude=2,10&title_li=&depth=1'); ?>

What this does is block the pages with IDs 2 and 10 from being listed. You’ll have to find out the page ID from your Edit Pages section in the admin panels. I mouse over the title and look at the URL in the status bar. Please, please bring back the ID number in the columns!

I’ll post links shortly, but the best place to find things on Extending WP on WordPress.org so honestly look there and the most popular themes and plugins are your best bests.

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