"london" via BillDeys in Google Reader

Creating a Platform for Collaboration

bd.frank@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:32:50 PST

Yesterday I read a really interesting story about a project to develop a new tool for researchers at the massive CERN laboratory (the folks who made that gigantic particle accelerator in Switzerland) to collaborate and share expertise more effectively.

It’s a great complement to what John Seely Brown and John Hagel recently wrote about growing from a do-it-yourself culture to a do-it-together culture:

… the second and third level of pull begin to move us beyond “free-agent nation” stories into a new domain of scalable peer learning that can lead to the emergence and rapid evolution of very large and highly innovative global institutions. Scalable DIT offers the potential to turn the experience curve on its side, generating increasing returns to learning and performance improvement.

CERN might qualify as such an institution. It’s composed of thousands of researchers, representing hundreds of universities and dozens of nationalities. Many of the scientists and engineers are based in different countries and spend very little time together on-site…

Then along comes this young hotshot who knows his way around computers, thinking about setting up new systems to connect and keep track of all the experts and their expertise — especially as things are constantly changing and new researchers are always coming and going.

At one point he was thinking that each researcher would have their own page and it would link to other researchers’ pages — sort of like a Facebook for scientists, I suppose.

This is what he was thinking when they started pushed to build the Large Hadron Collider:

In addition to keeping track of relationships between all the people, experiments, and machines, I wanted to access different kinds of information, such as researchers’ technical papers, the manuals for different software modules, minutes of meetings, hastily scribbled notes, and so on. Furthermore, I found myself answering the same questions asked frequently of me by different people…

In a way it doesn’t sound all that original. In the past couple of years we’ve heard a lot about organizations using social media-type tools to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration through the web.

There are also a growing number of more academic initiatives, including OpenWetWare (for biology), and more commercial communities like InnoCentive.

But in another way, what this guy is doing — or perhaps I should say, what he already did — was original. The guy I’m talking about is Tim Berners-Lee, the platform he developed at CERN in the 90’s is called the World Wide Web.

The More Things Change…

With all the recent buzz about the social web, it’s been too easy to forget that the web is simply continuing to get better at what it was always intended to do: make people more knowledgeable and make knowledge more sociable.

It’s a good idea not to stray too far from that. It seems to keep recurring… But we also need to stay busy making and doing things to take advantage of both the social and and the knowledge aspects of the still-growing web.

It took about twenty years for the web to become genuinely embedded in our society. It is important now — i.e. we can more or less take it for granted — in a more profound way than we could only a few years ago.

But the momentum has not slowed. The web is far from maturing. Let’s assume it has only begun to affect society, and we’ll need to prepare for more drastic changes.

While we can’t predict what new things will come, we can anticipate the general shape of change will continue to emphasize making people more knowledgeable and making knowledge more sociable. Work on projects that go towards those ends; it’s hard to imagine going wrong like that.

The above quote is from Weaving the Web, written by Berners-Lee and published in 1999. You can start with his original proposal.

A rant. Okay, a few rants.

Leah — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:06:16 PST

Some ridiculous things I need to get out of my system and into the world. It’s a skimmer, trust me.

Ever

When people say “ever”, as in “I had the best time ever.” Because really? You had the best time EVER? Never, ever in your life have you had a better than the that time you had the best time EVER? I am all for exaggeration and blowing things out of proportion to get your point across, but this one irks me. Let’s be a bit more imaginative next time. How about “I had so much fun that I accidentally punched my friend in the face.” (True story, by the way. Last week at the airport. I witnessed an proposal and … let’s just say it was messy and there were tears involved.)

Just

When people describe themselves as “just” something (especially bloggers). I don’t know why, I think it’s a feminist/women empowerment thing that I have, but when I see a blogger describe themselves as “just” this/that in their “about” section I don’t believe them. Obviously they think they are something special or they wouldn’t have started a blog. I would never describe us as just five sisters because we aren’t. We are five fabulous, wonderful, interesting women who write this blog for each other. As soon as I see the word just in an about page, my eyes immediately glaze over.

Money

I just want to do it all, is that so hard to ask? How is it that I budget so hard and have a good income and a partner with a good income but somehow it isn’t enough. Ugh. I even stopped drinking to support my dedicated budget. Who is this person that has replaced me? I wore a pencil skirt and tights to work today. Really. Who IS this person that has replaced me? (I looked really good by the way).

Wheels

I have a beef with wheels. As in, I wish everything had wheels. I would pack my Calgary life into one long convoy and truck it across Canada so I could be closer to my family. Especially my condo – I never want to live anywhere else. But Mr. Leah pointed out that if it had wheels, then it would be a trailer. You know what? I lived in a trailer for the first few years of my life. And my Dad maintains that those were the best years of his life. Simple. Uncomplicated. Six people, one trailer, the front yard of my grandparent’s house. I could handle it again.

Now I almost feel better. Thanks for listening, blog.

What are you ranting about right now? It feels good to get it out, so rant away in the comments. Really, I want to know.

Missing Person: Selena GARCIA

(author unknown) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:02:12 PST

The London Police request the assistance of the public in locating a female believed to be named Selena GARCIA....

Dognapping

Carmi — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:11:28 PST

He sleeps everywhere
Laval, QC, August 2009

About this photo: It's "at rest" week through next Wednesday. If you'd like to share your own similarly-themed Thematic Photographic moment, please click here.

It's been a while since Frasier appeared on the blog, so I thought I'd take this moment to catch you up on what he's been up to of late:

He sleeps. A lot. Location, as you can see, doesn't seem to be much of an issue for him.
He barks. A lot. Especially if he's just met you or if you're a dog person.
He smells. That's largely our fault, as he's way overdue for his grooming. But I am, for some reason, not mortified by dog smell. I'm odd that way.
He eats garbage. I don't understand the appeal, but if I had a dollar for every time we returned home to a trail of stinkage winding its way through the kitchen, I'd be rich. At least he sort of feels some guilt afterward, as he walks up to us with his head bowed and eyes averted.
He steals food. Nothing is safe unless it's stored way high. The latest victim: a bagel that was sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. Oh, and the Ziploc bag of oatmeal cookies that be dug out of my camera bag. I never knew dogs liked oatmeal.

On reflection, this isn't a whole lot removed from his usual state of being. There's something to be said for the predictability of a dog's life, and warts and all he remains quite the charmer and, more importantly, quite a pillar of our kids' lives.

Your turn: What do dogs dream about?

Ernie Harwell - Detroit Tiger's Greatest Broadcaster Faces Final Spring

(author unknown) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:52:57 PST

Ernie Harwell - The Voice of Spring and Baseball for the Detroit Tigers for over 50 years For lo, the...

I'm tired today!

MorahMommy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:20:00 PST

Report cards were due yesterday and I was up till 2 am Thursday night and had to finish them yesterday morning. On top of that we had company for dinner last night. We had a great time but I am toast today.

There are so many things I want to do today, but just can't find the motivation to do it. So what do I do when I don't have the motivation? Get on the computer!

I hope what you do today and the rest of this weekend be relaxing and fun!

Let the sun shine in

Carmi — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:55:59 PST

I've never been particularly fond of the driving experience - it's a necessary evil in today's urban landscape, something folks who grew up in villages and experienced their tight-knit communities mostly on foot would never fully accept.

Indeed, I never did, and I drive as much I do because I have to, not because I want to.

So whenever I get behind the wheel, I look for small ways to improve the experience. Like sugar-coating a pill, it's how I keep myself smiling as I lament the fact that I'm piloting two more wheels than usual. My tactics of choice? Lots of good music - G-d bless stereos with aux jacks, MP3 capability and USB slots - and a sunroof.

Most automotive reviewers despise the sunroof. They say it adds weight and complexity. Value-minded consumer advocates dismiss the sunroof - or moonroof, I guess - as a terribly expensive extravagance, the kind of thing that reinforces our collective standing as shameless hedonists.

But here's the thing: it makes me happy. It's an admittedly small and trivial thing, but when I slide that panel open, it transforms my mood. Even when it's closed - as it is through most of a Canadian winter - the bit of extra light that comes in from above is enough to change my mindset.

So when I left the office yesterday, I called my wife, who happily shared that she had had the wondervan's sunroof open on the way home from school. It was a gloriously sunny and warm Friday afternoon, a welcome break from weeks of freezing cold grey during which the car remained hermetically sealed. According to the basic tenets of logic, it was still too cold to have it open, but I didn't feel much need to subscribe to logic on a gloriously sunny Friday afternoon. So I opened it up, dialed up the volume and set off, happily, for home.

As I cruised through what passes for rush hour in this burg, I reminded myself that little things like this make life something to be lived instead of simply survived.

Your turn: What small things are YOU doing to tweak your own life?

About this photo: Self portrait from my BlackBerry. Don't worry, Officer Bob, I wasn't driving on a public road at the time.

The Bible: Rated R?

Michael Krahn — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:05:37 PST

There’s a good post over at iMonk.com by Chaplain Mike about Bible stories. This is timely since I just finished reading Genesis again this morning. Some excerpts below… read the whole thing here.

Most of us have the idea that the Bible is a nice book for nice people about nice folks who said and did nice things, where everything leads to a nice and happy ending.

Take the first book in the Bible, the book of Genesis, for example. It’s likely that many people have Sunday School images in their minds when they think of Genesis—they picture God creating the world, Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden, Noah gathering cute little animals onto the ark and God putting a beautiful rainbow in the sky, Abraham and Sarah having a baby in their old age, and Joseph wearing his coat of many colors. Nice.

But here’s what’s in the real, unedited version:

A man and woman standing in nakedness and shame, blaming each other for what they did wrong.
An angry and envious man, lures his brother into a field, brutally murders him, and then tries to cover it up.
The world becomes so corrupt and violent that God decides to virtually wipe out the human population and start over.
Noah gets drunk, and one of his son dishonors him by committing an immoral act in his father’s bedroom.
Abraham twice tries to pass his wife off to another man to save his own skin. Later, his son Isaac does the same thing.
Abraham sleeps with one of the household servants so he can have an heir. This was his wife’s idea, but she becomes so jealous after it happens, that she angrily throws the woman and her son out of house to live in poverty and shame.
Lot offers to let a violent mob gang rape his daughters. Lot’s daughters later get their own father drunk and sleep with him so that they can have children.
Jacob, Isaac’s son, is a deceitful mama’s boy who tricks his father and brother out of important family legal rights. He has to run away from home so his brother won’t kill him.
He goes to work for his ruthless uncle, who keeps him in virtual slavery for decades. Jacob escapes by tricking him and running away.
Jacob’s wives live in constant jealousy and competition, continually tricking Jacob and each other in an ongoing battle for supremacy in the family.
Jacob’s sons loathe one of their brothers, sell him into slavery, then lie to their father and tell him he died.
Jacob’s daughter Leah is raped. Her brothers exact revenge by deceiving and then murdering the perpetrator, destroying and looting his city, and taking all his family members captive.
Judah refuses to find a husband for his widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar. So she disguises herself as a prostitute, tricks her father-in-law into sleeping with her, and becomes pregnant.

I had a pastor friend who once told me he was planning to do a family teaching series from Genesis. I’m afraid I wasn’t very kind. In fact, I laughed out loud and said, “What are you going to talk about, how to be a complete bum and still have God bless your family?”

He didn’t think it was funny. He had a overly pious view of the Bible that didn’t allow for the ugly stuff. However, that’s what Genesis (and the rest of the Bible) is like!

I encourage you to read the Bible for what it really is and says. It’s not very nice, but it’s real, and I believe it puts broken things back together.

Read the whole thing here.

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PodCamp Toronto 2010

titusferguson@gmail.com (Titus Ferguson) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:41:39 PST

I’m sitting in my first sesssion at #pcto2010 and I’m getting really excited about what I’m going to learn this weekend.

I’ll be updating this post throughout the day as I learn and connect with other social media fans.

Making of Maker Culture: Wayne MacPhail

Wayne was the instructor in online journalism at Ryerson and UWO. His classes were involved in maker culture and journalism. This was a great presentation especially as I look to introduce a similar initiative in London.

Integration, Integration, Integration: Dave Fleet

This was an introduction to all the types of communication and how they are all connected together. He introduced the concept of a communication ecosystem. Changes in one type affect the others and so on.

peroty: So so so so so true!!!

(author unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 06:13:30 PST

peroty: So so so so so true!!!

gamesdaypodcast: Graphics- can’t live with ‘em, can’t live…....

(author unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:52:53 PST

gamesdaypodcast: Graphics- can’t live with ‘em, can’t live…. wait a minute- that doesn’t work. Ummmm…. aw, heck- let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? Graphics have come a long way since the infancy of video games. From two white bars bouncing a white dot across a black screen, to crudely-assembled monochromatic icons, to full cinematic sequences that are virtually indistinguishable from live action, graphics have developed in leaps and bounds over the last 30-odd years. The current generation of hardware is capable of producing some mind-blowing spectacles. This week on the show, we’ll be talking about graphics in general- games with great graphics, games with disappointing graphics, games that pushed the boundaries of what a particular gaming system is capable of. Obviously we’ve got our own thoughts on this, but tell us- what are some of your favourite examples of graphics- good, bad, or ugly?

The patio of our new UNIT! true story!

(author unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:05:34 PST

The patio of our new UNIT! true story!

Other blogs to tend

Rockinon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:35:41 PST

Hello!

A little more than a year ago I took a buyout after working for more than three decades as a news photographer. It was a shock to the system. No job. No daily demands. I had to hang up my cameras as I walked out the door.

A year ago, the economy was in tatters along with my retirement portfolio. Both were bleeding oodles of green; This was serious financial hemorrhaging. I kept enough money to weather the financial disaster and then I dumped all my spare retirement change into the market. If the financial world was coming to an end, I wasn't going to miss it. We were going down together.

Never spend more than four percent of your retirement portfolio in any given year --- this is an oft repeated rule of thumb which has some validity. Note the word some. This is a very conservative approach and as one gets older, one can comfortably get bolder.

I'm up almost 30 percent since retiring --- the world didn't come to an end --- and I'm well prepared mentally and financially for the next correction. I'm not that old but I am that bold. I'm grabbing a babe, my wife, strapping a suitcase to the back of my Morgan and heading west come the end of May. I'm sure our daughters, son-in-law and granddaughter will keep the home fires burning for us --- then maybe not; It'll be summer.

Come July, maybe earlier, this blog will be revived. It has just been too much fun. But long before that, the end of May, Rockinon: Travel will carry a day by day account of my adventure crossing the States and Canada by English roadster.

This blog was an experiment and in some ways it has failed. It gets thousands of hits and has been linked to by a small but eclectic mix of websites. I'm still getting referrals for my post on preparing for the inevitable after my post made it onto the Anvers Wines Facebook page.

I now have a bottle of Anvers fortified shiraz gathering dust in my 'wine cellar' waiting for the moment. I figured a very good, and also very strong, drink might be in order. (FYI, a friend read my piece and insisted on sampling a bottle. I went back to the wine store and bought a second bottle. It is a very nice wine. I served it before dinner with some cheese.)

But blog visits do not translate into money if the folk doing the visiting are not also hitting the ads --- and you are not. I don't blame you; I rarely hit ads on blogs. But there have been some good ads and those have attracted attention. My best day times 365 would be a very nice sum for a retired blogger but it is not happening. It is much closer to my worst day times 365.

And so I am turning my attention to my photography blog, my financial blog and my travel blog. All will be fun to tackle and all may attract a better, more focused class of ad. The blogging experiment moves into its second year. My goal is to pay the insurance on my two cars with the return from my online stuff. We'll see.

My 'London Daily Photo' has been picked up by two sites tracking the daily photos posted by bloggers all around the world. This has made LDP worth continuing. It gets enough hits to make it worthwhile and it gets me out walking, running, exercising. LDP is good for my health.

One thing I must say before ending this is thank you to all those who have made this year a gas. I do hope we can connect, at least world wide web-wise in the future.

I cannot get over the immense number of comments that I received, and am still receiving, for the stuff I posted to Art Wanted. This is a site for selling art but I just display my stuff. Everything I shot in the past year was done with a little point and shoot; The file sizes are too small to make large, good quality prints.

And I have also enjoyed posting to Group Recipes, the food social network. After one posts enough recipes, the site starts suggesting visits to

other foodie bloggers with whom you appear to share food interests. The algorithm seems to work well as I have found some good recipes in this manner.

I have also learned why journalists like Paul Berton, editor-in-chief of The London Free Press are pulling out their hair. I file stories occasionally to the Digital Journal. I posted a silly little story about a fellow being ejected from a Jazz flight because he had such awful body odour. This little, silly piece of fluff is outdrawing every other news item I have posted. We're talking more than a thousand hits in 24 hours! Aaauuugghh!

As Digital Journal pays better than any of my other online endeavours, I'm going to be devoting a bit more of my time to citizen reporting. I'm slowly building up contacts and getting on various local mailing lists. It's fun.

In closing, if you are new to this blog, please check out some of my favourite posts.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Where were you when . . .

I'd love to get this post out to journalism schools everywhere. It is a good story.

To big to succeed. This one has been hit regularly by newspapers. I wonder how they find it.

Your meet the nicest people on a Honda.

That's me on my Honda. It was a killer machine with a 305cc twin cylinder engine pumping out 33 hp. I rode this bike down to Daytona Beach one Easter break. I have pictures from that week in a box in my basement.

My blog on I.F.Stone was a pleasure to write. Don't know I.F.Stone? Read my post.

More red is redder than less red. I believe this post was hit by governments around the world. Their computers thought it was a post on communism; It isn't.

My post on the factory farming of pigs is still getting a steady stream of hits. Although it got the most hits when the H1N1 flu was on the front pages of the world's papers every day.

Newspapers get so many stories wrong. This should not come as a surprise; Newspapers are simply the daily reports of a staff of fellow human beings. But it does come as a surprise doesn't it. And it will get worse before it gets better as the media giants show more and more staff the door. I like this post on a story that got so mangled and so consistently that the story will never be straightened out.

Lastly, the video, Giggle Me Baby, is terrible. It just screams out for decent lighting. But the moment is beautiful. Don't view this critically. Just view it for the pleasure of watching a baby laughing with pure, innocent pleasure. I love the little squeal of glee as the video fades at the end.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Jose A or Jose B?

bluejayhunter@gmail.com (Ian H.) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:50:00 PST

Welcome your newest member of the Toronto Blue Jays, Jose Molina.

In a bit of a surprising move, the bluebirds signed the former Yankees backstop to a one year $400,000 dollar contract. That salary could be bumped up to $800,000 if Molina makes the 25-man roster out of Spring Training.

I say this was a surprise move because it seemed like the Blue Jays had the catching situation all but figured out. John Buck will catch most of the games, and Raul Chavez will backup. If need be, they could dip into the 51's roster and call up Kyle Phillips or J.P. Arencebia.

The Molina signing signals that something must be horribly horribly wrong with the development of the once highly-touted prospect J.P. Arencebia. Now that Travis d'Arnaud has even snuck ahead of Arencebia on the Blue Jays top prospects list, it must be a sign of things to come.

So welcome to the club, Jose. I just hope that you're a little quicker on the base path than your brother Bengie.

sky and tune

Carmi — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:14:00 PST

Why no post?

Rockinon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:57:01 PST

I got a call from a follower who thought I might have posted to London Daily Photo in error. I'll confess I was reaching with my telephone stories in sneaking a picture of my granddaughter onto the London Daily Photo site but the stuff I found was interesting. Yes?

I thought the picture of the little girl ripping off a snack, dining on the yellow pages, was kind of silly. The child is quick but I'm quick too. I got the picture and then both mom and I got the paper from the little grasping fingers. The kid's too young for solid food.

Sorry about the blur but the picture was shot available light at night.

Cheers,
Rockinon

p.s. I posted a couple of stories to Digital Journal if you're interested.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/287819
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/287785

Catherine Lane 53 years - Missing since Feb 17th 2010

(author unknown) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:19:12 PST

Police are looking for a missing person, Catherine Lane 53 years. Catherine Lane was last seen on Wednesday February...

Two Male Teens Charged with Robbery - Use Imitation Firearm

(author unknown) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:16:22 PST

Update;Two 14 year old males and a 15 year old male of London are charged with robbery and use imitation...

End of the road

Carmi — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:02:00 PST

Permanent rest
Along the 401, somewhere in Ontario
October 2009
[Please see here for more "at rest" thematic silliness]

As we cruised the monotonous route home, I grabbed my camera (don't worry, my wife was driving) and did my best to shoot out the window for as long as I could keep the nausea at bay.

(Note to self: You get sick reading in the car. What makes you think photography at speed will be any different?)

It was a challenging day to shoot. Cloudy conditions force you into lower-speed exposures, which apparently isn't a good thing at 120 km/h. But it's digital, so no one really cares about wasted "film", anyway. So off I went.

As we passed this sad-looking truck, I hoped that whoever had driven it managed to make it home safely. Because these wheels weren't going anywhere soon, and when they eventually did I guess they wouldn't be doing so under their own power.

Your turn: Where's the driver?

soulmates, heartbreak, airport moments, epic adventures and the meaning of love.

Erica — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:10:49 PST

4 months ago, Rachel fell in love…with love stories. To be more precise, she fell in love with the idea of publishing the love stories of members of the 20SB community. Since the original post about her Love Story Project, it has grown into a blog of its own and attracted stories from bloggers and non-bloggers alike. They are stories of love experienced first-hand, and of love witnessed. The stories are happy, sad, hopeful, and inspiring. They are all individually unique and special.

Rachel has passed the reins of the Love Story Project over to us. She sent quite a few stories that are waiting to be published and we can’t wait to share them with you! Please subscribe, share a story, or suggest to a friend that they share their story. You are welcome to email your love story to fiveblondes (at) gmail.com anytime.

pic by laurenewalters

Look for the next love story to come your way on Monday. If you’ve submitted a story already, we have your contact information and will be in touch to confirm when your story will be published.

"london" via BillDeys in Google Reader

Creating a Platform for Collaboration

Yesterday I read a really interesting story about a project to develop a new tool for researchers at the massive CERN laboratory (the folks who made that gigantic particle accelerator in Switzerland) to collaborate and share expertise more effectively.

The More Things Change…

More From the Archives:

A rant. Okay, a few rants.

Missing Person: Selena GARCIA

Dognapping

Ernie Harwell - Detroit Tiger's Greatest Broadcaster Faces Final Spring

I'm tired today!

Let the sun shine in

The Bible: Rated R?

Random Posts

PodCamp Toronto 2010

peroty: So so so so so true!!!

gamesdaypodcast: Graphics- can’t live with ‘em, can’t live…....

The patio of our new UNIT! true story!

Other blogs to tend

Jose A or Jose B?

sky and tune

Why no post?

Catherine Lane 53 years - Missing since Feb 17th 2010

Two Male Teens Charged with Robbery - Use Imitation Firearm

End of the road

soulmates, heartbreak, airport moments, epic adventures and the meaning of love.

pic by laurenewalters