Dharmafly

Festive Geekery

Premasagar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:26:23 +0000

It’s geek festival season, down here in Brighton. First up is dConstruct, a one-day conference on the cutting edge of interface design and user engagement.

And then it’s good old BarCamp Brighton, now into its fourth incarnation. BarCamp, always a favourite, is a handmade 2-day conference, pulled together by its community of participants. Everyone gives a talk on something they feel (geekily) passionate about, and they bring sleeping bags to spend the night at the donated event space. This time, we’ll be moving into the old Music Library for the weekend.

Dharmafly is again a proud sponsor of BarCamp. I had in mind a fun little game to give away to the attendees, but not quite had the time to pull it off. Next time, next time. (And no more crunchy spirulina, like last time). See our BarCamp archive for more.

If you’re at either of these events, do roll up and say hi.

Update: At BarCamp, I gave a talk called “Indestructible JavaScript Widgets“, about the pitfalls and solutions when developing widgets to embed in third-party websites (like our widget for BBC World Service). No pretty slides, but my notes are at: dharmafly.com/bcb4.

Teen Hackers Take Over Google

Premasagar — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:01:24 +0000

At the weekend, I helped mentor a group of tech-minded teenagers at the community-led event, “Young Rewired State“. Held at Google’s London HQ, this was a two-day, action-packed programme for 15-18 year olds to build something better with government data on the web. And the results were truly impressive.

Young people are sometimes written-off as being apathetic, or handed patronising websites and services to interact with. Here was their chance to show the kinds of services they really want and to demonstrate that, given access to the right kinds of data and a little support along the way, they are more than capable of building it themselves.

In just two days, they created a plethora of new web apps: a mobile service to give real-time info on London buses (“TFHell“), interactive maps with routes to school that avoid local crime hotspots (“SchoolRoutr” and “Step Safe”), sexual health advice (“Blab to Betty”), a service matching new tech talent with employers (“Will Work For Peanuts“) and many others.

The team I assisted were a politically minded trio. Ben, Joe and Richard came down from Manchester and built a website that grabs the latest bills passing through parliament and attempts to show the emotional response to these bills from blogs around the web. The results are shown graphically, using the Google Charts API. The result of this blogs / politics experiment is: “Blog-o-tics“.

Although they weren’t awarded a prize, Blog-o-tics was given a “special mention” by the panel of judges, who had come from government, the tech industry and beyond.

The field of “sentimental analysis” is growing and, although Blog-o-tics was just a quick proof-of-concept, it does hint at the possibilities. Craig Elder noted its similarities with the concept for YourOwnDemocracy.

Other mentors came from Last.fm, the BBC, Yahoo, Moo, My Society and small businesses around the country. I think we were all pretty much blown away by, not only the standard and focus of the work produced, but how entirely natural everyone seemed with the stack of technologies being used. Here is a generation of people who have grown up with computers, the ubiquitous Web and the programming languages used to harness it. Government could really benefit from their input.

The original Rewired State event, dubbed “National Hack the Government Day“, had been held at the Guardian’s offices earlier this year. It was such a success that many of us who attended were invited to the Cabinet Office to explain just what the government should be doing with its web properties, and we were given suggestions on ways through what can sometimes seem like a maze of bureaucracies.

Since then, no less than Tim Berners-Lee (the inventor of the Web) has been invited by the prime minister to help open up government data, to help bring transparency and to simply help those who want to solve problems get access to the data they need. The young hackers from Rewired State are off to a fine start.

Other reports on Young Rewired State

BBC World Service Widget Launched

Premasagar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:05:32 +0000

We recently completed an exciting project for BBC World Service: the World Service Widget, which lets people share BBC World Service content on their websites, blogs or computer desktops.

It's being released on a number of web platforms (WordPress, iGoogle, Adobe Air, Facebook, Netvibes, Mac Dashboard, Vista Sidebar and as a simple snippet of HTML code). These are being rolled out over the coming days.

The widget is available in a multitude of different languages and content networks. (This was one of the trickiest aspects of development - although there were other, perhaps even stickier issues). Below, for example, are the English and Farsi flavours. (Farsi is the language spoken in Iran. It is written right-to-left, and it has a special widget: click on a news story to open the "Lightbox" window).

Soon on this blog, we'll share some of the secrets of how we built it, and explain how widgets are finding their way all across the web, from browsers, to the desktop and on to mobile phones.

We've already started thinking about what the widget could do better, so do tell us your thoughts.

English:

Farsi:

[inline] [/inline]

OpenFreecycle won at OpenHackLondon!

Premasagar — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:20:35 +0000

Our 24-hour hack: OpenFreecycle

URL: dharmafly.com/openfreecycle Streuth. Hot on the heels of last week's UnLtdWorld award, I was amazed to experience the web application that I created with Tom Leitch being awarded the top two prizes Yahoo's OpenHackLondon. And this, after winning a prize with 'HackHUD' at the previous Hack Day London, two years earlier (the famous one, when it rained inside Alexandra Palace). OpenHackLondon is an opportunity for web developers and programmers to get together, to collaborate and experiment with new ideas in technology. The focus is a 24-hour (overnight) hacking challenge, with a two-minute demo by each team, and prizes in several categories.

OpenFreecycle

Our entry was OpenFreecycle - an itch that I'd been wanting to scratch for a couple of years. This was an attempt to make community sharing of free, unwanted items much more easy and accessible. Sort of like eBay, but for free.

Our two-minute presentation to the crowd

There are around 10,000 local "Freecycle" mailing lists (all of them are hosted on Yahoo Groups). They offer an extremely useful service: a way for people to offer or find unwanted items amongst their local community. Got a spare mattress? Put it on Freecycle. Need a chest of drawers? Find one on Freecycle.

The Problem: Closed

The system, however, is far from ideal. Each group is initially private and closed. You need to request membership and await approval for each group before you can see what's available. Prospective browsing in neighbouring groups becomes a painful task.

Over 10,000 Freecycle mailing lists on Yahoo Groups

And then there are the emails - hundreds in your inbox every day. And, because each group is just a plain and simple, private email list, there is no way to expose all that interesting content to other places on the web. That is, until now...

The Solution: Open

A simple, searchable, open system, with the option to subscribe to feeds for specific search terms in specific area (e.g. 'baby' in Leeds), the possibility to subscribe to alert notifications for specific items and the ability to integrate all this content around the web, for example with Greasemonkey in shopping sites, to inform you when an item is available for free in your local area:

A mockup for OpenFreecycle integration into eBay, via Greasemonkey

What we built was a rough proof-of-concept. It only handles the Leeds group - and very simplistically, at that - but it gives an idea of what is possible when you start to open up data. (Of course, there are merits in selected aspects of the system being closed, or guarded - e.g. in protecting user's contact details, and the ability to identify potential exploiters, such as tradesmen scooping up everyone's free offerings. These need to be preserved, for the health of the community.)

How we did it

Here are the slides from our demo: We used the Yahoo Mail API (via PHP) to log into a subscribing mailbox, then converted the emails to Atom feeds (with Perl), imported these into Yahoo Pipes and performed geo-location, term-extraction and some other bits and bobs, drilled down into the resultant feeds with YQL and then presented the lot using the Google Static Maps API and a smattering of jQuery. Voilà!

We Won the Double!

Moment of glee

OpenFreecycle won both the "Hackers' Choice" prize, as voted by the 300 participants, as well as the "Best In Show" prize, unanimously awarded by the competition judges:

David Filo, co-founder of Yahoo
Tim O'Donoghue, vice-president of engineering at Yahoo
Sophie Major, head of international at the Yahoo Developer Network
Pascal Finette, Mozilla Europe
Matt Biddulph, co-founder of Dopplr
Daniel Ek, co-founder of Spotify

Check out the other winners and all the Hack Day entries - there are some ingenius little gems to be seen.

Whatever Next?

Take OpenFreecycle for a spin. Have you got any ideas? How would you improve the experience of local sharing?

We Won a Bric!

Premasagar — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:06:58 +0000

The BRIC award - photo by Jane Middlehurst

At last week's beautiful UnLtdWorld first birthday gathering, I was honoured to collect a shiny BRIC award, for "using technology for social good in the most creative and innovative way". Thank you to everyone who voted for Dharmafly, and to all who have supported us in the last 2 years. There were five award categories, with an array of nominees, each of them involved in the finest of projects. Although UnLtdWorld is an online social network (it brings together those with an interest in positive social change), it was a particularly rich experience to meet in person so many passionate and focussed individuals. And there is a growing number of meetups in this area, such as Social Innovation Camp, the Shine Unconference and 2gether. Felix Gonzales produced this video: (please excuse my slightly gushy, tongue-tied jabbering - I must have been having a rush)... And here it is on my desk, as promised: Update: And another very special, double award was received over the weekend. More on that ~~later today~~ ~~very soon~~ right here...

Nominated for an UnLtdWorld BRIC Award

Premasagar — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:05:17 +0000

Dharmafly are chuffed to have been nominated for a BRIC award with UnLtdWorld, the social network for social entrepreneurs. ~~You can vote with your feet (erm, your mouse) right here.~~ Since its launch, one year ago, UnLtdWorld has gone from strength to strength as a platform for collaboration, helping people to work together for social change. We're listed in the Digital Award category, for those "using technology for social good in the most creative and innovative way":

The BRIC Awards aim to recognise the most active, inspiring and original members of UnLtdWorld, as voted for by its community. They encapsulate what UnLtdWorld stands for: Business, Resources, Insight and Community - and members selected as nominees reflect a well-rounded approach to those elements.

Voting ends Friday 24th April, 5pm (UK time), and the winners will be announced at UnLtdWorld's first birthday celebration, on May 5th.

Twitter – The Simplest Little Big Complicated Website in the World

Leif Kendall — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:05:55 +0000

Twitter: What it is, why you need it, and how you can use it to change your world

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a website that lets visitors write short messages (limited to 140 characters) that answer the perennial question: What are you doing? Twitter began as a way for employees to communicate within organisations, but gradually expanded as a way for friends, colleagues and contacts to share their news, thoughts and interesting discoveries with each other. If you want to have a conversation online, you might use email or instant messaging. But if you want other people to 'overhear' your conversation, allowing them to join in, then Twitter is the perfect medium. Twitter is becoming an inspirational source of connections, helping like-minded people unite for social change, good causes and business shenanigans.

Why should you use Twitter?

At first glance, Twitter might appear to be a hyperactive torrent of random thoughts. But it’s much more than that. You can use Twitter to do many things, including:

Let colleagues and clients get to know you as a person
Open communication channels between your organisation and the public
Demonstrate your intelligence/wit/charm/(insert good quality here)
Find new partners, volunteers, members and clients

Why do other people use Twitter?

We asked these questions...

@leifkendall Asking: Why do YOU use Twitter? Why?! #
@premasagar Doing a little research... Tell me, why do YOU use Twitter? #

...which very quickly led to these responses (and more):

@mattlambert Hi Leif - twitter is human moderated search, I get to find stuff I didn't even know I wanted. Plus, a personal radio #
@helenbaker I use Twitter in the hope of learning something new! I like the trying-to-be-useful Tweets, not the tells-me-nothing ones. #
@TraceyDooley First it was curiosity. Then it was an addiction. Now I intend to build good relations (I hope!) with people AND poss clients #
@ThirdSectorLab I use twitter to learn from all the knowledgable people in the twittersphere and [hopefully] to contribute as well. #
@eggboxrobin Would love to help, but can't say why I use Twitter in 140 chars! To stay informed, meet new interesting peeps, feel connected.. #
@catherinepope I use Twitter in lieu of real colleagues. The virtual variety is much easier to filter out! #
@theanxy Staying close to people, sharing information easier and faster, discovering new resources from interesting bloggers. #
@cathyma To keep track of the minds of smart people and to share exciting quirks online #
@stevebridger It's like having better brains on tap, and I work alone, so it helps me feel connected - I call it 'alone together'
@Robpermeable For tidbits of info, useful urls, and connecting with people in my sector (charity and PR) #
@jellyslastjam Initially to see what the fuss was about, now I've been sucked in and can't help myself. #

As you can see, people have many personal and commercial reasons for using Twitter - but don't just take our word for it, the web abounds with useful articles on Twitter (such as this excellent one). One thing's for sure - now that Twitter has broken into the mainstream, playing its part in citizen journalism, charity fundraising and Barack Obama's legendary social media success (he's by far the most followed Twitterer), it's not going away any time soon. So, do YOU use Twitter? Why?

Leif Kendall is a freelance copywriter, "micro-storyteller", proud dad and avid Twitterer.

Twitterer Floats Away at Twestival

Premasagar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:43:23 +0000

This month, we’re taking great pleasure in helping out both the London and Brighton Twestivals on the 12th of February. We're donating a mind-expanding, floaty prize to the London Twestival raffle, and we're a main sponsor for the Brighton Twestival.

Why the sponsorship?

As ever, we’re interested in helping out with events that are run for the community and by the community. This time, we're extra-enthused because the Twestivals also embody several other passions of ours:

We love gatherings where positive, chance meetings happen between like-minded people.
We want to support events in aid of charities (all proceeds help Charity:water's efforts to bring safe drinking water to the world).
We're excited about events that have been enabled by social media (in this case, the ever-growing community on Twitter), where online communities create events in their very own neighbourhood.

What's this about Twitterers floating?

At the London Twestival, one lucky raffle winner will win our prize of a year's supply of float tank sessions. Sometimes you need a rest from all the hubbub, wittering, twittering and chasing about. At London's float centre, Floatopia, you'll find a haven from the mad rush of life in a warm, relaxing, womb-like pool:

Whilst suspended in a dense Epsom salt solution, warmed to skin temperature, one soon gets the illusion of floating in air. The resulting sense of serenity and deep well-being will stay with you for days after your float.

(Warning: You may have to leave your iPhone outside). Six months of the prize is courtesy of Dharmafly and this has been generously matched with another six months by Floatopia. You can read more about the benefits of floating on the Floatopia site or Wikipedia. Happy Twestivals! We’d love to hear your experiences if you’re the winner of our floaty prize, and even if you aren’t, drop us a comment below and let us know how the Twestival went for you.

Update: Another prize - Green Hosting

We're also now offering a prize of one year of our 100% renewable energy web hosting for the Brighton Twestival raffle. Best of luck, raffle peeps!

Twitter Gets Real

Leif Kendall — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:29:15 +0000

Twestival unites online friends for charity

Twestival is a global series of local events, happening in over 100 cities worldwide (including London and Brighton), on 12 February 2009.

Twestival bridges the gap between the off- and online worlds. It provides a chance for communities on Twitter (a web service that allows users to share their thoughts with their peers) to meet in person and to raise money for Charity:water, who provide clean water for people in developing countries. Dharmafly spoke to Amanda Rose, the enterprising organiser who got the Twestival ball rolling, to find out more about Twestival and why Twitter is suited to this kind of crowd-sourced social action.

Rippling messages through the web

As Amanda noted, Twitter allows for a “ripple effect”, letting messages spread and surge through the web. This gives Twestival instant access to willing participants - people who pass on the message and offer to get involved. Those who are making Twestival happen are ordinary people, choosing to help a good cause after hearing about it through their Twitter network. Charity:water has been chosen as Twestival’s beneficiary, partly because they are active Twitter users themselves (such as the charity's founder, Scott Harrison), using it to spread news of their work and to connect with interested parties.

Twitter steps out of the web

Twitter is sometimes characterised as another way for socially-awkward people to avoid human contact (mainly by people who’ve never used it). Twestival is further evidence that Twitterers want their interactions to make a difference beyond the web.

Twestival: a flash-function

So what exactly is a Twestival? It’s a loose idea, varying in nature from city to city. Each Twestival is a rapid-response flash-event, created almost spontaneously by volunteers. Some Twestivals are taking the form of an "unconference" (a grassroots conference organised by the participants), some are relaxed social gatherings in cafes and pubs, and some will have entertainment and activities. All Twestivals aim to bring together local Twitter communities to benefit a good cause.

Twestival: raising money for Charity:water

At the heart of every Twestival is Charity:water, a non-profit organisation that brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of donations go directly to creating sustainable clean water solutions. The directness of Charity:water’s donation system means that every penny raised by generous Twitterers will help provide clean water to the people who need it most. You can also donate directly on the Twestival page of the Charity:water website.

Twestival in Brighton: @brightwest

Brighton’s Twestival tickets go on sale at 12pm today. If you want to track its progress, follow @twestival and @brightwest on Twitter, and check brighton.twestival.com for more information.

Update: Now sponsoring

Dharmafly is now happily a Twestival sponsor, and we're giving away some gorgeous raffle prizes.

Leif Kendall is a freelance copywriter, "micro-storyteller", proud dad and avid Twitterer.

Wishing You a…

Premasagar — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:12:16 +0000

(Hint: Take a closer look) To all the beautiful people we've worked with over the past year... to all our readers and contributors, family, friends, peers and, well, everybody else... Have a sumptuous Christmas (or Winter Solstice, or what have you) and an inspirational New Year. Be well, be great and be here with us again in 2009. Big Love, Dharmafly

I is for iPhone

iPhone apps shown above (l-r):

Hahlo - Twitter mobile browser client
Alphabet - Phonetic alphabet speller
Pownce - (ahem) Unsocial networking
Photonasis - Photo filter effects
Moblyng - Social network slideshows
iTimeX - Collaborative time tracking
Mobyko - Mobile info backup & synchronisation
Last.fm - Personalised music radio
iLove - Quick-dial your true love
Dictionaire - Word, words, words
Hyves - Social networking for Europa
Colorblind Avenger - Photo colour-picker for the colourblind
AeroReader - RSS reader
Memiary - Remember your day
hContacts - Sync with contacts on Highrise
Facebook - The Facebook app. (While I've always found Facebook just painful to use, the iPhone app feels effortless).
Lokalisten - Local listings... in German
MetU - Find someone you once lost
[Last year's message from Dharmafly]
Dharmafly.com