Category: Things I think about

MySource, the next social worknet?

So it’s funny, but there are now two projects already that are being hosted in Google’s new open source environment that I want to “join” (requests are already in to the creators)… I wonder if, like Flickr groups, you’ll eventually be able to “join” GC projects — and be able to contribute and so forth…

This still doesn’t deal with the need for tools to enable non-code-writers to get involved in open-source (as is the goal of slow and effusive CivicForge) but the simplicity of the GC site makes it much more attractive to folks like me, who can’t stand the clutter and obnoxiousness of SF.

Oh, and in other news, SF is now allowing you to use external SVN repositories for your projects. Accelerated by the Google announcement? Methinks so.

Announcing VibeKit, the NetVibes desktop application

VibeKit

It’s pretty incredible when you can dream up an idea or an improvement in your flow one day and have it in your Applications folder the next, but that’s what happens when you run into cool kats like Chip Cuccio, the developer of Gcal and now VibeKit.

I got this message tonight:

http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf
powered by ODEO

The point of the app is pretty simple: give me a stand-alone dashboard for all the web apps that I need to get to quickly that don’t have dedicated desktop-side apps (like PBWiki or Blinksale)… and that keeps me posted on what’s going on so that I’m not constantly switching from my Gmail tab to NetNewsWire to 1001. And so on.

VibeKit iconOh, and good news, it’s open source and supports Sparkle framework for software updates.

So get yourself a NetVibes account and download now (Universal binary)!

WordPress 2.0.4 rolls, Veloso joins Automattic

AvalonStarPress

Good stuff over at WordPress, with a security and “stuff” release, and a new addition to the Automattic family: Flockdotcom designer Bryan Veloso (aka AvalonStar).

First project for Bryan: implement Shuttle with support for Canvas.

Oh, and don’t forget to rub elbows at the upcoming WordCamp.

—

So Moore’s law talks about the speed of processors doubling every so often (specifics aren’t that important at the moment). Invariably, games, apps and whatnot other myriad things come along to suck up that juice necessitating upgrades, new hardware and so on. It’s essentially a personal issue, however, one that, so long as Moore’s law stays unbroken, you can overcome it by buying or upgrading your computer or being conservative about the technology you use.

The bandwidth problem, however, has no equivalent Moore’s law. Even as faster wireless standards emerge, the series of tubes that make up the internets aren’t getting any fatter. And yet more and more race horses, poker chips, blow-up dolls and lottery balls will be being sent thru the tubes the more people go online. And already, at least in the states, our bandwidth is retarded compared to Europe (as in “being late” or “behind”). So I’m kinda sittin’ here wonderin’, y’know, what’s the big plan moving forward? Are we just waiting to turn on the dark fiber? If so, turn it on already! If not, ok, what? Lay more fiber? I mean, what’s to guarentee that, as we rely evermore on the cloud, that the pipes that we rely on to access it are going to be able to bare the burden? I mean car makers don’t built the roads — what is our civic interest — nay, duty — in making sure that we have unhindered, unthrottled bandwidth into the future?

Tom, say it ain't so!

The Demise of MySpace Tom?

Tom, I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye but you were my first friend on MySpace, and so, in my book, that made us BFF.

But it troubles me, Tom, when I read today that the government has passed US House Resolution 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA). The act looks at how much a “commericial social networking site and/or chat room”:

  1. is offered by a commercial entity;
  2. permits registered users to create an on-line profile that includes detailed personal information;
  3. permits registered users to create an on-line journal and share such a journal with other users;
  4. elicits highly-personalized information from users; and
  5. enables communication among users.

Clearly this is aimed at MySpace!

So Tom… when I went to your MySpace page to see what you had to say about it… you’d been deleted! If this act is about “deleting online predators” well, I can only hope that this was a mistake, but… I’m afriad that, Tom, there’s simply no way we can be BFF if you’ve been deleted.

For whatever reasons.

I hope you understand.

Backpack gets a calendar

Backpack Calendar

In case you hadn’t seen it (which I assume you have), Backpack now sports a shiny new calendar for organizing your life. Available for pay accounts only (it’s a measly $5 bucks for a basic account), the reviews seem pretty positive so far, even though I haven’t tried it yet. Personally if it’s less heavy and AJAX’d than Google’s implementation, I might be suaded to dish out some moola.

I mean, with Hiker on its way and voicemail for Backpack pages, why wouldn’t I try it?

Well… (and I respectfully disagree with Jason that iCal export is sufficient) hCalendar and hCard support would be a pretty sweet addition. But, as he correctly points out, I’m not really his target audience. Phooey. It’s such a drag when folks are adament about not doing what the early adopters demand. It’s like they have, I dunno, backbone or something.

DevJaVu, Google to offer open source project hosting

Don’t look now, but SourceForge has got 7-letter competition. Besides just funding open source development, Google is now in the business of providing hosting for it. To sign up for the service, a project needs to be licensed under one of seven approved licenses: Apache license, ArtisticLicense, GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser General PublicLicense (LGPL), Mozilla License, BSD license, or MIT license.

Interestingly, data portability out of the service is an uncertainty at this point:

One of the most discussed topics at OSCON this year hasbeen open data — the ability for users to get their data out of aprogram or service and use it elsewhere. Stein says that Googleunderstands the importance of being able to move data. “We don’t havethose [migration features] in there now, but that’s something we intendto [have] … we intend to do it soon after launch.”

Devjavu_bannerThere is an alternative that fellow DevHouser Jeff Lindsay is working on, however, called DevJaVu — simply Trac and SVN hosting for a variety of projects and iniatives (currently in private beta). If PBWiki is any indication of the kind of stuff that comes out of this crew, DevJaVu seems like a perfect tool for the independent’s toolkit that won’t have your data stuck in the creeping grips of King Google.

hResume plugin now available

Alex Muse et al have announced the availability of the hResume plugin for WordPress. This plugin will essentially allow you to publish your resume on your own blog using semantic microformatted content so that search engines (like Technorati and eventually other sites like Emurse) can index and offer your resume as a result.

Why is this better than going to Monster.com and others? Well, for one thing, you’re always in charge of your data, so instead of having to fill out forms on 40,000 different sites, you maintain your resume on your site and you update it once and then ping others to let them know that you’ve updated your resume. And, when people discover your resume, they come to you in a context that represents you and lets you stand out rather than blending into a sea of homogeneous-looking documents.

Finally, you’re free to share as much (or as little as you like) and if the data doesn’t fit in their predefined templates, you’ve got nothing to worry about because you’re in total control of your employed (or unemployed) destiny!

On the flip side, Emurse already outputs hResume so if you do want to use an external service to publish your resume (maybe you still don’t have a blog… heh) you feel free to do so. And yeah, it’ll look pretty darn good too.