Category: Technology

Welcome to the Neighborhood 2.0

VOX header

Surely you’ve heard by now that Six Apart’s new neighborhood platform VOX has launched.

I really like it. In fact, it’s the first online “place” that my mom’s signed up with, who was shortly followed by my brother (who found me initially on Facebook and I cajoled him into joining VOX).

Now that they’re both on it, I actually feel pretty comfortable about them giving it a go without me chaperoning them along.

Don’t get me wrong… I mean, there’s a bit of complexity in VOX, but I kind of feel like, if they play around a little — with the teasers that incite you to actually contribute and connect (suggest a neighbor feature on the invite page is genius) — they might just get into all this “Web 2.0” stuff I’ve been yammering on to them about for ages.

So now, imagine going home for Thanksgiving and rather than having to explain “feeds” or “Flickr”, we can just follow up on posts that they read but never commented on… or photos of my neighbor’s that they liked… Imagine using VOX, with its facile design and attention to detail, to finally connect with folks who normally could care less about this stuff.

Yes, finally.

It’s funny, but lots of people talk about “designing for Grandma” or “soccer moms” or other supposedly technically inept audiences (though, who in reality are often just as — if not moreso — savvy than the folks making such comments). But I think VOX has gone further than many who have come before and have successfully built a product and a community that I wouldn’t mind introducing my mom to (in fact, I did just that) and who I wouldn’t mind taking her through so that I knew it made sense and so that she could get the most out of her time spent on it.

In fact — and this is critical — once she’s set up and off on her own, I trust VOX to not get in her way or insult her intelligence. Perhaps I’m belaboring the point, but there are just so many nuances that make VOX feel friendly and worth working with that it’s important to point out that VOX is, above all, an excellent example of applied restraint and the execution of clear intention.

The one geeky thing I’ll add is that I’m eagerly awaiting OpenID integration so that we can start pushing forward with making the experience of grassroots identity consolidation as easy and good looking as VOX.

Symantec/Norton on OpenID/Cardspace train

For posterity (emphasis added):

Users, and not Symantec, will control their identity information, Salem said, addressing the main criticism that led to the demise of a similar effort from Microsoft called Passport. Also, Symantec will not create new technology standards, but plans to use Microsoft’s CardSpace and the open-source OpenID technology, Salem said.

Songbird: One small step for bird, one giant leap for birdkind

Songbird 0.2

SpacebirdRaising the banner of the Mozilla Lizard is Songbird, coming out with their 0.2 developer release, available now for download (and don’t forget to prep first).

I’ve been watching their work with some interest, and I do, on the one hand, like Ross Karchner‘s quote that It’s like taking iTunes, ripping out the music store, and replacing it with the rest of the internet.

Any competition for iTunes and the DRMafia is a good thing™.

But at the same time, it’s kind of like… why? I mean, okay, love the idea of alternative vendors hawking their wares in my media experience. After all, competition is a good thing, economically speaking, for me.

But I really don’t necessary always care who I’m doing business with, as long as I’m getting good service and a good product. So, couldn’t Songbird help out in that regard?

And it would also be nice if Songbird helped to change the way I experience music, like VolumeLogic, SoundFlavor or Tangerine attempts to do. Otherwise — well, you’re kind of like iTunes but open source and not quite as… refined. Yet. (But oh how I love your cartoons!)

So anyway, congrats on the 0.2 release. I think your release schedule is a lot more in line with reality than certain other Mozilla-based projects (natch!), so kudos to you for taking your time. But I guess — okay, looking to the future and the nebulous 1.0 — where do you sit next to Democracy (a feed media/BitTorrent viewer) and how do you stack up against iTunes? I mean, even I can admit that open source isn’t everything… so, what’s the deal? What’s the long term future of Songbird?

Twitter is inventing trans-media

CellyIronically, the send-from-web side of Twitter was only released today.

This is actually something significant.

For one thing, web-first isn’t the only game in town anymore. And it ought not be taken for granted as always the best place to start. It’s just one of the places to start.

In fact, web-second might become more common as more and more devices become web-enabled but not web-based. I mean, once the iPod gets a web browser… then what?

So during a conversation I had today with Jen Pahlka about the design track of the Web 2.0 Expo, she suggested holding a discussion about the changing context of content created or spread online, inspired by a post by Richard MacManus.

“Context” raises some very interesting challenges and opportunities for traditional web developers and designers (those who support web standards will be in better shape, but I digress).

So, let’s say your client tells you that they want a blog. “Okay” you say, and set them up on WordPress with a theme that looks like their corporate website. Woohoo.

Weeks later, out of the blue, the client calls you up frantic about their content showing up in some other unintended context. Like TechMeme. Or Tailrank 2.0. Or something. One never knows.

“How did they get my content?!” they squeal. “They’re stealing from me!”

To which you explain, hopefully in a calm, steady tone, “Noooo, actually, that’s how feeds and syndication work… Say, isn’t that why you started a blog? To get your ideas out there and engage in these kind of conversations? To connect with people? You should only be so happy that someone would republish your [blank] thoughts!”

Well, clearly what was missing from the initial conversation was a note about the changing nature of context and of the decaying control over where what publish or information shows up: “Well, to get your stuff out there, it’s gotta be put where people are — and hell if I know where people are! — so let’s make your content as accessible as possible and if they’re interested, all those folks will adapt it to and consume it in whatever context is appropriate to their situation.”

Facebook learned its lesson the hard way by not being upfront about this and setting expectations. Twitter, OTOH, is setting a new standard by pioneering what is effectively multi-modal trans-media content publicity: from web, mobile, email or API to IM, web, widget or feeds, with community built in at every stage of the process. In fact, it’s never been about Twitter, it’s always been about the Twitterers. And apparently, since it’s up to them, it’s okay to context-switch their content. They don’t mind. In fact, they quite seem to like it!

Idea: individually zoomable desktop apps

I took a look at a little app called Zooom for the Mac that lets you drag an application around from any surface using two modifier keys.

It’s pretty cool, but could be better for the $7.95 price tag.

Like, what would be really useful — and would better apply to the app’s name — would be the ability to “zooom” apps in and out — in partial states of exposéd-ness… Ideally I’d press shift+option and dial back or forward on the mousewheel… and the app or window I’m hovered over would zoom in or out depending on whether I’ve scrolled the wheel forward or back.

Basically, I’m talking about a per-app Exposé setting — that would “release” the app back to full size if you double click on it.

What do you think?

Writing history: Technorati adopts OpenID

Technorati adds support for OpenID

In an excellent sign of what’s surely to come, Technorati has adopted , at least for the moment, to claim your blog. This is a good first start and public display of support for this grassroots authentication protocol developer by Brad Fitzpatrick of LiveJournal, but until they fully support it to login to your actual Technorati account, this move serves only to whet the appetite.

But Technorati’s support does deserve recognition, as it is still early in the days of distributed single sign-on. Furthermore, the issues around remote login are many and require the involvement of and efforts from a wide range of diverse folks to help push through viable solutions for the myriad interface, user flow and communication challenges that this emerging standard brings with it.

As Ian Kallen of Technorati points out, there are still a number of issues to be resolved, chief among them:

I’m well aware of the concerns about phishy user interface vulnerabilities. The idea of logging in without a password may seem weird.

But that concern in and of itself should not prevent the continued building out of the OpenID network, especially as some smart folks are working on these, and other, thorny issues.

There are two things worth mentioning here as well.

First is that there was an agreement (perhaps a gentleperson’s agreement only) that stated that once Technorati added support for OpenID, LiveJournal would add support for microformats. Whether blog claiming constitutes “support for OpenID” as was intended by the offer is unclear, but it would be a rather positive development if LiveJournal did add support for , and other microformats.

Second, and more importantly, this example demonstrates the potential (I hate to say it) “longtail” value of support a decentralized authentication protocol like OpenID.

Consider this: let’s say that you blog on Blogger or on Yahoo! 360 or on MSN Spaces… as you probably know, each of the majors has their own authentication protocol (Google’s GAuth, Yahoo!’s BBAuth and Microsoft’s CardSpace, respectively). No doubt Technorati could add support claiming your blog using those protocols, no problem. But let’s say that you don’t want to play in one of those three de facto identity silos… what if you’re building your own independent blogging platform and want to offer authentication not provided by one of the Big Three? What are your options? What if you also want to use that same protocol to allow your users to have one login account across your other products?

Well, OpenID is designed to serve that purpose. In fact, you can run your own identity provider without needing to come close to the big three… and yet if did want to support them, work is being done (more thorny work I might add) to unify all your accounts into one OpenID that supports the big three. It’s highly unlikely, meanwhile, for the big three to do the same on their systems (for various appropriate reasons).

But here’s the thing: OpenID provides independents — individuals and small businesses — a way to play in the big leagues like the big guys without having to build the same kind of massive account infrastructure that they have. Furthermore, owing to the network effects of this standard, the more folks who consume and port around OpenIDs, the more valuable the network.

This is why we promote OpenID to all of our clients — as each one adds support for OpenID, all of our client’s clients (our real customers) can then log in and share their accounts across the services that our clients are building. This is a fundamental key to the non-zero sum economics that we preach! People like flexibility, they like control over their data and they like to be in charge of their identity and its destiny. That’s just good business. And the more that we decentralize identity and authentication services, the closer that control moves to the individual.

In the meantime, there is still much work to be done. But these small steps make a world of difference in terms of underscoring the value of this work.

Tangerine: another app for juicing your music

Tangerine

I’ve talked about SoundFlavor, Pandora (also see Boy and Man), The Filter, neglected to mention MOG or beaTunes, but now there’s yet another way to get more “juice” from your music.

Tangerine, a Mac application from the makers of Voice Candy and Podcast Maker, analyzes track beats per minute (BPM) and compiles playlists based on the setting you choose — creating a consistency in tempo perfect for, as the creator points out, working out.

Of course what seems to be driving most of the excitement is the UI, which you can see here and below, analyzing my smaller iTunes library:
Tangerine recognition BPMs

Not only is this app representative of a larger trend in Mac-app development towards hot and unique interfaces, but it also continues the recent slew of releases that help you get more out of your existing music library. No doubt eventually we’ll see similar types of tools for feeds, videos and friends, but for now, we’ll stick with those that make listening a little tastier.

Disclosure: Word has it people who blog about Tangerine get a free license when it’s released. I’d be happy to get a license, but that’s not why I chose to blog about it, though that has been a partial motivator in the past.

The beast has awoken; or, The beginning of Web 2.0

we heard you

Executive summary: In considering the launch of Internet Explorer 7 in the context of the Spread Firefox campaign, I ask whether, now that the slumbering juggernaut of Microsoft has awoken and is learning to be more open-source-like, Firefox and open source advocates generally should continue to promote Firefox as a product or instead focus on promoting the movement and ideology of co-production and gift economics that produced Firefox.

Continue reading “The beast has awoken; or, The beginning of Web 2.0”