This is the first blog post I am making using WordPress. I actually installed the program myself, though not in the 5 minutes the WordPress people promised. If only I can get my previous posts from MovableType to be imported; the directions did not account for the error messages I received. 

I have always liked the functionality in Movable Type, and have been thinking about upgrading to the new version. However, I have had to hire developers to do the last installs, and even since then have had countless problems. Let’s see, my trackbacks do not work, I cannot change themes, I cannot install new plug-ins, and on and on. The new version looks great, but in the list of upgrades, I don’t see anything that I can’t live without (not to mention I don’t think I should have to pay a developer for what should
be simple things that should work by default).

While I have always been suspicious of open source software, it seems most people who are bloggers and don’t use blogger or TypePad have already migrated to WordPress, which now has the same attention to plug-ins and widgets as does TypePad (which I do not want to pay for). I think I will switch to WordPress.

I do like the template I am using; I wonder if there is a WordPress version of it?

Technorati Tags: WordPress

So, it appears the next version (a major one, as I understand) of Movable Type is now available for blogging platforms. I have pretty much decided I would change my blogging platform to WordPress, as I feel I am the last individual (non-corporate) user of Movable Type, when suddenly I learn MT is now FREE for personal use. What a change!!

While there is an impressive list of new features, the install still looks like it needs a corporate IT department or a lot of web development knowledge. The install does not resemble the friendly WordPress install Andy so strongly advocates. Uh oh . . .

Technorati Tags: Movable Type, Andy Wibbels, WordPress

Last night Social Media Club NY met and there was a focused presentation by John Havens about his work with the The Transparency Manifesto. What does it mean for businesses (or all organizations, for that matter) to be tranparent online? What information can and should be shared to establish and maintain credibility and authenticity? John recounted two great stories to illustrate his message, one with Scoble at Microsoft and another with Scoble and PodCampNYC. What information may be too much to share (e.g., HIPAA, salaries of employees, trade secrets)?

I immediately thought about my recent posts regarding the changing dynamics of authority and expertise, as I see them related in the manner that online information and sharing is more immediate and democratic (readily accessible without great costs or insurmountable obstacles to get started) than it was in the past where information was controlled by the educated and wealthy elite.

John has invited anybody who is interested in his work to participate in this project, and he will share the information with the wiki password for this. It seems he is looking to publish the resulting work, though the impression I have is that he is looking to begin this discussion and then see where it leads.

Yes, there were a lot of other discussions that occurred at the session last night (i.e., wireless social media, the changing advertzing model, global perspectives of texting), and as I am writing this from my Moleskine notebook, I am focusing on what stuck with me the most after processing the event. Perhaps I will liveblog the next meeting as a (possible) continuation to the liveblogging research projects in which I am engaged?

Technorati Tags: SMCNY, John Havens, Scoble, PodCampNYC, liveblogging, Transparency Manifesto, Moleskine

Pageflakes, the personal Web 2.0 homepage I use in Internet Explorer, has just released a revision, entitled Blizzard. I found it when I opened a new browser window, and at first thought there was something broken because I did not expect to see anything different. While they list their new features here, the one tweak I have repeatedly requested was not done, namely my request to set how many of my del.icio.us bookmarks should appear (they have capped this at 20, and I want all of mine to show to save me clicking the Next 20 Posts button twice). My Weather Flake no longer works properly, and the new snowflake background on the site is a strange contrast to the current 83 degrees with humidity here in NYC.

However, I do like the more contemporary look that reminds me of the light and airy features of Windows Aero. I like the newly-integrated browsing of new flakes. It definitely loaded faster (which is more important than anything, since I come here as a hop-stop to the Net). It has a more distinctive and edgier look than NetVibes (which loads with a strange place-holder page that appears before my own content loads slowly slowly slowly if it does not freeze) and iGoogle (which, ironically, looks a bit old-fashioned and sterile).

I welcome this new iteration of Pageflakes, and plan to continue using it as the best alternative to opening directly to Google. BTW, the best feature of Pageflakes may just be that it has a Google search box right there on top that opens the results in a new window. Open PageFlakes once, and all navigation from there will leave it loaded and intact. Pretty good. 

Technorati Tags: Pageflakes, NetVibes, delicious, iGoogle,

I just saw Time Magazine’s list of 50 Best Websites 2007, and love looking at these lists to see how their research (or preferences?) match or differ from my own. I wish they would explain their methodology for selecting them, but it is a popular magazine, not an academic one, so their processes may not be as rigorous (based on traffic, a large survey, focus groups, etc.) as one may like (or even care).

While I use some of the ones they list, including LinkedIn and Twitter (both of these links go to my information on their sites), most of them I have never heard of. I am by no means going to set myself out as an expert on websites (popular or otherwise), but I wonder how they separated the 50 Best from the 25
Sites We Can’t Live Without. These are the bigger players (including Amazon, del.icio.us, Flickr, Technorati - once again, with links to my own pages), and while there are also a few sites here I do not use, I wish they could have organized these into a handy single-page
chart as well.

One last thing that is so important for keeping current online that Time seems to have forgotten — date stamp all lists and pages! With information being created at an unheard-of speed, it is vital people can easily determine how current information is. Blog programs do this for us automatically. Outlook dates and time stamps emails. Document management systems, credit card processors, and even Google all follow suit. Seems somewhat ironic, I think, given Time’s own name, they neglected
this.  

Technorati Tags: Amazon, del.icio.us, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter, Technorati, Time Magazine

I have been using Ecto as a blogging tool for liveblogging, and finally figured out how to get ScribeFire for Firefox to work. This is another platform for me to play around with while preparing for my next liveblogging research project next week at the AHRD conference in Oxford.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Craig Newmark, the Craig in Craigslist, spoke to and with us last night at the Social Media Club NY meeting. It was nice to hear him again so soon after hearing him speak on a panel discussion two weeks ago at Personal Democracy Forum. As others have more fully blogged about this
event, including Mark Rose, Howard Greenstein, Allen Stern, and Donna Bogatin, I want to muse on some of the random thoughts and ideas Craig raised as I thought some
of them were useful.

“Death is my exit strategy.”

• I like this quote of Craig. While he used it in the context of when he will leave his work at Craigslist, I suppose in a more postmodern way, this is true for all of us. I wonder how strategic many of us are about this, both for whatever legacy we are interested in leaving as well as how we want to leave our memories once we are gone (like we really have any control over that).

“We need people to speak truth to power.”

• I have never heard this Quaker phrase before, but it seems consistent with Craig’s political views that he shared at the meeting. Here, I thought that was original at the time. Catchy phrase, and when trying to learn a little more about it, I found this on the Quaker site itself:
• To those who hold high places in our national life and bear the terrible responsibility of making decisions for war or peace.
• To the American people who are the final reservoir of power in this country and whose values and expectations set the limits for those who exercise authority.
• To the idea of Power itself, and its impact on Twentieth Century life.
• I keep thinking about Foucault and Weber and Marx (who has some great stuff that is often missed due to the American experience with Communism and the Cold War). Power exists in all human interaction, and I wonder why, given the great amount of American frustration with the course of the war in Iraq, the status quo continues. Perhaps people find it better to complain and shake our heads rather than get up and do anything to change the course of the conflict. I suppose if those in power do not feel pressure
  to change (i.e., power), then why do anything differently? Here, after the Democrats took over in Congress, nothing seems to have changed with the war. Another broken promise, or is that too simple a way of looking at this?
• I wonder, too, about this, in the manner Craig spoke. He was very calm, and while I find him wonderful to listen to, there was little moderation in his tone and speaking manner. His words seemed passionate, but there was little animation as he spoke about this. Interesting disconnect.

Craig’s theme of journalists and the need to have them to tell what is really happening in the world.

• I was glad he did not use the term “tell the truth” about situations in the world. I am becoming inclined to see the concept of “the truth” as being a subjective assessment of the world, as opposed to an objective descritpion of world events. I know, I am not sure how objective anything can be (i.e., can we ever speak about anything outside of our prior experiences?), but journalists have the same pressures (their beliefs, power relationships, personal and organizational political hurdles) we all do, so I find
  it a challenge that they should be held to an other standards than other people. I think about the New York Times and their All the News That’s Fit to Print – who decides what is news and what aspect (i.e., which side or perspective of it) should be presented (i.e., discussed). So, if the “news” does not cover a story, does that mean it is not news?
• Perhaps I need to study some journalism. I wonder if Jay Rosen at Assignment Zero is onto something here?

I like the meetings of Social Media Club. Having been a member for a few months now and having attended a few meetings and listened to some really talented people talk about some really interesting things, I feel stimulated. Isn’t that what social media is all about?

Technorati Tags: Craig Newmark, Social Media Club, smc

I am working on my review of Personal Democarcy Forum using the easy to use Confabb tool. The organizers sent an email requesting reviews of the session a week ago (on 5/22), and now, a week later, there have not been many responses.
I wonder if that is because we are all busy people and life gets in the way, or if it is in any way reflective of the conference or the evaluation strategy itself? I wish there would have been some reaction evaluation immediately at the end of the conference, such as a Kirkpatrick Level 1 Evaluation, so more would have been captured right away. I know I need time to process this, so I have been going back to the site several times since the conference. However, I think that out of site may mean out of mind for others, and without attendees providing some feedback and evaluation, it may be difficult for the conference to improve based on the suggestions and recommendations of the participants. As I thought this conference was an eye-opener, I hope others take the time to add their voices to the feedback on the website.

Technorati Tags: personal democracy forum, pdf2007