Listen First – then Distribute Your Authoring

A question I recently heard was "Where is the Internet going?" My two cents? At least
for communicators I believe it is going towards two major themes.

1. First LISTEN and then;
2. distribute authoring to the people.

Let’s talk about what the Internet is not. It is not currently a true conversation. Oh I know all about the manifesto
and have said myself numerous times that it is "conversational". There
is a conversation going on; yet it it is not equidistant to all people.

Calling the Internet a conversation is similar to saying that everyone participated in Andy Warhol’s factory. Or the original rat pack.
Some participated. Some led. Yet for the most part it was voyeurism
pure and simple for the mass majority. Despite the change in mediums we
still see the minority participating in the conversation and the elite
minority leading it. The majority watches from the sidelines.

I am not suggesting the leading minority is subjugating anyone. It is simply that people are shy and stepping up to a global conversation is damn hard.

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Relativity Drive – I hope it works!

From the New Scientist magazine there is an article worth reading. The headline is a bit of an over-the-top tease but the concept is real. It is about a scientist named Roger Shawyer in the UK.

Relativity drive: The end of wings and wheels?

(snip) Key is the fact that the diameter of a tubular cavity alters the path -
and hence the effective velocity – of the microwaves travelling through
it.

The short version is microwaves are shot into a tube. The tube is shaped like a cone with one end smaller than the other. This causes more force to be directed against the large end of the cone than the smaller end. That force difference creates propulsion which can be used for space craft. If it works….

Visual of the relativity drive here.

The only thing people fight about more than energy is God. Increases in efficiency and alternatives are a good thing. Via digg.

Citizendium and Wikipedia – The Path I want is a Balance of Power

On Citizendium, Larry Sanger and Clay Shirky.

As a long time reader of Corante I can say that, truthfully, half the time I don’t get it. Well I might "get it" if I understood it. They use lots of big words. Ontological. Stuff like that.

Yet Clay is one brilliant guy. And when speaking he does seem to simplify to the point of understanding. I like his belief in folksonomy. I wish he wrote like he spoke. Be clear.

Larry? Passionate? Yes. And a far greater success in the online world that my current ventures so I tip my hat to the man. Yet again I am not sure I follow his thoughts on the subject. And I believe communication is first a burden on the communicator.

My take on all of this is simply that we need both a House and a Senate in Congress, similarly we need both a Wikipedia and a Citizendium in knowledge management. The thinkers and the populace should both get a vote. The answer is somewhere in the middle.

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1080p – 1080 Progressive is the Best HD Available

I have been studying video formats and standards lately (yes, part of my job). I like knowing the standards. We all do. Example:

Q: "I want a portable music player. What should I buy?"
A: "Ipod"

That simple. That is what positioning and branding is about. So, to break down the specifics:

Q: "I want the best HD system available. What should I buy?"
A: "1080 Progressive Scan."

OK, the second example doesn’t have a brand name. But just knowing that 1080p is the "one", that is helpful to me. Same for the folks at the xBox 360 who now support 1080p. Yea!

Citizendium is to Foo as Wikipedia is to Bar

Citizendium aspires to have a group of intellectuals create moderated great ideas. Like foo camp has an invited group of intellectuals.

Wikipedia aspires to have editors from the willing and takes all comers. Like bar camp has unconferences of the willing.

Some background:

Citizendium is being started by Larry Sanger, one of the cofounders of wikipedia. It is like wikipedia but with peer review. From the citizendium essay.

Imagine what is
possible with tens of millions of intellectuals working together on educational
and reference projects.

The wrench in the whole thing is that wikipedia started as a dot com called nupedia with experts and peer review (sanger) . So wikipedia started where citizendium is trying to restart. From Larry Sanger, the cofounder of wikipedia, on slashdot.

Wikipedia’s predecessor, which I was also employed to organize, was
Nupedia. Nupedia was to be a highly reliable, peer-reviewed resource
that fully appreciated and employed the efforts of subject area
experts, as well as the general public.

Is this getting recursive to anyone else?

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