Thursday, August 08, 2002

K-logs, knowledge sharing, and social capital. Blogging Alone. Stephen Dulaney applies Indicators of Social Capital to Web Logs. Levels of giving (blog ecossystem) reflects people's propensity to give to others when they themselves may not directly benefit. The economy of giving links. Participation and engagement (What we do when we blog Meg Hourihan) gauge of people's involvement in a range of groups and associations, both formal and informal. Ray Ozzie adds a nice contribution to "Why we Blog" Reciprocity within the community (everybodyblogit) is the measure to which people can rely on their community to help in times of need. How to Start a Weblog (For Professinal Journalists) Generalized trust that people have in other individuals and groups, and how safe they feel in their daily interactions with others. Trust towards public officials and institutions or the measure of people's confidence in the institutions of society. Social Norms (Lessig) the rules, belief, morals and habits that regulate behaviour. Attitudinal variables (blogtree) important to social capital or individuals' belief about themselves, their place, and their tolerance of others, levels of acceptance, motivations and sense of connectedness. Confidence in the continuation of social and political relationships for the future. This list is from the work titled Framework for the measurment of Social Capital in New Zealand which was prepared by Anne Spellerberg and assisted by the social capital programme team. page 16 of the (link to pdf found here) Do these apply to an Intranet klogging cluster? I'm sure they do, with a few differences. More klogger than blogger. Kloggers are also members of the large, amorphous population of blogspace. As people are socialized first into a local klogspace, this outside affiliation may be lessened.   Colleagues first. Second, you define your focus of attention by your work more than your passions and curiousity. Your formal affilliations (your chain of command, your team, your stakeholders) and informal ones (your office network, ad hoc teams) fill your days, and your klogs.     Work cultures. Social capital within an enterprise is strongly flavored by personality, policy, institutional memory (institutional rumor?), regional culture, and occupational culture.   Personal fences. Do you keep your social circles apart? Many people take care about mixing work, family, friends, politics, and faith. Do you want your bondage master, your bowling team, and your quality circle to know about each other through you? when people at work see your personal blogs, how does that affect your working relationships? This visibility biases what people write.     Intellectual property. Work is more a Free Agent Nation than ever. Portability of knowledge and experience is a career asset. Most employers claim that everything employees write using company IT gear is the employer's property. This creates a conflict of interest.   [aka community] [a klog apart] Good insights. [McGee's Musings] 6:14:13 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Junto. This is amazing... Ben Franklin, hax0r. Benjamin Franklin was a member of a leet hacker-clan/secret society called "Junto." Franklin was a socially and politically effective hacker who created the leading edge of science, technology, and society. He was responsible for breakthroughs like lighting=electricity, and inventions like bifocals and the Franklin stove. His printing operation was the 18th century equivalent of the web (the number of newspapers in the colonies expanded from a couple of dozen to a few hundred during his life, and he funded the creation of several of them)... The Junto had a series of questions they'd ask at each meeting. It's revealing... 5. Have you lately heard how any present rich man, here or elsewhere, got his estate?... 6. Do you know of any fellow citizen, who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise and imitation? or who has committed an error proper for us to be warned against and avoid?... 14. Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, of which it would be proper to move the legislature an amendment? Or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?... 15. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties of the people?... 23. Is there anv difficulty in matters of opinion, of justice, and injustice, which you would gladly have discussed at this time? Link Discuss (via On Lisa Rein's Radar) [Boing Boing Blog] I'm beginning to think Ben Franklin was actually about 12 people. I'd never heard of this at all. Please click through to the full list of questions. It's a wonderful list to keep in mind. If I could only get my laserjet hooked up to the mac I'd shrink it down and print it on card stock to carry with me. [The Universal Church Of Cosmic Uncertainty] 5:57:51 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Time for people. Paolo Valdemarin: Time for people. "Time for anonymous companies is over, we have all had enough, it really looks like it's time for people, time for weblogs." [Jake's Radio 'Blog] 5:54:52 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Wednesday, August 7, 2002 You've located a good prospect, you've attracted his attention, and you think he’s interested in what you’re selling. Time to pull out your best sales presentation speech and then go for the close, right? Wrong! Why having a friendly conversation is the best and easiest way to make a deal. Try it yourself.  # [John Henry on Business] 5:49:08 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

The Quiet Game. If you're looking for the ideal summer thriller, find a copy of The Quiet Game by Greg Iles. I don't quite know how I have missed this author until now, but I'm glad I found him. I have read several of his books now - Spandau Phoenix, Black Cross and Dead Sleep - and have found him to be a first-rate storyteller with an eye for detail. (And I'm not done with The Quiet Game yet - so no spoilers!) The Quiet Game goes beyond your average thriller and gives you a complete immersion in Southern culture, long-simmering tensions, and plot twists that will snap your neck. What's probably most impressive about Iles is that his style varies from book to book - Spandau Phoenix and Black Cross can stand on their own as historical thrillers set primarily in WWII, while Dead Sleep and The Quiet Game are more squarely in the whodunnit/legal thriller genre. A high compliment to him is that there isn't an "Iles" formula - so that even though he's been mentioned in the same breath as Grisham (another Mississippi native author), his writings really distinguish themselves from each other. While some authors (David Baldacci comes to mind) seem to churn out repetitive plots and others (um, Tom Clancy?) can't separate their political agenda from their plots, Iles is the real deal. He'll keep you entertained and tell an honest-to-goodness story. I haven't enjoyed a book like The Quiet Game in years. Even better news - he just came out with a new book last month - Sleep no More, which sounds different again from his other works. And the movie based on his book "24 Hours" (to be released as "Trapped") is coming out next month. I may be the only one who hasn't heard of Iles, but it's clear we'll be hearing a lot more about him. (He has fun to boot: he's a member of Rock Bottom Remainders...) [tins ::: Rick Klau's weblog] 9:26:49 AM    trackback []     Articulate []

dive into mark. dive into mark. "The argument which really swayed me was that people on dial-up modems like to download all their news in one shot and disconnect. This is so obvious, I'm embarassed not to have thought of it. Too many months spoiled by broadband has warped my thinking." ["I dinna have the power!" (full posts feed.)] [Archipelago] 9:24:16 AM    trackback []     Articulate []

UserLand benefits from open source-style generosity, Charles Miller writes: "Radio may not itself be open, but Userland has a very liberal policy on allowing people to post patches for it or add-ons based on Radio code. Because there's no competing Radio clone, everyone who creates and distributes a free add-on for Radio (under the open-source principle that it's easier to share than to hoard) is improving the Radio application, and making it more valuable to Dave Winer." The point about code sharing in the UserLand developer community is true, though it's more accurately described as a "shared source" arrangement, since those of us who are releasing scripts have a dubious right to do so when our work is based, on any way, on source code in UserLand products. My Amazon format driver is based heavily on UserLand code, as I acknowledge in the source. There are at least two open source clones of Radio Userland functionality: AmphetaDesk, a news aggregator that has a similar user interface and supports the OPML file format, and PyCS, the Radio Community Server clone that hosts this weblog. I expect to see more in the future, considering the number of talented open source muckety mucks who have found their way to Radio Userland. It's unique software that clearly meets a need, and since UserLand built it on open, documented protocols, anyone can play. [Rogers Cadenhead: Workbench: Salon Blog Tips] 9:17:15 AM    trackback []     Articulate []

Tivo Hacking Fun. If I ever get the spare time (after the book?), I'll hack my Tivo to do this too.... [Jeremy Zawodny's blog] 8:53:39 AM    trackback []     Articulate []