Friday, January 10, 2003

Social Network Sites & FOAF. Article on social networks sites, highlighting Ryze [Gaurdian].  Highlights: Just like Friendster, and the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, they, too, work on the idea that you probably know someone who knows someone who knows someone who might just be the someone for you - but this time they emphasise the more commercial sides of life. Ryzers, as they call themselves, are perhaps the most sophisticated of the bunch. They get to list their interests, search other peoples', and leave messages for each other on their pages. Ryze also offers "tribes", sub-communi ties for everyone from expat Scandinavians in the US to webloggers. But do they work? Well, anecdotal evidence suggests they may well.... "I get most of my client contacts from referrers coming from lurkers on mailing lists, weblogs or white paper readers," he says. Clay Shirky, a renowned internet thinker, agrees. "Used right, mailing lists are still the best social network tools in existence," he says. And, of course, all these tools only work if you actively participate in them. No one will find you, if you keep your interests private and stay away from mailing lists and weblogs... A new technology, however, is being developed that will allow you to stay away from such commercial operations as Friendster and Ryze. FOAF, or "friend of a friend", is a special computer language that can be used to describe ourselves, our work and our friends... FOAF files are more technical, but luckily one of the FOAF community, Leigh Dodds, has built a great little application for building them. The FOAF-o-Matic comes in two flavours. The older JavaScript version, at www.ldodds.com/foaf/foaf-a-matic.html, is good, but simple. The newer version, at www.ldodds.com/wordtin/Wiki, is more complex but not entirely polished yet. Either version asks questions and produces a file you can then place online and register at other FOAF applications, such as Jim Ley's FOAFNaut at http://jibbering.com/foaf....    [Ross Mayfield's Weblog] 12:54:00 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

The Job Hunt: Next Generation. I know there's more to this, in this "day and age" (read: shit-ass market) than hunting 15 or so job boards. But I've always been the seller in a seller's market and am finding myself a bit lost and more than a little nervous all of a sudden. The old "post your resume and have enough boiling oil to beat down the incoming wave of head hunters" just doesn't make any sense. I've got the oil, but nobody to pour it on, and frankly if they showed up I'd be alot more inclined to use it to deep-fry their favorite bar food as I sat them down and ran to the store to pick up their beverage of choice. So here's what I'm thinkin: My Resume is ass, and needs a rewrite (not to mention a correction or two.) But by whom? There are hundreds of "resume writing" services out there. What criteria could I possibly use to winnow the list? I feel like I'm playing pin the tail on the donkey.... with 255 donkeys. Or are they all "good enough"? I should almost certainly start going to Meetup and user/special interest group events Finding networking and "pink slip" parties is also pretty high on the list. But I don't have the faintest idea where to start (aside from trolling google, which is going on in another tab.) But aside from that is it really just down to trolling the boards and cold-calling? All of a sudden Odd Todd is something I nod grimly to instead of just laugh with. Help! I'll even do Windows! [The Universal Church Of Cosmic Uncertainty] 12:42:17 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

I think I am suffering from a major case of WanderLust. I use the Webshots Desktop service to get great pictures for my desktop background. One of the daily choices today is a picture of the Pillars of Rome in Eastern Oregon. I had heard that Eastern Oregon was more desert like in it's makeup but I had never done any research until today. Of course I have to get a job and get out from under a pile of debt before I will get a chance to see this but I have added it to my Places I want to Visit list. Check this site for a good group of pictures of the area http://www.strengthinperspective.com/mpfindor/mpgal17/mpgal17.html . 11:12:19 AM    trackback []     Articulate []