16 July 2002

Weblogs and Alzheimers Wired: "Seniors in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, with mild to moderate memory loss, are writing weblogs to help them make sense of their daily lives. And the activity, they say, is slowing the onset of their symptoms."

Blogs Flatten the Hierarchy KILKENNY, Ireland -- One of the best features of weblogs is that they help move thought processes to the edge of the network. This decentralisation enhances collaboration by allowing knowledge worker cars to cluster in their own herds. You cannot herd cats any other way.

The TAO of Topic Maps ONTOPIA.net -- Steve Pepper has written a succinct introduction to topic maps, titled The TAO of Topic Maps. Topic maps are an ISO standard for describing knowledge structures and associating them with information resources. As such they constitute an enabling technology for knowledge management. Dubbed "the GPS of the information universe", topic maps are also destined to provide powerful new ways of navigating large and interconnected corpora. x: Column Two: KM/CM blog

Sighting: Photoshop Elements ADOBE.com -- There's great value for the $99 you spend for Adobe Photoshop Elements version 2. I haven't needed the extra Photoshop muscle for my digital imagery during the past year.

Big Players Want Nationwide WiFi Linkages JOHN MARKOFF (NYT) -- Several leading computer and telecommunications companies are discussing the joint creation of a wireless data network that would make it possible for users of hand-held and portable computers to have access to the Internet at high speeds nationwide. Intel has been a leading force in the project, according to several industry executives. The company, which established a communications division 18 months ago, has said publicly that it plans to make 802.11 a standard capability of all of its microprocessors offered for mobile computing beginning next January.

Let's Hope There's Strength in Telcos STEVE PILGRIM -- He thinks telcos are dinosaurs and that they need some taming. They need to know to respect the citizens who pay their rates.

Relative Fonts Working Everywhere DIVEINTOMARK.org -- Mark Pilgrim explains how to create relative font sizes in a way that works in all popular browsers.

Peercast PEERCAST.org -- It's been running since April 2002 as a non-commercial site, providing free peer-to-peer broadcasting software. The aim of the project is to create an easy to use, simple and reliable software client that enables anyone to broadcast streaming media, instead of being immured in a Microsoft or Real Networks solution.

Salon's Blogged Future DAN GILLMOR -- Looks like Salon, the still-excellent online magazine, is going into the Weblog business in a big way. This URL, which will give you a login dialog box, is one of the clues Adam Curry has uncovered. It also looks like Userland is going to supply the software. Dave posted this additional hint but didn't say which publication it was.