06 October 2002

Grub is Crawling Me GRUB.org -- Grub provides a free for download, free to run, distributed crawling client, which is used to create an infrastructure (database + volunteers) that will eventually provide URL update status information for nearly every web page on the Internet. Grub's distributed crawler network will enable websites, content providers, and individuals to notify others that changes have occurred in their content, all in real time. Grub will provide update feeds of the content that it gathers via the clients. These feeds will be free for public consumption, with additional high speed, high reliability feeds available for a fee. It's just about ready for Windows.

The Real T312461 IRISH ANIMALS.com -- I meet denise cox more often virtually than in person. Like this week, I met her in my web site logs, browsing with her Internet Explorer 5.5 client named T312461. Everyone has a browsing identity and with denise, if you don't spot her T321461, you'll probably see her humanelectric.com moniker just as quickly.

Resource: ryze.org RYZE.org -- A well-connected business community with excellent networking opportunities.

Cutting Hidden Costs of Directory Assistance LONDON -- Using directory assistance to place a phone call normally costs around 12 cents per call and nearly triple when using the service to connect to oanother number. I've known staff members who call for a number they already know, then using directory assistance to connect them. That way, the number they dialed does not show up on the monthly phone register. They can be calling around for another job on company time, and the company pays for it.

XML Will Save You Money LONDON -- Save money by replacing your EDI system with XML. That's the gist of the coffee conversation at Starbucks. EDI is so 90s. XML is a lot cheaper and a better long-term investment.

Knowledge Management on a Shoestring Budget David Weinberger -- How about Knowledge Mangement on a budget? Brother Dave would tell me that his paper napkin conversations constitutes elements of corporate knowledge because his HP teams often have Eureka moments in the canteen coffee breaks. And investigative reporters would tell you that nondescript Post-It notes provide important shreds of continuity on such things as planning permission approvals or the granting of telecommunications licenses. During my Pentagon days, verbal ephemera such as telephone conversations gave contingency planners essential elements of information that they used to move forward on timelines. Unless you put all these snippets into a central collection, you don't capture all this transferable knowledge for easy sharing. What about the 99 cent KM solution? David Weinberger's short essay proposes that low-budget tools such as email list applications and weblogs will get you far. In many ways, I'm trying to accomplish what he articulates in his article.

Thomas Jefferson on Truth in Media Thomas Jefferson -- "The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper."

Buffalo Lights John Farr -- I like the bits of Buffalo Lights that I've read and have to admit that I'm just as entertained by many of the reader comments.

How Black Holes Form COSMIVERSE.com -- Sure, I am interested in how black holes form. And I also love Google's Science News Aggregator. But to satisfy my interests, I have to upgrade my connection speed at home. More than anything else, getting this story illuminates my quasi-chthonic existence -- far away from the centre of the Internet universe. I need speed to get closer to where it's happening.

Rich Media Communications Marc's Voice -- Marc Canter has started some great cross-talk about activity-based computing and its apparent manifestation in this cool tool for capturing, managing and distributing photos online. Why do we have to depend on complex tasks, involving digital imaging, scanning, resizing, uploading and checking photo content, when it's easier to get a computer to act like a rich media communications tool. Several online photo tools, like Ofoto and Shutterfly, make things simpler for the average consumer. We've still got a long way to go. >>Rich Media Communications Course.