Category: Tech

community application of technology for public benefit

Visual problem-solving: 5 diagrams

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As you probably figured out if you follow me on Twitter, I had the pleasure of attending South by Southwest Interactive this year. (Only my second time, and the first since 2006.) I went to over 15 different panels and talks, and most were excellent. I did a lot of live-tweeting of the good ideas from them as @HASTAC (a shared work alter ego).

Only one session inspired me to actually take notes and it was the shortest one I attended. Visual Problem Solving: 5 Diagrams in 15 Minutes was led by Dean Myers who quickly demonstrated the use of 5 techniques for visualizing thought processes. I consider myself a mostly-visual thinker, but I’m also pretty linear/logical in my thought (and I can’t draw at all) so I’m a big fan of diagrams. I was familiar with most of these examples, but I really appreciated how they were presented as a toolbox, with the different advantages and features of each.

So with no further delay: here are my notes from this session. Sorry I haven’t had time to illustrate it visually as I should, so I am scanning in Dean’s hand out… Continue reading “Visual problem-solving: 5 diagrams” →

Do you play Spore or Little Big Planet? Friend me up!

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My Spore thingThanks to the MacArthur Foundation’s partnerships with EA and Sony for the Digital Media and Learning Competition, I am learning more about the games Little Big Planet (on PS3) and Spore: Galactic Adventures (on Mac or Windows).

I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to play them (of course) but I have been dipping my toe in the water. In Spore I have graduated from the primordial ooze on up to “creature stage,” and in LBP I have been exploring The Savannah and unlocked the tools to make my own “level” in the game.

Ruby GBeing the social network junkie that I am, one of the features I tend to check out first are the profiles and friends. But sadly, I don’t have any friends on either network! If you play one of these games, would you friend me up? Of course I’m rubyji in both My Spore and the the PlayStation network.

Also, what are your favorite sources of information about these games and communities of game players? I ask especially because I have also been tasked with reaching out to LBP and Spore players around the competition to let them know they can submit content they make (or plan to make) in these games for awards of up to $50,000! Please pass on the web site DMLcompetition.net to people who might be interested, and/or tell me where to follow up.

Incompetence defined?

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I’m removing any identifying information (at least for now) to protect the guilty, but I just need to vent about what a frustrating experience I am having with one of the many people that is working on one of the many Drupal sites that I am currently responsible for. I have been asking for RSS feeds to be enabled for months. I recently got a message saying that this was done and to view an example post on the test site. Below is the actual reply that I had to write in response.

____, this does not work at all. For example, on the link you sent, the RSS icon links the ENTIRE SITE’S BLOG feed instead of the feed for THAT POST, and if you go to that blogger’s archive, there are two feed icons (one next to each blog entry) linking to the feed for the ENTIRE SITE’S FORUMS, when that page should have ONE icon at the bottom with a link to THAT BLOGGER’s feed.

All I want it to do is the default Drupal behavior!

Sometimes I’m amazed that I even have words to explain that I want X to function as X. How am I even explaining this to someone who gets paid to make web sites?

Online organizing quickie

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I recently needed to collect some links about online organizing and outreach for a colleague. These are mostly pretty quick reads for the organizer-on-the-go.

In toolkit form (very handy): http://www.onenw.org/toolkit/online-organizing
In traditional form: http://www.bloggerrelations.com
In very short form: http://www.echoditto.com/best/organizing
In manifesto form: http://culturekitchen.com/the_cluetrain_manifesto_for_people_powered_politics
In guide form: http://www.epolitics.com/2006/07/03/online-politics-101-introduction-to-online-politics/
In wiki form: http://advocacy2.org

Facebook 101 for nonprofits

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I wrote the following in response to a request to give an overview of how board members can use Facebook Causes to help the organization where I work, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). I thought it would make a handy reference for other organizations taking baby steps on Facebook.

This advice is intended for people that are already using Facebook (or who want to use it). The power of this tool is through your own social networks (friends, family, colleagues) and you will find it takes time and energy to develop your Facebook network, if your friends are on Facebook at all. Please do not join just for the purpose of helping FOR, but instead use your personal networks wherever they may exist (church, organizations, work, neighbors, friends, etc.).

Starting with the simplest, here are three easy ways to promote an organization on Facebook:
Continue reading “Facebook 101 for nonprofits” →

Ruby goes to Vegas

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Blog World Featured Speaker I’ve been invited to speak about OrangePolitics at a conference I’ve never heard of, in a city I would rather never visit in my entire life. I looked at the conference website and saw an all white-male lineup of keynoters (they’ve since added some Asian males).

Why did I say yes? Three reasons:

  1. I was invited by Tish Grier. Tish and Lisa Williams of PlaceBlogging are working to support and connect local bloggers and bring more attention to the good work folks are doing around the country.
  2. I saw the names of some fantastic women bloggers on the speakers list, like Pam Spaulding, Cheryl Contee, Elisa Camahort, and Erin Kotecki Vest. Plus my old friend, Doc Searls (old in time, not in age ;-)). Their presence legitimizes the conference for me, plus I hope I’ll run into them there.
  3. The conference is paying for all of my travel costs, and it’s on a weekend so I don’t have to miss work to go.

There are a few related events going on at the expo including GodBlogCon, MilBlogging, and a citizen journalism training. That should be… interesting. I’ll find out next month whether I made the right choice about attending the Blog World Expo.

Is there anything I should make sure to do (or not do) in my 48 hours in Las Vegas?

Five aspects of effective networks

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I’ve been doing a few presentations lately that include the basics of network-centric organizing, so I thought it would be helpful to post a refresher here. With props, as always, to Marty Kearns from whom I learned a lot of this.

Update 6/25/10: Here’s the latest version of my presentation on network-centric thinking: https://lotusmedia.org/how-to-keep-thinking-like-a-network

Update 5/22/08: Now you can watch the presentation, which makes very little sense without me talking.

Five aspects of effective networks

  1. Strong social ties
    • Personal relationships
    • Trust
    • Awareness
  2. Dense communication grid
    • Online & offline
    • One-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many
    • For example
      • Blogs, forums
      • E-mail, IM, SMS
      • Face-to-face
  3. Common story
    • Shared values
    • Collective narrative
  4. Culture of sharing
    • For example
      • Data, information
      • Skills & expertise
      • Money
      • Space
  5. Network awareness
    • Feeling like a member
    • Knowing what the network is for

Here are some more resources to learn more about network-centric organizing strategies:

  • Earlier presentations on this topic: https://lotusmedia.org/advocacy-20-the-slideshow (slides) & https://lotusmedia.org/ruby-goes-to-class (video) &
    https://lotusmedia.org/civic-engagement-and-technology (with helpful links)
  • Blogging tips: https://lotusmedia.org/so-you-wanna-start-an-advocacy-blog
  • Network-centric approach to politics: https://lotusmedia.org/the-political-cluetrain
  • Background reading: https://lotusmedia.org/network-centric-reading-list
  • Marty Kearns’ widsom: http://advocacy20.org & http://netcentriccampaigns.org

… and more in my “Advocacy 2.0” category on this blog: https://lotusmedia.org/in/nptech/advocacy/

Welcome to the Lower Ninth Ward

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Last week, Brian and I had the immense pleasure of being given a post-Katrina tour with Quintus Jett, a professor at Dartmouth. He is the Director of the Gentilly Project, an effort to use open source principles to map the state of storm-damaged New Orleans neighborhoods. At their web site you can use dynamic GIS maps to zoom in on the condition of each lot (ie: vacant, being renovated, occupied, etc.), and zoom out to see the block-by-clock process of rebuilding.

I was so grateful for a chance to see the community personally. As you may know, there are still spray-painted symbols on many homes left by the rescue efforts. The biggest shock was that much of the Lower 9th Ward, which used to be hundreds of homes, is now a grassy field with just a few cement blocks and slabs marking former foundations.

You can browse my pictures at Flickr or watch the slideshow below.