Harold Jarche

Testing Meme Propagation In Blogspace

by

I guess this is like a chain letter. I don’t usually do this, but here goes …

Testing Meme Propagation In Blogspace: Add Your Blog!



This posting is a community experiment that tests how a meme, represented by this blog posting, spreads across blogspace, physical space and time. It will help to show how ideas travel across blogs in space and time and how blogs are connected. It may also help to show which blogs are most influential in the propagation of memes. The dataset from this experiment will be public, and can be located via Google (or Technorati) by doing a search for the GUID for this meme (below).



The original posting for this experiment is located at: Minding the Planet (Permalink: http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2004/08/a_sonar_ping_of.html) ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú results and commentary will appear there in the future.



Please join the test by adding your blog (see instructions, below) and inviting your friends to participate ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù the more the better. The data from this test will be public and open; others may use it to visualize and study the connectedness of blogspace and the propagation of memes across blogs.



The GUID for this experiment is: as098398298250swg9e98929872525389t9987898tq98wteqtgaq62010920352598gawst (this GUID enables anyone to easily search Google (or Technorati) for all blogs that participate in this experiment). Anyone is free to analyze the data of this experiment. Please publicize your analysis of the data, and/or any comments by adding comments onto the original post (see URL above). (Note: it would be interesting to see a geographic map or a temporal animation, as well as a social network map of the propagation of this meme.)



INSTRUCTIONS



To add your blog to this experiment, copy this entire posting to your blog, and then answer the questions below, substituting your own information, below, where appropriate. Other than answering the questions below, please do not alter the information, layout or format of this post in order to preserve the integrity of the data in this experiment (this will make it easier for searchers and automated bots to find and analyze the results later).



REQUIRED FIELDS (Note: Replace the answers below with your own answers)

 * (1) I found this experiment at URL: http://blog.wirearchy.com/blog/_archives/2004/8/27/131255.html

* (2) I found it via ?¢‚Ǩ?ìMy RSS Aggregator?¢‚Ǩ¬ù

* (3) I posted this experiment at URL: https://jarche.com

* (4) I posted this on date (day, month, year): 28/08/04

* (5) I posted this at time (24 hour time): 11:44:00 GMT
* (6) My posting location is (city, state, country): Sackville, NB, Canada



OPTIONAL SURVEY FIELDS (Replace the answers below with your own answers):


* (7) My blog is hosted by: Tantramar Interactive
* (8) My age is: 45
* (9) My gender is: Male

* (10) My occupation is: Performance Consultant
* (11) I use the following RSS/Atom reader software: Bloglines

* (12) I use the following software to post to my blog: Drupal

* (13) I have been blogging since (day, month, year): 15/03/03

* (14) My web browser is: Firefox

* (15) My operating system is: Windows XP

Understanding the Real New Economy

by

This Summer I had the opportunity to help Rob Paterson with his 4th year UPEI course, called Understanding the Real New Economy. It was fun, and quite easy for me as a mentor. All I had to do was read the postings and make comments – no marking, or assignments done under deadline. I really enjoyed reading the wide variety of opinions; some more insightful and thought provoking than others.

The main text for the course was Natural Capitalism, parts of which you can access online. The final assignment was to describe two possible future scenarios on PEI. One being the result of just "bumbling along" and the other about creating a plan and acting upon it. One of the students, Joshua Arsenault, has posted his final assignment on his blog. Here is the conclusion of the positive scenario:

But, in the end, change is highly contingent on individuals and the circumstances around the person at that time. It seems that the fuel crisis actually spurred innovation and change because Prince Edward Island had the creative people who stepped forward to promote change before the crisis occurred. The crisis then acted as the tipping point for the positive changes we live with now.

I hope that some of these students will be stepping forward in the near future.

Advertising on Blogs

by

Google owns Blogger, and has recently removed advertising on its blogs. It has instead started a program called AdSense which allows bloggers to opt into targeted advertising. This got me thinking that maybe ads would generate some (probably not much) cash for this site.

What do you think? Would ads make any difference to you? Are they a pain, or do you just ignore them? Do you actually read and perhaps click on them?

Please make your opinions known on my poll.

Corporate Blog Manifesto

by

Microsoft blogger, Robert Scoble, has published The Corporate Weblog Manifesto on ChangeThis. Here are some of Scoble’s twenty points:

  • Tell the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth.
  • Use a human voice.
  • Make sure you support the latest software/web/human standards.
  • If you screw up, acknowledge it. Fast.
  • Under promise and over deliver.
  • Never change the URL of your weblog.
  • If you don’t have the answers, say so.
    Never lie.
    Never hide information.

I agree with all the points of the manifesto, but I think that #19 – BOGU [look it up] could have been rephrased as “be kind to everyone”. I guess that’s just my Canadian perspective. As a smart-looking PDF this is the kind of document that you can print in colour for your CEO or CIO. Many of these points have been discussed by others, particularly Lilia Efimova, but it can’t hurt having a “manifesto”.

eLearning Market Peaked in 2001

by

Stephen Downes reports today that:

The e-learning field is changing in front of our eyes, and
yet people are not seeing it. Content is flat, services are
the future.

Stephen’s comment stems from The Workflow Institute’s press release yesterday:

The corporate eLearning Market in the US peaked in late-2001 at about $6.5 billion and has seen 15-20% negative growth in both 2002 and 2003. In 2004, the market leveled off and has remained flat. As of mid-2004, the market for conventional eLearning is $4.5 billion with content accounting for half of the revenues. The technology segment accounts for $1.1 billion, and the robust services sector accounts for $1.2 billion. By 2008, at least 60% of eLearning revenue will derive from services.

While developing strategic plans for elearning ventures over the past two years, I have been telling my clients the same thing – focus on services. Now I have some more data to back it up. Thanks Jay.

On Economic Development

by

There has been an ongoing debate in northern New Brunswick over the establishment of an incineration facility. Environmentalists and some community members are against the facility, while others see it as necessary economic development, in an area with chronic unemployment. I see a greater issue here – our perceived dependence on corporations.

We always seem to need "someone else" to come in and save our local economy. These external, disembodied corporations, which are only loyal to increasing shareholder value, have no stake in our communities. We continue to pressure our governments to create jobs, and they in turn go out looking for the largest corporation that will create the most jobs. Corporations, by their inherent structure, don’t give a darn about our communities. We need to grow our own industries, that are firmly rooted in our communities. We should focus on attracting people who will have a stake in their community, not inviting corporations temporarily to our region.

Instead of offering subsidized training for corporations to hire local employees, our money (since I doubt that the government will get out of economic development) should be used to encourage individuals to come here and set up shop. Let’s go for the slow food approach, not the quick fix. Even if there is the need for an incinerator, it should be our incineration company, developed in our community and responsible to our people and our envrironment. Everyone is welcome, but you will have to make the commitment of your complete physical presence to get any economic development funding.

Decentralization

by

Both Jon Husband and Rob Paterson have referred to Terry Heaton’s post, “Decentralized Power is THE Issue of the Millenium”. For instance, the success of e-Bay is based on the fact that individuals now have the power to manage their sales on an international level, with minimal hassle and cost. e-Bay has removed the middle-man, charges a nomimal fee per user – and makes a lot of money. This is the real “disintermediation” that was discussed thoughout the 1990’s. The media industries (music, news, movies, etc) are fighting a rearguard action against decentralization (AKA fragmentation), but unless someone shuts down the internet, decentralization will continue.

Decentralization is a real opportunity for small, flexible, creative businesses. Unfortunately there is no sure-fire way to capitalize on this situation. The best advice that I’ve found comes from Dave Pollard’s Natural Enterprise articles. I’m working with clients and partners to take advantage of the situation as Jon Husband describes:

We are beginning to loosen and cast off the shackles of outmoded structures, and more often than not are struggling mightily with the opportunities and responsibilities this new set of conditions offers us.

I am seeing a greater willingness of small companies to network and conduct projects based on individual trust. Several times this year I have done work on only a handshake. Some of my partners have worked in large corporations and are not willing, or able, to go back. We are trying to create more sustainable decentralized business models and stay firmly rooted in our own communities. It is getting easier to do this. Small businesses have the means to compete with multinationals, but we haven’t figured out all of the details – yet.

With this opportunity we have responsibilities as well. Jon, Rob and Dave are using their blogs to inform the rest of us, for free – thank you. Let’s continue the conversation. If you are a small company, interested in a new way of doing business, then join in the conversations. You don’t have to blog, but you could add your comments.

Off-the-Shelf Content

by

A few years back, the saying in the elearning world was that "content is king". Now you can purchase access to a suite of 10 elearning courses from ITdatacorp for one year for $(US)109.00, and for an additional $30 you get online mentoring (this adds some context to the learning process).

The low cost of content sure makes the value proposition for off-the-shelf learning content quite difficult for a business or an investor. Even adding mentoring won’t generate much more revenue, unless you have a huge customer base. This means the big players will continue to lower their prices in order to get more market share. I see this as one more reason to stay out of the commoditized learning/training business unless you have deep pockets and great distribution channels. The price keeps dropping.

There are still many ways to make a good living around the proposition of improving learning or work performance. It’s by solving business problems, one situation and one client at a time.

Via Jane Knight.

Innovation

by

We have a local company, Genieo, a spin-off from the University of Moncton, that has developed some interesting products over the past decade or so. Their business model has evolved over time, but the organization has had to rely partially on government financial subsidization. One of the services that the company offers is rapid prototyping of machined parts using an expensive 3D modelling tool.

Rapid Prototyping is a multi-faceted 3-D fabrication process that enables the creation of a limited quantity of functional prototypes resembling production units. This show of quality, joined by a quick turnaround provides an effective springboard to kick-start your marketing and sales initiatives long before production ramp.

As I said, the company has had some challenges becoming profitable in the long term, in spite of some satisfied clients and a strong team of scientists and engineers. Now, along comes some innovation south of the border, that extends Genieo’s model just a little bit, and takes advantage of the internet. It’s called eMachine Shop.

eMachineShop is the remarkable new way to get the custom parts you need – the first true online machine shop. Download our free software, draw your part, and click to order – it’s that easy! Your part will be machined and delivered. Even better, your cost is low due to the Internet, software, and automated machines.

Given that Genieo is co-located with the National Research Council’s Institute for Information Technology (IIT), why didn’t a similar idea come from Canada? Some of the IIT’s stated core competencies are in 3D digitizing & visualization and e-business. In hindsight it sure looks logical to combine the access that the internet provides with the capability for 3-D modelling that Genieo has. Maybe it’s not too late.

Try Out OpenSource CMS

by

OpenSource CMS has completely revamped its site and now includes easy access to dozens of PHP/MySQL-based Content Management Systems. Now you can try before you install.

The administrator username and password is given for every system and each system is deleted and re-installed every two hours. This allows you to to add and delete content, change the way things look, basically be the admin of any system here without fear of breaking anything.

The list includes Drupal, which this site runs on, and two others that I have used, Tikiwiki and Mambo. There are also some elearning CMS, like ATutor (which I have used) and Moodle (which I will soon be using). This is one big virtual sandbox for you to play in.