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Recent Posts

  • 11:30 • decentralized social networks
  • 10:00 • The Video Blog
  • 5:00 • Make money online
  • 3:30 • Creative Underbelly
  • 11:30 • How to inform design
  • 10:00 • Daniel Pink
  • 5:00 • how to grow an online community
  • 3:30 • Meaningful XHTML
  • 11:30 • How to Create a Compelling Community Website
  • 10:00 • Emerging Semantics

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11:30 • decentralized social networks

what does social software mean?

blogrolls as decentealized.

who owns data?

most social networks are too complicated.

trend to be more simple.

--

Density
Proximity
Direction
Source/Origin
Time
Type

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ethnograpics

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need a closed community to have real freedom and not fear.

--

XFN Network with XHTML.
Link HB network of Users through XHTML rel tags > make semantic meanings (friend, muse, watch)

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jluster.org

--

orkut

Comments (0)

10:00 • The Video Blog

> video blog to show a narrative of someones experience.

> http://www.rocketboom.com/vlog/

> legacy foundation -- http://www.americanlegacy.org/americanlegacy/skins/alf/home.aspx

> follow for 28 days. archive the experience of them quitting. > do print AND web

> http://www.maryquits.com/skins/maryquits/home.aspx > video and written journal > quit tips

> http://www.bobquits.com/skins/bobquits/home.aspx

> all about the individual. make comfortable.

> crew stays the same. make comfortable. "respect the bubble"

> one person interviews

> length time average is 8 minutes

> average time on site was 12 minutes, maxed at 20.

> 45% of traffic came from outside the New York area.

> vblog it.  like live tv station. GET IT FOR HB. uncompressed AVI. Do what you will.

> Serious Magic.
> vblogit.
> Stream of Consciousness
> write, set-up, film

> RSS enclosures. notified when new video is up.  subscribe, get feed, visit the site.

> podcasting. in cradle, wake up, new content.

> ANT. video blog feeds.

> http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65925,00.html

> videoblogging.info

> http://antnottv.org/

> mefeedia.com

> sometimes end with a commercial.

>>> how much did legacy campaign cost?
>>> bandwidth costs for rocket boom?

> http://www.austin360.com

Comments (0)

5:00 • Make money online

Philip Kaplan  CEO  AdBrite Inc
Jason Calacanis  Co-Founder  Weblogs, Inc.
Gokul Rajaram  Sr Prod Mgr  Google Inc
Henry Copeland  Founder  Blogads.com
Bill Flitter  Chief Mktg Officer  Pheedo Inc

blog ads (wonkette)

pheedo

google ad sense program

divester

adBrite

http://dir.adbrite.com/index.cgi

yahoo publisher ads

http://www.weblogsinc.com/

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doubleclick
ad90

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request to be on the site (linked, sponsors, etc.)

--

Overture and Google on the same page not allowed.

--

grokker referenced for some reason.

--

http://www.designeye.org/ideaguy/

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blogads (can't tell ads, stack and link in copy, they have controls) > pay to post, pay for click throughs

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tvsquad

--

http://pheedo.com/

--

technorati and feedster > get on this.

--

julie6.humidbeings.com

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http://247media.com/

--

http://www.doubleclick.com/us/
http://www.doubleclick.com/us/products/online_advertising/dart_motif/creative_gallery/

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user happy vs. make alot of money

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cps, clicks, impressions

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ad order >> sponsor > CPM > CPC

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aintitcoolnews.com

--

success >
mobiletracker.com
paidcontent.com
(no money for 6 months, then make it)

--

very particluar to ads to fit field (makes success)

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work for hire blog journalist.

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slow burn brand building.

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DailyKos > users have diary, ratings, comments listed.  4mill in visits monthly.

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Pay for posts > based on length, quality, topic based on search engine value

--

http://dogster.com/

--

google top down.
all others bottom up.
what does that mean?

--

from Jonah at the Design Eye panel > http://www.designeye.org/ideaguy/
http://www.31three.com/portfolio/index.php

Comments (0)

3:30 • Creative Underbelly

spent2000.com
iamalwayshungry.com
transfatty.com

beyond seeing these sites this meeting was pretty worthless.  almost insulting. i just lost money.

sorry for these guys.  really talented of course, but no where near useful or prepared.

blow job discussions? waiting to the last 10 minutes to do your work?

waste.

Comments (2)

11:30 • How to inform design

http://nickfinck.com/presentations/sxsw2005/

> Quantitative vs. qualitative. what is good? numbers? good audience? big audience?
> use metrics to capture the mistakes
> why there, who are they
> Hay Net ... know the users.
> talk to people. write what they say. stickie notes.
> content matches user needs makes site structure and then is intuitive to users.
> surround with research, numbers, use cases -- then synthesizes to solution.
> self centered design > become the user
> http://www.digital-web.com/
> personal client > task based navigation > have to use to know.
> follow the money, how make money, who gains > informs decision makers > stakeholders who will be informed on the design
> look for trends and patterns in data > not this number but numbers over time > patterns in behavior > spikes and unusual use
> baseline sites > where they are right now > get sense of where you are >
> when to post on your blog? how blog can work with commercial site?
> project define, user research, design integrate, implement, launch. > alternatives narrow to end > cost to change mind increases
> survey monkey app. craft questions and create report. launguage to match audience.
> ask users > collect feedback >
> so easy to do stat analysis wrong > how to collect and winow down to what matters >
> how do people do things in the real world > then tasks that con go on web can go there
> metric analysis subjective and no one solution, one right way
> TOOLS > stickie notes, excel, omnigraffle,
> Growth > go for quick wins with site traffic, ecommerce,
> R&D > friends, interns, Chris
> research not as event > research as culture > it is what we do, always

Comments (0)

10:00 • Daniel Pink

new book. not out yet. but we get free.
http://www.penguinputnam.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_1573223085,00.html

brevity, levity and repretition. for good speech.

funny guy.

--

Got Game book.
http://www.wistechnology.com/article.php?id=1500
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578519497/qid=1110819461/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-6064166-7284826?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

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Read article here to know presentation. -- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/brain.html?pg=2

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Laughter club. http://www.laughteryoga.org/

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design, story, symphony, empathy, play, meaning.

--

computers can't play "Go!"
and can't play politics.

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Lateral Thinking -- http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/lateral.htm

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http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/books/kosmos/excerptD/part1.cfm/

Comments (0)

5:00 • how to grow an online community

molly steenson, craig newmark, matt howie (CC, Metafilter) -- http://www.metafilter.com/

http://www.cnewmark.com/archives/000265.html

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(5:12 and nothing new learned)

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(site on shirt in room -- http://www.sfist.com/)

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Control > who owns what?

Keep design very simple.

"ask members" app on metafilter.

few rules as possible.

spot the assholes.

fix stuff, stay simple and get out of the way.

reingold.com (art of hosting good conversations online)

model good behavior >> want to rant, allow them, let people know what they are getting into. > no real tools for it.

(link reference > ask metafilter tool. http://ask.metafilter.com/

Approach making money
> goes to who owns what
> content hard to charge money with
> ask the people if it is appropriate

Hosting
> as grow so is space. pay as needed.
>

What does not work?
> volunteers only
> apps they don't like
> you do it all. make a good team. better than you.
>

Control
> flagging, power to the people, they flag, staff respond.
>

Suprises
> lowtech could grow so well and be accepted
> relationships that have been created. things that happen in the real world.
> commerse turned into social dimension. like a fleamarket.
> success of collaborative journalism

The Future
> citizen journalism
> journalists, PR, news will be effected.
> new tech tools, combine them to do new things.
> offline starts to reflect online trends (forums, fleemarkets, etc.)
>> more collective thought, viewpoints, guidance > share local knowledge.
>

Creative Commons for Whence stuff.
choose license that works.

Comments (0)

3:30 • Meaningful XHTML

click here for this presentation as XOXO

---

Designers are using XHTML and CSS to efficiently and beautifully separate markup from presentation Now learn how to take your valid XHTML+CSS to the next level by making maximum use of meaningful XHTML. Tantek will explore how to create, use, and reuse XHTML building blocks, both as originally defined, and as new microformats built from XHTML by the web standards community for people, conversations, social relationships, events, tags, presentations and other uses.

Tantek Celik Senior Technologist  Technorati

--

XHTML is for meaning, not presentation.
no table layout
avoid <b> <br/> <i> <sub> <sup>
NO <h1> = big and bold
NO blockquotes to indent
Throwing tables out the window

What to do
meaningful as possible
just right or closest to can
<div> and <span> are last resort. they have no meaning.

Examples
<address> element
<cite> & <blockquote> elements
  <p><cite>eric meyer</cite> wrote:</p>
  <blockquote>

XHTML Compounds
<pre> and <code>

Understand all the Semantics in XHTML
> web standards solutions by dan cederholm and his simple quizzes
> mix experiments
> peer dialogue
> dissect samples

Extend XHTML
why? // limited elements / limited compounds / new / precise semantics / make stylable / "lowercase semantic web" (experiemental, grass roots)

What can Extend?
class / meta / rel and profile

How Extend?
Avoid. Do as necessary.
Create methodology (why, when guidelines)
Peer review.

Microformats Methodology
Solve Specific problem
evolutionary improvements (decent out, make better)
simple as possible
adapt to current behaviors
presentable and parsable
reuse rather than re-invent
modularity / embedability
decentralized, work on all sites.

Microformats Design Principles
design for humans, machines second
reuse schemas from well-supported standards
build upon makes more chance of success

XHTML Meta Data Profiles
use to extend self
dictionary of properties
dictionary of values
define new class

Social Relationships
people are URLs
Blogrolls are socila
*=met
XPN rel="met"

People
vCard IETF RFC2426
reuse props, values and schemas
hCard (html vCard)

Events
iCalendar IETF RFC2445
hCalendar

Outline XOXO (Sho Sho)
compound / microformats
ex. navs

Presentations
XOXO
Slides > class="slides"
preservation > class="presentation"
S5 + XOXO

===

side note link from IM >>
Conversation with Gladwell and Surowiecki

Comments (0)

11:30 • How to Create a Compelling Community Website

NEW TRENDS.

geographic oriented city blogs.
focus on content and contgent.  filtering city.
explore city. link through love of city or aspects of it.

INTRO

http://gapersblock.com/
fullbelly.com
http://gothamist.com/
http://www.metroblogging.com/
traffic comes from other cities alot. then they have idea of global network.

7-20 people who contribute.

MSN sidewalks.
AOL digital cities.
but top down so not true.

blogging has right feel, feels authentic.

niches emerge. ex. cajun cooking.

Key Ingedients

good content
interested, engaged, enthusiastic writers
editors to shape coverage
personal perspective
clear tone, approach, angle.

Staff

coordinate > main editor, channel editor, contributors, 

Captain for the town > point person

Recruit > read and find writers > or friends >

recruit writers > give perks > what perks?

Interactivity

feedback from readers
ask for feedback
certain things create feedback (contraversary)

Design Approaches

newspaper style. http://gapersblock.com/
representative imagery for city >> photoblog > headers come from submissions from editors. > gothamlist.
think of feeds > subscribe to channels > how is content being consumed? > via handheld > via email.
ads mixed with content.

Advertising & Money

sell out inventory
use money to expand site, then profit.
sell gear

Get Word Out

throw parties, events, music events once a month, educate on web use, then traditional (posters, swaps, ads, gear)

Good product, people use it.

content > best ofs . . .,
network > politicians, traditional media, etc.

The Bad

bad users who abuse
no real legal but have a lawyer
self censor trolls
profanity filter
big ad deals > expect content to stay in PG-13
bad contributor > fire if not making expectation (frequency and quality)

Work Loads

alot of coffee
cycles // take up time as you want, be consumed, but keep fun.
control amount of posts / keep fresh / staff has to know what to expect / set-expectation.

Ideas

Niche sites and niche networks ex. traditional jazz blog.

http://www.sfstation.com/

emphasis on community involvement. fix the site, add to it.

meetup.com deels on the site.

Be generous with links, with content, parties and events, leverage.

Success?

fun
milestones met (traffic and money)
review each month (why? push? celebrate?)
have commissioned sales person

===

side note links from IM >
http://www.designologue.com/view/?dsnlgNo=26
http://www.spearedpeanut.com/index.html

Comments (0)

10:00 • Emerging Semantics

eric meyers

emergent behaviors

ground-up semantics / grassroots / evolutionary.

semantics aded to web in adhoc way, decentralized.

lowercase semantic web

BASIC PRINCIPLES

define a microformat (technocrati site)
that solves a specific problem

use or leverage existing xhtml mark-up structures to express semantics

use or leverage exisiting standards that are not immediatlrey expressable in xhtml

semantics are human-understandable. made by us, for us.

( reference emergence )

semantic web >> akin to evolution or intelligent design

WHO CAN DO THIS?

someone with a problem they wish to solve.
profile (metadata) at a stable URI (uniform resource identifier) will help a lot.

EXAMPLES

google > rel="nofollow"
CC license-link annotation
xhtml friends network (xfn) > net rolling > rel="met"
VoteLinks
hCard
hCalendar

METROLLING

<a href="http://ericmeyer.com/" rel="met"> Eric Meyer.</a>

Rubhub bot. http://rubhub.com/main/

caseynicole > fight hoax, happen to create trust, prove real.

SUCCESS CHARACTERISTCS

solve an immediate problem, fil need that needs to be addressed.
keep solution as simple as possible.
open source it all.
your efforts, microformat might lead to other solutions.

IDENTITY CONSOLIDATION

XMN me value to bring pieces together, weblog, friendster, tribe, etc.

CROSS-BREED

xfn and votelinks. what friends like.
pieces are there. make search engine for it maybe.
xfn and hCalendar. friends doing in next few weeks.

(not RFC, changing, informal)

RFC - A document that was created to define accepted or proposed Internet standards or standards of practice. The acceptance of a document as an RFC is governed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). RFCs begin life as Internet-Drafts, which may be written by anyone. The IETF decides which Internet-Drafts become RFCs. RFCs are most often created by groups of interested individuals hoping to create a standard for interoperability over the Internet; however, they also describe such suggested practices, such as how to set up a mailserver to avoid being used to transmit SPAM mail.

cross hCal with a music app > when bandsplaying, genre. Can subscribe to schedules.

((lots of folks asking questions))

(ES is free tagging with more formality)

links >
http://ifindkarma.typepad.com/relax/2004/12/microformats.html

http://www.tantek.com/map.html

http://www.tantek.com/presentations/2004etech/realworldsemanticspres.html

NEXT STEPS

engines starting to recognize certain values
API calls to link relation values should be available.
Scripts to convert from microformats to RFC formats
Collections of links to microformated pages.

Other ways to do linkage and semantics.

Microformats add semantic info and allow quick, evolutionary enrichment of the Web.

limits to ES > need to find problems to solve, make intelligent solutions that are simple and easy to educate and spread.

Comments (1)

5:00 • How to Make Big Things Happen With Small Teams

(copy for my powerpoint for TFL)

How to make big things happen with small teams. Jason Fried, 37signals.com, from chicago. 10s of thousands use basecamp.

now build products. new product code name honey.  all with 3 people. sometimes 4.

> reducing mass
> making things manageable
> lowering cost of change
> staying out of debt

Small has big advantages.
> small better.

1. customer is closer // collective customer is employee.
2. less distortion // less middle/muddle/no telephone game/
3. everyone on the front line // all involved with all gigs.
4. easier to change //

The Right People

passionate and happy.
well rounded. not just experts.
quick learner. evolve.
good writer. express self.
trustworthy. empower people. pull weight.

I'll take happy and average rather than angry guru.

Act your size.

less formalities // complex process. be flexible.
less mass // change. flexible. act. > rent. hardware. contracts. staff. major investment.
less fear // not afraid to speak. more freedom.

Embrace Constraints

less people, give more power.
less money, more value, make hard to spend money.
less reseources, better use, optimize.
less time, better time.

Build half a product, not a helf-ass product. (hb phases)

Say no by default. change later if necessary, needed.
Listen to the product.
Ignore details early on.
Improve what you have.
Decisions are temporary.

Build Less Software

lower cost of change
less room for error
less support required
encourage human solutions

Give people just enough to solve own problems then get out of way. ex. Ta Da, people create their own standards.

Get Real, start with the UI

nothing functional about functional specs
start designing, prototyping, experiencing, changing.

change, tweak, etc.

ex. design wireframes, hand to programmer to program once he gets it.

with clients get in as early as possible. get clients to understand.  get right clients.

(their programmer is based in Denmark)

Responds to questions >>

Fixed cost. fixed scope. fixed deliverable = can only have 2.

User Interaction System = Use Case // needs to connect to real experience = design UI for it as the Use Case.

Like Agile Modeling > get real fast, test.

Funtional Specs > illustration of agreement, blame doc, no real agreement or understanding. Don't know what have in mind till build it.

UI > artifact, shared experience with team and client.

Just enough is more.

Make most decisions Just In Time (JIT)

Scalability // grow as needed
Admin Interfaces // build fast, controls only as needed.
Basecamp Billing example // 30 days free trial > 30 days to build billing engine.

Make decisions when you have real information.

Always work on Next Most Important thing.

Is this it?
If not, what is?
Are we doing it?
If not, why not?

Celebrate small victories

iterate, celebrate, iterate, celebrate, etc.

Okay to make mistakes, you can fix it. Faster, cheaper, smarter.

Feel the Hurt


Builders support it
Chefs become the waiters
Shared Annoyance

Publicity Amplifyer

Feature food. ex. iCal app.
Promote through education. ex. yellow fade technique.
30-day major upgrade. hold back features.
transparency = trust
bloggle = get it out

Comments (1)

3:30 • How to Hot-Wire the Creative Process

Curt Cloninger speaks.

His site is lab404.com

---

design process
1. pre design (interview, research, brief)
2. design (theme, concept, prototype)
3. development (build test)
4. implement (publication, distribute, maintain)

strengths
1. needn't re-inventing the wheel
2. gives you something to "work"

weakness
1. one size does not fit all
2.

bruce mau quote "process is more important than outcome . . ."

HOW you work the process.

Should have. a. strategies b. tools. c. habits. d. paradigms.

STRATEGIES

1. believe in your creative process.

2. lie to yourself; you can do it. Don't be a wimp.

3. eno / schmidt's Oblique Strategy Cards

4. Don't prusue "eureka" - it happens when you line things up. Don't wait.

5. Concepts. Metaphors. "Good concept poorly executed is better than bad concept well executed."  Skills are good. Concepts are better.
Nike Logo. Absolute bottle campaign.

6. Blitz. 3 hours to do it all. Bam! Keep energy high. Use the result. tweak it.

7. Plunder Art History.  old approach // new means. old concepts // imply now.

TOOLS

> designer as editor. Never by scratch.
> find trends; create your own.
> create THEN evaluate
> don't be a wimp. Do it; review; learn.
> use Auto-generative Software (he offers samples)
> grid systems
> make own auto-gen software apps (ex. Joshua davis)
> Software play // tweak unfamiliar. use obsolete. use the usual unusually.

HABITS

Create a personal Design Playground
> failure is negative space around success
> fail often
> fail in public; with unusual mediums for you
> be less derivative
> be hyper-derivative

PARADIGM

balance layers
1. general aesthetics
2. media constraints > yield to them (coudal.com) / fight them (non-grid)
3. audience needs
4. client needs // sell solutions, not goods.
5. eithical considerations // be passionate and sell it.  Art in commerce.  Create what you believe in.

---

> Tons of Bruce Mau reference.
> All covered coming out in his newly published book.

Comments (0)

Before the 3:30 panel

Jeremy Brady, from San Fran sent me these links >
http://www.listenlab.com/~nglass/  blog for the guy developong the audioblogger app used by blogger.

The Oscar sends link to Fortune article on Pixar.

---

Jeremy and i talk about San Fran design community and the non-existant web community in New Orleans.  He mentions Mark Baltzegar from Terra Incognita.  Where Jeremy started back in the day.

Comments (0)

March 12th, 2:00pm, Jeffrey Zeldman

Zelman site.

Designing with Web Standards, the book by Zeldman

--

Presentation.

Tell the client what they already know.  They will think you are smart.  And hire you.

Personal note: Need to find a way to visit SXSW next year as a journalist for HB.  Get in free.

(tell stories about first coming to sxsw. meet beginning of the blog community. open experience. no one cares. everyone just here.)

15 minutes in and yet to discuss real issues besides how great sxsw is.

Halcyon. funny video.

Creative Commons, Lessig, Intellectual content and heritage, greedy companies,

Viral effect of SXSW. CC introduced then everywhere.

web > underground. make rich. stupid because not rich. then 14 year olds rock.

Matthew Mullenweg >> writes wordpress, wanted to meet zeldman 2 years ago, sxsw got him going.

zeldman makes web people feel guilty.

ends.  sxsw rocks is the presentation summary.

Comments (0)

11:30 am • Ramblings from the Ranch

frogdesign.com local austin company.

---

Chipp Walters -- Founder of Altuit

Austin had a very open community in the early 90's.

Different software as tools to get them to realize creative vision.

Smart Desktop Apps // design intelligence into apps.

hemingway, ButtonGadget, MagicCarpet, attBrowser,

schematics for projects in SWF. print, view anysize.

Breedable Designs >> computer > human > computer > human > solution.

---

alchemystudios

Non-tech people. tech programs need to entertain to teach. based in flash.

side note >> see if we can use their 3-d godzilla for twiropa.

(Jeremy IMs 2 links > Adidas Video Site and his studio's latest When She's Hot)

Sketch. Know art. Know tools. Only way to deliver great stuff.

To teach children, game interface, entertain to teach. ex. Learn Spanish to solve mystery.

Combine Tools.

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