i'm really turned on to creating feeds for everything (directories, objects on a page). conceptually what that does is set up a new virtual filesystem across the net.  this in itself is simply the well-formed net - the xml+URI filesystem.  but what this does bring is a public api.  all information becomes easily and directly accessed - 'open' for business. the first websites were like a pamphlet which read 'there's a new business. come visit'.  the second generation websites had a slot in the door so you could leave a message.  the third generation invited you in and gave you lots of beautiful things to look at, but placed everything behind a window.  the fourth generation brings you into an...

the contract with st christopher house is coming to an end and the community learning network is just beginning. we need to stop listening to the client and start focusing on the life of the open source project. this is key, otherwise the open source project won't last. unlike a traditional software development project, the open source project cannot rely on money supporting it and markets directing it. instead, it must adapt in order to survive. the os project must focus on the community. the best way to build a community is to give them a reason to join. the reason to join is to ultimately add to the project. to not be just a consumer, but a producer as...

i'm working on a new article, tentatively entitled 'xml as object'.  it further explores the ideas behind 'open systems design', emphasizing the approach to the media - encapsulating the xml, so as to gain better control over the object itself.  this idea is, of course, not new, however the approach and the simplicity to how you can begin creating these xml objects is key to almost any web system project.  the initial focus of this methodology is to first determine the key types of content within your system. certainly, most systems will include basic types like text, image, video and audio, but there are obviously more meaningful complex objects like the 'story object', that alan has proposed.  these types can...

it's been a while since i've navigated through a system.  it's a really pleasurable thing.  i'm sure it's hard to explain to anyone who finds computers complex and intimidating.  but on the command line, standing over top of a computer system, you begin to feel in control, even in a simple way.  it feels good to understand the parts - at least to know what is talking to what and to have a sense of the structure.  i often forget about all the time i have spent with system software.  it's probably been the best teacher for designing systems.  and all i am doing is looking at the work of others.  over years of trial and error, we may finally...

i just posted a (super) short story i had written over a year ago.  i was reminded of it today as i scanned through my feeds, posting the important/interesting stories to del.icio.us.  what i was struck by was how i wasn't even reading the stories/webpages.  i often do read them all, but today, i was more interested in getting through.  the funny thing to me is that i am still following through with this categorization (my tagging) of these news stories.  i assume i am doing it for myself - for some future reference - and that most likely true.  however, since del.icio.us itself is a social bookmarking tool, i might want to consider that this filtering is for someone...

[this story was originally written for the squib] The computer came alive and the room began to glow.  He sat on the floor in his studio.  Only two minutes ago he was drifting off to sleep.  His body was slowly letting go, each muscle beginning to relax.  He felt himself drift, like he was lying in a boat, moving with a gentle stream.  The sun was overhead and too bright to keep his eyes open.  He could see the sun and felt its heat under his eyelids.   A dark figure moved over him.  It was a bird.  Suddenly it dove, collapsing down onto him, like a guillotine falling.  He awoke. He awoke remembering one thing he had forgotten to do. ...