Duncan's Jotter - Knowledge Logging. Quote: "It seems to me that it's about time to grasp the nettle and rather than just Talking the Talk I have to be Walking the Walk. This new-found resolve is partly due to the fact that I think this is an important area in which to explore research, design, and implementation issues, but it is also a self-defense mechanisms. As a beleaguered academic with mounting, and competing, demands for my time and knowledge I have a purely selfish interest to see if Knowledge Logging has merit in my situation" [Serious Instructional Technology]

Another in the growing list of ruminations on the connections between KM and blogging. Has some worthwhile references to other sites as well

9:54:25 PM •  • comment  

Life On The Internet: Could Blogging Assist KM?.

Quote: "(1)As usual, their greatest interest is in e-learning (and, in this case, they already have some experience, since our federal government has been an early and enthusiastic user of on-line learning)

(2)They are increasingly cynical about the possibilities for Knowledge Management (KM), even as they admit they believe they have applications that seem to cry out for it. In that, they are much like many corporate executives we've talked to and their concerns are quite similar."

[Serious Instructional Technology]

A fairly lengthy piece by Amy Wohl on the intersection between KM and blogging. A pretty good starting point for thinking abou the potential

9:49:29 PM •  • comment  

MIT Technology Review: Super Sync. Instead of ubiquitous connectivity to centralized databanks, we are instead building an infrastructure that's optimized for data replication. The same information is getting copied to dozens, hundreds or even thousands of places throughout the world... [Tomalak's Realm]

>>>

I'm really developing a liking for MIT's Technology Review as a source for good info. Very thorough coverage of all sorts of technologies. More, the coverage has a very good sense for "so what."

This particular piece provides some good background in the context of the current developments in the web services arena.

9:21:01 PM •  • comment  

News.Com: Tech giants pan anti-piracy mandate. After weeks of conference calls and quiet rallying of the troops, technology companies including Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Compaq Computer held a coming-out press conference Monday to oppose a broad copyright protection proposal being backed by Walt Disney and Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S. C. [Tomalak's Realm]

Fascinating to watch big guys vs. big guys in this debate. Why legislators and executives persist in remaining ignorant of technology continues to escape me. Copy protection failed in the early days of the PC. I don't see that this is significantly different. At some point you have to unscramble and decrypt the bits if your customers are going to derive any benefit from buying (or licensing) them. So there will always be a way to beat the copy protection system.

Everyone involved understands this, of course. The goal is to balance price against the inconvenience of figuring out how to beat whatever system is in place. Maybe the technology players here have finally concluded that they aren't interested in paying the price on their end.

2:11:27 PM •  • comment  

Albertson's Web Plans Still Online. While pure-play online grocers struggled, other companies -- including sector giant Albertson's -- are making the Internet work for them. [The Motley Fool]

A couple of relevant messages here. First, knowledge is more useful than money. Even such mundane businesses as groceries require a fairly sophisticated understanding to be effective. One of my old rules of thumb in new situations was this: if the experts aren't doing something that's obvious to you, spend a few minutes to understand why: "because they're blind and stupid" rarely turns out to be the reason. Smart people with lots of money and lots of IQ points can burn through the money pretty fast. Experience shows you where to get some leverage out of the money.

Second, pure plays don't happen in the real world very often. Expecting them to be more frequent in the virtual world is dangerous. Again, experience suggests most businesses have more hidden complexities than visible ones. They're worth looking for before you start implementing.

1:58:54 PM •  • comment