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category archive listing Category Archives: Arranging Ideas

Putting the US Budget in Context

February 7, 2005 – 11:40 am

In this weblog I talk quite a bit about the importance of context – how context allows us to create meaning from facts and opinions. Context is what allows each of us to evaluate information from a variety of perspectives, decide which angles are most meaningful to us, and then decide what (if anything) we wish to do or say in response. Today in Washington DC, the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) is debuting President Bush’s proposal for the FY 2006 US federal budget. I realize that sounds like a bunch of boring numbers wrapped up in posturing – and to some extent, it is. However, I’d like to use this as an exercise to examine how context can create meaning…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Net Effects on Society | Comments (0)

Hear Me, Tom, and Kris on Croncast Today

January 6, 2005 – 5:03 pm

This morning, Kris Smith of Croncast recorded a discussion with me and my husband, Tom Vilot. He’s just published it as today’s podcast. It’s a great conversation about conversations, mind mapping, and other intriguing topics…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Amy's Adventures, Voices: Blogs, etc. | Comments (0)

Why Disagreement is Good

January 5, 2005 – 1:28 pm

One pioneer of the podcasting world is Dave Slusher, creator of “Evil Genius Chronicles.” In his Jan 4 show, Dave strongly disagreed with the main theme of my Jan 1 audio edition: That the term “podcast” is problematic if this new medium is to appeal to a mass audience. Personally, I treasure disagreement and dissent — even when presented strongly. Such discussions can be exceptionally instructive and beneficial, even if they aren’t always comfortable…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Net Effects on Society | Comments (2)

Arranging Ideas Grab Bag

December 31, 2004 – 3:53 pm

Here are a few items related to the theme of arranging ideas (content management, knowledge management, information gathering, cognitive science, creativity, etc.) that have caught my interest lately…

TOP OF THIS LIST: “Blink”, a new book by Malcolm Gladwell (author of “The Tipping Point”) is due out in January 2005 – and I can’t wait to read it. Blink is about rapid cognition – the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye… (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes) | Comments (1)

Contextual Editing: Not Dead Yet

December 20, 2004 – 8:48 am

In the realm of content management systems, I periodically see discussion of contextual (context-sensitive) editing: fine-tuning the final phrasing or presentation of content to suit the situation in which it will be displayed. There’s a debate brewing over contextual editing for content that is handled by a CMS. Specifically, is contextual editing a thing of the past – or should it be, at least for organizations that manage a ton of content via CMS? I don’t think so, but I do think it’s often possible to shift more of the editorial work to the front end of the process…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Content Style & Business | Comments (3)

MetaMemes: Play It with Me!

December 19, 2004 – 5:55 pm

OK, this looks like a lot of fun. I just got the creativity/brainstorming game MetaMemes, created by Kes Sampanthar. The concept is simple, and I think I’ve figured out how to play this game online among 3-4 geographically distributed players who each have a copy of the 214-card deck. You can buy the game online. ($23 plus shipping, USD) So who wants to play with me online? E-mail me! (editor@contentious.com) Here’s a bit about the game…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Amy's Adventures | Comments (5)

Arranging Ideas Grab Bag, Dec. 7

December 7, 2004 – 5:59 pm

Here are some items related to the theme of “arranging ideas” (information management, design, and architecture) that have caught my attention recently. TOP OF THIS LIST: InfoYou: Assessing and Addressing Information Overload. Over at “Metaforix” (one of my favorite blogs), Lois Ambash is developing a new service for coping with information overload. I was one of the pilot-testers for her survey, and I recommend taking it. It’s very interesting! (Read the rest of this list…)

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Amy's Grab Bag (quick notes) | Comments (1)

Metadata Rocks

October 26, 2004 – 3:42 pm

Check out “Arronland’s NY Times Widgets.” This site capitalizes on the fact that the New York Times publishes a lot of useful descriptive metadata along with each of its stories…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Resources | Comments (0)

A Q&A&Q Wiki: Whadya Think?

September 30, 2004 – 10:11 am

For a little while now, in my rare spare minutes, I’ve been playing with the demo version of a cool and very user-friendly hosted wiki tool called EditMe. I’m getting to the point that I want to do a public wiki project. But I don’t want it to be too narrowly focused – I don’t want to end up with an insular group preaching to the choir or arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. So I had an idea. Tell me what you think…

By Amy Gahran | Also posted in Amy's Adventures, Wikis | Comments (5)

Meme Tracking: Why and How

September 9, 2004 – 5:37 pm

Earlier I wrote about Nova Spivack’s meme propagation experiment – which is intriguing although I’m not quite sure what its results truly indicate. On Aug. 31, Michael Feldstein took this concept further, with an eye toward practicality – something I always appreciate. See his series Tracking Memes in the Wild (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) Well worth reading.

By Amy Gahran | Comments (2)