Posts in category Wikis

Hunting the elusive usable bliki: Translation, please?

May05
2006 3 Comments Written by Amy Gahran

Just a quick note: I’ve written before about one of my personal “Holy Grails” of the internet: a really usable bliki.

Today the German weblog Examensblog published what appears to be an excellent overview of the current state of the quest to develop a superior bliki tool.

I say “appears” because the article is in German. Sadly, like most Amercians, I only read English (to my great embarrassment). I did a quick-and-dirty Babelfish automated translation, which was enough to tell me that this is an article I really, really want to read.

So I would dearly love to see this article translated into English – or at least summarized in English.

If any German-fluent Contentious readers want to take a stab at this, I’d be very grateful!

…OK, so what’s a bliki?…

Posted in Resources, Voices: Blogs, etc.

Blogs, Feeds, Wikis, and Podcasts: Links for SEJ

Sep28
2005 Written by Amy Gahran

(UPDATE OCT. 3: OK, the SEJ conference is now over, and I’m back home in Boulder. I’ve just updated this page of notes and links to reflect more accurately what actually happened in this standing-room-only session. Also, complete audio of this session is now available.)

On Saturday, Oct. 1, I’m delivering a talk at the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), in Austin, TX.

I’ll be explaining to a bunch of journalists and other attendees what they most need to know about weblogs, feeds, wikis, and podcasts – just the basics. I’ll focus mainly on the “so what” of it all.

This will be a pretty informal presentation, since I know the SEJ crowd pretty well. Here are the links I’ll be using in that session…

Posted in Amy's Adventures, Feeds (RSS), Resources, Voices: Blogs, etc.

What Writers Really Need to Know Today (audio)

Aug06
2005 Written by Amy Gahran

Back on July 26, I participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Boulder Writers Alliance on the topic of “Trends in Today’s Media.” I’ve had a couple of very hectic links, and I just realized this morning that I’d neglected to post the audio from that session. Sorry about the delay.

LISTEN NOW! Right-click (Mac: click-and-hold) to download the MP3 audio file. It’s 16.8 MB and runs about 1 hour and 15 minutes long.)

What struck me about this session is how much professional writers and editors (especially independent ones) need to think creatively about their field and work opportunities…

Posted in Amy's Adventures, Audio Show, Content Style & Business, Conversations, Media Musings, Real World Writing

Wikipedia: Good for Leads

Aug02
2005 Written by Amy Gahran

(NOTE: This is cross-posted from Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits weblog.)

I recently had an interesting discussion where a fellow journalist criticized my decision to cite a Wikipedia page as a resource in a publication specifically intended to provide leads to journalists. In a nutshell, he contended that since anyone can edit Wikipedia, it has no credibility.

Here’s why I disagree, and why I think Wikipedia is in some respects an ideal resource for reporters…

Posted in Conversations, Media Musings, Resources

Almost Immediately, LA Times Yanks Wikitorials

Jun19
2005 Written by Amy Gahran

They’re brand new, and they sound so cool! I was looking forward to checking out this bold new experiment in participatory editorials.

But alas, I’ll have to wait. Almost as soon as the LA Times’ new wikitorials went online, they got flooded with “inappropriate material.” So the Times pulled them, for now. Bummer…

Posted in Media Musings

Why Wikis Are Cool (audio)

Jun10
2005 Written by Amy Gahran

Well, for the first time in a couple of months I’ve produced a new podcast. Sorry about the gap. I’m still finding my way in this new medium.

Anyway, here’s what I didn’t have time to say about wikis at last night’s event.

LISTEN NOW! Right-click that link to download the MP3 audio file. 2.8M, about 12 minutes.

Links mentioned in this show…

Posted in Audio Show

Connection Age: Transcending the Information Age

Jun08
2005 Written by Amy Gahran

People have an irrepressible desire to label eras: the Bronze Age, Stone Age, Space Age, Information Age… These clumsy labels are always inappropriate and inaccurate to some extent, yet somehow they help us grapple with our complex history and evolution.

As I gather my thoughts for an informal talk I’m giving in Denver tomorrow, it occurs to me that we seem to have slipped into a new era in the past few years, mainly since the dot-com meltdown. The Information Age has started evolving into what I call the Connection Age…

Posted in Amy's Adventures, Conversations, Feeds (RSS), Net Effects on Society, Resources

A Q&A&Q Wiki: Whadya Think?

Sep30
2004 Written by Amy Gahran

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…

(Oh yeah – What’s a wiki?)

Posted in Amy's Adventures, Arranging Ideas

What Wendy Shaffer Says About WikidPad, So Far

Jul28
2004 Written by Amy Gahran

Awhile back, I mentioned a potentially cool tool for creating personal wikis (that live on your computer, not on the Web) called WikidPad. I’ll be honest, I haven’t had a chance to play with it much yet, so I can’t offer a measured opinion on it at this time.

However, Wendy Shaffer has toyed with WikidPad a fair amount. She’s still making up her mind about this tool, but here’s her review so far.

How is a Wiki Like a Weblog?

Jun28
2004 Written by Amy Gahran

Recently I wrote about the concept of the bliki, which combines characteristics of weblogs and wikis.

Along this theme, the weblog Hunting the Muse recently pondered what, exactly, weblogs and wikis have in common, and how they might best be combined in a practical way. Check out Weblogs, Wikis, and Comments.

Also, see Robin Good’s recent weblog entry about blikis: After The Blog Is Gone: SnipSnap Plays Bliki. It’s a bit more technical than the first article, but not too difficult – and it’s definitely stuff you’ll want to understand if you want to explore the emerging bliki world.

SEE A BLIKI IN ACTION: Martin Fowler’s Fowler’s Bliki. The topic it covers is fairly technical (software development), but look at it for how it gets used – and read his intention for this project. It’s an intriguing format.