Recently, I saw Melody Kramer put out a call on Twitter for help with a project to document web presence of all local candidates for office in the US, and Ben Werdmuller on how a software engineer can help with climate change. The outpouring of responses was amazing to me. This is an example of how interactions on Twitter can pay off.
Turning off the trackpad
I had a problem with my new HP Spectre laptop. The arrangement of the trackpad and the keyboard is such that it is very easy to swipe on the trackpad with your hands in a regular typing position. I lost some text from a file recently as a result. Fortunately for Windows laptops, you can turn the trackpad off (since I use a mouse). Whew!
Thinking about Tools for Thought – Episode 001
I am starting a new podcast series titled “Thinking about Tools for Thought”, which will talk about tools and methods for helping people think. The following are links to different tools/resources mentioned in the podcast. I may move this to another domain, but getting started here.
Tools:
Weblogs/posts
- Dave Winer/Scripting News
- Ken Smith Drummer blog
- Andy Sylvester Drummer blog
- Organizing information for use
- Ken’s earlier post on this
- Mike Caufield’s post referenced in Ken’s post on “Organizing information for use”
- Ken on Twitter
- Chris Aldrich on tools (not mentioned on the podcast, but a good overview)
The podcast (link to file):
Use cases for Booklist Browser app
I have completed the initial use cases for the Booklist Browser app, available on Github for review.
The Jeopardy host discussion
My wife and I are big fans of Jeopardy. We were sad to see Alex Trebek pass away, and the series of guest hosts this past year have been interesting and fun. We enjoying critiquing their efforts and had some favorites, but we knew a decision on the hosting job would be made sometime.
With the decision by Sony Pictures to choose Mike Richards and Mayim Bialik as the new hosts, it looks like the new direction was set. However, there has been an amazing amount of “protest” of the decision by fans of other guest hosts. How did these people think they were going to influence the decision? No one ever said this was a popularity contest or reality show where the audience (or a large group online) chooses the new host. It is both amusing and sad, but it was said best by a number of guest hosts: the contestants are the stars of the show. Let’s try to keep that in mind as the new season begins.
Booklist Browser app update
This weekend, I moved my cut at Booklist Browser app requirements from the Github issue to its own page. Next, I took a cut at defining the possible domains for the Booklist Browser app, using concepts as described in “How to Engineer Software” by Steve Tockey (https://www.construx.com/books/how-to-engineer-software/). My next step will be to define use cases based on the domain definition and requirements.
Another OPML viewer for Federated Bookshelves
I am playing with a new toolkit from Dave Winer for working with OPML (https://github.com/scripting/opmlPackage), and modified the client example to read my booklist file – nice!
A reader wanted instructions on how I did this, so here they are:
- Download the zip file from the Github repo
- Edit code.js in the client folder to provide a URL for an OPML file that is available on the web
- Upload the files to some web hosting
- Go to index.html to view the OPML file
Tried installing the PagePark app from Dave Winer on Glitch using these instructions, was able to create a website – cool!
Tool update for Federated Bookshelves/Library JSON project
Ravern Koh has a new instance of his Bookshelves web app to display files in Library JSON format. To use it, enter a URL to a Library JSON file, then click the “View Shelf” button. I tested it with Tom Critchlow’s Library JSON file, and it worked! I have added this tool to the Federated Bookshelves Github repo.
Father’s Day gifts – let the podcasting/screencasting begin!
