The Ideas Man

Down to Earth - Blackpack

2010-07-11T21:58:00.001+10:00

Back in 1996, I tried my hand at designing and making tents and packs and things. I had access to an industrial sewing machine then, and with a little help from my dad, I managed to make 3 packs, and a few accessories. I designed a hell of a lot more though, some day I'd love to make this tent for example.. I just need to meet the right people with the right motivation.

I made this pack for my Dad 14 years ago! 12 ounce canvas, YKK spiral zips, 1 inch webbing, internal frame.. all double stitched, seam sealed, and designed for simplicity, to last, and be easily repaired.

The over sized shoulder straps and lumber pad where requested by my Dad.. the ultra delux padded version :) He's taken it all sorts of places over the years.

I hadn't seen this pack for some time. Seeing it today was like opening an old diary. Discovering old ideas that were new and not on the market at the time. Made me want to start making more, and use all those ideas I've drawn since, that are still yet to go to market mind you.

I like the modest tones and simplicity compared to the glow in the dark, lunar landing gear in the shops today. I'd refine this design a little, but over all I think its a good solid bag, that functions well.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Worker's Union 2.0 - Why todays union sux, and why tomorrow's union rocks

2006-01-20T09:22:00.000+11:00

Over the past 10 years, here in Australia, our Government has been doing everything it can to weaken unions. They started with the students, then the maritime, now the builders and teachers, as well as the final blow to the students. It seems that no matter what this government does, the uproar and strikes last for a few days, then everyone votes the Govs back in. They're in their third term now (or is it a forth!). This time they have control of the senate, which means they can now do pretty much as they please, and we'll just have to ride it out and hope the elections boot them out next time. Lets hope also, that the replacements have room left or know how to set things right...

We did see a fairly large demonstration recently, when they introduced their Industrial Relations Reform package. The unions called a rally, made a few speeches, paid big dollars for a sky channel to broadcast the rally, pumped out the shallow propaganda, and came up with a few interesting bumper stickers. But while I don't agree with the Government's position what so ever, I'm not in the least bit impressed with the Union response either.

I happened to be sitting next to a union rep at a conference dinner a few months back. I tried to ignore his looking through his nose at me and strike up a conversation. I asked, given the Government's control of the senate and as a result the Australian Workplace Agreements were quite likely to get a run for a while, and that if that happened the Union would be in a bit of a pickle, what was their strategy post IR reform? I added that it was all well and good to fight now, good on you/us, but when it happens - then what? He didn't even look at me - that rude little man, he looked the other way, seemingly interested in someone else at that dinner, played with his food a bit, clearly he was used to much better meals, shrugged and said, "we fight" then excused himself from our conversation and left to join the person he was more interested in.

Now that man was not just they guy that sends you spam email, and and all together uninteresting papers in the mail, he was a rep asked to present at a conference. I would have thought he knew quite a bit about what one of Australia's largest unions had in mind. I get the sneaky suspicion that Australia's largest union has not a clue. Like most institutions being threatened by this brave new world, they're deciding to dig in and do things the the way they always have. Strikes, rallies, and bumper stickers.

Its an unfortunate time for workers and their unions. We're all in the middle of a very confusing media and communications change, with an overly complex way of life, and a local economy being reformed by global trends. I almost regret being born. But I want to make a suggestion to unions, on how they may change what they do just a tad, and become the most important thing to me in my life!

I want my union to simplify my life. Take all the things that make my life unecessarily hard, and make them easy. Dragging me into a strike is not simplifying things for me. Asking me to understand the inaccessible politics of Federal and State politics in Australia is not simplifying my life either. Expecting me to put a sticker on my car that will get me into road rage fueled car park punch up with my boss will not simplify my life either. Here's what would simplify my life:

I would pay $200 a month to my union if it could offer me:

A 1.5 gig 2 way Internet connection with unlimited downloads and uploads
A managed super annuation plan that included disability and temporarily out of work cover
Heath care cover, including dental and travel insurance
Insurance for personal possessions in the home, and comprehensive motor vehicle
A tax accountant to do my returns once a year
A credit union account
Subsidised child care and a fund for family education
An agent to keep on the lookout for a better job for me, and keep me posted in my email once a month
And perhaps a welfare fund that offered a small amount of money to members who find themselves in need of some weekly financial assistance
And keep taking the fights to the Government while they're at it

Now, I don't see why the biggest unions in Australia couldn't use their collective bargaining power to get all that for me down to around $200 a month. Having it all in one place, and at a reduced expense to my money and time would certainly improve the conditions of my miscellaneous life. I'm not so interested in my largely part time, contracted work conditions any more. If my manager's an arse hole there's not a lot I can do about it really. I just want out in the smoothest possible way. I don't want to get into an unfair dismissal fight and shorten my life through stress. I just want the rest of my life to be simplified so I'm less stressed at work, and more capable of looking for new work if the manager gives me the shits.

So, if there's still a tough talking union rep left in this country, who is still genuinely less concerned with their own political aspirations, and more with a worker's life conditions, then give me a call, I have more thoughts on Union 2.0 that I think you could use.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Free Wireless/Wireless Cooperatives

2005-12-17T15:36:00.000+11:00

Picture by Azugaldia
Not a new idea, but one I'm trying to lobby for in the Blue Mountains.

Given that the Blue Mountains are so poorly serviced by broadband and mobile providers, I think free WiFi has a potential for becoming a popular idea, but requires a significant amount of awareness building.

I've started an eGroup for local Mountains people interested in the idea, and am keeping bookmarks on all the free WiFi setups in other cities around the world. Its growing!

Basically I see it not as a centralised service provided over a large area, but as hundreds, perhaps thousands of access points where normal broadband accounts are offered up for free public use via wireless modems. Cafes, churches, community halls, schools, council, libraries, pubs, (Blackheath's Ivonhoe is already offering free WiFi!) many others could be encouraged to offer free WiFi access to those who have a mobile device (such as laptop or PDA) with WiFi capabilities.

Basically it would mean people would be able to use the Internet (including VOIP) to a limited degree wherever there was a 'hotspot'. Young kids might start carrying and using PDAs (much better devices than the popular and over priced mobile phones) and conceivably be having free telephone calls with each other through out the mountains region. Instant messaging at the very least! Tourists and business people could enjoy free access in the cafes and public spaces, encouraging flow on business, and generally promoting the Blue Mountains as a progressive, ICT savvy area.

Most easily, each hotspot would require a standard line account to be set up. Preferably the fastest, fattest bandwidth possible. That line is plugged into a wireless modem and offered up for others to access as an open wireless signal. Immediate neighbours and local businesses would contribute to the monthly bill, and the access is kept open for others to use, therefore attracting people and potential business to within 30 meters of their area. Access to the service could start with a connection splash page, promoting who's wireless it is and advertising their other products. Obviously cafes and main street businesses stand to gain from this, and community groups could offer it as an added service with very little extra burden on their current resources.

Admittedly, the likelihood of large scale take up of the services would be small, as most people in the mountains would not own a laptop or PDA. But the open use of these devices in public spaces would help to raise awareness of the possibilities, creating an incentive to laptop and PDA companies to sponsor free WiFi initiatives.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

A climbing gym in Katoomba

2005-12-17T14:46:00.000+11:00

Katoomba is the CBD of the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains is the centre for climbing in NSW Australia.

Why then, does Katoomba not have a climbing gym?
Yep I heard the chorus, "why would you have a gym when there's so much rock?"

I'd have a gym for newbies to try out climbing safely, easily, after hours, and cheaply, before hitting the real rock.
I'd have a gym for climbers to train, socialise, have events (bring back Escalade!), climb when its wet or dark, and for education.
I'd have a gym for school group sports activities.
I'd have a gym for corporate challenges.
I'd have a gym to trade climbing gear, second hand camping gear, resole boots, mend and modify gear, a cafe, film screenings, boldering, tourists, parties, murals, cliff care HQ, lobby group meetings, information.. you get the idea?

Why hasn't it worked before?
There is one remaining gym in the Blue Mountains (not counting all the woodies in most garages around the place), its located in Leura and is a couple of squash courts in size. But few climbers that I know actually go there much. I suspect its too small, and doesn't successfully attract or generate that community feel.

I think a gym has to large and impressive so as to satisfy the expectations of schoolies and newbies. It also has to be large enough so that the newbies aren't crowding out the climbers. It has to be large enough to support large groups, including spectators. It has to generate and sustain a healthy community if it is to survive up in the mountains. It has to have diverse interests.

A model that clearly works
Hobart's The Climbing Edge, in Bathurst St has developed into an inspirational gym, offering space for kids parties, school groups, climbers and comps and spectators all at the same time! It also has a well stocked second hand camping gear shop and a strong sense of community backing it up. But that's Tasmania - things like that just seem to work down there.. maybe I'm expecting too much for something like that here in the Mountains...

The Climbing Edge's bread and butter are its school groups, but it is the community that feel ownership of it that sustain its amazing set up and standard.
The Blue Mountains Model
A not for proffit cooperative. Somehow bring together all the likely stake holders - local climbers, tour companies, cliff care, gear shops, associations, guides, schools, tourism, magazines, sporting brands, cooporate sponsors, local news paper and climbers from around NSW and sell the idea of a large scale climbing gym in Katoomba.

We have excellent skate parks, excellent tourist facilities, huge climbing history, few sporting parks and complexes... why not a climbing and related activities centre?

Likely problems

Raising the capital
Finding a suitable venue at a reasonable price (two options: Carington warehouses in Park St, or Savoy Theatre in Katoomba St)
Successfully getting stake holders to cooperate
Raising enough money to employ at least 1 full time, and 4 casual staff... possibly staff take on multiple roles such as retail assist in second hand gear shop, cafe, and climbing...
Insurance, though I'm told it is much better than it used to be.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

what video game charater am I

2005-11-17T12:26:00.000+11:00

I am Pacman.

I am an aggressive sort of personality, out to get what I can, when I can. I prefer to avoid confrontation, but sometimes when it's called for, I can be a powerful character. I tend to be afflicted with munchies constantly. What Video Game Character Are You?

or

I am a Thrust-ship.

I am small and tricky - where you think I am, I probably am not. I can work very fast, but I tend to go about things in a round about way, which often leaves me effectively standing still. I hate rocks. Bloody rocks. What Video Game Character Are You?

from: http://quiz.ravenblack.net/videogame.pl

Marks in constant recording

2005-10-23T08:58:00.000+10:00

Recently a few friends came up to the mountains for the TALO swap/meet 05. We talked about a variety of things to do with teaching and learning online. The nature of the conference was open source - meaning that there was no agenda, key note speakers, or otherwise structured communications. We just got together and started yaking! It was great. Some really good ideas and thoughts were flowing freely. We talked over a Mexican lunch, we talked while walking the National Pass Trail, we talked over drinks at the Carrington, we talked and talked.

Recording such conversation is almost impossible. Remembering all the great ideas is just as impossible. But I remember one idea Alex Hayes (pictured), Sean FitzGerald and I had that could solve this problem - the marking in constant record.

Take your average mp3 recorder. Mic yourself up and hit record. On a 512meg card you should expect a few hours of recording, enough to get the majority of a night conversation. But going back over that massive flog of raw recording to edit it down to digestible content is a job I wouldn't wish on anyone. On top of that, once the 512 card is full, you have to find another card to get the breakfast conversations. Its just too much. What we really need is a recorder that does constantly record, but when you have that moment in conversation where you realise, "hey, that's a great idea!" you reach down to the mic cable and press a button that marks near to the end of the sample you want to keep. The recorder stores your out point mark and adds an inpoint mark automatically - say 5 minutes before the out. When the cards nears full, the recorder deletes everything but the marked recordings, freeing up some card to continue recording. Back in the editing misery, at least you know that the majority of what you have is what you though was good at the time. You might miss a few things with that auto 5 minute in point mark, but I'd say on the whole you'd get most of it. 5 minutes should be enough I'd imagine, for someone recording to realise what was being said was worth keeping. If that person was to mark an out point within 5 minutes of the last, then the reorder would know that more than 5 minutes was needed, it would just keep the in point at the original mark point.

This could work for video as well of course.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Blue Mountains rail line

2005-10-12T21:29:00.000+10:00

traveling from Lithgow to Sydney by public transport is a joke. It can take nearly twice the time on the train as it does to drive, and cost almost the same! While millions of dollars are being spent upgrading the Western Highway to accommodate the road traffic, not enough is spent on the rail to make it even close to viable for commuters.

There are 2 tracks running the Blue Mountains line. Coal, freight and passenger trains share the lines. My idea is to have the coal, freight and express passenger trains running one line and all station shuttle trains running the other. This could dramatically improve the travel times for longer journey commuters, and possible allow for more frequent trains running all stations between the express stops.

For example; If I lived in Leura and commuted to the University of Western Sydney everyday, I could catch the Lawson to Mount Victoria shuttle or drive to Katoomba, and catch the express to Kingswood stopping only at Lawson and Springwood before arriving at Kingswood. (Note that Penrith is no longer a major stop on account of the obviously higher passenger numbers at Kingswood). Quite likely then, my journey from Leura to Kingswood would be as fast if not faster by train.

Because the one rail is used for the less frequent express trains, more trains could run the other line. Ideally there would be one train per shuttle section, moving back and forth all stations between the respective express stops.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

A better screenrecorder

2005-10-12T20:48:00.000+10:00

Betsy Webber from Techsmith, authors of the screenrecording software Camtasia dropped me a line last week, asking me to try out Camtasia and offer some feedback. I had tried Camtasia a couple of years ago so I offered these initial thoughts before downloading it again and giving it another belt.

The ultimate screen recorder would:
Record screen and audio recordings to open video formats such as Mpeg and swf
Export key still frames from the screen recording to Jpeg, editable to PDF
Export audio to MP3, oggVorbis, and WAV
Allow for live and collaborative online screen/audio demonstrations
Be free and open source!! ;)

Since those initial ideas, I've had a quick go of Camtasia and had some more ideas on what Techsmith could do to make it cook! But first of all some initial comment on the recorder as it is at the moment.

The download was nice and small, and the install went on without a hitch. I started using it straight away without having to read any instructions which is always good, but may have something to do with my experience, so I still think it could be made a whole lot simpler. I have a few ideas on that later. One thing that caught me out in my first try was missing the record audio button, and therefore getting through a lengthy recording with no audio! The default should be to record audio with the option button being to not record it... I was really impressed with the export file wizard, and the excellent variety of formats to choose from for exporting. My initial suggestion still stands though - the one about a Jpeg (or perhaps the Gif would do it) that can be exported into an editable PDF.

So, there are my initial impressions of Camtasia. I didn't do any editing of the recording, which I will talk about below, in my further suggestions. Camtasia still needs to be made much simpler, with the options and settings more in the background. Less is more so to speak.

Suggestions.
The criteria I have for recommending software to teachers is this: "It has to be free, easy, and web based". Camtasia is not free, is almost easy (but not easy enough), and is not web based.

FREE: Camtasia (or a lighter version of it) needs to be free so that as many people can use it as possible. Its no good if a teacher can afford to buy and use it, but her students can't.. etc. It also needs to be free (or a lighter version of it) to curb the community acceptance of pirated software.

EASY: I don't know why, when Camtasia sparks up, it needs to open up in its edit or studio mode. I think it would be much nicer if all that opened initially was a small bar with big buttons for record (F9), pause (F9), stop (F10) and options. That's all. Under options of course are the various settings. Audio is recorded as a default, as is full screen. These settings, and all others can be changed by clicking options.
When stop is selected the option to export or edit should be offered. Exporting bring up the wonderful wizard, editing brings up the studio.
generally I and many other teachers are too time starved and demotivated to want to edit and glossy up a screencast. So editing would be best left as a final option not a first.

WEB BASED: Here's the kicker! Here's where I think Camtasia could solve a whole bunch of problems for themselves and their customers, and make Camtasia the killer screen recording application.
Camtasia should set up a server and capture people's screens and audio for them, host them and serve them in multiple formats via URLs and licensed to Creative Commons. Camtasia would quickly become a primary source for screenrecordings, and vast numbers of people on Macs, Windows, Linux and languages could join in. It would be the Flickr for the screenrecording world. If hosting and recording was too difficult, then I'm sure Google Video or OurMedia would be interested in a project partnership.
I wonder if Camtasia were to look into Mozilla's open source code for Firefox, whether they could even achieve this web based versioning for the screen recorder through the FireFox Browser!
Camtasia could offer the web based recorder as a free and open version of Camtasia. Those who want the option to record, edit, host and serve for themselves would buy the full version. Those on web based only get a free web based recording, but no editing.
Of course, people using the web based recorder would need broadband, but access to broadband is improving.

If Camtasia did this, I would sing for years!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Pay it Forward Learning

2005-06-28T13:02:00.000+10:00

I was given the opportunity to present an idea to a network of Outreach workers who are looking at blogs and various online tools in their own practices. Some excitement was generated around the idea with a name already flowering for it, "Pay It Forward Learning". The name was nominated by 2 in the group referring a movie and book of the same title. I haven't seen either of them, but will be watching the movie at least to begin with...

Following is an outline of the idea:

Set up a wiki to collaboratively develop and deliver course materials on. I have set up the Pay It Forward Learning wikispace for this, but have since reconsidered using wikispaces and have opted for Wikibooks.org instead because of the larger community and no advertising.
Select or develop a Training Package that leads to recognition in an Australian Registered Training Organisation (RTO).
Transfer the list of competencies required for recognition in that course to the wiki, from the National Training Information Service (NTIS).
Design assignments for each of the competencies that require students to create learning resources for that competency. Include quality links and other student learning resources to assist that student learn that competency.
Students using the Pay It Forward Learning wikispace are encouraged to keep a weblog of their efforts, uploading assignments as they complete each competency.
When the student has completed all the assignments in a Training Package, they submit their weblog and assignments for Recognition of Prior Learning to any participating RTO.
The RTO assesses the weblog, noting any assignments worth loading to the Pay It Forward Learning wiki.
Any assignments that are used in the wiki, the student receives a discount to the fee they are required to pay to receive assessment, formal recognition, and certification.
Any gaps in a student's competency, identified through assessment and testing is filled through face to face training.
The student has an option to act as a mentor to the next student, and pay out part of their fees in hours.

NB. Many students in Australia will probably need to be issued with a laptop and a broadband internet connection. Internet connections at the time of writing this concept were as low as $30 per month, and a laptop complete with free and open source software could be obtained for under $500. These costs could be invested into the student with a view to reclaiming the amount through either eventual cash repayment, mentoring time, or learning resource developments.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Pay It Forward Courses on a Wiki

2005-06-28T11:26:00.000+10:00

I was given the opportunity to present an idea to a network of Outreach workerswho are looking at blogs and various online tools in their own practices. Some excitement was generated around the idea with a name already flowering for it, "Pay It Forward Learning". The name was nominated by 2 in the group referring a movie and book of the same title. I haven't seen either of them, but will be watching the movie at least to begin with...

Following is an outline of the idea:

Set up a wiki to collaboratively develop and deliver course materials on. I have set up the Pay It Forward Learning wikispace for this.
Select or develop a Training Package that leads to recognition in an Australian Registered Training Organisation (RTO).
Transfer the list of competencies required for recognition in that course to the wiki, from the National Training Information Service (NTIS).
Design assignments for each of the competencies that require students to create learning resources for that competency. Include quality links and other student learning resources to assist that student learn that competency.
Students using the Pay It Forward Learning wikispace are encouraged to keep a weblog of their efforts, uploading assignments as they complete each competency.
When the student has completed all the assignments in a Training Package, they submit their weblog and assignments for Recognition of Prior Learning to any participating RTO.
The RTO assesses the weblog, noting any assignments worth loading to the Pay It Forward Learning wiki.
Any assignments that are used in the wiki, the student receives a discount to the fee they are required to pay to receive assessment, formal recognition, and certification.
Any gaps in a student's competency, identified through assessment and testing is filled through face to face training.
The student has an option to act as a mentor to the next student, and pay out part of their fees in hours.

The Perfect Learning Management System

2005-03-14T20:50:00.000+11:00

I've been reading quite a few articles on LMS lately, and understandably the rise of Blogging, RSS and the range of free Internet publishing tools that make it all so easy have caused quite a few people to reconsider the relevance of LMS.

What inspired this idea was a basic workshop in the use of the LMS - WebCT. The usual faults common to all LMS were prevalent, such as its use being a dead end for students as their learning is deleted at the end of the course; or the pretty crappy replications of email and IM within WebCT; or the clunky use of the editor.. etc - but one thing did impress me. The ability to reduce the menu bars of WebCT down to such a minimal state that the WebCT is little more than a bar at the top of the browser window, much like the Blogger link at the top of this.

Its this reduction of the LMS that sparked the idea I have now. The thing I really like about the browser Mozilla FireFox is the ability to add functional pluggins to it. Being open source, I imagine that its even possible to create your own, but what I use now with my FireFox is pretty good already.

Take Bloglines for example. You can download a little pluggin to FireFox that adds a few Blogline buttons the right click function in FireFox. So now when I land on a site that I think is generating a news feed, all I have to do is right click and add to bloglines.

This suggests to me that it is possible to create quite an extensive array of applications that pluggin to a browser like FireFox, in particular my LMS idea.

I imagine this LMS to be little more than an icon up there with the Browser's array of icons. Lets say it is the University logo with the words "My Learning" next to it. When the user clicks this logo the application features are activated (perhaps with a login - though that would suck).

Functions include:
1. The user has the ability to capture the news feed from the site they are on, into their Bloglines-like news reader that is more customisable in look and function itself - such as a Print this weeks news option...

2. The user has the ability to publish a blog of course, but this blog is more customised as an educational blog, intergrated with the University admin, open to the www, integrated with the portfolio feature of the LMS

3. The LMS generates a sketch portfolio, including learning objectives, learning completed, skills acquired, papers published etc etc. At a basic level this portfolio tracks and updates according to the users activities. It then can be edited and refined later.

4. Add to favorites is similar to Del.icio.us in that it will store and capture favorite links, make them available to the www if need be, and auto network the links with other similar links and account holders. Being open to the www means the favorites can be easily shared with others for group work etc.

5. Right click direct links into university services etc.

These are my initial ideas. The main thing is that the LMS is no longer a replication to the Internet with compromised functionality, but a pluggin to it with increased functionality. If a user chooses to use hotmail instead of student mail, no worries, it will work with it. Same goes for chat and voice over IP apps... etc etc.

More to follow.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Broadbanding Information

2002-05-18T13:11:00.000+10:00

I've been holding onto this idea for a while now. Have decided to jot it down here in the hope of some feedback.

About 2 years ago I was watching a weather report on TV when I realised just how under appreciated such a presentation is. If you are a keen watcher of TV News Weather then you're probably aware that such presentations have developed many new methods over the past 10 years, including loud and stupid surfer guys somehow getting the job, naked weather, and the good old, tried-and-true, Mike Bailey method...

When I watch Mike, I get transported to a time when I was about 8. Sitting next to my grandad in a homely museum of a lounge room filled with the faint smell of pipe tobacco. Both of us warming our feet by the heater, grandad in his chair having his evening beer, me in mine having my apple juice, we both sharing beer nuts. It was a time when I could pretend to watch the evening news with grandad. It was the weather I looked forward to. The only thing I understood just a little, the only thing I could share with grandad in this evening ritual.

But actually, meteorological information can be quite complex, the craziness behind the Bureau's website is testament to that! TV News Weather presenters like Mike have managed to take all that complexity and dish it up to us in a nightly couple of minutes of calm and informative audio visual information. Add the smell of pipe tobacco and the scene is complete for me.

2 years ago, I asked myself the question, what is the method behind this TV News Weather? What is it that makes it comprehendible to an 8 year old, and at the same time informative to a 60 year old. I wanted to find a template that could be applied to all information so that 8 year olds could comprehend and 60 year olds could consider. I came up with broadbanding information.

I could see that the news weather had a somewhat unintentional format in its delivery. The information was being served up in layers, with the iconic, graphically enhanced and dramatically simplified information being presented first. A map of Australia, little pictures of suns, clouds, rain clouds and thunder clouds, numbers - high numbers hot, low numbers cold. Then the map would turn into a photo, with clouds all over it, Mike would point and weave the direction of the cloud movements, and finally the pressure systems, fronts and wind directions. These 3 layers each hold information, with the first layer being comprehendible to an 8 year old. The second layer adds value to the first, and leads into the third layer. The third and final layer is complex and detailed, but with practice and perhaps a layer in between layer 2 and 3, the viewer will learn how to consider it. All layers together give an over all picture.

It was also 2 years ago that some friends of mine where completing PHDs. They were painfully going through the edit and rewrite stages before their peer review. Towards the end of their gruelling process, the information that my friends were about to 'publish' was finally beyond comprehension to the public. Their papers had been reworked into such a verbose and specific language that only specialist in their field could consider it.

I put my weather analogy to one of my friends who was writing on research he and his colleagues had done looking at the long term effects that computer screens may have on eye sight. With a little massaging of the analogy he began to see that what I was trying to get out of him was a way in which he could write his paper in layers of complexity, for various levels of reading and cognitive abilities. I suggested that the first layer might be a children's book, the second maybe a text for young people, the third an article for general readership, and the forth an expert reading for specialists. I suggested that many of the initial drafts and concept sketches could be used to develop each layer, but the important thing is that each layer should offer as seamless as possible transition into the next.

He saw the concept, and appreciated the worth of such an effort, but disappointingly considered that it would be a considerable effort on his part, and that his research would not be interesting to anyone but specialists in his field!

I've sat on the idea since then, trying it out with different people in academia, testing their responses and getting a general feeling for how possible the idea is. Unfortunately almost every one politely sees the idea as worthy, and even go so far as to agree that it would be possible, but then finish by saying that it would require a complete overhaul of the current way of doing things, such as the peer review process...

Enter blogging. A renaissance in the democratisation of communications where the average person can now both read and write to the internet easily and reasonably freely. An era where everyone can develop an internet identity, and continue developing that identity, reshaping it, re emerging it over time. Blogging will eventually challenge the academic peer review process, and what is considered publishing. It is already disrupting the journalistic traditions, research will be next.

Enter wikis. The re emergence of the Internet's original intent. The ability to collaborate in the development of information, where the only constant is change. A new form of writing where everyone and no one can be authors. Wikipedia is the best example of a successful collaborative writing space that connects multiple authors for the continual co development of encyclopaedic information resources. Wikispaces makes such a co-authoring relationship possible to anyone online.

Broadbanding information is possible through wikis. Consider these scenarios.

A school group is given an assignment on Australian Birds. A quick search of wikipedia turns up very little information on Australian birds. The school group is encouraged to start the wikipedia entry. The teacher contacts the Australian Birds Society and gains support from its members to contribute edits. The school group is tasked with editing the experts contributions into readable language, the experts are encouraged to start developing a second layer of detailed information, and so on...
A group of hobbyists start a wiki on a topic with broadband information in mind. They start writing in their own discourse, and set up draft pages for other levels of readership. Then they invite writers from the various levels of reading and writing to interpret their content and develop pages for their own readership level. These levels might include younger readers, ESL readers, academic experts, even other languages...

Collaborative writing enabled through wiki technology makes it possible to broadband information. Working relationships can be set up between people of varying experience and ability with the common goal of writing content that is accessible and usable to all.

In many ways it is already happening. Imagine if ThinkQuest met WikiPedia or WikiSpaces

Photo by Dave Morris

Now I want to suggest a way software developers could contribute to this idea.

It involves the word processing/language tools department - thesaurus and spell check to be exact. As I write this post, above the box in which I am typing are a number of formatting tools I can use. Bold, italic, colour, hyperlink... then there's the spell checker. I couldn't get by without that little god send. Without it I would have to first type this up in OpenOfficeText, spell check it, then copy it over. But Blogger has managed to offer me this powerful feature right here, saving me the hassle (even suggesting to me that I may not need a text editor installed on my computer anymore...). I want them to take it a step further. And not just Blogger either. Everyone offering a WYSIWYG editor should take this idea:

Basically, it is a spell checker split into 3 levels. Each level represents a level of English reading such as: 1 = primary, E as a second language, etc. 2 = secondary, popular terms and expressions, SMS, etc. 3 = tertiary, expert level, big words, academic. When I hit the spell check button, it would ask me what level I want to check at. If I want my writing (or just a selection within it) to be broadly readable, then I'd select 1. If I knew that my writing was specialised, and almost impossible to simplify, I'd give 1 or 2 a go, just to see, but would probably settle for 3 if they didn't work. Each level of spell check would simply have a predetermined list of words suitable to that readership level. If the words in the writing do not appear in that list, then they are simply presented as miss-spelled.

Now, that alone would be frustrating to people without the talent for writing in an accessible way. They might be so caught up in an academic level of expressing themselves that they simply cannot write it any other way. Simply presenting a big word as miss-spelt wouldn't really help. That's were the wikithesaurus part of this idea comes in to play.

Imagine if the wiktionary (the free dictionary) was broken up into these 3 broad categories. It wouldn't have to be apparent to everyday users, just some database setup perhaps. Contributors to the wiktionary could progressively develop the lists of words for the readership levels, and also link across the levels to suggest more complex or more simple words in a thesaurus type of way.

So now, when I clicked that spell checker, it would still first ask me what level I want to check at, but instead of presenting words not in that level's list as miss-spelt, it would call on wiktionay and recognise the word being used, then suggest other words more appropriate to the selected level. Not only progressive academics trying to reach their broader community would benefit, but people trying to improve their literacy as well - the school boy trying to make his essay read more 'expertly' uses the tool and gets guidance in a more useful way... or the Taiwanese kid trying to comprehend some verbose English text, runs it through the spell checker at a level 2 to get a better idea...

Photo byChung Wei

I realise this may be a big ask for our humble WYSIWYG editor. That's why I posted this idea to the OpenOffice Developer Mail List. But disappointingly I haven't had a response from anyone there yet, maybe it didn't get through. While it may be a challenge to set a WYSIWYG editor up to do this, it should be a piece of cake for a full blown desktop application. It would certainly secure OpenOffice as the better word processor that it already is.

So I hope some language tools programmer reads this some day, and lets me know were my idea falls short.

Thanks to Jock Grady for his valuable contributions to this idea

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Down to Earth Tent

2002-01-05T10:09:00.001+11:00

Youtube video of me talking through the concepts.

Way back in 2002 I had this idea for a light weight tent I call Down To Earth. That link goes to a Flash animation used to outline teh concepts.

I contacted New Zealand tent and outdoor gear manufacturers MacPac and got emailing with a designer there. The MacPac fella was encouraging enough for me to create the above Flash presentation of the idea, but after sending it, I never heard from him again. I can't say I've noticed an obvious link between new MacPac tent designs and my Down to Earth, so I guess he didn't like the idea.

I have tried numerous times to have the thing made here in Australia, but it seems that all the tent making people live in China these days. I have found one guy in the Blue Mountains who thinks he might be able to modify an old Quest tent of mine, but he's been sitting on that promise for quite some time now.

If anyone does go ahead and make something like this tent, I'd love to test it out for you. Down to Earth is the perfect tent for me. I'd love to have just one. There simply isn't a good tent on the market these days. There are of course thousands out there, but none of them get it right in my opinion...

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

The Ideas Man

2002-01-05T08:12:00.000+11:00

Ideas can keep me awake at night. I have a draw full of scrap paper with all sorts of them.

In Australia, being called 'an ideas man' can be a bit of a payout. A put down. A comment on that person's inability to see things through. I get it all the time. Probably because I tend to express ideas verbally, and at perhaps less than ideal times, to not quite the right people. Here's an idea! Blogging ideas is a better way to go.

I see ideas and action as 2 in the same. If I express my ideas here for example, isn't that action in itself? Who knows, maybe that will inspire further action elsewhere. Maybe someone will just miraculously give me a wad of cash or a job and say, "hey, great idea man! Go for it!"...

That'd be nice...

But in the meantime, I need a space to blurt out my ideas, good and bad, unique or not, free from demotivating put downs. I place where they can accumulate in the crispy versatility of the digital format, building up a log, renewing themselves as time goes by.

So stay tuned if you're into random ideas on just about anything. I'm prolific, broad-ranging, easily distracted, and very defensive. All the usual weaknesses of an ideas man.

BTW, I am back dating this blog with ideas from the past... the blog ws actually started in October 2005, but I keep shifting this post's date to before the oldest idea...

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.