onfocus

Camped in Yosemite the past couple of days and went on some spectacular hikes. I didn't take as many pictures this time around, because I was focused on surviving the trek. I survived, but I'm going to be feeling yesterday's hike for a few days. What an amazing place.


Yosemite Falls and Half Dome

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Yosemite Valley

NYC Bloggers is mapping the location of bloggers in New York. Their mapping system is impressive. [via Blogger] Blogging has a lot in common with other forms of Internet communications that came before: usenet, IRC/instant messaging, etc. But I think local geographic-based organization is something completely unique to weblogs. It's funny that a global communications tool is connecting people who live down the street from each other. It's also inspiring.

I'll be gone and off the grid for a few days. I should be back with lots of snapshots.

Another view of Mt. Shasta

We spent Sunday in Portland. We started and ended the day at Powell's Books. It's three stories and an entire city-block of books. I could have spent the whole day browsing there. There are other specialty Powell's stores around Portland: cooking, technical, and travel. (It's not the only game in town, though, because we saw quite a few book stores.) We spent the rest of the day walking around the city. It was a very nice time with beautiful weather. I'm looking forward to visiting Portland again. I took a bunch of pictures. I hope you like buildings.


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The painted cows in a few of the pictures are part of the CowParade project.

skp and I went to Oregon over the holiday weekend. We had a great time, though it was a lot of time to spend in the car. I'd never been to Oregon before so I was surprised that you can't pump your own gas. You'd think that would make the gas more expensive, but compared with California's prices Oregon gas was cheap. Oh, and no sales tax was nice.

Like Jason, I was impressed by Clay Shirky's analysis of the LiveJournal community. Especially his findings about groups of 12 and how they allow people to have a satisfying experience. Since then, I've been noticing groups of twelve. Maybe it's a natural way to organize. I tried to come up with a list of famous 12's.

1. 12 apostles in Christianity
2. 12 causes of samsara in Buddhism
3. 12 tribes of Israel in Judaism
4. 12 people on a jury
5. 12 months in a year
6. 12 signs in the zodiac
7. 12 original American colonies (ok, 13 if you count Delaware)
8. 12 days of Christmas
9. 12 tone musical scale
10. 12-sided snow crystal
11. 12 immortals in Greek Mythology
12. 12 beers in a 12-pack

Yeah, so it was tough coming up with 12 groups of 12. But I think there's something to the idea that a group of 12 is easily divisible into smaller groups, yet maintains the identity of the whole.

Now the question is, how do you build community software that accommodates groups of 12, and encourages that equilibrium point? And how can the whole community scale (another great article on the subject by Clay Shirky) without loosing their individual group identities?

Are there other famous 12s?

PR Watch: Spinning the Web: "Some PR firms have also planted ringers in online chat rooms--paid consultants who defend their clients while concealing their financial ties to the company being discussed. 'A small industry is emerging among consultants who specialize in spinning online discussions to favor the positions of companies and interest groups,' the New York Times reported in October 1999. Audrie Krause, for example, works as a consultant for AT&T but has represented herself online as a 'consumer advocate' during discussions of broadband Internet access, a subject in which AT&T has a vested interest."

I think identity literacy and skepticism without disclosure are going to be important as PR firms use the Web more and more in an attempt to manage perception about issues and companies. The balance between privacy and disclosure is difficult, and hopefully online community developers can find ways to make it easier.

Anyway, the article quoted above shows how PR firms view the Web; both as a threat and an opportunity.

From my backyard this morning: