Blogging Tools

PyCS Search and PyDS

Wed, 05 Nov 2003 07:28:00 GMT

I've discovered that Python Community Server has a search feature! Cool, but I need to get my PyDS instances to send the content up to the indexer. Anyone have any idea how to do this?

Diego is at it again ... part two: syndication

Mon, 03 Nov 2003 15:18:24 GMT

Quick run over and read Diego's continued Intro To Weblogs - Part Deux, Syndication. Really, go read it now, its good!

Fantastic Weblogging Intro

Sun, 02 Nov 2003 04:41:36 GMT

Dave Winer's catch of the day is Diego Doval's comprehensive introduction to weblogging. The post does a great job of bringing together a his own thoughts ( checkout 'Is blogging dangerous?' answer 'Yes. Most definitely. And addictive, too. :-)') as well as a huge list of links to other people's work explaining the concepts and utilities of trackback, comments, etc.

I did notice that he doesn't include a reference to the Python Communinity Server and Python Desktop Server / bzero combination. They are not nearly as popular as blogger.com, but should perhaps be included as an option when discussions Radio Userland.

Check back as he has indicated he might add some comments on syndication to round it out. This is going to be the my standard answer to 'what is this weblogging all about?' ... go read Diego ...

PyDS - Great Blogging Tool

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 06:11:12 GMT

I've been using PyDS for several months now and I have to give it a two thumbs up for being one of best pieces of software I've laid hands on in a long time. Georg Bauer, you're doing a great job.

The windows installers have been flawless and it has been utterly reliable. Thanks for this goes to Louis Fege.

I am currently using it to blog for two separate blogs and it has been fantastic.

The built in aggregator has been fantastic. Having it web based made it easy to sync to my palm pilot via JPluck.

It has a nifty offline switch that makes it easy to 'test post' to my blog and see it in the local preview server before it gets upstreamed. Great stuff.

There are a steady stream of updates and new features (zine features are waiting for me to explore).

Customizing it has been a snap...

Finally, in keeping with the Road Warrior theme, it has worked great in offline mode as I traveled. I can read my aggregator and work on posts just about anywhere. This is the ultimate seller for me.

For anyone whose free days with Radio are running out, this is definitely something to consider. Even if you were not using Radio (I wasn't) I'd highly recommend it.

Weblog tools list

Fri, 17 Oct 2003 05:06:08 GMT

List of blog tools.

Look here:

http://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.html

KM - Wiki as PIM ... who knew?

Fri, 17 Oct 2003 02:56:00 GMT

I continue to examine using wiki technology for mobile workers. So far, I have created a local install of MoinMoin, a Python wiki look a like for personal experimentation with wiki tools.

The weird thing was that without really consciously setting out to do it, I found it was a great way to manage my personal information. It just seemed such a natural way to organize information. I found myself quickly creating links to pages and then quickly adding the content... It was easy to link the information to multiple topics so that it was easy to find my stuff.

For example, I have to keep track of client contact data, status reports, assorted documents and comments while I work at a client site. It was quick to setup a customer list page, create the customer page, add a link to an engagement list, status reports, etc. You can easily create page templates for creating more structured content like status reports etc.

Also, all this stuff was quickly added to my user's home page ... and all full text searchable. It is 100% better than leaving it all buried in MS Word docs in a directory structure... Wiki as a PIM ... who would have thought.

Here is a great piece at Information Today by David Mattison on the same topic. It is also a fantastic summary of the various tools and includes a good comparison of blogs and wikis for the uninitiated.

Here are some links to others doing the same thing:

WikiAsPim

SingleUserWiki

Even Palm Wiki:

PalmWikiWorld

Palm Wiki Article

Here is a link to a quick standalone super easy to install wiki server. If you want to try this out, this is good way to start.

Eddie's QuickWiki

Then, there is a WikiWeblogPIM. This site is looking for a combination of a Wiki, Pim and Blog.

Offline Wiki participation a possibility?

Sat, 11 Oct 2003 00:36:16 GMT

In evaluating group collaboration tools over the last little while, I have run into a problem with wiki technology. My main goal has been to look at solutions that will help mobile information workers better collaborate. The point is that we are as a rule almost never in the same place. Worse still is that internet connectivity, while common, is absent in places where we most often work. Like Airplanes, which is where I am as I write this now.

Slowly, wide internet access to wifi, high speed in hotel, etc is helping increase the connectivity options. However, it seems that highly mobile information workers still suffer from frequent drought when it comes to net access.

What got me thinking about this direction was a recent exploration of wiki's, TWiki in particular. This toolset is especially attractive for mobile knowledge workers. More so, I think, than others, we suffer from stale information, or worse missing information. This dearth of even accurate information is partly caused from the great distance that separates us, lack of frequent interaction (watercooler conversations as a rule can't happen), etc.

For those reasons, something like a wiki looks like a fantastic solution. Group editing of web content in a central place would go a long way to solving the problem... but for one thing. It is an "online" only solution. I need to do at least two more things with the "group consensus / knowledge" as a mobile information worker:

I need to access it as a consumer, when I most need it. In my case this is inevitably when I am working outside of my own network.

More importantly, I need to contribute to it when I have time (now being a good example. I am on a plane with 'nary a net connection for hours ....)

The interesting thing of course, is that I am currently using a technology, PyDS, to make changes to my own work online and I am doing it offline. I do have access to my own work offline and to some degree, via an aggregator, I have access to others work, at least read only access. Before embarking on web logging / personal publishing, I would have underestimated the importance of this. Now, having done the majority of my work while offline, I couldn't live without it.

So, while blogging tools solve the problem for me personally, what I think we as a group really need is some way to group edit content ... but in an offline manner. Sort of a wiki with sync .... or a wiki/blog meld.

UPDATES

This is going to be my research topic for next little while. As I find things, expect to see more information here. My thoughts on this so far:

For offline reading, it should be possible to "mirror" a wiki, or part of a wiki. Are there any wiki tools that are mirror friendly, and even offer local editing with a push up to a central server 'a la Radio/PyDS?'.

Don Park has a recent comment about a distributed Wiki. Read the comments as well. There is a pointer to something called Hyki developed in Groove.

Weblog tools list

Thu, 09 Oct 2003 14:08:00 GMT

An excellent list of blog tools...

New PYDS beta 0.6.1: small bugfixes to the 0.6.0 release

Thu, 09 Oct 2003 13:57:20 GMT

This is the software that I use for this site. The 0.6.0 release upgrade went fine. I should move to 0.6.1 shortly.

Bloglines public aggregators

Thu, 09 Oct 2003 05:06:08 GMT

Another aggregator worth taking a look at... This one public.

AmphetaDesk v0.93.1 is Now Available

Wed, 08 Oct 2003 04:38:24 GMT

Perl based aggregator ....

Syncado thoughts

Wed, 08 Oct 2003 04:21:20 GMT

Python server based weblog tool.

pyblosxom 0.8.1

Sun, 05 Oct 2003 03:14:08 GMT

Python edition of bloxom ... weblog tool.

BloGTK 0.7

Sun, 05 Oct 2003 03:13:04 GMT

Linux based blogging tool.