tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16989096062066661262012-01-30T11:00:50.077-08:00a place to discuss web tools for collaboration and communicationAnn and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-91651332377212745872007-07-05T10:17:00.000-07:002007-07-05T14:18:53.882-07:00

I recently went to a conference (they called it a "summit") about video on the web.Several things struck me as very significant.1) In countries that have very high speed web access to the home (100mbs), the average viewing time for web video programs is 40 minutes. People actually watch long-form programs delivered over the internet. The U.S. internet infrastructure is sadly lacking in the "

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-36841281232658282882007-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:002007-06-01T13:44:41.098-07:00

Toni wants to hear more...so here we go. Read "Let them eat cake," below. In the olden days, like yesterday, we targeted our communication to specific audiences. That, I learned, is so last-century. Social media means engaging people in conversation, one on one, through all of this new technology. Through blogs, like this. We reach out directly to people, rather than targeting groups of

Linda Feldmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070110553410461780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-32107687016358738722007-05-21T05:56:00.000-07:002007-05-21T06:17:37.307-07:00

I almost wrote two postings last week. Steve Dunsky asked if I would report back from a conference called subtitled "Deploying Social Media for Business Advantage." I say almost, because I couldn't remember my password and my tries to retrieve the password failed. So I gave up and tried again this morning, while back safely in my cubicle. (This time it worked.)The conference was fabulously

Linda Feldmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070110553410461780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-43278228062022722272007-05-03T16:00:00.000-07:002007-05-03T16:10:47.361-07:00

As of today, we now have a test Wiki up and running on a Forest Service server. FSWiki uses the free, open source MediaWiki software from the folks at WikiPedia. "Sandbox" is metaphor used in the computer programming world for a place to test new code. This is our sandbox for learning and experimenting with this powerful collaborative tool. It looks a little confusing at first, but you

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-22153100538590556692007-04-26T12:22:00.000-07:002008-11-13T10:23:48.409-08:00

Podcasting...well I'm one of those former DJ's from years gone by finding a way to actually use my early experience to produce audiocast for the U.S. Forest Service. No matter what you want to call the media...in our case it's a customized audio file that we produce to provide information to the public. No it's not all about music as teenagers would like to believe.Here's a link to the Black

Gary C. Chanceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07606466664638196288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-55483804513330761142007-04-24T17:18:00.000-07:002007-04-24T17:34:21.192-07:00

Attended Social Media Summit held by American Learning Institute a couple of weeks ago with 50-70 others from all walks of industry and agencies. Great primer on philosophy of social media as well as some great tips and ideas passed along from presenters from social media industries.Here are some short takes and lessons learned from the summit:Think big; start small; scale upThe dialogue about

Ray Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815307782153586335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-28869207295173232172007-04-24T12:20:00.000-07:002007-04-24T12:24:17.241-07:00

Some in the fire organization are using a public internet site called My Fire Community to exchange information and share personal experiences. How can we make it easier for our folks to get where they need and want to go?

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-13324123523126418142007-04-19T19:04:00.000-07:002007-04-19T19:11:45.198-07:00

Here is a link to a five minute video that helps us better understand moving from guarding and hoarding behavior toward sharing and contributing. Remember that information is diffusive: It tends to leak when not guarded and hoarded. The more it leaks the more there is. A virtual breeder reactor for knowledge and wisdom is at our fingertips when be realize the power of simple tools that enhance

Dave Iversonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-14266931597184227412007-04-17T14:01:00.000-07:002007-04-17T14:11:51.773-07:00

According to Wikipedia, "a manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions. Manifestos are often political in nature."This might coincide with an existing new agency initiative known as Foundational Principles. Though, it's difficult to know for sure because I'm not in the loop, nor do I know anyone who is in the loop. This brings me to my larger question, if engaging in

Toni Stafford Newbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04637458169491258432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-43425971030719495622007-04-13T07:21:00.000-07:002007-04-13T08:15:33.622-07:00

I've been asked to write a manifesto on using social media in the Forest Service. Having never written one, the prospect is a bit daunting. Nonetheless, it is a wonderful idea. We already have an ample supply of strategic plans, mission statements, goals and objectives. A manifesto implies an urgency, perhaps even an insurgency. Frankly, we need to light some fires to revive the spirit of

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-23626347546678476622007-04-10T08:40:00.000-07:002007-04-11T15:27:35.256-07:00

Wikipedia proves to be too wild for its founder Larry Sanger. So he recently unveiled The Next Big Thing: Citizendium to improve on his earlier Big Thing.Citizendium about is a good read and links to "fundamentals" that detail some advantages relative to Wikipedia. Essentially, Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um) will adhere to the following principles:Content to be:accuratebased on common experience

Dave Iversonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-78914828361132075582007-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:002007-04-10T07:31:40.491-07:00

Anyone who have been dabbling in the blogsphere even as long as I have realizes how very soon one is overwhelmed by information, chat, twitter, and so on.Some help is obtained by using blog (or other "feed") readers that allow you to read quickly read and share what you find helpful. These readers help you see what has recently emerged since your last visit. Each user creates a personalized

Dave Iversonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-89708104332786988922007-04-09T07:55:00.000-07:002007-04-09T08:21:46.555-07:00

There are countless ways in which the Forest Service can use social media to better fulfill its mission. Here a some ideas. What would you add to this list?Leadership blogs - From the Chief on down, leaders can communicate more directly with employees, partners, visitors, issues stakeholders and the public at large.Employee social networks - increase esprit de corps with personal spaces for

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-47802444037493174112007-03-29T14:05:00.000-07:002007-03-29T16:45:09.731-07:00

Several people have asked me about mashups. In a recent presentation, I showed housingmaps.com as an example, but there are many, many more. Google Maps seems to be in the middle of this trend. I have not attempted it myself, but the APIs are very available and reportedly pretty easy to use. Check out Google Maps API Official Blog or the many unofficial sites. It has occurred to many of

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-69311450403566574682007-03-27T11:22:00.000-07:002007-03-27T11:35:07.957-07:00

I am part of that explosion of interest in social media that Steve D. mentioned. I am finding that this is a whole new world -- one that could quickly pass me by. And I'm really not that old. So I am choosing to engage and learn. And discuss. I had a discussion the other day with an old school friend who was appalled that federal agencies were getting into the social media act. How can we

Linda Feldmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070110553410461780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-39924892818128425522007-03-25T16:11:00.000-07:002007-03-25T17:41:49.952-07:00

Another good UTube video: Did You Know? About the technological/societal/cultural earthquake we are living through.

Dave Iversonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-79648684863692398692007-03-23T21:58:00.000-07:002007-03-23T22:04:25.222-07:00

Here is a wonderful short video exploring the changes in technology and society caused by the shift to Web 2.0.  Unfortunately, the USDA system administrators block access to YouTube, so you will have to watch it while you are off the Forest Service network.

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-39810318344059426372007-03-23T16:35:00.000-07:002007-03-25T14:06:16.623-07:00

Tagging is an essential part of the new participatory web. Users add tags toonline items they want to save and find again. These items can be anything from bookmarks (de.lic.ious) to images (flickr) to personal goals (43 Things).The result of this collective process is an enormous bottom-up classification system; one which poses a challenge to the traditional category-based taxonomies and

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-61737228440136632172007-03-20T12:40:00.000-07:002007-03-20T13:01:20.918-07:00

A book called Wikinomics explores the ways in which social media tools are being used in business and other enterprises. You can watch a podcast of co-author Dan Tapscott interviewed by SpikeSource CEO Kim Polese. Some of his ideas from the book are summarized in a Web 2.o white paper.  

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-71782079976807109752007-03-16T10:22:00.000-07:002007-03-16T12:10:11.841-07:00

In recent weeks (and even days) the interest in social media has exploded. Clearly we have reached a tipping point.   Here are some interesting links that Bill Williams, and others, have pointed out.In today's San Francisco Chronicle, there is a front page story about the collision of new and old media at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival.  The current edition of Business Week features

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-56203557514854489332007-03-15T12:40:00.000-07:002007-03-15T12:43:26.606-07:00

"There is no wrong way to use a Wiki..."Check out WikiZen

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-23885105078512588462007-03-15T12:01:00.000-07:002007-03-15T12:24:33.267-07:00

A new version of the FSWeb will begin rolling out on April 2nd.  It is based on portal technology, much like My Yahoo  or customized Google home page.  The idea is to provide information that is specific to the user, and to allow the user to customize the information that they receive.   The new approach should be a big improvement for the existing FSWeb -- mainly because it will bring a lot of

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-82649798730830279772007-03-14T14:55:00.000-07:002007-03-14T15:03:08.298-07:00

Here's a tip from Christine Romero, Region 1 AV specialist -Audacity is an open source audio recording and mixing program.  Might be a good tool for creating Podcasts -- we'll let you know.Also check out Democracy, an open source tool for creating and managing your own web based video channels.

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-13566589349658711082007-03-13T14:19:00.000-07:002007-03-14T12:07:50.860-07:00

We had a wonderful phone conversation with Gary Nebeker at the Forest Service Geospatial Service and Technology Center (GSTC) in Salt Lake City.   Gary is using open source tools (primarily Xoops, a free. PHP-based web content management package) to run a wonderfully interactive website called Geoportal.  He is running it on a local PC, using open source server (Apache) and open source

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-77945107658916531392007-03-13T12:06:00.000-07:002007-03-13T12:24:38.651-07:00

Reghan Cloudman, public affairs specialist on the Arapaho-Roosevelt NFs, pointed me toward the web site and webinars of Shel Holtz.  He is doing a lot of work at the intersection of communications and the newweb tools.  I've provided a link to his blog.I listened to Shel's most recent podcast  in which he talks about new phenomenon called Twitter, which is a combination of blogging and text

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-61967010767438046852007-03-13T08:53:00.000-07:002007-03-13T12:04:22.968-07:00

Welcome to Region 7 - the Forest Service employee intranetHere are some principles to consider:1) Region 7 is neither a bottom up nor a top down effort.  Everyone participates equally, but the results will differ.  Better leaders will have more followers.  Better authors will have more readers. Better producers will reach a bigger audience.2) Norms and etiquette are enforced  by the online 

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-81941030286406942032007-03-08T05:55:00.000-08:002007-03-08T06:22:57.838-08:00

Our conversation on Tuesday sparked an idea.  An idea, that in retrospect, seems so obvious and simple that there is no doubt about it.  It is an idea whose time has come.  An idea that makes one put palm to forehead in the universal gesture of "duh."The idea is:  Employees must take over the Forest Service intranet.No, we're not talking about a web site or a discussion forum.  We're hijacking

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-71121512717887013502007-03-04T08:05:00.000-08:002007-03-22T12:52:06.261-07:00

Introduction - "Joining the conversation."Over the past five years, the World Wide Web has gone through a subtle but enormous change.Since the Dot Com bust in 2000, when a dozen web sites went broke trying to sell pet food online, the Internet has returned to its roots.  Now, the most popular sites are those that allow the visitor to participate as a member of a networked community.In its 

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-56316173909741845272007-03-03T21:14:00.000-08:002008-11-13T10:23:49.208-08:00

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-51395512498918717832007-02-17T14:29:00.000-08:002007-03-04T08:53:52.793-08:00

Desktop

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698909606206666126.post-18111285531367618782007-02-14T11:46:00.000-08:002007-03-03T12:21:25.940-08:00

Tonight at 11, news by neighborsSanta Rosa TV station fires news staff, to ask local folks to provide programmingJoe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff WriterSunday, February 11, 2007Steve Spendlove realizes that after last month's layoffs of most of the news-gathering staff at tiny KFTY-TV in Santa Rosa there will be less local coverage. The Clear Channel executive overseeing the station knows there

Ann and Steve Dunskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408596683077659072noreply@blogger.com1