No. 22

July 25, 2000

 

Technology:

UBB

If you don't find the idea of having your online group discussions hosted by a third party particularly appealing, and yet can not afford the relatively high price of WebBoard, please consider the Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB). This customizable, low-cost discussion environment (mere $199 per server) does not skimp on features, offering:
  • threaded discussions;
  • support for multiple forums on the same server;
  • verification of subscriber's e-mail address (one of the best weapons in the fight against spam);
  • automatic e-mail notification of new posts;
  • thread closing and archiving;
  • moderation (i.e. sending new postings for approval);
  • browser-based administration;
  • search engine;
  • several levels of access;
  • graphical emoticons.
A solid package by all standards. True, it lacks some of the features I love in WebBoard and eGroups, such as listserv capability (i.e. full participation in discussions via e-mail) and file exchange, but one can argue that every feature adds complexity and thus increases the potential of user confusion and frustration, often without sufficient payoff. As Alan Kay puts it: "Simple things should be simple".

UBB (the server) runs on Windows NT/2000 and Windows 95/98 as well as Linux and some flavors of Unix, while the client is truly platform independent - any reasonably current Web browser (3.x or newer) will do. Unlike WebBoard it is not stand-alone, but requires a third-party Web server (Microsoft IIS or PWS are good choices for Windows) and Perl 5 to run. Good news is that both components are available for free. The bad news is that the installation may require a bit more technological know-how.

UBB (click on thumbnail):
Interface tour 

For more information please visit the UBB site or search the ACT database of Social Software.

Initiatives:

Computer and Internet Access for All.

NewDeal is an ambitious startup company, whose mission is to "massively broaden computer literacy and Internet access worldwide by bringing high performance computing and true ease of use to any PC. The company places special emphasis on emerging and underserved markets, with the aim of making One Household, One Computer a global reality."
Recognizing that high prices, steep learning curve, and rapid technological obsolescence constitute major barriers in broadening access to computers and the Internet, especially among less affluent, less educated segments of the population (the phenomenon known as "digital divide"), NewDeal is trying to tear down these barriers by offering low cost computers (new and recycled), and easy to use, inexpensive software suites that run very well even on old machines (including the ancient 286's)!
The software package, roughly equivalent to Microsoft Windows and Office (with all the necessities and none of the bells and whistles) can be downloaded right now for $70, while complete systems - with monitor, keyboard, modem, operating system, and application suite -  will be available from NewDeal's subsidiary GreenPC later this summer at prices between $99 and $299.
The young company has generated quite a bit of positive buzz in the media and has been named one of the Cool Companies of 2000 by the Fortune magazine.

Online reading:

The Social Life of Information
by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. In: FirstMonday, Vol. 5, no. 4, April 2000. (HTML format)

From the description in FirstMonday:
"For years pundits have predicted that information technology will obliterate the need for everything from travel to supermarkets to business organizations to social life itself. They have heralded the coming of the virtual office, digital butlers, electronic libraries, and virtual universities. Beaten down by info-glut and exasperated by computer systems with software crashes, viruses, and unintelligible error messages, individual users tend to wax less enthusiastic about technological predictions. Amid the hype and the never-narrowing gap between promise and performance, they find it hard to get a vision of the true potential of the digital revolution.

John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid in their book The Social Life of Information (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000) help us see through frenetic visions of the future to the real forces for change in society. Arguing elegantly for the important role that human sociability plays in the world of bits, this book, and the chapters published here in First Monday, gives us an optimistic look beyond the simplicities of information and individuals. The authors show how a better understanding of the contribution that communities, organizations, and institutions make to learning, knowledge, and judgment can lead to the richest possible use of technology in our work and everyday lives."
 

Conference:

1st John Seely Brown Symposium on Technology and Society
  • Held September 8-9, 2000 in Ann Arbor, MI
  • Speakers will be John Seely Brown, vice president and chief scientist of Xerox and director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Harvard and special master to Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in the U.S. v. Microsoft trial. The centerpiece of two days of events will be Lessig's talk on "Architecting Innovation". The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion that will focus on the information revolution and the University of Michigan.

She said, he said:

"Knowledge shared is knowledge doubled." -- Karl Erik Sveiby.


© 2000 Vlad Wielbut and the Alliance for Community Technology