Blob
>the personal blog of david n wallace
[aka Dave the Lifekludger]

Was my son’s 5th birthday today……he got a bike.

I didn’t know our (SA) Govt. was doing this until I serendipitously came across it today. Will look closer when I get time.

Headroom http://www.headroom.net.au/

A Mission Australia media release reports:

A national survey of around 11,300 young people, aged 11-24 (94% between 11-19), has found that ‘suicide/self harm’, ‘physical/sexual abuse’ and ‘family conflict’ are issues of growing concern……

Two in five young participants were significantly concerned about suicide, and one in three about depression.

1 in 3! Astounding.

Mission Australia Media Releases
2005 Youth Survey

I started this post a few days ago, on the 24th (a whole 2 days ago…geez internet time flies). Note to skimmers…..if you can’t be bothered reading it all, skip and read the end….that’s where the point is.

24th…

Cam has started a discussion all by asking if he should move his blog.

Some respondents chime in from a technical perspective – like how you can move your blog yet still retain readership and get machines like google to follow you.

Others are dead against it saying that he has carved out a digital identity where he is (I’m assuming that means on typepad)

This begs the question. How can we move what we do on the net yet retain our digital identity integrity?

On one side you have the issue of moving ‘what’ you have produced. While this part is largely a technical issue it’s not just that. I liken it to moving house. You pack your stuff you’ve accumulated and shift it to another address. You need to inform everyone that this has been done. (well everyone you want to keep in touch with you). You can get the post office to forward all your letters from the old house address to your new one. You can do likewise with your telephone calls. We already have a system for that on the net for domains, the DNS. We have a system on the web in the HTTP protocol for moved sites and pages. These things work towards the technical moving of digital data we have accumulated from one ‘house’ to another.

But does this activity change your identity? Change how you tell others who you are.

At the bank, I tell my identity by showing cards. These are normally all in one place, my wallet. If I lose that I don’t lose my identity but I do lose the ability to prove my Identity…and boy what a hassle it is to reinstate this proof. My point is that in the physical world my everyday proof of identity is mostly in a single place. On the net I have a Distributed Identity. If you want a big picture of me, what I do (not that what I do is who I am), you’ll need to look at a few places.

Maybe we need an Indentity Whois or Identity DNS or Identity Agregation System – IAS. A multi-homed, distributed Indentity management system. Something that pulled the proofs of who we are together from all over the place.

26th….

Well it seems my tangental thoughts about our identities are well in hand by the Indentity 2.0 guys who have put out a paper on “The Laws of Identity…”

And Cam has posted again telling us a bit more of why he asked the question in the first place, commenting that he doesn’t really want “cameron” to be a brand.

Well then really, why the hell bother to ask anyone in the first place. If I take my observation about moving house to its full outworking, just shift and let those you want to know that youv’e moved. If I wasn’t a business and thereby interested in maintaining a brand I sure wouldn’t ask the people on the web if I wanted to move where I live. But I would ask my friends.

Then maybe that’s just his point, he views us as friends!

LearnDog has a post that directed me to an interesting article in the New York Times about teenagers and the way they are interacting with the digital world.

Here’s some thoughts I had on it.

“These young kids are very sophisticated and phenomenally intuitive,” he said. “This is the first generation that’s been born into digital life, instead of transitioning into it.”

The fact that the kids of today are growing up in a digital world with digital tools only seems ‘wonderous’ to those of us who grew up in an analog world. Did we question record players, television, radio when growing up? Probably we just used them. But to our Grand Parents, the fact there were kids that never knew what it was like to live in a world without television seemed … well somewhat strange. It’s about context.

“Most teenagers online take their role as content creators as a given.”

“the mounting evidence that teens are not passive consumers of media content,” ….

“it helps young people fashion their own identities, on their own terms, using whatever content they choose.”

The difference I see with todays technology from that of past generations is the ability to interact with the media and not be passive receivers. Remixing is becoming a recreation. And that’s apt, especially for kids as in effect they are re-creating their environment to suit themselves. And in doing so they are reflecting, exploring and building their own identities. This is identity creation and management at its most fundamental level.

“They take content from media providers and transform it, reinterpret it, republish it, take ownership of it in ways that at least hold the potential for subverting it.”

What I find interesting about that statement is that in doing this remixing and ‘taking ownership’ they actually become media providers themselves.

“At the market level, this means old business models are in upheaval,” …. “At the legal level, this means the definition of property is up for grabs. And at the social level, it means that millions of those inspired to create have a big new platform with which they shape our culture.”

I hope by “our culture” the writer means “everyones” culture as oppossed to “our” (grownups) and “theirs” (kids) cultures.

If not, no wonder the kids feel the need to take back some ground!

via-LearnDog

My friend Mike’s been to Melbourne and made good connections.

In a post titled CONNECTING to people behind the BLOGs he says:

This was my first experience of meeting people I’ve been ‘reading’ (connected to via RSS). It was really quite empowering! I think I understand why people do, and write about ‘geek dinners’ and ‘blog conferences’. There really are people behind those blogs, and like all human beings we need to be connected.

Empowering it is! This was part of what was behind and drove projects like Common Ground and EnableNet, where I work. Back in 1992 when we got CG going there were people asking questions concerned about users getting stuck behind their computers and not having any social interaction. After not long we saw the opposite. The users started forming their own social groups and had at least once yearly huge get together of all who wanted to join. At its peak they used to cram 32lines for 6-10hours every night, causing others to have to wait for someone to get off so they could connect. It had other thins going for it. It was pretty locale-specific so there wasn’t the tyranny of distance to travel. Also, many of the users were already socially isolated to differing degrees due to mostly socio-economic reasons or disability. For some it was their only form of communication. But given the tool to do so, they went about connecting in many different ways, often resulting in meeting physically.

The Internet and the nature of it changed things a lot. As I lamented a bit about neo-community in a previous post called ‘long time passing‘ – where have all the people gone?

Doing community that connects people physically is a lot different than the BBS days. Most particularly due to the Internet’s geographic reach. And to a degree it’s changed the form of my work’s online presence. But the drive for people to connect is still there. The technology hasn’t really changed who we are basically, when we strip off all the layers.

Technology should always be about the people and for the people. Sure, we can have fun and get excited about it along the way but in the end it’s not about the things, it’s about what the things give to the people – to steal a line from lifekludger – ‘connect people to things and people to people‘.

Love people, use things! … Not vice versa.

Dave

It’s amazing how I know so little. I came across this word, disintermediation, while reading comments about what Mike’s trying to pull together over at LearnDog

As I look around at what’s going on in what Mike terms this “Web 2.0 world of disintermediation“, it occurred to me to draw a comparison to a situation closer to home.

In recent years many of the people with disabilities that had spear-headed advancements in independent community living, home care, integration and raising the status and lifestyles of those living with disability in South Australia, have died. They took with them many experiences and stories about their lives, exploits, defeats and victories.

As part of trying to get funding to get a history of disability project off the ground at work, we have captured a few short stories of current people we know as well as talked about the exploits of those recently passed. In all instances they leave me inspired. In effect, these people who were pioneers, or champions, of their time are today heros. And tey deserve recognition as such.

Most of their efforts forward were to be without a ‘middle man’ – in their case the ‘system’ and community attitudes of the time. And their foresight, vision and desire, mixed with huge doses of courage, is what got them nearer to where they wanted to go and empowered others to do so.

It occurs to me that the pioneers, or champions, of today are the heros of tomorrow.

Put your wagons in a circle troops!

Long Audible Noise

My mate Mike Seyfang over at LearnDog has unveiled the first draft of what he terms the “Master Plan” for the developing media company whose goal will be to

“Help kids through recognition of their vocational skills”

In the document the aims of the venture are stated as:

• Become the world’s most trusted broker of publishing services for kids
• Lead a cultural revolution – ‘Publish or perish’ for kids

I’m all about tools – what better life tool for kids than to help them recognise their gifts and potential.

Strong Beginnings

It’s always nice to know you’re not alone. It’s just a pity sometimes the common ground isn’t as nice.

In the case of the hard resetting pda like I just blogged on it seems Cameron is also having reset issues.

forget death and taxes, seems i can’t get away from work and beetroot lately. so much to do (blog), so little time.

kayla, over at devil’s playground seems to get it…or not get it – which is what we’re on about – “Why don’t Subway have beetroot?” she muses in this blog entry about things that keep her awake at night.

found out yesterday another friend from adelaide in times past has a blog.

remember ‘mac-backers’ paul?

must catch up with him. must get a life that lets me connect to people rather than machines yet still pays the bills. must stop must’ing. no wonder the words of a jackson browne song got used as my email sig.

“caught between the longing for love and the strugle for the legal tender”