The ability of visitors to arrange content and even form would resolve The conundrum we saw was that, at least for the Dowbrigade, the impact This dichotomy between form and content is also clearly evident in my RSS Now, aggregators are indisputably becoming smarter and more versatile. But we feel strongly that to give a true picture of another world, the One of the great things about Channel Z is that it permits and facilitates Dave’s aesthetic, for example, is clean and clear. Lots of white space, Some of the information, knowledge and wisdom fruit we would like hanging It could be argued that if you want to get the full impact of another’s Yet another of the revolutionary ideas embodied in Channel When we saw that pull down we saw a feature which could empower the visitor 1) My current layout, reverse chronological order, latest 16 posts As for the this day in history, we don’t have enough history yet to make Someday we would like to allow visitors all these options, It is fascinating to watch Dave Winer’s personal vision of where blogging can go as it evolves on Scripting.com. As he implements the dynamic new capabilities of Channel Z, his next-generation blogging environment, we can watch it take form on … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/chanz.jpg\")
It is fascinating to watch Dave
\n Winer’s<\/a> personal vision of where blogging
\n can go as it evolves on Scripting.com<\/a>. As he implements the dynamic new
\n capabilities of Channel
\n Z<\/a>, his next-generation blogging environment,
\n we can watch it take form on his own blog. For me, one of the most exciting
\n aspects of the innovation is that we, the visitors to Dave’s World can
\n have a say in the form it takes, and the way we want to arrange, view
\n and interact with the content.<\/p>\n
\n one of the questions we had about Dave’s vision of a "seamless environment"
\n within which original commentary, other blogs, mainline news streams, and
\n subject
\n specific RSS feeds can be woven together into an explorable universe
\n with multiple entrances and exits.<\/p>\n
\n of any particular blog, or any web site for that matter, is dependent in
\n differing degrees on both content and form. In many blogs Content
\n is King, and the form is primarily a function of trying to make the content
\n visible
\n and accessible. But in other cases the form, graphic design, color schemes
\n and operable interactivity of the content are what make it distinctive
\n or relevant to users.<\/p>\n
\n aggregator. Dave is not the only one pushing the envelope of the traditional
\n Blog format; the air is rife with rumors and riffs of experimentation and
\n paradigm redesign. But you wouldn’t know it from my aggregator. Aggregators
\n are designed to aggregate content, and pretty much strip the form and formatting
\n out.<\/p>\n
\n Some of them (not mine) can handle a variety of attachments, including
\n sound files. But none of them can replicate the look or feel of a site.
\n Perhaps the expansion of the blogging functionality that is bursting out
\n all over will be the impetus for bringing aggregators one step closer to
\n what they should be: a smaller window into another world, as opposed to
\n a blog, which is a picture window.<\/p>\n
\n view often needs to include more than content. The content needs context.
\n In our ideal aggregator, each entry would be a recreation of the original
\n feed including formatting, functionality and even soundtrack. <\/p>\n
\n the sharing of taxonomy tiers, so that each user can construct their own
\n personal directory of the Universe, like Borges Library of Babel, borrowing
\n branches from here and there, sources ancient or prescient, other bloggers
\n or the
\n Library
\n of Congress,
\n and arranging and interconnecting them according to whim or intuitive genius.
\n However, does this mandate that all of this knowledge and content need
\n be delivered and displayed according to a single aesthetic?<\/p>\n
\n nothing messy or haphazard, evidence of elegant simplicity and integrated
\n functionality. However, in many Asian cultures white is the color of death,
\n roughly analogous to our black, which may imbue Scripting with an unintended
\n solemnity for certain readers.<\/p>\n
\n on our taxonomy tree would certainly spoil if separated from its own tree
\n and hung on ours. Some of the threads we would wish woven into our informational
\n tapestry could not be stripped of their colors or designs without altering
\n their meaning and effect.<\/p>\n
\n site, just go there, see it in its full and authentic glory, and then click
\n back
\n to where you started. This works and is part of what makes cruising
\n around the ‘sphere so much fun. But the initial impact and sweeping success
\n of RSS and aggregators shows there is a real desire to grab disparate information
\n streams and synthesize something new from them. This blending can produce insight on news, finding
\n unobvious connections. It can produce art, utilizing harmonic echoes and cognitive
\n dissonance. It can produce literature, in ways we are just beginning to understand.<\/p>\n
\n Z<\/a> is its incorporation
\n of multiple content access and display modes. This can be seen on Scripting
\n News<\/a> in a brand new but inconspicuous pull down menu near the top of the
\n home
\n page. Its current entries are: nightly email, recent cats, all cats, weblog.com
\n and on this day in history. Now, nightly email is just a way to sign up
\n for Scripting News by email, and weblog.com is the main blog hosting site
\n for Userland, but the other three are distinct ways of looking at the content
\n Dave has posted to his site over the years.<\/p>\n
\n to find and view content in the manner best suited to their needs, tastes
\n and information acquisition style. On Thursday night Dave asked us what
\n we would like on a similar pull down designed for Dowbrigade News. After
\n a bit of thought, here goes:<\/p>\n
\n 2) Same content in reverse, that is, in chronological order
\n 3) Just today
\n 4) All of my cats, in alphabetic order (switchable at one click to order
\n of greatest number of posts)
\n 5) The dozen most recently posted-to categories
\n 6) Some kind of graphic representation of the overall taxonomy tree of
\n the Dowbrigade site
\n 7) My aggregator
\n 8) A search window, allowing search by content, date or category and including
\n an option where visitors can choose TWO categories from pull down menus
\n and find items which have been cross-posted to THOSE TWO cats.<\/p>\n
\n that an option. <\/p>\n
\n and more. If possible, members at least could select a default layout which
\n would load every time they visited the site. The Dowbrigade figures if
\n we want you guys to stay awhile and absorb some of our ideas, we should
\n strive to make
\n you
\n as comfortable
\n as possible during your visit. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"