Author: Psybertron

We Enterprise ?
Link from Blogger to “Time to Blog On”, article by Ben Hammersley of The Guardian.
Quote
“This is my guiding principle in journalism. My readers know more than I do, and that’s great! We have gone, [claims Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News], from Old Media, through New Media, to We Media: The idea of using the power and the knowledge and the energy of people at the edges.”
Unquote
This is the same thread as my interest in the post-Napster-world. The power of peer-to-peer user communities, both processing power and the power of the shared knowledge. So rather than just readers, perhaps a systems developer should always be well advised to recognise “My users know more than I do.” So not just We Media, but We Enterprise computing too ? (See my Manifesto). Also plays directly to Douglas Adams’ line on the social reality of the web oft quoted earlier in this blog. Another of DNA’s lines of thinking which pre-date blogging.

On a similar subject, I’m currently reading “Knowledge is Power“, by John Henry (Edinburgh Univ.), a biography of Francis Bacon – the father of “modern” scientific method. Superbly interesting read on the “aspiration of objectivity vs the social reality of subjectivity”. (Ref p.9 of 2002 Icon Books edition.) Knowledge as power is also the subject of a Jul/Aug 1985 Harvard Business Review article “How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage” by Porter M.E. and Millar V.E. (Michael Porter, the very same guru of Competitive Advantage in many subsequent best-sellers. Article quoted in my earlier MBA Dissertation, a reference provided originally by John Vincent.)

(Academic credentials of John Henry, impressive in the history of science, end somewhat eclectically with the line “and has also illustrated a book on darts.” !?! )

Mentioned in Dispatches
Quote from my 1998 Paper in response by NASA (!) to FAQ on the importance of exploiting information standards …

“Taking a step forward with FLAIR (Foster Wheeler Lifecycle Asset Information Architecture — [Standard Information Model])”, arguing that information management is more important than information technology, Ian Glendinning of Foster Wheeler describes the progress being made towards putting [Standard Information Modelling] into practice in the process industries:

At last year’s [1997] UK Process Industry IT Strategy Conference, organised by IChemE and PRIMA, several speakers referred to the success of IT in many service and manufacturing industries and contrasted this with the failure of billions of dollars of IT investment over 10 years to deliver such benefits to the process industries. The lack of success was blamed on ‘failure in the boardroom to grasp the information management agenda.’ [ the same PRIMA conference mentioned earlier in relation to Clive Holtham btw ]

These same speakers — directors from the oil, gas and chemical majors — shared their visions of information and knowledge as their key corporate asset to be exploited by making it available to anyone, anywhere in their organisations. Most agree that the key issue is not IT but Information Management, and that a major dimension of this involves soft issues like knowledge, people, and business culture.

Although the data integration and standardisation objectives are widely accepted, few people … would accept [Standard Information Models] as fully proven in the bottom line. However, there is already a threefold drive to create a strategic framework … at this stage:

Firstly, the pace of change in IT [and the web – ignored in a 1997 conference !] continues to be so great that planning future exploitation cannot be left until the potential is fully proven and developed in detail.

Secondly, the potential changes are so far reaching in terms of ‘business re-engineering’ possibilities that the cultural changes needed cannot simply be switched on once [Standard Information Models] become a shrink-wrapped solution.

Finally, the complexity of the detail is such that fully detailed [Standard Information Model] solutions will not arise from standards development alone, without the iteration provided by early implementation.”

(The entire arcticle is preserved on-line at the Impact of Standards User Group Project of the Commission of the EU and cached by Google.)

Learning – as in getting oneself educated for your purpose, as opposed to
Learning – as in assimilation a piece of information – receiving communication.
Part of education / learning confusion apparent within and between learning organisation approaches in business organisations in general, and those “educational” organisations whose “customers” are learning. Some references suggested by Sylvia from IAG / CFL / LLL perspective.
Bill Lucas – CEO of Campaign for Learning, Author of Your Brain – A User’s Guide.
Dr Peter Honey – Learning styles guru. Own .com web-site organisation
Guy Claxton – Author of Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind. Some interesting East / West stuff in here, like “The best thinking takes place below the level of consciousness”, and a focus on subjects that might be seen as “airy-fairy or unscientific”. Evocative of Michael Kinsey’s “The tortoises will win the dot.com race”.

Quote from Ev (talking about Blogger Pro natch)
It’s a testament that people will pay for web services that are important to them or make their lives easier.

Virtual Mobs, Terrorists For Troop, Police Training
From UniSci via Jorn
Importance of subjective content in simulations.
QUOTE
There’s a growing realization that more realistic training simulations lead to higher levels of skill attainment for trainees, but current training games are more concerned with eye-catching graphics than with modeling real human behavior,” said Silverman, professor of systems engineering and computer and information science at Penn. “Our goal is to build in factors like fatigue, stress, personal values, emotion and cultural influences.”

Silverman’s crowd-modeling work will offer detail to the level of single provocateurs within a crowd, taking into account, for instance, young agitators’ frequent desire to assert themselves, dominate conflicts and avenge wrongs.

The simulation can model terrorist behavior based upon observations of extremists’ sense of commitment, feelings of competence and need to right perceived injustices.
UNQUOTE
Mob Violence ? Funny, sounds like a day at the office !

Wow, is it really two weeks since I last posted.
Actually I’ve been ill with a heavy cold, and have done very little apart from read.
Finished Heisenberg, Physics and Philosphy – good read
Started Poincare Writings, ed SJ Gould – not so promising
Started Melville, Moby Dick – excellent read so far.

Spotted this interesting BMJ link from Jorn
About drug companies talking up “illness” to boost drug demand.
From my perspective this is “spinning” information.

Computing is Too Complex
Article from InfoWorld (via Leon) about CTO’s in business finding that the complexity of computer applications is becoming or has become a problem in itself. (See Manifesto)