I’m not a website designer. But I do have some opinions about what I like to see when I go to a web page.
All in Identity
Robo-Tweets and the Internet of Things: A Survey
I always thought when seeing the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind that the musical conversation between the alien Mothership and the humans was cut short when the aliens realized they were no longer playing with a human but with a computer program.
Why I Don't Use a Ghost Writer
And that’s why I would never use a ghost writer on my personal web site. It’s a public expression of myself and my interests, an online resume, and a personal soapbox, all rolled into one.
What Comes After Web Sites and Online Social Networks?
Today we use the web in many ways. Traditional web sites — “places we go” on the web to do things — still exist. But increasingly, web based transactions also depend on the nature of our online relationships with other people.
Even if it’s true that most people don’t really care about online privacy, things will change when the mainstream media start publicizing cases of pain and loss where credible or sympathetic individuals (e.g., young, attractive, or sympathetic families) get “bitten” by misuse of personal data sourced online.
What Are You Going To Do About Your Own Web Data?
One of the benefits of the Facebook Beacon affair is that it has made many more people aware of the open nature with which so much data is exchanged on the Internet and the World Wide Web.
The most interesting statement Forrester’s Charlene Li makes in Google OpenSocial will (hopefully) make social apps more relevant is this:
Apple, iPods, and Personal Data Portability
I've been busy lately. My blogging has suffered. I've tried to update my blog's "daily notes" (located on my home page and archived here) but that's about it. I'm working offline on some longer white papers, I'm starting a new client project next week, I've been involved in a non-stop series of proposals and statements of work, and I've had to keep my plants watered during the drought here on the U.S. East Coast.
Meanwhile, there are some really interesting "tech" things going on.
Would you benefit from having a personal online networking strategy? A "personal online networking strategy" is a coherent view of how you use various media for communicating and managing relationships with other individuals and groups. Such a strategy should address:
I've changed the name of my blog from "All Kind Food" to "Dennis McDonald's Blog." This has not required the change in any URL's so all my existing links and feed addresses remain the same (I think).
More Thoughts on Developing a Social Network "Portable Relationship Map" Standard
A couple of days ago I posted Do We Need “Portable Relationship Maps” for Social Networks? There I expressed some skepticism about the feasibility of developing a standard for mapping social and professional relationships, over and above basic personal description or identity data, that could be portable between social networking systems.
In Yet another reason why we need a single, trusted, and protected identity system Jeremiah Owyang voices the common complaint about social networks. At one point he writes:
In A Map of My Online Networking Tools: Part 1 I described the use of the MindMeister, a "mind mapping" tool, to display an organized list of the sites I use in relation to personal and professional networking.A different type of tool for mapping relationships that I have written about before is Kartoo. Kartoo displays relationships among web sites based on links and concept groupings.
I am experimenting with development of a graphical map of the online networking tools I use for personal and professional networking. I started this as a way to illustrate to people how different tools can be used and how their features differ.
Is there such a thing as "social networking fatigue"?
Luis Suarez thinks so. He wrote about it recently in Your Single Social Network - ClaimID and Identity 2.0 to the Rescue?. Here's an extract of what he said:
Should We Be Able to Buy and Sell our Personal Financial and Medical Data?
When I first heard about USA Today breaking the NSA domestic phone spying scandal involving the major long distance phone companies, I wasn’t surprised. I won’t even be surprised when, in the next few months, word leaks out that Federal agencies are also involved in non-court-approved electronic screening of domestic call traffic looking for specific words and word combinations.
Who Controls Personal Data?
Back in the Day, my favorite Latin quote was an example of the Ablative Absolute: “Eo Imperium Tenente, Eventum Timeo.” Loosely translated, this means, “Because he holds the power, I fear the outcome.” In some ways, fear and uncertainty exist today since, in many cases, people don’t understand, or even know, who has the “power” over how their personal data are used.
What is "Personal Data?"
When you start reading up on personal data and the definition of ownership, you quickly get caught up in questions about "what is property?" and "what data about me do I really own?"
These are tricky questions.
Proposed: A Choice-Based Approach to Controlling the Commercial Exploitation of Personal Data
Today significant commercial trafficking occurs in personal information. Credit bureaus, research companies, insurance firms, and corporations regularly buy and sell personal information. While much of this trafficking may be benign, most is either unknown to, or beyond the control of, the individuals this personal information describes.
Identity Theft and the Licensing of Personal Information
Many companies benefit from the buying and selling of personal, financial, and medical information about individual US citizens. Usually these companies behave in a responsible, law-abiding fashion.