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Friday, July 29, 2005
Open Source CMS
I'm a bit ignorant of what has been happening in the online space these last few years. But finding myself with a bit of free time, I've started investigating, and I thought it would be interesting to document my explorations. Who knows, might be useful to other people getting started...
So, right now I happen to be looking at open source content management systems (CMS) - in particular those that are easy to extend to do more than just standard blogging/article publishing. After installing a few different systems on my Pismo (long live OS X!), Drupal is currently my favourite - initially it appeared to be very basic, but now it is growing on me. New features can be added by installing various modules (or hacking your own). Also in the lineup where Mambo, which seems more poweful, but might appeal to coder types more. Plone looks more suited for intranets.
Installation on OS X took a few steps since Drupal requires both PHP (comes with OS X, but needs to be enabled in the webserver) and MySQL (which must be downloaded, installed, and configured). In addition, Drupal must be configured to use the database, and the proper databasescheme loaded into MySQL. It does require a bit of hacking in a Terminal window.
Once that's up and running, it's time to add modules and new themes - and then start writing your own...
Next step is to install Drupal on this server, port my blog and the theme template, and add some nifty custom features :-)
So, right now I happen to be looking at open source content management systems (CMS) - in particular those that are easy to extend to do more than just standard blogging/article publishing. After installing a few different systems on my Pismo (long live OS X!), Drupal is currently my favourite - initially it appeared to be very basic, but now it is growing on me. New features can be added by installing various modules (or hacking your own). Also in the lineup where Mambo, which seems more poweful, but might appeal to coder types more. Plone looks more suited for intranets.
Installation on OS X took a few steps since Drupal requires both PHP (comes with OS X, but needs to be enabled in the webserver) and MySQL (which must be downloaded, installed, and configured). In addition, Drupal must be configured to use the database, and the proper databasescheme loaded into MySQL. It does require a bit of hacking in a Terminal window.
Once that's up and running, it's time to add modules and new themes - and then start writing your own...
Next step is to install Drupal on this server, port my blog and the theme template, and add some nifty custom features :-)
Monday, July 25, 2005
Dot com 2.0
In an entrepreneurial mood today - helped on by the realisation of how easy it is (seems) to set up an online business:
Buy some webspace and a domain name, then get a site designed fast and cheap. Personal outsourcing is just one way (and a sign of things changing in a big way)
The content/service could just be simple processing of data from one of the mega online companies, like lastminute-auction.com are doing - Web 2.0 style. Or it could be whatever you're doing in your day job (or hobby).
Google adverts brings traffic to the site using cheap targeted worldwide advertising (and potential advertising revenue in addition to bonuses for referrals to Amazon, Ebay, etc.). Or make the idea cool enough, and get free advertising in the blogosphere.
And receive payments using PayPal.
A week of hard work, and a few hundred dollars should be enough to get started. I'm ready to give it a try right now - and I imagine lots of other people will too. Google and PayPal will get rich. Clever guys.
Buy some webspace and a domain name, then get a site designed fast and cheap. Personal outsourcing is just one way (and a sign of things changing in a big way)
The content/service could just be simple processing of data from one of the mega online companies, like lastminute-auction.com are doing - Web 2.0 style. Or it could be whatever you're doing in your day job (or hobby).
Google adverts brings traffic to the site using cheap targeted worldwide advertising (and potential advertising revenue in addition to bonuses for referrals to Amazon, Ebay, etc.). Or make the idea cool enough, and get free advertising in the blogosphere.
And receive payments using PayPal.
A week of hard work, and a few hundred dollars should be enough to get started. I'm ready to give it a try right now - and I imagine lots of other people will too. Google and PayPal will get rich. Clever guys.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
More on storage...
Just to follow up on the previous posting:
LifeBits/Memex is an extreme example of what may end up being stored.
But where would you store all this stuff? Maybe OurMedia will store it for free and forever, but could you make them keep it confidential?
LifeBits/Memex is an extreme example of what may end up being stored.
But where would you store all this stuff? Maybe OurMedia will store it for free and forever, but could you make them keep it confidential?
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Random thoughts about storage
There are a few big things moving right now in the digital world - I'm thinking here of digital objects or data that users find meaningful and valuable, such as photos or how much tax you paid last year.
1. Storage is cheap, transferring data is cheap and fast, everything is connected (most of the time, anyway...). This means it doesn't matter where your data is stored - the access method and rights issues are the same regardless, not that they are trivial by any means...
2. This also means that any digital data you have may be accessed from anywhere (location, device, etc.) - the data becomes more valuable if it supports this. Think of where/how Hotmail emails are stored.
3. Data will continue to accumulate. It may be forgotten, but only a fraction of it will ever be deleted.
This all bears thinking about - a lot.
1. Storage is cheap, transferring data is cheap and fast, everything is connected (most of the time, anyway...). This means it doesn't matter where your data is stored - the access method and rights issues are the same regardless, not that they are trivial by any means...
2. This also means that any digital data you have may be accessed from anywhere (location, device, etc.) - the data becomes more valuable if it supports this. Think of where/how Hotmail emails are stored.
3. Data will continue to accumulate. It may be forgotten, but only a fraction of it will ever be deleted.
This all bears thinking about - a lot.
