ProjectWorld 2.0

Ok, I know I hit this theme a lot, but I can't help it. I want my web 2.0 tools to be integrated. When I have a new collaborative project, I want to create a google group, a wiki, a blog and I don't what else. But i don't want them all to be separate: (a) I don't want different urls, each with their own passwords and each requiring me to invite all the same people, and (b) I don't want to have some redundant capabilities and need to decide which tool to use for that functionality. 

I want to go to a website similar to, say, Blogger, and press CREATE NEW PROJECT WORLD. It would then create a single place where there are wiki capabilities like collaborative editing with a record of who did what, file storage capabilities, blogging+commenting/emailing within the group, etc. Just one big thingie. 

Obama and Web 2.0

Obama's campaign organization is extraordinary -- worthy of study by any management scholar. One interesting aspect of the organization is its extensive use of Web 2.0 tools which not only allow better control from above, but also empower initiative from the grass roots. Read a full discussion here.

The beginning of the end for Google Docs?

This is based on just a few minutes of playing, but the problem I have with Google Docs is that it is only a rough implementation of Office-type products. I just uploaded a Word file and it skipped all the embedded .emf graphics, screwed up the equations, and converted tables to some format that it itself no longer recognized as a table. Since formatting is important, isn't it easier to work in Word and share the document? 

Actually, now you may not have to do even that. Microsoft is upping the ante. See the full article.

I realize now that McCain really does like Obama ...

Taken at the end of last night's debate, when McCain was momentarily confused about where to go to shake hands with the moderator. 

Comparing Web 2.0 tools on different dimensions

Suppose i want to make a table that compares different web 2.0 tools with respect to a number of features or dimensions. Can I do that right here in my blog? No, formatting is too primitive. Of course, it does have a limited ability to insert html code. So perhaps I could use some htlml editor to generate the table, then copy the code into the blog post. I tried that, but the blog machine seems to understand only a subset of html. After much effort, I was able to generate the below, which is not great:

Dimension	Google Group	Blogger	PbWiki	Frontpage Website	Google Docs
MS Word-level formatting	no	no	no	yes	yes
Lets readers comment or edit	yes	yes	yes	not easy	yes
Lets users edit posts	yes	no		no
Has community boundary	yes	no	for editing	no	yes
Collects project-related emails together in one place	yes	no
Has manager, co-owner, writer, editor, collaborator level	yes	yes	yes	not really	yes
Has (bounded) community, reader, viewer level	yes	up to 100 readers	yes	no	no
Public can request access to community	yes	no	yes	n/a	n/a
Has universe level separate from community	no	yes	yes	yes	sort of, through publishing
Can upload files	yes	no	yes	yes	yes

Why are Web 2.0 tools separate from each other?

I like blogging, now that I've tried it. But it bugs me that blogging software just does blogging (and wikis just do wikis ...). If I want to upload some files to the blog, like I can with a Google Group, I can't do it. I also can't email to it. If i want to collaboratively edit a single document, I need to either go with a wiki, or sharepoint etc. It would be nice to keep all the files, emails, notes etc associated with a project in one place. Groups are pretty useful, and they have a kind of simple blogging function, but it isn't as good as blogging programs. Not as sophisticated, and fewer features. Wikis seem nice, but the formatting available is not nearly what a Word file would give you.

If only all of these Web 2.0 things were built out of smaller widgets that could be inter-combined at will.

Medieval help desk

I was introduced to this video by the Blue 2.0 team. I really love it.