How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Blog

Cameron Cundiff @ NYU ITP and beyond

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Standalone WiFi Application Hubs

February 7th, 2010 by cameron
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Continuing on my foray into resilient communities via local community tech hubs, I’ve begun thinking about extreme scenarios. Imagine a community with limited power and little or no internet connectivity; standard hosted platforms for commerce and communications – Ning, Twitter, Etsy, Facebook, Gmail, etc – would cease to be effective. It is possible, however, to recreate some of these services on a hyper local level using open-source tools and inexpensive hardware. Specifically, I’ve been looking at using plug computers as networked application hubs that can be extended by open-mesh wifi routers.

The plug computer is a mini linux server, meaning it can host website, databases, and applications. The open-mesh routers can then extend a mesh wifi network, making the shared applications available to the community.

Perhaps most intriguing aspects of this solution are the low cost and high portability/configurability. The hardware infrastructure can accomplished at under $200, depending on the desired network range (server is $100 and the routers are $30 each), and they could come already setup with the required (open-source) software, including pre-configured applications. Because the software is not proprietary or hardware specific, it could be easily distributed and modified. The hardware itself is componentized with a small form factor, so it too would be highly portable and configurable.

Lowering the technical barrier to setup would be critical to adoption, so I’m exploring what software and applications to include in a default package, how much documentation to include, and what pre-configured options to use in order to mitigate the time and cognitive overhead required to get a community network up and running.

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Community App – Custom vs 3rd Party

February 7th, 2010 by cameron
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Thanks to encouragement from Mark Frazier at Open World, I’m more seriously exploring existing platforms and content management systems as digital hubs for local communities. I had been thinking along the lines of a fully custom app that I could open-source, but the development and documentation overhead would be high on a project like that. Right now I’m looking at Ning and WordPress as alternatives.

WordPress has the advantage of a standalone installation and very strong developer documentation. A standalone package is attractive because it does not rely on third party hosting, and could operate on a local mesh network without internet connection. Ning, on the other hand, is a hosted solution and the documentation is less comprehensive. However, setup is a cinch.

My inclination right now is to prototype a solution in Ning, then create a standalone WordPress package that can be installed on any server. I will probably end up creating custom plugins, especially for wordpress.

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Thesis Focus: Resilient Communities

February 6th, 2010 by cameron
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For some time, I’ve been mulling over John Robb’s portrayal of “resilient communities“.

This conceptual model creates a set of new services that allow the smallest viable subset of social systems, the community (however you define it), to enjoy the fruits of globalization without being completely vulnerable to its excesses.

Robb believes that resilient communities are both a buffer and a preventative measure against massive destabilization at global and national levels, such as we’ve observed with the continuing economic crisis, and that we could see through cascade failures of vital infrastructural networks (like the power grid) through systems disruptions, i.e. sabotage. We can mitigate our vulnerability by circumventing our reliance on sprawling, highly interdependent networks through self-sufficient, localized nodes, aka resilient communities.

His argument is compelling, rooted in political, economic, and social theory, as well as real world examples. It is both frightening and engaging. This scope of the topic is mind boggling, and its implications are extreme. On the one hand we keep chugging along until catastrophe stikes; on the other, we drastically change the way we live. Either way, Robb is talking about a major paradigm shift, away from our current way of life. On the surface, it seems a romantic notion, but perversely so. The idea of reconnecting with your local community and the environment has the sort of pastoral appeal of a Wordsworth poem. However, the reality of it is more grim. As a result my feeling of commitment to local movements has taken on an urgent tone, and I feel compelled to take action.

That is where my thesis begins. I am struggling with nailing down a specific project, but the focus will decidedly be community building in Brooklyn, probably around DIY groups (urban gardeners, hardware hackers, craftspeople, etc). My expertise in web development along with the short timeframe is leading me in the direction of a website/mashup. I’ve considered creating a site to host listings of events(classes, farmer’s markets), locations (storefronts, hackerspaces, studios), and projects (documentation and schematics). Discussion would be a theme throughout, but maybe not explicitly defined in a forum style application.

I will update further as I continue to research, design, build, and test.

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ITP Thesis Ideas – Communities

January 30th, 2010 by cameron
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Still considering thesis directions, here are my current thoughts, back in line with communities.

Working with communities is a strong interest of mine. I want to encourage sustainable, resilient networks in my communities and to create a “curriculum” that can guide other communities to do the same.

Some of the groups I’ve been thinking about:

  • Oracle, AZ artists collectives
  • Carroll Gardens CSA
  • Carroll Gardens small businesses

Oracle, which I discussed in a separate post, is interesting because I have a personal connection to the artistic pursuits of the community, based on my experience as a painter and working with Etsy. Furthermore, Oracle represents what John Robb calls a “resilient community“, as far as I can tell. There is creativity not just in the arts, but also in lifestyle, with residents whoa operate by sustainable principles and sometimes even “off the grid”. One challenge I’ve identified is that the group has many fractured sub-groups which all have fuzzy boundaries. I would need to hone in on a smaller, more specific group to take action. Also, there is the obvious challenge of distance. Almost all of my participation would be remote. This could be an interesting issue to examine in itself, how to teach technology using technology, remotely. However, this aspect is less interesting to me.

Carroll Gardens CSA has some of the same qualities as Oracle, though membership is much more clear cut and it is hyper-local to my environment. It has a focus on sustainability and represents the qualities of resilient communities. I am also a member, which gives me more credibility and access to group leaders. I feel the CSA may be a better approach due to proximity and discrete membership. In addition, the CSA coordinator recently made an email appeal for volunteers, so the time is right.

Carroll Gardens small businesses are also hyper local with a clearer membership that the Oracle artists’ community, but the intentions of each business are not necessarily aligned with one another. While I know several business owners pretty well, the overhead of organizing communication across business owners could be high enough to supersede other efforts.

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ITP Thesis Ideas – Application Prototyping

January 23rd, 2010 by cameron
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I’ve been considering ITP thesis ideas (see also “Social Tech Under the Radar“), and I keep coming back to the idea of prototyping. Based on my work with BeeMe and at Etsy, I’ve seen the value of using prototypes for product discovery and refinement. I’d like to experiment with and improve upon existing approaches: agile development, rapid prototyping techniques, development frameworks like Ruby on Rails, third-party customer support/feedback tools like getsatisfaction and uservoice, and remote user testing services like usertesting.com. I may use a mobile application like BeeMe or EtsyLocal as a case study.

Right now the goal is to narrow the scope of my ideas into something I can accomplish over the next few months. Not a lot of time!

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Mobile Freedom Project – SUCCESS!

January 16th, 2010 by cameron
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In earlier posts (here and here) I’ve talked about my frustration with contracts and crummy service from AT&T, and my quest to find an alternative. Skype + Peek was fine as an interim solution, but being tied to hotspot access only for voice was a problem. Furthermore, the Skype App won’t ring the iPhone, so it was basically useless as a real-time voice call solution.

I’ve discovered a better way. The missing links were SIPdroid for Android and Datajack 3G. SIPdroid allows calls via Junction Networks OnSip service (per minute VOIP), and datajack gives me unlimited 3G at $40/month, no contract. The datajack is a usb device that is intended for use with laptops, but I discovered that it has a T-mobile SIM that can be popped out and inserted into an unlocked phone (an Android G1 dev phone in my case). I have Google Voice setup with my OnSip number, and the GV app on the phone. I have yet to determine how to make calls from GV with the OnSip number, but for now I simply specified my caller id as my name and GV number in the OnSip admin panel.

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Social Tech – under the radar

January 10th, 2010 by cameron
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In Brooklyn it’s clear that the market is inundated with tools and services to support community and commerce: Craigslist, Browstoner, and Etsy to name a few. I’ve been thinking about new tools for commerce and community development, but as the proverb goes, you can’t fill a cup that is already overflowing.

I just returned from visiting family in Oracle, AZ. I’ve been there before, but this visit was particularly inspiring. I observed the richness of the community and landscape, and the pervasive creative spirit.

Light Festival at Triangle L Ranch in Oracle, AZ

The town’s small size (population 3500), low visibility, high concentration of artists and creative people, and low saturation of technology tools make it the ideal testing ground for new approaches to social tech and tools to enrich community and connectedness. The town has a website and many of the artists there have some web presence. However, social tech goes much further than having a website. It leverages a variety of online and offline services, some customized, some 3rd-party. Furthermore, it’s important to democratize the technologies so that everyone in the community may use them.

I’m in the process of deciding how I might contribute to building a technology foundation for the community, while giving them the tools they need to continue building. Beyond specific technologies, training and education would be in order. Finding a few community leaders that can be proponents of the initiative, as well as some volunteers to take on and share technical training would be the main goals. Maybe a collaboration in Oracle can serve as a model for other small communities to spring-board into a more connected space. If you know of similar initiatives, please leave your comments.

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Etsy Keyword + Location Search

December 21st, 2009 by cameron
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Just launched Etsy Around, where you can search for Etsy listings by keyword AND location. This is something that Etsy hasn’t gotten around to, so I’ve used their handy-dandy API to create a prototype. Give it a whirl.

I hope that this prototype can serve as an inspiration for Etsy to develop a similar feature, or at least to implement a location search method to their API (this would make it much easier for developers to create similar apps).

Update 12.28.2009
Etsy Around is now Etsy Local. Added geolocation and limited search results to show more recent listings.

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Good Riddance, ATT

December 15th, 2009 by cameron
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I just made the move to drop ATT, after a ridiculous conversation with a support representative. The upshot was that they refused to cancel my data plan on the iPhone (told me that the hardware wouldn’t update without the data connection, which is utter nonsense). I ported my number to Number Garage, forwarded it to google voice which is set up with a skype number. Peek is working great for email, and Boingo WiFi lets me get wireless when I’m not at home or school. The only downside is that VOIP services don’t support SMS, so voice and SMS have different #’s.

All in all, feeling good about the move. Good riddance, ATT.

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Getting Shacked on Google Wave

December 3rd, 2009 by cameron
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My first experience with Google Wave proved to be entertaining and Wave seems promising as a useful collaborative tool. I was on a wave with 4 other people, and I think the more the merrier. We weren’t doing anything obviously meaningful, but as a backchannel for class it proved entertaining. I can see more constructive uses in a classroom environment, but I think it would take a lot of self-control or a moderator to keep it on-topic.

The ability to post comments on previous “blips” created an even more asynchronous experience than chat, that was engaging and fun. Also, youtube and image embedding was useful for trolling. My biggest gripe was that running it in firefox on my netbook was painfully slow and my screen could barely accommodate the UI overload. Nonetheless, it felt good to ride the Wave. If they can improve performance and get more people signed up, I would certainly use it more.

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