Smarterware

Tweak MediaWiki to Co-Write a Book

2009-11-04T10:32:01-08:00

My new book’s web site is powered by the same software the runs Wikipedia, the deeply-customizable MediaWiki. Over at Lifehacker this morning, I ran though how to make MediaWiki your own for any collaborative or just easy-to-update web site with a skins, extensions, permissions, and a few more helpful tweaks. Here’s how to customize MediaWiki for your next project.

My New Book: The Complete Guide to Google Wave

2009-11-02T11:43:33-08:00

I’m tickled pink to finally announce the project I’ve been hard at work on for weeks now: my new book, The Complete Guide to Google Wave, is now available to read and share for free at completewaveguide.com.

Anyone who reads my stuff or listens to This Week in Google knows that I’m a Google Wave nut. Yes, it’s a hyped, complex, do-it-all web application, but the sheer ambition is part of Wave’s appeal for me. Since I logged onto Wave’s developer sandbox back in June, I’ve spent a whole lot of time in Wave, figuring out how it works and what it might do–and blogging about my discoveries just didn’t cut it. So, along with Adam Pash from Lifehacker, I’ve compiled everything we know how to do in Google Wave in a book format at completewaveguide.com. I’m calling it a book, but for now it’s just a web site–with eight “chapters” and two “appendices,” free for you to read, share, and if we’re lucky, help us expand. The site will grow into traditional book formats, however: thanks to the team at 3ones, a PDF version of the book’s preview edition will be available for purchase this month. In January of 2010, a softcover print version of the book’s first edition will be available as well as an updated PDF. Adam and I have committed to four editions throughout 2010, so the book will change and evolve along with Wave. The latest and greatest version of the book will always be available for free at completewaveguide.com.

I turned down a request-for-proposal from my traditional book publisher to try this experiment in iterative self-publishing. I ran down the whole story of why on the book’s About page. This approach scratches several itches I’ve had for years: I’ve always wanted to publicly collaborate on a book using MediaWiki, try my hand at self-publishing, and license a book under Creative Commons. Now, to see how it will all turn out. Check out the book and let me know what you think. (Also, follow @gwaveguide on Twitter for Wave tips and book news.)

New Stuff Shipping Tomorrow

2009-10-30T13:34:55-07:00

Things have been quiet around these parts lately because I’ve been heads-down on a fun project that’s finally ready to see the light of day: tomorrow, that is. Tune into tomorrow’s episode of This Week in Google on live.twit.tv at 2:15pm Pacific/5:15pm Eastern to be the very first to get the scoop. Of course, if you’re off having a grand old time enjoying Halloween tomorrow afternoon, more power to you. I’ll also publish details here right after the show.

Note to Self: Don’t Forget to Use the Phone

2009-10-30T13:26:21-07:00

My friends who know what a telephone phobe I am will surely guffaw at the sheer hypocrisy of my latest post at Harvard Business Online, an exercise in self-talk wherein I declare that a phone call beats out email in a lot of situations. In my defense, for the last month or so I’ve been working on a project that involved several super-productive calls per week, so I have been practicing what I preach (a little bit, anyway). Here’s the whole piece: Don’t Forget To Use the Phone.

Configure Google Apps For Your Domain

2009-10-28T09:58:00-07:00

There’s always lots of interest in posts about Google Apps, a lesser-known way to put Google services behind your domain name. This morning at Lifehacker I ran down some of the most important Google Apps settings, and how to do things like map multiple domains to one account, create users and groups, and configure your catch-all domain email address. Here’s more on how to Trick Out Google Apps for Your Domain.

Better Flickr 0.4.1 Now Available

2009-10-26T14:56:40-07:00

It took over a month (!), but Mozilla Add-ons has finally approved a long-delayed update to the Better Flickr Firefox extension. You can see more about what changed here; my favorite addition to this version is the Flic.kr Short URL script, which displays a short, Twitter-friendly URL on all Flickr photos for easy tweeting. (Forget Twitpic and those other photo-sharing services; Flickr is still where it’s at.) Download version 0.4.1 of Better Flickr at Mozilla Add-ons.

Google Chrome Power User’s Guide

2009-10-21T09:49:02-07:00

Mentioned earlier this week that I’ve been rediscovering Google Chrome (mostly due to Wave), so this morning over at Lifehacker I rounded up some of its latest and greatest features in my Power User’s Guide to Google Chrome, 2009 edition.

The Burnout Antidote: A Creative Sabbatical

2009-10-21T09:45:52-07:00

In an early episode of the excellent TV series Mad Men, agency partner Roger Sterling walks into creative director Don Draper’s office to find Don gazing off into space.

“I’ll never get used to the fact that most of the time it looks like you’re doing nothing,” Sterling quips.

Sterling should take comfort in the fact that our best creative work is done in times of reflection and idleness. Studies have shown that the wandering mind is more likely to have a “Eureka!” moment of clarity and creativity. Taking breaks and zoning out from everyday tasks gives our brains time to do a kind of long-term, big-picture thinking that immediate engagement with bosses and clients and email and meetings does not.

Designer Stefan Sagmeister takes these findings seriously. He works time off into his schedule in a way that will make you green with envy. Every seven years, Sagmeister closes his New York City–based design studio for an entire year of creative rejuvenation. During his sabbatical, Sagmeister “works,” but not for clients. (He’s serious about that, too. Last year, he turned down an opportunity to design a poster for the Obama campaign while he was on sabbatical.)

Read the rest at HarvardBusiness.org »

Firefox Blocking Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo Extensions

2009-10-19T14:53:17-07:00

Got a surprising alert yesterday telling me two of the extensions I had installed on my PC’s copy of Firefox have been blocked because they cause stability or security problems. (Click to enlarge the dialog on the right.) Specifically, the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant and Windows Presentation Foundation extensions were the problem children that got kicked off the island. (In my defense, I didn’t install these extensions myself–Windows Update did). My first reaction was, “Ugh, of course Microsoft’s extensions have vulnerabilities!”

Turns out that Firefox is blocking extensions with serious bugs from major companies beyond Microsoft, including Apple, Yahoo, and AVG. Here’s the full list of blocked extensions and the bugs that are causing the blockage. (Ironically, the AVG extension is called “SafeSearch.”) In a blog post, Mozilla security chief Mike Shaver says the .NET Framework Assistant has been unblocked, but as of writing it still shows up on the published list. Kudos to Firefox for taking a proactive stance and protecting its users against buggy extensions that could degrade the browsing experience. Did you have a buggy extension installed?

Three Google Wave Searches Worth Saving

2009-10-15T21:25:18-07:00

After only a few weeks of Wave usage, my inbox is been teeming with activity, full of waves from strangers who have added me and 17 other strangers to items I don’t particularly care about. Rather than shoot for inbox zero in Wave and spend the time archiving everything in sight, I’m going with the flow–with the help of a few saved searches. Besides the previously-mentioned with:public search, three other saved searches are making drilling down to my most important waves much easier.

onlyto:me is:unread: This search shows waves that are directed only to me (no one else) and are unread. It provides a much more streamlined view of incoming waves that I’m more likely to want/need to respond to because they’re only to me.
creator:me -is:note: These are waves I have created and added other people to, which most likely means they’re waves I’m waiting for responses on. This view is very similar to an email sent box.
is:note: I’ve taken to using Wave as a personal notebook, and jotting waves that no one else is a participant on. This is probably an outside use case of Wave–its purpose is collaboration–but this handy is:note operator does easily return “notes to self” waves.

To save a search, enter the query, and then press the “Save search” button on the bottom righthand side of the results panel. As you can see in the screenshot, I also like adding a little color to my saved searches. To do the same, click the drop-down button next to a saved search and choose “Set color.” What Wave searches have you saved?