David Harper’s Different Things

This in from Esther Dyson's PC Forum:
“Just as CIOs have problems vendors can't solve, so do consumers take vendors' content only as a starting point for the experiences they create for themselves. How will users interact with content? They are no longer passive consumers, but active participants in downloading, sharing, sampling…. Music leads the way in so many contexts: business models, software design, deployment of devices, user empowerment…. What can we learn from the music business, analytically? How will the role of the publisher (or film or TV studio) change as distribution mechanisms and business models change?”

Ross Mayfield, SocialText
“Critical mass of people writing on the net, using the internet for social means.” (Note: Links added by Wireless Ink)

Rob Glaser, Real Networks
“The value is to individuals, and society, in the sheer number of previously silent voices that will sound, in the previously unheard stories that will be told, to whatever size audience. We're slowly but steadily increasing the breadth of human experience and expression that is recorded and available to others. Next to that sort of social good, somehow the implementation details of different business models seem trivial. I think they're all missing the point.”

Steven Levy, Newsweek
“Are we going to enter a renaissance of alternatives to the media with homegrown stuff, or is it going to be more of an 'American Idol' kind of thing?”

Wireless Ink Commentary
“The mobile audience is huge - The GSM Association has announced that the number of subscribers to GSM wireless networks has surpassed the one billion mark. That's roughly equivalent to one-sixth of the world population. In fact, worldwide most people access the Internet not from their desktop or wi-fi notebook but from handheld web-enabled devices. Let's connect everyone to all the great content and thoughts bouncing around. Don't leave anyone out or behind or without a voice - and make it easy”

When using the desktop version of your WINKsite, the content is displayed to you and your audience through the use of a desktop emulation of your mobile site. Typically, each of your mobile sites are displayed by one default template. However, now you can personalize any of your mobile sites to be displayed with a different skin making each of your mobile sites feel even more like your own.

Currently, these skins modify the desktop pop-up version of your site. This feature will soon be extended to both the embedded desktop and mobile browser xHTML versions. Additional skin selections will be released each week and we're open to suggestions. One future feature will be the ability for you to create your own skins and upload it to your mobile site for public or exclusive use. Give me some skin. (Sorry for that.)

How do I edit my site's desktop skin?

1. Login to your desktop “Start Page”.
2. Click “manage this site” for the site who's skin you would like to personalize.
3. Once on your sites “Main Menu” admin page locate the “Site Settings” side bar on the left side of your screen.
4. Click on “Edit” next to “Skins”
5. Preview the various skins (18 to choose from) by selecting one of the options available in the “Choose Skin” dropdown. Selecting each option will display a preview.
6. When you have selected the skin you would like to use on your site click the “Save” button.
7. Once saved click the “Done” button.
8. Relaunch the desktop pop-up version of your site to view its new skin.

Creative Commons is a nonprofit that offers a flexible copyright for creative work. With a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify

WINKsite Community members and publishers now have the ability to select a Creative Commons License or Dedication for each WINKsite they set-up.

Relevant Creative Commons data, links and XML is outputted on the mobile site and within the RSS 1.0 and RSS 2.0 WINKsite Blog feeds noting the License/Dedication. This way, individuals, aggregators and search engines will know the site content, blog and posts are covered by a CC License/Dedication.

Creative Commons - Open Wish List to Blogging, Aggregator and Search Services

1. It would be great if all feeds covered under Creative Commons License/Dedication contained those data .
2. It would be great if all aggregators/news readers properly displayed Creative Commons License/Dedication data contained within them.
3. It would be great if search engines allowed you to search by Creative Commons License/Dedication license type. (That would be extremely useful. Right?)

—>How do I attach a Creative Commons License or Dedication to my WINKsite?

1. Login to your WINKsite account.
2. Click on the appropriate “manage” link for the site/mobile space you would like to manage.
3. You will then be brought to the site's “Main Menu” admin screen.
4. To the left of the screen, under the “Site Settings” area, click the “Edit” link beside the words “Creative Commons”.
5. You will be brought to a screen where you can select from various options including the Creative Commons Licenses.
6. Select the option named “Creative Commons License/Dedication” and if you are familiar with Creative Commons, select the appropriate license or dedication. If you are not familiar with Creative Commons, click on the “License Wizard” link and follow the instructions. Don't forget to save your license information by clicking on the “Save” button.

Some Weblog services allow you to select a Creative Commons License or Dedication for your blog. How is that data included in my WINKsite if I mobile the existing feed?
Some Weblog services allow you to select a Creative Commons License or Dedication for your blog (and/or each blog post.) If so, they may also include this data within their RSS 1.0 and/or RSS 2.0 feeds. If that is the case, WINKsite's Mobile Feed Reader services will read this data and output it to the user where appropriate. (i.e within any channel that mobilizes feeds such as WINKsite's Blog, Syndicated Feeds, Syndicated Events, and mobile Feedster channels.) For example, if the entire Weblog feed is covered by a Creative Commons License or Dedication for, a link stating so will appear on the blog's mobilized list of posts/entries. In addition, if a blog post is specifically marked with a Creative Commons License or Dedication, a link stating so will appear at the post level. These Creative Commons Licenses and Dedications supercede any license you may have selected for your site, solely for this area

I mobilized my blog from an external service, however it should not be covered under the same Creative Commons License or Dedication as I set up for my WINKsite. What can I do?
Some blog services allow you to select a Creative Commons License or Dedication for your blog and/or each blog post. If so, they may also include this data with their RSS 1.0 and/or RSS 2.0 feeds. If so, WINKsite will read this data and output it to the user where appropriate. As such, if the entire blog feed is covered by a Creative Commons License or Dedication, a link stating so will appear on the blog's entry list. In addition, if a blog post is specifically marked with a Creative Commons License or Dedication, a link stating so will appear on the blog entry's page. These Creative Commons Licenses and Dedications supercede any license you may have selected for your site, solely for this area.

What if I'd like my site to be covered by both a Creative Commons License/Dedication and a copyright statement?
Use the Creative Commons Wizard, if needed, to determine the relevant License or Dedication for your site. Then choose “User Defined Copyright” as the copyright method for your site. In the Copyright Tag and/or Copyright Text, mention both your Copyright text, and type in the Creative Commons License or Dedication that applies for your site.

The WINKsite Difference: Part 2
Learn more about the what makes WINKsite special.

More about Creative Commons
A nonprofit corporation, Creative Commons promotes the creative re-use of intellectual works, whether owned or public domain. It is sustained by the generous support of The Center for the Public Domain and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Hewlett Foundation. Creative Commons is based at Stanford Law School, where it shares staff, space, and inspiration with the school's Center for Internet and Society.

For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org/

Special Thanks
A special thanks to Ben Hammersley for his advice for integrating Creative Commons into RSS feeds.