Re: blogger project

On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 10:31 PM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:

Will do. Have you tried hooking up with the Alternet crew? They've got some very good journalists, along with Counterpunch and Truth Dig (Hedges interested?) And maybe Jeremy Scahill?

On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 1:56 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, it's not something in which a bunch of commentators are talking amongst themselves, it's more a means of getting the best stuff disseminated more widely; the point is to increase the availability of information, not to conceal it, like Journolist.

Wasn't planning on having any physical meetings at all, really; I'm just going in to T/S next week to see what sort of deal they want to make on this.

Right now, I'm still getting things set up; got the Instaputz guys on board the other day, which is good because they get linked to by Atrios and a lot of other people I'm not in touch with myself. In the meantime, you can help by talking to any other bloggers or commentators you know who might be interested and having them get in touch with me. I'll be making the announcement with more details on everything for HuffPo, True/Slant, and Daily Kos probably on Thursday or Friday; it would help if you could link to it and mention your participation when that runs, and also mention it on Citizen Radio afterwards.

Thanks again for joining up, Allison; I promise you that we'll get results and actually make a difference with this. We need to be reaching people other than our core audience, which is already well-informed, and this is the means by which to do it.

On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:
Not going to pretend I understand the tech side of it (though I get the Reddit-like "voting up" method). I, of course, like the "raising visibility" aspects. It's a fine line between aggregation and an echo chamber, which was my only concern. However, I dig that it's open to the public, so we're getting away from the Journolist problem (an elite media-only club/circle jerk thing).

Like I said, sounds good. So what's the next step?

PS: I'm leaving the country for the month of March. I'll be available via email, but if you were planning to schedule a meeting during that time, I won't be able to attend.

On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi again-

1. What exactly is the software element?

The software is an open-source (free to the public, modifiable by anyone who'd care to do so) application, of which the core will consist simply as an improved means of communication (e-mail, messaging, etc.). Additionally, we'll be tacking on a widget which will serve as a means by which network participants can better obtain and distribute the information they're looking for in as simple a manner as possible. One possibility with the widget is that a participant who is connected to four or five other people directly by way of having been picked by a previous participant and having turn invited other participants to the network (it's invitation-based, as I mentioned) will thus be able to push forward a given piece of information - a blog post, for instance - to those directly connected to him or her, and those participants in turn can push then forward to everyone connected to them as well. Meanwhile, by tagging a piece of info with a particular keyword, one can make it available "globally" to anyone who has chosen to receive anything associated with that keyword. We're still deciding on several other additions and trying to determine the best means of having info be distributed - we're considering doing something other than the standard up-down voting one sees on reddit - but we've also determined that participants themselves will be categorized as experts in whatever subjects they handle with particular proficiency, and will have an increased ability to spread info that falls under one of the categories in which they've been determined to excel. Juan Cole, for instance, would be recognized by the network as an expert in MIDDLE EAST, IRAN, ISLAM, etc.

Here's an excerpt from the early summary of the core software; we've got a lot of additional features in the work as well, many of which will serve as information gathering tools specifically geared towards bloggers:

Ego is a Content Management System built on an XMPP based adhoc social
network. The product itself consists of an XMPP server written in
Clojure, and a selection of HTML/JQuery widgets that implement simple,
embeddable, stylable functionality without templating - contact lists,
messaging, profile browsing, etc.

Adhoc

Ego is a social network in the truest sense - there is no hub, no root
server and no central authority. Like email (and XMPP, on which the
federation protocol is implemented), users on the Ego network are
identified by a username and domain, not simply username - Andrew is
now  Andrew@ego.fm.   By abstracting identity to the domain level,
identity itself becomes domain independent, and common facebook style
social networking functionality becomes "adhoc" -  Andrew@ego.fm and
Josh@analgoatsex.com can freely communicate as if they were on the
same site, despite Josh's apparent obsession with deviant sexual
fetishism.

Whitelabel

Ego comes unstyled and without any preconceived notions of the
developer's content schema -   it simply attaches common social
networking functionality onto an existing application or design,
through the adhoc network. Brands, groups and content providers can
build there own   site on the Ego platform   and leverage this
functionality across the adhoc network.

Simple

Ego is designed to be as flexible as possible with regards to design -
the backend is totally configurable, the front end is untemplated, and
core extensions can be directly integrated in Java, Scala, Clojure,
JRuby, Jython or Groovy - plus, there is nothing preventing developers
from simply building around core's functionality in any other language

2. How will the software and/or project raise our visibility?

On such occasions as we coordinate to bring awareness of the failures of some outlet or pundit or journalist, we expect our campaign to be covered by mainstream outlets due to the critical mass we reach that will prompt coverage on their part. As a participant, you're that much more likely to be mentioned or quoted or some such as the shit goes down. Additionally, the network widget will provide a means by which to get one's work passed along across the network and thus be exposed to more readers, at least to the extent that other bloggers dig a given post and decide to vote it forwards.

3. What will the project do for journalists who don't need their profiles boosted i.e. the Taibbi effect?

Not a lot; increased exposure isn't really one of the central goals here, and it's only being considered to the extent that it would benefit the media to have people such as yourself gain visibility and be thought of more widely as an alternative to the douchebag columnists. Journalists who are already high-profile probably aren't going to gain anything for themselves unless they consider media reform to be a personal gain.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:24 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Yo yo-

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, been crazily busy all week. Will e-mail you tomorrow with answers to your questions an whatnot and what have you and whatnot, yo.

Barrett

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 4:48 PM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:

Looking forward to it. Good luck with the edits.

A

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 4:45 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi, Allison-

Good questions. I'm actually doing my final edit on the book today, but will get back to you tomorrow or Sunday at greater length and explain what we've decided upon so far in terms of the software and the network and get your input into whatever might warrant changing. In short, we've got some ideas on how to approach this without letting it turn into something that's already been done and which would just result in more of the same. Will e-mail you soon.

Thanks,

Barrett

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 3:50 PM, Allison Kilkenny <allisonkilkenny@gmail.com> wrote:

Barrett -

Still very much interested. My only concern is the echo chamber effect. I'm still a little hazy on the various software elements of the development, but I don't want to be involved with any kind of Journolist circle jerk (and I know you're not pitching that,) but that's why I look forward to clarification regarding what the software actually entails.

I do know Michael Rothschild. I emailed him a bunch of submissions when I was extremely green and he sent me some very nice rejection letters. I've been meaning to work him back into my submissions cycle.

Here are the questions I have:

1. What exactly is the software element?
2. How will the software and/or project raise our visibility?
3. What will the project do for journalists who don't need their profiles boosted i.e. the Taibbi effect?

Like I said, still very much on board (and always am) to fuck shit up. Very much looking forward to seeing this thing evolve.

A

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Howdy-

I'm going to be going into the True/Slant office next week to talk to Coates Bateman and all of them about the blogger project I mentioned to you a few weeks back; they're interested in getting involved, perhaps even funding it. If you have some time over the next few days, perhaps we can talk via gchat about any input you might have regarding how the blogger network itself might operate; I'd like to run our current plan by you to see what you think. Right now, I'm thinking I might establish a sort of executive committee to oversee certain aspects, which would include you, Charles Johnson, perhaps Juan Cole and Matt Taibbi (whom I'm about to speak with; he blurbed my first book but I've never actually talked to him). Also, if you can think of any features you'd like to see in terms of the software we're developing to accompany the network - anything that might be of assistance in the ways by which bloggers acquire and disseminate information, for instance - let me know and I'll talk to our software developer about getting them implemented.

As I may have mentioned, one of the goals of this project is to raise the visibility of certain commentators whose work is superior to the more notable, douchy folks like Dowd and Friedman, etc. Specifically, I'd like to get you and a couple of other bloggers a bit higher on the food chain. The blogger network should help to accomplish this in part, but I'm also thinking that you could be doing pieces for a few more outlets. You should try querying The Progressive, for instance, which pays pretty damned well; if you find yourself working on a good investigative piece, for instance, you might try to sell it there, and if they don't take it just run it on T/S and HuffPo or whatever. Editor is Matthew Rothschild, editorial@progressive.org. It often takes a week or two for them to get back to you, so ideas that aren't particularly time-oriented are best. Another good one is Toward Freedom; I haven't written for them in a while but they pay decently, and I can find the contact info for you if you'd like.

Anyway, let me know if you're still interested in the project and if you'd like to discuss it a bit more before I go in to meet with Coates next week. Hope all is well; I'm still waiting to hear back on when The Onion might run the piece, and if it looks like they're dragging their feet too much I might query another pub instead, perhaps Rolling Stone.

Thanks,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302