Weblog: Archive

These include:

• Sending notification when any company belonging to a group is changed. Configured by setting parameter to the group:
  NemeinNet,sendNoticeOnChange,email
• Notes field for companies
• Extranet user account editing for persons
• Sending email to campaigns

These changes can be found from the latest nightly.

The new website is powered by MidCOM 1.2.0 and midcom-template.

Most of the site is static content but they are already utilizing some of the nice dynamic features, including an automatic RSS 2.0 feed of their news items.

Apparently the pipes in the apartment had failed and started leaking.

So now I'm stuck with no shower for at least a week, except for the nearby sauna place.

Joys of living in an old house...

Integrating Dashboard support to Nemein.Net might be interesting. NN already stores information related to persons in several places, including:

• Contacts database
• Sales projects
• Support requests
• Project contacts

In addition to those, we will probably have to start connecting Calendar entries to persons from the Contacts database. The Calendar API already supports connecting any person records to the entry, but there is no user interface to this.

With Dashboard Nemein.Net users could very easily display all relevant information about a customer service contact or a sales prospect, showing details like "emails sent by the person", "IRC chats with the person" and "support requests sent by the person" in one simple window.

It might even be possible to query and display this information dynamically when reading email or receiving a phone call from that person.

While Nemein has switched from GNOME on the desktop to OS X, this kind of application would still be interesting to experiment with.

Some documentation on Dashboard is available. The front end applications (email or VOIP client, IM application) tell backend systems to look up information related to a person or concept by sending a cluepacket. Documentation on writing the backend interfaces is available.

1. "The Internet is powered by open source."
   
2. "The Internet is the carrier for open source."
   
3. "The Internet is also the platform through which open source is developed."
   
4. "It's simply going to be more secure than proprietary software."
   
5. "Open source benefits from anti-American sentiments."
   
6. "Incentives around open source include the respect of one's peers."
   
7. "Open source means standing on the shoulders of giants."
   
8. "Servers have always been expensive and proprietary, but Linux runs on Intel."
   
9. "Embedded devices are making greater use of open source."
   
10. "There are an increasing number of companies developing software that aren't software companies."
    
11. "Companies are increasingly supporting Linux."
    
12. "It's free."

There is some discussion on Slashdot.

"...automated business systems are being retrofitted to generate data in RSS format. For example, Triple Point uses StarTeam for source control and release management... In the past, developers were required to produce email announcements of each source code change; now that process has been automated via RSS."

This is an interesting concept. Since RSS feeds are automatically generated by the MidCOM newsticker component, I've started monitoring the news items of our clients and partner companies in my NetNewsWire RSS aggregator.This helps me keep up-to-date with what they are doing a lot easier.

The next logical step would be to take RSS implementation even further in MidCOM and Nemein.Net. Already components like newsticker, photos and rss provide RSS output, but same could be done for discussion, events and many others.

The law defines web publication as a periodic publication created from materials collected by the publisher. This definition would make the law apply to blogs, mailing lists, discussion forums and news sites, but not necessarily to regular organizatorial websites.

The "Application of Freedom of Speech in Mass Media" law can apply even to personal blogs, but is slightly eased for publications that are produced by individuals instead of organizations.

Here are some examples of the restrictions:

Responsibilities

• Publisher must name a responsible editor for the publication
• The responsible editor must be over 15 and not insolvent
• The publication must carry notice on the identity of the publisher and the responsible editor - everybody is entitled to get the information on identity of responsible editor
• Responsible editor can be fined for publishing information that breaks Finnish laws
  
• All published materials must be stored for 21 days
• Everybody has right to get the stored information if they feel false information has been posted about them or they wish to post a correction
  
• The publication must carry any notices provided by Finnish government if they are important for saving human lives, health, environment or remarkable amounts of property

Corrections

• If an individual can see himself as having been insulted by a message in the publication, he has the right to get an answer posted in the same publication
• Individuals and organizations have the right to get false information posted about them in the publication corrected
• The correction or answer must be posted without cost and delay
• The responsible editor must help in the technical implementation of the answer or correction if required

Anonymity

• Publisher has the right to keep source of a message anonymous
• Administrator of servers the publication resides on must provide all identification information on a message to Finnish authorities if required

This all brings a heavy burden of responsibility for both the editor of the publication (or mailing list moderator) and the server maintainer. Not only they have to keep logs of many things, but they can also become legally responsible for something published by an external user - for example as a blog comment.

Essentially this means that running a public forum where posts appear without moderator approval is always a risk. This all certainly makes TypeKey sound more appealing.

I wonder how the laws would apply to many of the websites I run. Most of them are maintained at least partially by Finnish citizens, but are physically located offshore.

Some links

Law for Application of Freedom of Speech in Mass Media (Laki sananvapauden käyttämisestä joukkoviestinnässä - in finnish)

EFFi statement on the law (in finnish)

Finnish parliament's proceedings over the law (in finnish)

MikroPC column: The Autumn of Censorship (in finnish)

Updated 2004-04-28: Helsingin Sanomat, the main Finnish newspaper ran with the story, although with a sensationalistic approach.

"Motorcycling is a great hobby of mine. I ride all my life and I owned different bikes and I ended with big kawasaki ninja. This motorbike has matured 147 horse powers, some serious bark, it is that fast like a bullet and comfortable for a long trips. I travel a lot and my favorite destination lead through so called Chernobyl "dead zone" It is 130kms from my home. Why favourite? because one can ride there for hours and not meet any single car and not to see any single soul. People left and nature is blooming, there are beautiful places, woods, lakes. Roads haven't been built or repaired since 80th but in places where they haven't been ridden by trucks or army technics, they stay in the same condition as 20 years ago. Time do not ruin roads."

Updated 2004-03-31: We swapped some riding stories with Elena on the Sport-Touring board, and she gave the contact info for Crazy Hohols, an Ukrainian biker club. It would be interesting to meet some local bikers on the trip there next July. Visiting Pripyat also has some appeal...

Updated 2004-03-04: Elena's story is moving up. She was featured on April 1st on USA Today, and has rumoredly been contacted by at least BBC and some film crew for making a documentary. The site itself is up at 1.3 million visits.

Updated 2004-04-28: Aftonbladet is claiming Elena's story a hoax (in Swedish). In addition, Daily Telegraph tells that Chernobyl is becoming a tourism hot spot.

"The current excitement over blogs is curious, since they amount to little more than personal Web pages. Although a standard history of blogging dates the phenomenon to 1997, the key attributes of the blog - a page of selected links and comments in reverse chronological order - can be found as far back as June 1993 on the NCSA What's New site, one of the most popular destinations of the nascent Web world."

Link from Doc Searls.

Pretty interesting stories; hanging from a cliff hands bleeding and meditating under a tree for days. Makes me really look forward to the official show-and-tell evening on Saturday in Parnell's.

Also, the photos of his Enfield were simply sexy. Oh well, then we have a new member at Routa MC.

Updated 2004-04-04: For Jose's new life style of short sleep and daily meditation, there are instructions on rating a guru. Via Doc Searls.