Wikipedia and You

For a while now, I’ve been watching Wikipedia become a richer and richer web resource. It now appears to be reachinge that tipping point where it will soon take off from being a cool geek resource to becoming one of those things that we all start using regularly.

My buddy Greg Pryzby read an entry in my personal blog and saw an entry on which I alluded to working on a project with Nat Friedman. He then asked me what it was and I told him that I couldn’t tell him. But hints are fun…especially when they tantalize without revealing answers.

So, if you have not started using Wikipedia, here are some things that I have been reading lately that may give you insight into what I have been thinking about lately. Each of them are emergent technologies that those who live a Net lifestyle should know.

wiki
This will help you to understand what wikipedia is, if you are new to wikis.
social software
I have come to feel that this is the best term for what it describes. It’s descriptive, and also conveys the proper level of sexiness
Del.icio.us
This is one I had been meaning to look up for a while. Very cool stuff…I have to try it.
folksonomy
this one is kind of esoteric; it’s taxonomy for folks…cute

Anyway, if you hadn’t used Wikipedia before, I hope this little excercise has opened you up to a new tool.

Now, if you really want a good read that will give you some more insight into, check out the “Replies to common objections.”

Novell Creates Cottage Industry: Novell Linux Desktop on eBay

I promise that I am not making this up.

Someone is selling Novell Linux Desktop evaluation kits (the ones Novell produces and give away for free) and is selling it on eBay. (I’m not sure how long the link will stay up after the bidding closes…)

Outrageous?

Someone has bid $31 for it!!!

One can download the software from Novell’s website for free. And we’re going to give out a lot of these kits at LinuxWorld Expo in Boston.

What gets even weirder is that we really haven’t distributed but a small handful of these yet.

Someone else is offering a service where you send in an old desktop PC and for $149, they will upgrade it to Novell Linux Desktop, which they call the “Swiss Army Linux PC.”

Seriously, I’m not making this up!

Pomposity 101: Write Your Own Bio

Writing one’s own bio is a pain. I have to produce one for the upcoming Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego because I have a 20 minute keynote. I also have to have a head shot. A head shot! How embarrassing.

The part I really hate is that I have always had a problem balancing reasonable humility with rampant egomania. If you don’t tout your strengths and make yourself sound interesting, then why should people care about your keynote? On the other hand, most speakers at smaller conferences write their own bios, and who really wants to hear some self-imprtant fat-head?

You see the problem?

Ted Haeger is Director of Marketing for Novell’s Desktop and Collaboration product lines, where he is currently responsible for leading Novell’s effort to produce the industry’s best open source desktop offering for business use. Over the years, Ted has developed a reputation for being very hands-on–actually implementing and using the software he markets, making him equally comfortable in technical and business discussions about Novell software. Ted’s characteristically enthusiastic speaking style has earned him the moniker “Reverend Ted”, or “Rev”. He keeps a personal blog of his adventures in marketing open source products at http://reverendted.blogspot.com.

Beagle Demos

Perhaps you don’t already follow Nat Friedman’s blog at nat.org. If not, you may be missing some of the more exciting stuff going on in the desktop Linux space.

In particular, Nat has recently published some very cool flash-based demos of Beagle and Mono. These future features will likely become part of Novell Linux Desktop, as well as other Linux distributions.

The cool thing about Nat is that he really gets that ease of use must be a primary consideration of any company producing a desktop operating system. That focus of Nat’s is being applied to open source and so translates into some of the rapid ramp-up that we are seeing in desktop usability.

Stalefish–no news is not so good

Dear readers:
I have about 4 large entries that I have not submitted yet. My apologies for letting things get stale. Being the semi-perfectionist that I am, these entries need some more care before they reach the state of semi-perfection that I demand from myself.
Anyone interested in hearing about…collaboration?
–Ted