Andre and I have been trying to add a new plug-in to the blog which would allow threaded discussion. Currently, comments can only be made to posts – but a threaded discussion feature would afford us the ability to comment on other comments as well.

During our test-run installation we realized that while the plug-in was successful when using most browsers, it runs into problems with those of you using Internet Explorer (it hides the entire comment section). Breakdown!

The problem is that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer does not support open-standards (read more here) which makes it difficult for programers to code software that will properly integrate with it. So while every other browser supports open-standards, and thus works fine with the threaded-comments plug-in, IE does not.

I was wondering how many of you are currently using IE, and if any of you would consider switching to another browser? Aside from the open-standards problem, IE is more prone to viruses and does not permit ‘tabbed’ browsing (read more here) – providing a rather inferior cyber experience for its users.

Please use the comment section of this post to indicate whether you use IE or not (so I can get a sense of what we are working with) and how you feel about switching browsers. We also may want to consider switching all browsers installed at NML to something like FireFox, Camino, Netscape or Opera (all free).

Linda Richman says: “Discuss!”

I meant to post this much earlier but the first week of the semester sort of threw me off track (as it always does!).

During our last group meeting many of you offered some great suggestions regarding how we could further shape the blog’s interface to accommodate how we are ACTUALLY using it. I’ve tried to implement a few of them and some I am still working on – but I would really like if everyone could voice their suggestions (what’s working, what isn’t) in a more public way by adding them to this post. This way we can all comment on each other’s suggestions rather than everyone individually contacting me – we may find that what one hates another loves and thus can not be so easily changed.

To quote SNL’s Linda Richman: DISCUSS!

On the flight to Oregon I read Michael Indegaard’s Silicon Alley: the Rise and Fall of a New Media District. “Silicon Alley” mostly runs along Broadway from the Flatiron to the Financial District (see map below). Indegaard makes two important points in his book: 1) that the backers of these ‘new’ media companies were hardly new – realestate interests and wallstreet venture capitalists. And 2) how the physical location of ‘dot.com’ companies shaped them – and visa versa. Rather than minimize the importance of place, the new media companies tended to locate themselves within ‘new media districts’ – drawing their resources from and providing content for the local (physical) industry.

NYC has Silicon Alley; Boston has the Cyber District (and the state of MA has invested money in a PR campaign to re-brand the state as the “.commonwealth” – emphasis on the ‘dot’); San Fransisco has Multimedia Gulch; LA and San Diego share the Digital Coast & Detroit has Automation Alley. And of course there is Silicon Valley…

After whitewater rafting in Hell’s Canyon Oregon, some friends and I decided to stop for dinner in the city of Halfway Oregon. The city, with a little more than 300 residents, sounded familar but I couldn’t figure out why – until Michael (my partner, not the author) informed me that Halfway, in a deal with Half.com (a Philadelphia based internet company), was the city that changed its name to Half.com.

Yes its true… Halfway changed its name to Half.com in 2000 for 1 year for a reported $73,000 and computers for their schools. The “World’s First Internet City” apparently returned to its gold-rush-roots and saw the name change as a much needed boast to their tourism and economy. After the deal was made the town used their new riches and the riches they expected to make in the future, due to their new found ‘fame,’ to build a new Fairground. Needless to say, the town’s fame didn’t last very long and their contract with Half.com was not renewed – leaving Halfway with no way to pay for their $400,000 Fairground. As one member of the Halfway community put it (according to AP) “Apparently, they were counting their chickens before they were hatched.” Meanwhile, after literally ‘putting itself on the map’ Half.com (the company) was sold to eBay for $300m.

Reflecting on the city of Half.com and other silicon spaces that populate the country, I wonder what effect being in NYC has on the new media we are all making and what effect our new media creations will have on NYC and other places?

]]> http://gregorydonovan.org/cyberenviro/2006/08/24/silicon-spaces-the-city-of-halfcom/feed/ 0 http://gregorydonovan.org/cyberenviro/2006/08/12/greetings-from-oregon/ http://gregorydonovan.org/cyberenviro/2006/08/12/greetings-from-oregon/#comments Sat, 12 Aug 2006 05:45:46 +0000 gtdonovan http://www.nml.cuny.edu/forum/2006/08/12/greetings-from-oregon/ This post has been imported from the NML Research Blog…

While I intended to publish this under Joan’s ‘Sitting by the lake” post, you can’t post photos in comments (something I’m working on fixing in) so I decided to create a separate post.

I’ve been traveling across the great state of Oregon for about a week now. I flew into Portland with Michael (my partner) and stayed with a friend for few days – then we traveled to Oceanside on the coast for a few days and now we are in Baker City, up in the mountains of eastern Oregon. Yesterday alone we drove about 400 miles from Oceanside to Baker City.

I’m amazed by how diverse this state is, the contrast between eastern and western Oregon is more stark (culturally, economically, geographically etc…) than upstate New York and NYC!

Spending time in such diverse areas has triggered many breakthroughs which I will elaborate on in future posts over the next few days – Its funny how when ever I leave New York I snap into ‘production’ mode!

In the meantime I wanted to share a few pictures of some of places I’ve been. Enjoy!