How? Easy - First, use GMail as your personal web mail client; then install the Gmail Blackbery application on your blackberry. Viola, along with getting your work email on your bb, you’re now also two clicks away from managing your personal email.

The how to:

If you only have a gmail account, skip to step 3.

1 – configure Gmail as your personal webmail client. This assumes that you have a personalized email address that you can connect to via POP3. In Gmail, click on settings, select "add an account", and follow the directions...

2 – install Gmail on your BB Bring up your Blackberry web browser. Navigate to www.gmail.com the page should prompt you to download the Gmail client. That same page will know what version you need, so all you need to do is click on download and install.

3 – Log into GMAIL. Login using your user name and password.

You should be all set.

Have other BB hacks? Post them here

These specialized functions are not mature features within ECMS or DAMS. To gain these advantages it is necessary to look for a 3rd party package to integrate into the ECMS or DAMS. In the market, there exists a number of mature XML Database solutions including but not limited to Mark Logic and the open-source eXist.

The key points of implementing a Content Interpreter are:

1. Integration with the content repository.

2. Scalability.

3. Speed.

4. Configuration.

5. Lightweight.

To meet these five key points of implementing a Content Interpreter, a sophisticated programming language that is simple and lightweight is required. Since the architecture is comprised of an XML Database and a business logic layer, the natural choice is XQuery (XML Query Language). XQuery is a natural fit because its inherent capabilities are to execute tasks such as combining, searching and comparing data.

The Content Interpreter’s layers

The implementation of a Content Interpreter is more an exercise in setting up the appropriate architecture and sticking to a key set of rules as opposed to what tools and technologies are used. Looking at the Content Interpreter from the bottom up, the following outlines its four logical layers:

1. XML or structured content layer – the physical content.
2. ECMS or DAMS layer – the management of the content.
3. XML Database layer – the indexing and searching of the content.
4. Content Interpreter layer - the business application layer.

The first is the versioning, storage and maintenance of the master copy of the files. This is the realm and strength of industry standard Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMS) and strategies.

Second, content must be made accessible for content managers in a way that allows them to determine the feasibility of a new idea quickly and easily. If a product manager sees an opportunity to provide a collection of content to a partner in a particular format, he should be able to nimbly gauge this opportunity during the time he on the phone with this partner. If an editor wants to create a collection of assets to give out at a conference, she should be able to browse the content, chunk relevant sub-sections from larger publications, and create a customized publication for this specific occasion with rapid ease.

These advanced content browsing and creation capabilities, however, are outside of the capabilities of traditional ECMS. What’s needed to meet these needs is a Content Interpreter: a system that sits on an ECMS or Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) and converts relevant digital content from a large repository into human comprehensible content.

In the next post, we'll go over the conceptual architecture of the Content Interpreter.

For such activities to occur effectively across very large content collections, content must stored in a structured format: broken down into contextually-defined atomic parts (i.e. sections, sub-sections, paragraphs) in order to facilitate effective searches. Because of its ability to contextualize and structure content, XML, as we all know, is the natural format for delivering content over the internet.

Unlike PDFs, Office, Quark, InDesign and other digital formats, the XML format contains all of the data characteristics and structural information needed to aid effective searches and group data effectively. Well-designed XML is contextually self-aware because it not only defines what a specific piece of content is – but it also defines its contextual location. For example, XML may show that a particular piece of content is within a sub-section of a section of a larger object and is in the same layer as other objects, etc.

Many content creators are already storing their data in XML, and most content syndication is done through an XML format. The bottom line is that the glue that’s tying content together on the internet today is XML. Even MS Office 2007 now stores its documents natively in XML as zipped up collections of XML files under the .docx or .xlsx extension.

In the next post, we'll discuss how to manage the XML in preparation for use within a Content Interpreter.

Some traditional publishers have been late to realize these difficulties – which arose for them with the advent of Web 2.0 – and even more challenges and opportunities are on the horizon. Looking forward to Web 3.0, early speculation is that mature internet users will be seeking premium content, and the internet will become a worldwide database necessitating content that can be adapted quickly and plugged seamlessly into new digital formats.

Faced with current and future challenges, the goal of all publishers and content creators must be to leverage their content’s value to its fullest potential through digital distribution, syndication, and other content re-purposing strategies.

Today there are three main hurdles that all content-centric enterprises must overcome in order to thrive:

- Preparing and managing content.
- Researching and interpreting content to leverage its greatest value.
- Deploying content over digital distribution channels.

We'll be looking at these items in our upcoming posts.

Today, content creators and publishers are challenged with how to best leverage their content’s value. Many are struggling in this digital world where user-generated content is king and a few niche players who don’t have a content-creation background are vying to re-define how people consume content in the digital age (hello google). Looking forward, early Web 3.0 speculation is that mature internet users will be seeking premium content and the internet will become a worldwide database requiring content that can be adapted quickly in order to plug seamlessly into new digital formats.

I'm thinking that the concept of a Content Interpreter - a system that allows content-centric enterprises to leverage their content’s value by making it easily available in comprehensible formats would help content creators overcome this challenge. A Content Interpreter is the key to empowering content, especially when working with a large digital archive.

Next - the challenge of leveraging your content's value and more about the content interpeter...

Pictures can be seen here: http://silvio.gallerama.com/gallery/719

Here are some URLs and resources that were discussed during the summit:

Allan:
http://www.geocommons.com/workspace/show/1892
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/video3.htm
http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/13333462
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8030785497.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=nokia+n95

Michelle:
http://www.themindfuleater.com/
http://www.zhauswellness.com/

Roger:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/mosaic.jsp

Chad:
http://www.nyc2123.com/

Thanks again, and see you all next time!

Geo-Aware Mobile Web Applications
By Allan Benamer
Authors: www.nonprofittechblog.org, Founder: www.socialmarkets.org
Allan brings with him from the Left Coast many new URLs that he'll demo for our enjoyment. He will show us the beauty of Geo-Aware applications, what's coming down the pipe in mobile computing, puzzle us with why one of these apps is valued at over ten million dollars, and will discuss his startup -- Beeble.

From Bombs to Twinkies: The fascinating history of the modern food industry in 15 minutes or less
By Michelle Zassenhaus
Authors: www.themindfuleater.com, Wellness Consultant: www.zhauswellness.com
We're just now starting to awake, as a culture, from the 50-year whirlwind that resulted in the industrial food industry - in which most of our food is produced today. But what were the dizzying chain of events that created a thriving market for less-than-a-dollar food products such as twinkies? If the "Omnivore's Dilemma" is on your reading list but it just isn't happening for you, attend this entertaining 15-minute rundown instead.

Product Spotlight: MLB.TV 's Mosiac
By Roger Williams
Pan 'n scan, encapsulation, composite streaming, new levels of video quality, and click 'n drag are just some of the concepts that make the second release of MLB.TV's Mosaic one of the most compelling media experience online. During this interactive session, we'll see how Mosaic is changing the ways in which fans of any sport consume rich content going forward.

Creative Commons Licensing as Viral Marketing
By Chad Allen
Creator: http://nyc2123.com, Is: www.chadallen.net
When Chad and his brother decided to write a graphic novel, they knew it would be a blast, but they also wanted people to read it. So they wrote a sci-fi comic for the PSP and tapped into a ready audience of geeks looking for original content. By giving away the comic under a Creative Commons (CC) License, they allowed fans to create a wave of translations, remixes and mash-ups. There's no movie deal yet, but the viral effect of the CC license allowed two guys in a garage to find over a million readers and a Hollywood agent. If this sounds boring don't worry: the presentation also includes illustrations of cyborg ninjas fighting and stuff.

Get there!
Monkey Town
58 N. 3rd St (btw Whyte & Kent) Brooklyn, NY, 11211
718.384.1369
(7:30pm) Free | $10 Minimum
GOS Monkey Town Page

The GeekOut Summit is hosted by Silvio Galea

A few months back, I wrote a little snippet about rolling your own CMS. Although still my preferred method of tackling the IT Industry wide CMS problem, you sometimes need a solution up & running with the quickness. So if rolling your own is not an option and you need something profession, cheap and in a demonstrate-able state ASAP, consider Alfresco.

Although it's billed as an Open Source Enterprise Content Management System, it does have Web Content Management Capabilities through a Web Content Management Module. (This may sound like an afterthought, but it's not; it's actually quite robust and is built on a very powerful enterprise scale infrastructure).

Alfresco is an open source J2EE application built on Spring, Hibernate, Lucene, JSF, and all your other Java best of breeds technologies. Best of all, it's founded & built by some of the people behind Documentum and Interwoven (among others). They've brought together their lessons learned and best practices in both the Web & Enterprise Content Management spaces and built Alfresco in an open source manner. It's really a beautiful thing. Their business model is the RedHat model - provide a kick ass product and make your money off support.

Have questions? Post a comment.

I was eager to try out Apple's Safari on my PC primarily cause I can't stand IE; Firefox has a really beautiful memory leak; and Safari is touted as being 50% faster than those other browsers. I couldn't wait...

Note that it's still in BETA...

My first impression, it made my browsing experience feel like a browsing on a mac. Except for he fact that none of the common shortcut keys worked. Alt + < or > combo for back/forward did not register; the back and forward buttons on my mouse, just made a sad clicking sound; and the space and Shift + Space to go up/down, didn't work. All minor issues, unless you prefer keyboard shortcuts as opposed to using a mouse.

The speed, definitely a noticeable difference.. 50% faster? Possibly.

Then i went to GMail. That's when it wasn't 50% faster anymore. It felt as if everyone was using GMail at the same time. Massive lag. I authored and sent a message. Only half of it went though. Apparently, the text box cut the message in half. must have interpreted some special character in a weird way. Then, the application seemed to haver gotten into some sort of AJAX loop that caused GMail to lock out my account for suspicious activity. Grrr... I was back in a few hours, but I wasn't happy. Makes me wonder if this was released a tad too early. But to be fair, I'm not sure if this is an issue with GMail not supporting Safari on PC or Safari on PC not supporting GMail.

Some speculation... it's understandable that Apple wants to release Safari on PC now, especially after making the statement "want to build applications on the iPhone? Just write them to work on Safari". I think this made Safari an integral key for iPhone developers on a PC.

So I'm now back to Firefox with closing and restarting every few hours until the next release...

How? Easy - First, use GMail as your personal web mail client; then install the Gmail Blackbery application on your blackberry. Viola, along with getting your work email on your bb, you’re now also two clicks away from managing your personal email.

The how to:

If you only have a gmail account, skip to step 3.

1 – configure Gmail as your personal webmail client. This assumes that you have a personalized email address that you can connect to via POP3. In Gmail, click on settings, select "add an account", and follow the directions...

2 – install Gmail on your BB Bring up your Blackberry web browser. Navigate to www.gmail.com the page should prompt you to download the Gmail client. That same page will know what version you need, so all you need to do is click on download and install.

3 – Log into GMAIL. Login using your user name and password.

You should be all set.

Have other BB hacks? Post them here

DORK – A socially awkward, wardrobe challenged individual. That’s saying it nicely; notes from other sites “A stupid, inept, or foolish person”. That’s just mean.

NERD – Has deep intelligence in certain topics yet suffers from social awkwardness and could use some help with their wardrobe (although the tight high-water pants are in now)

GEEK – Has a breadth of knowledge over a diverse set of seemingly random topics and has the ability to go deep and gain an expert’s understanding on any particular topic. Also has a stylin wardrobe (most of the time)

Have thoughts, opinions or ideas about what a Dork, Nerd, or Geek is? Do share, post them here…

Ok geeks, today’s acronym is LAMP. It stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Actually, P can sand for PHP as well as Perl or Python or your favorite online scripting language that starts with P. (no XQuery does not count, but look for a future acronym post that deals with FLOWR) . The P has also been known to stand for Ruby, but LAM[R] is not as sticky of a word as LAMP, so it’s rubbish.

So what is this all about? Essentially - open source software; more specifically building a 2.0 website on a $0 down software licensing infrastructure. I’ve been in SF for a week now and everyone I talk to is like, “… yeah, so like I’m talking to a VC about my online business, it’s LAMP based, so it’s like $0 down…”

Ahhh, the smell of that .COM[2.0] bubble....

In recent discussions I’ve had with various CMS implementation veterans, one common theme kept emerging – an enterprise is better off rolling their own. What’s out there is too generic, trying to solve every business model’s content management needs with the same solution. This lowest common denominator approach assumes that a publisher has the same CMS needs as a financial institution – this is simply not true. That generification & the resulting underlying complexity leads to the customization necessary that results in the two to three times the expense.

So, what’s an IT professional to do? The word on the street is to roll your own. Analyze the business problem and build the simplest solution you can think of. Remember, a CMS’ core requirements is to 1 – allow users to input content; 2 - deploy it to a number of target environments.