Thought Vectors - Ted Nelson: Art not Technology
The technoid vision, as expressed by various pundits of electronic media, seems to be this: tomorrow's world will be terribly complex, but we won't have to understand it. Fluttering though halestorms of granular information, ignorant like butterflies, we will be guided by smell, or Agents, or leprechauns, to this or that pretty picture, or media object, or factoid. If we have a Question, it will be possible to ask it in English. Little men and bunny rabbits will talk to us from the computer screen, making us feel more comfortable about our delirious ignorance as we flutter through this completely trustworthy technological paradise about which we know less and less.
Meet Takashi Okutsu: Director, Traction Software Japanese Business Office
Takashi has been a TeamPage wizard since 2007, and now directs Traction Software's Japanese Business Office. Takashi provides exceptional sales, consulting, and support to TeamPage customers in Japan. He is a valued member of the Traction Software global team, and a frequent contributor to the TeamPage Customer Support Forum including development and discussion of TeamPage SDK plug-ins and examples. We invite Japanese visitors to explore TractionSoftware.jp for TeamPage information and a free trial. You are also welcome to join the TeamPage Japan Customer Support Forum to talk with Takashi and Japanese TeamPage customers.
Takashi Okutsu Japanese Business Office
June 2014 | Traction TeamPage 6.0
Traction® Software is proud to announce Traction® TeamPage 6.0, a major release incorporating important new features, improvements, and internal updates, as well as consolidated capabilities from updates shipped over the TeamPage 5.2 baseline. Sign up for a free trial, or download a free TeamPage license for free access to Traction Software's Customer Support and Customer Forum TeamPage server, including installer links and detailed change log information.
Thought Vectors - What Motivated Doug Engelbart
By "augmenting human intellect" we mean increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems. Increased capability in this respect is taken to mean a mixture of the following: more-rapid comprehension, better comprehension, the possibility of gaining a useful degree of comprehension in a situation that previously was too complex, speedier solutions, better solutions, and the possibility of finding solutions to problems that before seemed insoluble. And by "complex situations" we include the professional problems of diplomats, executives, social scientists, life scientists, physical scientists, attorneys, designers--whether the problem situation exists for twenty minutes or twenty years. We do not speak of isolated clever tricks that help in particular situations. We refer to a way of life in an integrated domain where hunches, cut-and-try, intangibles, and the human "feel for a situation" usefully co-exist with powerful concepts, streamlined terminology and notation, sophisticated methods, and high-powered electronic aids. 1a1
Reinventing the Web II
Updated 19 Jun 2016 Why isn't the Web a reliable and useful long term store for the links and content people independently create? What can we do to fix that? Who benefits from creating spaces with stable, permanently addressable content? Who pays? What incentives can make Web scale permanent, stable content with reliable bidirectional links and other goodies as common and useful as Web search over the entire flakey, decentralized and wildly successful Web? Here's a good Twitter conversation to read:
60% of my fav links from 10 yrs ago are 404. I wonder if Library of Congress expects 60% of their collection to go up in smoke every decade.
— Bret Victor (@worrydream) June 15, 2014
Thought Vectors - Vannevar Bush and Dark Matter
On Jun 9 2014 Virginia Commonwealth University launched a new course, UNIV 200: Inquiry and the Craft of Argument with the tagline Thought Vectors in Concept Space. The eight week course includes readings from Vannevar Bush, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, Alan Kay, and Adele Goldberg. Assignments include blog posts and an invitation to participate on Twitter using the #thoughtvectors hashtag. The course has six sections taught at VCU, and an open section for the rest of the internet, which happily includes me! This week's assignment is a blog post based on a nugget that participants select from Vannevar Bush's 1945 essay As We May Think. Here's mine:
Continuity and Intertwingled Work
At Apple's WWDC 2014 on 2 Jun 2014, Apple demonstrated how to build a great user experience spanning a your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple calls this OS level capability Continuity. It enables you to continue what you're doing across devices and applications by securely encapsulating your identity and the context of your action as an object. From picking up a draft email message started on an iPhone and continuing work with that draft on your Mac, to answering an incoming iPhone call on your Mac, I believe this opens the door for a level of seamless experience that everyone will want for personal use, their family, and at work.
A new TeamPage logo, and a new look at Traction Software.com
You'll be seeing the new TeamPage logo here, on Twitter, Facebook, across the Web, and next to TeamPage sites shown in your browser's tabs; I hope you like the it! I also hope you like the the new look at TractionSoftware.com. Our customers believe TeamPage is ideal for work that combines collaboration and action tracking, including quality management, human resources, project work, intelligence analysis, knowledge management, and compliance. We want TractionSoftware.com to tell this story simply and clearly, and we'll continue to improve this site just as we continually improve TeamPage. Please contact us for insights into how customers use TeamPage to get work done, along with a free trial.
David Shepperton Senior Software Engineer
Roger Fujii Senior Software Engineer
Jordan Frank Vice President Sales
Andy Keller Principal Engineer
Chris Nuzum CTO & Co-Founder
Greg Lloyd President & Co-Founder
Alcoa Tackles IT Projects and Compliance
The IT division of Alcoa Fastening Systems used Traction® TeamPage to reduce time spent on compliance activities by 61% and reduce time to deploy IT systems from sixteen months to seven.
Where Collaboration Meets Chess
In 12 Habits of Highly Collaborative Organizations, @Jacob Morgan draws awesome parallels between collaboration strategy and chess strategy:
March 2014 | Traction Software Named to KMWorld's 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management
For the tenth consecutive year, KMWorld recognized Traction® Software, naming the company to their annual KMWorld 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management. "Traction Software has proven to define the spirit of practical innovation by blending sparkling technology with a deep, fundamental commitment to customer success," says Hugh McKellar, KMWorld editor-in-Chief. The list is compiled by analysts, system integrators, and a select group of users along with KMWorld colleagues over a one year period.
Dec 2013 | The Wiki Way - Jordan Frank at Gilbane 2013 Boston
What makes the public Social Web work so well? How is social software in the enterprise similar? How is it different? What does a path to success for enterprise social tools look like? Traction Software's Jordan Frank answers these questions in The Wiki Way - Towards Quality, Change and Risk Management as a Path to Enterprise Social Software Adoption (slides below). Jordan's model uses critical core content, critical record / exception management, and critical conversation to establish a base for enterprise social media success. His model shows how social tools can be put into the grain of work, take culture issues off the table, and drive creativity using specific examples. Jordan spoke on the Gilbane Boston 2013 panel, Driving Self Service and Support Through Social Collaboration moderated by Lynda Moulton, Principal, LWM Technology Services.
An Infinite Number of Cats on Keyboards: Ted Nelson & Computer Lib at Homebrew Computer Club Reunion
Order a perfect reprint of the original version of Computer Lib / Dream Machines directly from Ted Nelson, autographed if you wish. Highly recommended.
Ada Lovelace Day | Marissa Ann Mayer, Software Engineer, Product Manager, and Executive
Ada Lovelace Day celebrates 
the contributions of women in science and technology, follow @FindingAda for news and events. This year I've chosen to write about Marissa Ann Mayer Software Engineer, Product Manager, and Executive, currently President and CEO of Yahoo! Over her career Ms Mayer earned exceptional recognition for Computer Science teaching (while working for her Stanford degrees), software engineering, design, product management, and her executive skills. Ms Mayer joined Google as employee number twenty in 2009 and played an instrumental role leading Google Search for over 10 years.
The Work Graph Model: TeamPage style
Justin Rosenstein wrote an excellent option piece for Wired, The Way We Work Is Soul-Sucking, But Social Networks Are Not the Fix. Justin begins: "With Twitter’s recent IPO filing, the most popular graph dominating conversation is the “interest graph.” Before that, it was the “social graph,” courtesy of Facebook. But we’re now seeing the emergence of a third important graph: the work graph." The work graph term is new - and useful - but I believe the model dates back to Lotus Notes and even Doug Engelbart. In this blog post I'll review Justin's definition and use it to describe Traction® TeamPage's work graph model. I'll also show how TeamPage leverages its work graph model to meet challenges of information overload, work with external as well as internal teams, and work that needs to span siloed systems of record.
Sept 2013 | KMWorld names TeamPage a Trend-Setting Product of 2013
On Sept 1, 2013 KMWorld recognized Traction® Software's TeamPage as a Trend-Setting Product of 2013. KMWorld editor Hugh McKellar writes: "The common thread running through all the products listed here is the unique value—and potential value—they offer the organization, its workers and their various constituencies." Traction Software is honored that KMWorld has again selected Traction® TeamPage as a Trend-Setting Product. TeamPage customers such as Athens Group show the value of an integrated Quality Management system, industry knowledge base, and training curriculum. TeamPage enables Athens Group to train and support a rapidly growing cadre of expert consultants helping customers design, construct, and operate safe, reliable drilling rigs and platforms around the world. Read KMWorld Trend-Setting Products of 2013
How to make your ISO Auditor Smile; And Make Your Professional Life Much Easier
Jordan had a conversation with a TeamPage customer in Sweden who agreed to document and publish a TeamPage case study, but the ISO auditor story is too good to wait. The customer is small precision machined products manufacturer. They initially supplied prototypes to the Swedish defense industry, but now focus on precision products for heavy vehicle manufacturers.
Remembering Doug Engelbart, 30 January 1925 - 2 July 2013
I was very sad to learn that Doug Engelbart passed away at his home on 2 July 2013. Doug had a long life as a visionary engineer, inventor, and pioneer of technology we use every day - and technology where we're just starting to catch up to Doug and his SRI team in 1968. Doug had a quiet, friendly, and unassuming nature combined with deep knowledge, iron will, and a determination to pursue his vision. His vision was to aid humanity in solving complex, difficult and supremely important problems; Doug's goals were noble and selfless. The sense of dealing with an Old Testament prophet - a kindly Moses - is perhaps the greatest loss I and countless others who have met and been inspired by Doug feel today. I've written frequently about Doug in the past, and I'll continue to do so. Here are a few remembrances and resources that seem appropriate. I'll update this list over the next several days. Farewell Doug and my sincere condolences to his family and many friends.
I18N ERROR: @tsiskin#footer_RSS_Feed