I was invited to speak at a UKSG event a couple of weeks ago (mentioned in a previous post) and have finally got around to posting about it now.

First off, here's my presentation:

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I went a little weird for this presentation - I wanted to do something a bit faster paced than the normal "slide / bullet, bullet, bullet : slide / bullet, bullet...." but probably not as ambitious as Simon Wardley or Dick Hardt. I think it went well - I've had a few people who were there contacting me and asking me to do the same presentation at their gaff, so it can't have been too bad...

In general I wanted to move away from the point I've been pressing for some time now ("web 2 - don't be scared") to something a bit more practical ("how to make the most of distributed services") - the main point being that it makes good sense to provide as well as consume distributed data. By doing so, a virtuous cycle is encouraged whereby more and more data becomes available to all.

There were some good speakers at the day and I made pages and pages of notes. I thought rather than publishing them as some kind of stream (and them meaning nothing to anyone..) instead I'd distill them down into three things that I felt kept coming up or were particularly pertinent:

1. Libraries and publishers are doing interesting things too

I think I gathered this from the reading I did before the event (see previous post linked above) but in particular I was impressed with the work that Talis are doing around their "Semantic Web Application Platform" and I fully intend to follow this up with an email or two and some more reading. Richard Wallis ("Technology Evangelist" - MY ALL TIME JOB TITLE...) from Talis did a good job of explaining the basics behind the distributed web.

Here's a couple more links I found when researching...

REST: http://www.daveyp.com/blog/index.php/archives/59/ , PATrest: http://www.blyberg.net/downloads/patrest_1.1_overview.pdf , AADL keyword REST search: http://www.aadl.org/rest/search/keyword/dog , Mashing the library: http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/007391.html
 

2. Blogging is sometimes being used because it's easier, not because it is necessarily the right thing

I already had a half-formed notion of this fact (I think I picked it up from Andy from the Eduserv Foundation?) at a completely different event when he'd described that he uses variously hacked blogging platforms to deliver content on his local primary school website. At the time I'd thought this was a little weird but never got round to asking him about it. Again at the UKSG event there were two occasions when it was very clear that people were writing and distributing content using blogs because the other systems were too hard to use / jealously protected / horrible legacy systems.

In one sense this is great: blogging tools are used because they are easy to set up, easy to use, easy to keep fresh with content. But in another this is a disaster: it speaks volumes about the situation whereby people at institutions around the country are turning to blogging as a way of doing what their CMS and IT departments should be doing for them already.

(IT departments: note the first part of the paragraph above: EASY is the key here, not FULL FEATURED ) 

3. People still seem convinced that the Semantic Web = Web 3.0

Even taking into consideration Simon's hatred of pointless debates I'm still going to embark on this one, 'cos I think it's just not correct that "the next web" (whatever that may be) is going to be the semantic one. It's always risky doing any kind of future-looking but I'll put my neck on the line and continue to reinforce my view: the next web is going to be about ubiquity, immersion, "everyware". Susan Wu agrees with me. So that's ok.  

Next up (post - very good - lunch)...it's Sean Meahan from UHI talking about Extending Institutional Identity into External Services and Communities.

He's starting off talking about the takeup of external services, a topic very close to my heart.

Opportunity 1: Serve our ("our": for instance HE) users better by giving them an externally useable ID

Opportunity 2: Give an integration point via ID to merge best of breed services into the institutional framework

(Sean is talking about the notion of an ID pipe which I like - the applications built at the end of the pipe are unimportant: the pipe just provides the means to identify...)

Opportunity 3: Allows for the holistic approach: life-long learning associations - services for students, but also gives opportunities for SSO for everything from infrastructural apps to web2.0 mashups

So what does this require: well, first and foremost a change in mindset. Insitutions need to stop being "bunkered" - a similar challenge which I've blogged about endlessly in terms of museums and Web2.0. 

What are the risks in this approach?

> id theft: well, says Sean - this stuff is happening already. Nothing new here

> external service goes bust: back it up!

> Yet Another Protocol emerges...: ....

> Users change their digital id: institutions already lose users. Nothing new here...

Sean finishes by saying that this approach fits a more user-centric Web2 world...

 
Final speaker of the day: Scott Wilson from JISC CETIS

Scott starts off talking about how education works as a system - how resource is allocated across students, how collaboration is brought into the equation. Ultimately his point seems to be that a vast amount of education happens outside the formal structures provided by the institution.

Where does that leave identity? 

Previously the idea that we (HE) had the technology and students didn't is of course different now: the technology balance has changed. Identity in elearning, Scott argues, is focussed around Individualization, Self-Organisation and Activity and not around more "formal" educational activity.

He also points out that technology is user owned now. It isn't threatening, but instead offers an escape route from escalating costs and liabilities. 

So where does OpenID fit in this landscape?

Scott talks about the fact that OpenID is a proxy: doesn't really verify a user: all it really does is asserts a relationship between an agent and a URL. This, Scott says, makes it a potential boundary mechanism which provides an axis of coordination between formal and informal systems and connects things together that do use identity.

Gavin Bell from Nature just gave an interesting talk about how this OpenID stuff applies to educational institutions. To be honest I wasn't listening terribly hard as I was still pondering the conversation I had with Paul Walk during the coffee break...

Anyway. Here's Nicole Harris from JISC. She's not going to talk about OpenID at all, apparently

Nicole is making some very interesting points around the facets of identity: it's not only who we are but also what we like and what we are allowed to do. The way in which people are connected to resources is an important part of identity, but disconnecting identity from resources is important as well. 

The question about whether users are actually responsible enough to look after their own identities is an interesting one. We've all clicked through that screen (the one that asks about how much access to your data you allow) when adding Facebook apps. Ditto with the standard "certificate expired": none of us are really savvy enough to make these decisions about our data. This then brings in the question of how much responsibility the institution has in this space...

I must say, I struggle with the notion that people actually care that much about exposing (bits of) their identities online. I'm pretty sure that Facebook wouldn't be anywhere near as popular if we did. Of course, privacy is hugely important - and defining the edges of what is acceptable exposure for each and every one of us is crucial. But I'd be fascinated to see any research which defined where these edges usually occur. I'm happy, for example, to have my name, date of birth, blog address, job title, employer, country, town - exposed as much as anyone cares to expose it. I'd draw the line however at home address, email (mainly because of spam), phone number, etc.

But then, thinking about it: within the context of Facebook, I'm happy to post up pictures of my kids, my wife, etc. This implies some kind of absolute trust with the site: a trust which most FB users will also share. Ultimately, this is an unfounded trust: I have no idea who Facebook is or what they actually plan to do with my data...

More importantly, it's lunchtime... 

I'm at the Eduserv conference OpenID - online identity for the social network generation of learners and researchers, hoping to find out more about, er, OpenID. I've got a kind of passing knowledge about how it works, but I'm particularly interested in how (if) it relates to "Identity 2.0", particularly in the light of OpenSocial.

 I'm late (obviously) but Andy Powell from Eduserv Foundation is giving an introduction to the landscape of the web within the context of his family. His kids use this tool in different ways: Bebo, MSN, Facebook: they are true "Digital Natives". Andy, his wife and sister all use online tools in different ways. Andy makes the point that being on the web is a lifelong activity: it crosses all aspects of our lives, and spans all phases of education. People present different identities at different times, and no longer do we live in a world where institutions can (or should) "control" the online services used by their members.

This all means, simply, that to consider these things in one space, against one institution, is just simply not a useful exercise. There is a question about holisticness (holistic-tivity?) which underpins online identity.

Andy is making an interesting point about email, and how institutions such as universities used to give out email addresses but are now starting to realise that users have their own already - and asking whether they should still be giving out addresses

Andy talks about how Athens is migrating to Shibboleth and asks what OpenID means to this space. Athens was UK Centric; Shibboleth is institution-centric; OpenID is agnostic...

Next up is David Recordon from blog platform company Six Apart

2007: a good year for OpenID adoption. Microsoft, TechCrunch, Sun, ReadWriteWeb, 37Signals - all saying positive things about the technology.

So what is OpenID?

• signle sign-on for the web (that doesn't suck...)
• simple and lightweight
• easy to use and deploy
• built upon proven existing technologies
• decentralized: don't have to ask anyone permission to use it
• free...

An OpenID is a URI: globally unique and ubiquitous.

So what is the problem that OpenID is trying to solve?

> Simply, too many usernames, too many passwords, sign-up is too hard (consider TechCrunch new startups as an example..) - you're not likely to create an identity at each one.

> In the enterprise, directories are used, but they're too hard...  

 Overall, the web lacks identity. Email is often used, but if you get this hacked, you're stuffed: all the services you've signed up to are instantly available via "send me a new password" functionality...

David makes the point, as Andy did that Identity is not just one thing. Depending on where you are, who you are with, how you collaborate, you are different people. At the end of the day, this entire conversation is about trust. With OpenID, you get to choose who you trust - and even choose to change your mind again later. 

David gave a quick demo of OpenID: it's pretty straightforward; still open to improvement from a usability perspective, but nonetheless easy to use as well as implement for developers. He also then showed a graph of "Total Relying Parties" which shows adopting sites from 05-07. The graph is impressive, with a steep rise up to about 6,000 sites at present day. Obviously, given that OpenID is distributed, this isn't an accurate figure: no one actually knows how many people are using OpenID at the present time. Web2 companies are on the bleeding edge, as are some enterprises.

David also asked about OpenID in the .edu space. There are only a few, including MIT and Brigham Young University. It is starting to show adoption, but still in it's infancy...  

Live blogging from the Tech-Ed 2007 Keynote .. 

[13:51]

We found our seats .. this place is huge .. a live VJ is mixing up some nice visuals while two graffiti artists ply their trade on two large pieces of canvas. The paint fumes are a little strong but hey Im sure it just adds to the 'relaxed' atmosphere :)Hopefully the wireless network will hold up and Ill be able to post OK !  Developer Division Corporate Vice President S. Somasegar should be taking the stage soon.

[14:00]

Here we go .. S. Somasegar in speaking .. erm ..seems to be restaurant recommendations at the momement .. eating in Barcelona is clearly very good if you've got lots of cash. 

[14:05]

Reflecting on success of VS2005 - 1 million developers worldwide, 25% using Team System (full edition), Express Editions have 17 million downloads. 80% of all questions answered on MSDN (!?!)

[14:15]

Finishing touches on the framework releases ..

• NET Framework Data Support (LINQ / Microsoft Sync Framework)
• New controls for WPF
• WCF: REST,ATOM, RSS, JSON
• Integrated workflow
• Silverlight 1.0 / 1.1 - Cross platform/cross browser in .NET
  
  He's excited about LINQ :)

[14:20]

• VS2008 - Multi-targetting support / LINQ Support - Built in tools for Office (with Proffessional Edition)
• Team Foundation Server - More scalable / more reliable. Database tools are now integrated with VS2008.
• Seemless workflow between Expression and VS2008 - XAML etc. The developer / designer axis of evil :)
• Patterns and Practices - Software plus Services blueprint - Sets of tools and practices out of the box.
• MSDN - MSDN Code Gallery - Beta in next month or two / MSDN WIki (not really a full wiki - just adding community comments to documentation) / Translation Wiki

[14:30]

Microsoft Sync Framework announced - CTP available today - New way to handle syncing data between apps. Occasionally connected systems (Google Gears ??) [Introduction] [Download]

Software + Services Blueprint announced - S+S applications guidance & best practices - ready to use building blocks - plugin for visual studio. Exposing and importing data with Office 2007.

[14:35]

Visual Studio 2008 - Major Announcement - Available November 2007 (erm.. isnt that now ?) along with Framework 3.5 - available from MSDN before end of the month. Just in final testing.

[14:40]

Demo of Visual Studio 2008 - Going through new features - Multi-framework (2.0, 3.0, 3.5) / CSS editing + Design View / LINQ Datasources / AJAX is built-in / Javascript intellisense.

[14:55]

Workflow Foundation debugging in VS2008.

Custom task-pane in Word (Using WCF and Workflow) .. Now using WPF element host to put WPF into windows forms. ooh 3D WPF in word .. who would have thought :)

[15:00]

Arghh .. low battery.

VS2008 - Behind the scenes - The making of story ... is this serious or a mockumentary ?

..battery OK .. wireless network has died .. doh!

[15:05]

Announcement - Visual Studio IDE - now no license restrictions - not limited to just MS lanaguages can be anything - Premier Partners have source code access to Visual Studio IDE
Demo - Addin Studio (Free and on Codeplex soon) - Visual Studio for World or Warcraft - makings addins for WoW now with an IDE
Showing intellisense for LUA (Impressive!)
RSS Feed from inside WoW (why ? i have no idea!)

[15:15]

Popfly - Hobbyist and enthusiasts - Announcement - Popfly Explorer Beta [Download] - Popfly looking a lot different from the Alpha (had serious problems when I used it last)
Importing a popfly gadget (silverlight project) into a page.
Drop it into web page using Popfly Explorer.
Can choose friends projects too.

[15:25]

Looking ahead ..

• TFS "Rosario"
• Expression Studio 2 - Targetting Silverlight / PHP Support
• Silverlight vNext (1.1??)
• .NET Framework 4.0 (eek!) - No details though.
• Biztalk 6
• Visual Studio 10 (!?!?)

[15:30]

Visual Studio "Rosario" (TFS v2) - Collaboration / QA / Advanced Tools
"Build it the right way" - No details though hehe!

.. well not a bad keynote nothing really major announced other than a release date for Visual Studio 2008 which was quite predictable. I need to do some investigation into the Sync Foundation but it looks interesting. There is a DInnerNow / Contoso Food POC product which seems to be being used in a lot of these demos it uses ~all~ of the latests .NET features from biztalk and workflow, powershell, WPF, LINQ the whole stack .. will be interesting to look at it if its available !

Off to my first session on the Future of .NET (Update: Hm.. seems the title was a lie and its actually about BizTalk .. lots of not very happy people sitting about .. lots leaving)

Well hello from Barcelona !

It's the first day of Tech Ed Europe 2007 .. myself and Neil (also from Web Dev.) have just registered and are tooling ourselves up with caffine and freebies ready for a week of absorbing all things .NET ! Over 4000 deligates for Europes biggest conference (you should see the lunch hall !!) and we are hoping for some big announcements for Visual Studio 2008, Silverlight and the MVC framework for ASP.NET (which is eagerly awaited by various people in the team!) plus any surprises along the way.

I shall hopefully be posting photos and updates based on sessions we go to and any new technologies that are announced along the way. This whole conference is a daunting task as there is soo much information on offer to absorb!

The keynote is at 2pm so I might even try some live blogging (although it could all end in a typo-filled-disaster)

I went to a session earlier this week at the MA conference with Ross Parry (University of Leicester) and Mike Gogan (Blitz Games). They were talking about gaming in the museum sector.

Ross brought out a couple of interesting facts at the beginning of the talk:

1. The UK games industry injects £2 billion p/a into the UK economy;

2. 2006 saw a 7% increase in games sold in the UK

In short: gaming is massive news. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last couple of years (without your PSP...) then you probably knew that already. The big question being asked by Ross though is "if this is so huge, then where are museums?"

There are of course some who are doing very cool stuff. The major nationals, including (of course!) the Science Museum are constantly pushing gamey content out there both onto the web and on-kiosk. But it doesn't feel like the groundswell that it "should" be, given the enormous rise of gaming as an activity out there in the real world.

One of the big questions once you start thinking about gaming is where it starts and ends. Is a quiz a game? Is a 3D environment like Second Life? Is an "interactive" website? UGC? If you assume that anything "interactive" is by definition a game, then the scope for including museum activity becomes that much wider. I'm not sure that anyone goes with this argument, though...

Mike Gogan pointed at realism and engagement being two factors which defined a (successful) game. But "realism" isn't a part of something like Tetris or Katamari Damacy - often the most compelling games are the weirdest and most disassociated from anything real at all. Engagement, granted, is definitely part of the checklist. But that therefore means, doesn't it, that Facebook is also a "game"...? Probably not, but I'm not entirely sure why.

Leaving the definitions aside for a moment, the question still remains: where are museums in this space? Ross has a take on this: he believes that the way that the Games Industry talks to museums is essentially flawed - he reckons there needs to be a dialogue between the two sectors in order that each can better understand the other. I think he's probably right, and so do the Serious Games Initiative who are looking at "...helping to forge productive links between the electronic game industry and projects involving the use of games in education, training, health, and public policy".

Personally, though, I think the issue is way, way more basic: games are really, really, really expensive to commission and produce. As soon as you start talking "Flash Interactive" (and I'm deliberately focussing on Flash, web-based games because that is the obvious place..), you're by definition meaning at least £5k and probably way, way more than that to do anything really cool. Five grand is (usually) ok for a national museum or as part of a funded project, but if you're in a local museum then that is probably a years' worth of marketing budget. That just isn't going to wash.

Spending this kind of money would be ok if the debate about the "value" of gaming had already been had, and won. Unfortunately, it hasn't: although many now believe that games can truly aid learning, there are still voices of dissent - and while this goes on, budget probably won't be allocated nearly as readily.

I'm here at the Museums Association Exhibition in Glasgow. I seem to have the bug for blogging live from events, and this time I've got the luxury of a laptop (and not just my PDA) so I thought I'd shuffle up a quick post.

It's strange for me to be this side of the line - involved in a company who make technologies for museums, rather than a museum looking for new technologies. Having said that, there are a huge number of familiar faces passing by already (and it's only 10am) so it feels like a place I know and understand.

Just round the corner are ico design with a very cool stand which Ben built using RFID which detects hat-swapping (it makes sense when you see it...). And here's a picture of Ben on ours. Note free mints and pens. Hurrah.