I’m a pretty heavy Twitter user but I have long argued that we need the equivalent of SMTP/POP for micromessaging as we have for email. I know Twitter is great and has a great ecosystem going, but it can’t last forever. Sure a lot of us have gmail addresses, but we can still send/receive email from people who are on gmail. Right now we don’t have that ability, really, with micromessaging/Twitter. It’s a closed box.

Early on in the whole micromessaging frenzy Status.net out of Montreal developed an open-source server for messaging. Their service is Identi.ca (the server used to be called Laconi.ca, but no longer) where I’ve had a profile for a long while, but haven’t used it in ages. Pretty much because all the conversations were on Twitter and I couldn’t use Twitter clients with Identi.ca as well.

Side note: Bloggers, skipping the really bad picture at the bottom of the post. The DH post is a “teachable moment” about writing good posts. What was the really important part of the post? That Status.net is available for one-click install. Where was it? At the bottom of the post after an eye-searing image that I wish I could burn from my brain. I totally missed it. If you have a point to make. Either make it first or don’t bury it in the post as an afterthought because otherwise people will miss it.

My use of Identi.ca might not change much (I do note that I can connect my Twitter account now for seamless back-and-forth messaging), but I’m going to start toying with the server myself. I’ve wanted to for a long while, but reading the Status.net instructions for DreamHost, well I just don’t have the time right now.

Until now.

I skipped over the tongue-in-cheek post on the DreamHost blog—The Official DreamHost Blog! » Announcing…PetStatus.com!—because it didn’t get to the point quickly enough (and was below a God-awful tattoo as the last image—you’ve been warned) that Status.net is now available as a one-click install now for DH customers. Good thing I subscribe to the email newsletter too or I would have totally missed it.

So later this morning I’m going to set up my own Status.net install and experiment a bit. Oh I know that we can’t have everyone with their own micromessaging server, just like we don’t all need our own email server, but I could have my own email server on DH and be on par with all other servers. My email would come and go just like it does now on Gmail. So what I hope is that, while Twitter might stay the “gmail of micromessaging”, other servers and services will crop up to interact with Twitter. Or better Twitter becomes micromessaging client like Gmail is an email client, and we all start being able to use a more universal and interoperable set of standards.

At least that’s the goal. If it happens will depend on us and hosts supporting a critical mass of additional services/servers.

Here’s to trying.

I got an email from Lindsay yesterday to ask if I wanted to get 15-20 workshop on podcasting at the F5 Expo next month. Hmm, let me think about that for a moment…

Hellz yeah!

So, it’s all set now, I’m giving a few (2-3) short podcasting workshops on the show floor during the F5 Expo—Podcasting 101 | F5 Expo—which kinda reminds me, why don’t I podcast as much as I want to…

Hmm, gotta change that.

Anyway, I love talking about podcasts and video blogging (I like talking about video blogging, doing it, not so much). I’m even doing a talk at UBC for Educamp next week on it.

Damn I really need to get out of “writing mode” and into “blathering into the mic mode” more don’t I?

Regardless I hope to see you there.

Myself I’m hoping to meet Malcolm Gladwell…

We had a bit of a tempest in a teacup over here in Vancouver yesterday afternoon-evening over comments on an upcoming Third Tuesday Meetup Event. What I find far more interesting than the discussion, which was certainly interesting, is the whole medium-message question-quandary. Here is a good segment from a post about the events of yesterday:

But it wasn’t to be. Despite Kris Krug’s solo attempt to build a bridge to a positive outcome, things hit a dead end with an organizer’s post:
Tobias: This has become tiresome. If you’d like to continue this discussion, you have a blog. Or you can attend the event. Wait, you likely won’t because you don’t appreciate the direction and don’t approve of the choice of panelists. And you don’t intend to come from Whistler.
Followed by shortly by:
…I myself have enjoyed following this discussion, however there are a lot of people unwittingly subscribed by email to this thread and find this tiresome….
No such comments were posted by the unwitting recipients, so who knows where that insight came from, but it helped make any further discussion unpalatable.
link: Tuesday’s Loss – Corvus Consulting (italics added by author to distinguish quotes from text)

I’ll admit, the continued barrage of message was pretty tiring. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many comments on a Third Tuesday event. Yes, there is a handy, “if you want to stop receiving messages about this event click here…” But I wonder what would have happened if the organizers needed to update something important (like time or venue)? Would I miss out on that message?

So I didn’t click.

So the messages kept coming.

And coming.

And coming.

So, the organizers suggested that the discussion be moved to a blog post. A good idea since people could choose to opt in or out of the discussion and not change or block receiving messages about the event.

I think there is an interesting point here about discussion. I don’t think people were averse to discussing the issue, but I think they were getting tired of discussing it there. There’s a big difference there.

It seems to me that the issue brings up another example of the problem of having lots of places where discussion or commentary can occur but can doesn’t equate should. I think there was an expectation that discussion doesn’t happen there, so having a discussion there was jarring and unwelcome. Again, it’s the there part that’s key.

I can think of lots of other examples of this same thing happening, and often with the same result.

Now, one thing that TobiasTodd left out of his post was the offer from the organizers to move the discussion to the Facebook group:

Tobias, I agree that a broader, larger panel would be great. Logistically though, three people is already a busy talk. That said, you raise some good points and I want to hear your questions. Could you please message me with topics you’d like covered? I know our panelists might not be who you wanted, but this is a celebration of social media. And social media is discussion. If I can address an issue for you at the panel, I’ll do my best to voice your thoughts. Same goes for anyone else.
[followed by]
Sorry everyone – one last message. I realize email is not the most social technology, so I created a discussion for this event on the Third Tuesday Vancouver Facebook group. While it’d be great to continue the conversation here, it seems we’re sending out lots of email notifications, so let’s keep things moving without clogging up the inbox. The group page is here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=266947057928&ref=ts Chat soon.

Which if the discussion had moved there, I don’t know I haven’t checked, I think it would have been fine. Better than a blog? Don’t know, but certainly better than what was going on there.

I almost wonder if part of creating tools that allow comments, is creating the rules about how to use the comments.

Update: I incorrectly attributed the post I linked to as being written by Tobias, when it was actually written by Todd Sieling. Apologies to Todd. I’ve edited the post to reflect the correct author.

I’m in a bit of a bind with tonight’s (final) class that I teach at BCIT—I need a guest speaker! Robert Scales was going to be the capper for this term (and I couldn’t have thought of a better one, since he went to BCIT), but he is still recovering from a terrible car accident week before last.

Here are the pertinent details…

The class is called “Trendsetters” and is a seminar-style class (discussion, not lecture) where I bring in cool people from the community who are doing cutting edge and interesting things in the tech fields. I’ve been honored this term with the likes of Kemp Edmonds, Raul Pacheco Vega, Peter Wilson, and now I need one last speaker for the last class.

The class is at the Burnaby campus from 5:30-8:30, but most speakers only talk for an hour (ish). You can come anytime between those times.

If you you’ed like to help me warp teach some really sharp young minds, drop me a line!

Update: Thanks to Marc Smith of Amuse Consulting for stepping up to the plate (and into the line of fire) for tonight’s class.

The final chapter of Using WordPress is all about the WordPress community. We all know that the WordPress community is fantastic. The forums, email lists, IRC, WordCamps, everything shows the strength of the WordPress ecosystem.

I can’t think of a better way to really show off the community than to ask the community for suggestions of great WordPress sites.

Yep, the last chapter of my book is going wrap up with a community-assisted section.

Please leave your suggestions for your favourite WordPress sites (not running WordPress, but talking about WordPress) in the comments below. Themes, plugins, hacks, tips, tricks. You name it.

Also, with your suggestion, let me know how you’d like me to credit you in the book next to the site suggestion. If the same site is suggested by more than one person, the first person to suggest it get the credit (but I’ll note home many more people suggested it as well).

I already have wp.org and wp.com and the main WordCamp sites…but the rest are open.

Yes, I have my favorites, but I also want to know yours too.

Isn’t that what community is all about?

Did you hear that sound? That low, thunking kind of sound? Yeah that’s the sound of a writer working on a book about WordPress banging their head against a wall (or desk). In case you didn’t know, book publishing timelines are rather long. Not as long as say, Microsoft OS releases, but typically longer than the release schedule for WordPress. Using WordPress is slated to be release in July (feel free to pre-order now), and in case you hadn’t looked at a calendar it’s March and my first draft of the book is nearly done.

Between now and July a few things are going to happen. One, I’ll get another crack at all the chapters during “author review” (aka “do it right this time…”) and during final review of the galleys. Two, WordPress will release 3.0 which unifies the WordPress and WordPress Multiuser codebases together.

Huh.

At first my worry was WP 2.9.x because I knew that some important, user-facing changes were coming, but lucky for me, there were enough delays in getting the initial proposal approved that WP 2.9 was available for me from the start of writing the book.

I knew, however, that WP 3.0 was on the horizon. I knew that it could potentially change how people use WordPress and set up their blogs. If you could choose to create a blog network (like WordPress.com), when you install WordPress, that might be something I’d have to cover in detail. Not only that to cover it in detail I’d have to have enough time to experiment with it and have examples to show for the book.

Crap.

After stressing out about this more than just a little, and playing with the alpha versions of 3.0, I posed a few questions to the wp-testers list (namely, where did the Network setting go from Tools) today. Thanks to the members of the list I’m happy to report that for most of us WordPress 3.0 isn’t going to be a big deal. I haven’t seen the final features list, nor is the UI final, but the whole single blog vs network blog issue is settled. Here’s the deal:

It ain’t for everyone.

Just like WordPress MU isn’t for the faint of heart nor of code, turning on the network function will require more than your average server and WP ninja skills. I was reminded as well that many hosts are rather averse to people running MU on shared hosting accounts (funny that, not wanting someone to set up a blog network on their servers), so that’s something you might want to check out before you launch that uber-cool new blog network on your basic $10/mo account.

Believe me this is a huge relief. Oh, I’ll still cover WP 3.0 when it’s out, and it looks like the timing is right that I’ll be able to have a good idea of what I’ll need to change, but I don’t have to write a whole chapter on “How to start and run your own blog network…”

Or do I?

As part of working through my chapter on managing multiple blogs, I do have to account for the fact that WordPress is like potato chips, you can’t have just one. How do you manage multiple blogs? How do you know if you should have a totally separate blog, or just some clever template work to make sections more distinct? Is a the MU environment the best solution, and it’s time to find a way to implement it?

Although this is a book aimed at novices, I think it’s a reasonable thing for people to wonder when they read some of the descriptions for WordPress MU/WordPress 3.0—maybe they need to have an install like that. Now my job is how to articulate why it probably isn’t a good idea to fire up WordPress 3.0 in network blog mode and maybe there is another way to accomplish the same goal.

At least that’s the plan. We’ll see how that goes.

(thunk… thunk…)

Automattic scooped up another very talented person recently. Ian Stewart of ThemeShaper and creator of the Thematic theme framework has joined Automattic as a Theme Wrangler. Sure big news for Ian, but why should this be something we all take note of? Because more and more Automattic is making slow and steady moves to become a company that could rival Google, Microsoft, or Apple in its importance to how we use computers and the Internet. See I read more into this short statement than just “I’m going to be working with cool people:”

ThemeShaper will become a public-facing blog for the Theme Team now assembling at Automattic. A place where we can help provide the best possible experience for everyone involved in WordPress theming; from the noobiest of beginners to the most powerful of WordPress wizards.
link: I’ve Joined Automattic

Something tells me that more is going on behind the scenes at Automattic, and I suspect that it’s very cool and very important to all of us.

Just look at the track record of what Automattic has been doing. First WordPress Multiuser was pulled into the core company which would then power WordPress.com. Then came VIP hosting, which by all accounts is worth the premium cost. Then came acquisitions like IntenseDebate, PollDaddy, BuddyPress, and others. Now with WordPress 3.0 due out this year, which means merging “regular” WordPress and WordPress Multiuser, I see Automattic becoming the hub of a very, very powerful content delivery engine.

Microsoft and Apple might make the computers and OSes we use to get to the Internet, but WordPress-powered sites provide a lot of the content. We might rely on Google for a lot of tools and for finding stuff, but a lot of that “stuff” is published on WordPress-powered sites. I could certainly see WordPress working on new tools, technologies, and platforms to enable more eBook publishing. Sure you can read blogs on a Kindle, but I bet there could be a better way. I bet Automattic might provide the plugin to do it.

By the way, I think this is all a very good thing.

While there are lots of blogging and content engines out there, I don’t see one that is pushing and innovating like WordPress and Automattic are. Google certainly isn’t making Blogger better. I haven’t read about an innovation from Six Apart that makes me think they are cooking up something interesting. Automattic, however, sees the talent within the WordPress community and supports it. Supports it with a job. Find someone who has made something really cool, then hire them so they can do it full-time and better.

Yeah, no doubt in my mind if Matt or Toni came knocking at my door and said “Tris, we’d like you to help lead education, training, and support at Automattic”, I probably wouldn’t have to think to long or hard at that decision.

While I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is that makes me think that there are big things in store for Automattic, my gut tells me there are.

I’m not a huge fan of working in offices anymore. Not only am I rather out of practice (only one year in the past 10 have I gone into an “office” everyday), but I find them one of the biggest anti-workplaces I know. I enjoy writing and working in a coffee shop more than an office. Why?

People.

In an office there are people (well, duh), but because there are people you have to abide by standard social norms. If someone calls your name, not responding is considered rather rude. Never answering your phone or not showing up to meetings is “not being a team player”. Yeah, great, but what about “getting work done”, when do I get to do that?

This video by 37Signals Jason Fried (which I found thanks to WebWorkerDaily—Why Modern Workplaces Don’t Work – WebWorkerDaily) tells it like it is. The “workplace” is the worst place to get work done.

When I need to write something, concentrate on something, think, read, or code (i.e. work) I need get into that mode and zone. I need some focus and some quiet, and not to be asked random questions or asked to look at something. So on go the noise-isolating earbuds— pretty much these ones in fact-Shure Sound Isolating In-Ear Earphones (SE115) – Red – Future Shop—and away goes the world.

Not quite up there on the “workplace etiquette” scale through.

So, what I suggest is something in between, let’s call it hiding in plain sight. Start with:

• Ignore IMs
• Book blocks of time “busy” on your calendar, which is really code for “I”m working don’t bug me.”
• Let your phone go to voicemail.
• Turn off audio notifications for email, etc.

Essentially turn the tables on your co-workers. Instead of attention, demand inattention. I know, this is extremely anti-social. With open-concept offices, someone is going to wander by (or throw something) or call out your name to get your attention. Here’s the thing, maybe have them watch Jason’s video. Ask your manager to consider having “standing meetings” where you don’t sit, you stand (pretty much guaranteed to make the meeting last about 20 mins max). Try to work on building a culture of working at work and giving people the time and space to work, instead of a culture of interruption.

Or, you can just work from home.

There were two semi-related bits of news yesterday that have the potential to give WordPress-powered blogs even more of an edge in Google search rankings. Two small changes that are going to change how we find and use information, and it all comes down to one word: PubSubHubbub (PuSH).

First we got word that all 10.5 million WordPress.com blogs would support not only RSSCloud but also PuSH. That’s a lot of blog content there. Enough to make a serious difference on its own. At the same time Automattic released the PuSHPress plugin to do the same for self-hosted WP blogs (which I promptly downloaded and activated, just like I did for RSSCloud). Sure alone this is major news (hence why RWW and others covered it—10.5 Million Wordpress Blogs Get PubSubHubbub), now WP.com blogs and those who install the plugin will now push their updates out to readers instead of forcing readers to come to them. Ah the real-time web, it’s getting richer and richer. So, while that is cool, it is trumped by the next bit of news…

Google is going to use PuSH to power real-time indexing and results—Google Index to Go Real Time. See the connection? Out of the box WP.com blogs are going to have a serious edge over most other blogs (I’m sure Blogger blogs will get PuSH soon too). A tight blogging network that stomps out spam blogs without mercy, that encourages great content, and now well tell Google immediately when there is new stuff? I think that’s a pretty powerful thing. Now, add to the mix all the self-hosted WP blogs? Man that has the potential to really influence Google results.

This doesn’t mean that people can be lazy with SEO, on the contrary, I think this should push people to take it more seriously. Look, you’re going to get your content right into the Google index, so making sure you use (good) categories, tags, and writing with keywords in mind only serves to push you higher in the results.

With tens (hundreds?) of millions of blogs pushing updates to Google, don’t you think that those results are going to get priority?

Granted, it shouldn’t take long before Blogger, MovableType, and TypePad have PuSH support as well, but let’s consider volume here. WordPress is poised to become the platform of choice for Google.

WordPress, powering the realtime web, with help from Google.

Very soon after I started blogging, I started using a blog editor to power up my blogging (and prevent the “aiiigghhh I lost my connection and my post!!!!” which was very common at conferences, still is actually). In those days I was using Qumana for the most part, which makes sense since I was a part of the company and helping guide the growth of the app.

For its time, Qumana was a fantastic blogging app. It was almost perfect (I was always pushing for more and better refinement), but Qumana has long dropped from my toolkit as it hasn’t really been updated in a long time. After Qumana, I used Windows Live Writer. Again, almost perfect and probably one of the few apps I miss since switching to a Mac.

Right now my app of choice is Blogo and it’s good enough, but maybe not as great as I’d like. I have ecto, and while it’s good, it lacks a few refinements and doesn’t seem to have any active development going on, which always concerns me when choosing (and paying for) an app. Yesterday I bought the MacHeist nano bundle and it comes with MacJournal, which has a post to blog function. All of which has made me wonder if there is a perfect (Mac) blog editor, and if there is does anyone care?

What got me thinking about this is Paisano’s post on WebWorkerDaily about the “death of blogging” and the iPad as its potential savior (is there anything that the iPad isn’t going to save?):

What’s the Problem?
I think part of the problem with blogs is that they are too static and dull. We need to infuse new life into blogs and make them more dynamic. Just as Flash added a freshness to web sites when it first appeared on the scene, we need to do something that will change the game for blogging.
The other part of the problem involves the incredible shrinking attention span of readers/viewers. Hollywood learned long again that motion pictures need to reach out and grab the audience right away within the first 10 minutes or else its opening weekend will be its last. That’s why most movies look and feel like music videos these days. Quick cut editing and special effects reign supreme. Even the publishing industry has taken its queue from the movie industry and insist that its authors write tighter and more exciting stories.
link: The Future of Blogging – WebWorkerDaily

The key here is the writing part of the blogging problem. I have now three apps for writing and note taking. Between Scrivener, where I do most of my book writing and a lot of other writing as well, Yojimbo, where I gather a lot of the links and such researching for books, etc., and MacJournal, which I haven’t really tried yet, I have a lot of potential blogging firepower, but little practical connections.

I can easily gather a ton of stuff in Yojimbo (I love it’s drop-tab area), but I can’t pull it together and publish from there (easily). I can write my brains out in Scrivener (which I do), and I can pull in a lot of stuff into it, but not as easily as Yojimbo, but I can’t publish directly to any of my blogs. The best I’ve been able to do is write it and copy and paste. I still have to add links and images to finish off the posts. MacJournal … well it might be able to post to my blog (I haven’t tried yet), but the whole collecting of stuff part is lacking.

Then comes the critical question—does anyone really care?

I can’t remember the last time I saw someone using an editor (someone who I hadn’t shown the benefits of blog editors, btw) to post to their blog. Everyone just logs into their blog and posts directly. What if you can’t get online? Oh well. I guess it will have to wait.

See, I think that the how people post influences what they will post and the quality of the end result as well. Look at the default post area in WordPress 2.9.2:

That is not a lot of area to post in. It is confined and cramped. Yes, I know that you can make the post area bigger, but we’re talking defaults here (and most people never change the default settings). Don’t you think that small area leads to shorter posts? Here is the default posting area of Blogo (and this very post!):

Huge difference, eh? Lots of room. Space to see ideas develop. I think one of the ways we can all improve blogging is working with better tools to improve our writing.

Now, I just wish I could find it.

It’s well worth noting that on of the early versions of Qumana was built on a semantic note-taking principle and you could easy mix and match different things you dropped into to make a post (or other documents as well).

What I’d really like is the writing interface of Scrivener coupled with the drag and drop into a notes area (with tags) like Yojimbo and being able to post as easily as Blogo. Anyone?

little verify code for a beta site:

EAVB_CFKCXLHDBL

I’ve been glued to Olympic coverage pretty much since the opening ceremonies. I’ve been following a lot of sports and watching as much as I can. During this time I’ve seen the entire range of human emotions. People winning and losing. Achieving their personal bests as well as performances they rather forget.

I paused to consider the success I’ve had thus far in life and the people I know who are also successful in what they do in terms of the Olympics. I’m pretty sure that the chances of me ever making it to the Olympics, much less getting a medal, are slim to none, but in terms of what I do their is no reason what I can’t reach my own podium. Think about what you do. Think about what you want to do really well. Now think about watching Olympic calibre athletes.

The first thing I noticed is that they are so good that their performances seem effortless. That sliding down a sheet of ice on little more than some tubes and plastic at 140+ km/hr is just another thing to do. That skating around for 4 minutes, gliding, spinning, lifting your partner into the air with style and grace…just like you’d do that anywhere, anytime.

The next thing I noticed was that these competitors are laying everything on the line. It’s the cliché “it all comes down to one moment…” saying. A half-hearted effort gets half-hearted results.

So how often do we do that for ourselves?

What in our lives can we put down and say…I do this because I love it and every time I step up to the plate, I’m swinging for the fences. I know that no one can say they feel that way all of the time. Even these champions we’re watching have days where they’d rather do anything other than their sport.

But that feeling doesn’t last long, does it?

Maybe it’s because I’ve entered middle-age that I am looking for those things that inspire and push me to be better at what I do.

Notice that I haven’t said “work” or “blogging” or anything like that thus far.

And certainly I can apply all of what I’m talking about to both my personal and professional life.

I think we can all look at these athletes not with “wow I couldn’t ever do that” but with “wow I can do that in my own life…”

Now, when does your Olympic training begin? Tomorrow?

It’s pretty well known that I’m a huge fan of mind mapping and am a very visual learner. It’s also well know that school wasn’t easy for me growing up. Yes, I did well, but there were times I thought Chemistry and pre-calculus were going to be the death of me. Even through undergrad and grad school many things (again Chemistry) didn’t come easily to me. Oh how I wish I knew then what I know now about myself and my brain.

I wonder if I had been helped to hone the learning skills I had, instead of trying to shoe horn myself into the expectations of how to study. I think most teachers agree that everyone learns a little differently, but when trying to teach a class you have to aim for the middle to try to help the most kids you can. In my classes I know that when I go over something that most of the students are going to get it, but I also know that I’m going to need to review with some folks. I don’t look at it as they don’t get it or that I didn’t teach it well, I think of it as just needing to adjust to that person’s learning style.

It’s one of those times when I’m happy that I’m not a “traditional” learner, since often I had to learn what I’m teaching completely differently—even differently than I teach the same thing.

All of this was inspired by this post on those people who are fast learners:

The Way We Were Taught to Learn is Broken
Children are imaginative, creative and, in many ways, the epitome of this rapid learning strategy. Maybe it’s the current school system, or maybe it’s just a consequence of growing up, but most people eventually suppress this instinct.
The sad truth is that the formal style of learning, makes learning less enjoyable. Chemistry, mathematics, computer science or classic literature should spawn new ideas, connections in the mind, exciting possibilities. Not only the right answers for a standardized test.
The irony is that maybe if that childlike, informal way of learning came back, even just in part, perhaps more people would succeed on those very tests. Or at least enjoyed the process of learning.
link: How I Was Able to Ace Exams Without Studying | Zen Habits

I know it’s nearly impossible for teachers to adapt to all types of learners, but I think we need to be more flexible and find ways to help people who learn differently. Maybe trying to encourage different ways of connecting ideas or remembering concepts, bringing visual tools into play…the field is open.

Myself, once I figured out that the “regular” ways of doing things didn’t work for, things fell into place. Too bad I figured it all out after I finished school.

Your ever wonder how people keep blogging for years? Decades? It isn’t because these people just never run out of things to say. Okay, maybe some of them don’t ever run out of things to say, but for the most part I think it’s the community they build around their blogs that keeps driving them. Community doesn’t equal traffic either. Community can be the loyal following of a few people who comment on most of your posts. Who inspire you and help refill the creativity well when it runs dry. Community includes the people who you read day after day who add into your stream of ideas.

Not to mention those people who won’t mind if your post is a little short, because the rest of this idea is just escaping me right now…

Wow times have changed. Once the world’s third largest blog network, b5media is certainly on a deathwatch now with today’s shuttering of the entire Entertainment Channel to launch Crushable.com—B5media To Launch New Celebrity Site Wednesday, Bathed In Fired Blogger Blood, Mass Firings At b5media: Entire Entertainment Network Shut, The end of b5media—and it isn’t the concentration of bloggers into a super channel that is the problem, it’s that b5 has lost vision and credibility in social media.

I worked at b5 as a blogger, channel editor, and then the training manager. I loved (most) of my time working at b5 and the one thing I could always count on was Jeremy shooting straight and telling people what he could when he could. Today I’ve checked the b5 site several times for some comment, anything, on a very public blogger bloodletting, there’s nothing there. The last news post: October 9, 2009 announcing the new CEO. The last blog post July 16, 2009! The fact that the woman who was critical to building the b5 entertainment channel Arieanna Schweber had no warning, no information, not even an idea if she still had a job, is just mind boggling.

The key people at b5 always knew what was coming ahead of time. Even by just a little, they knew. This is a sign that a company has lost heart and lost vision.

Now I’m afraid that b5media has just put the nail in the coffin of their own relevance within the blogosphere and social media. Not long ago working at b5 media meant that you knew your shit. From the developers to the bloggers, the people who were there were some of the people who helped shape not only b5, but social media over all. People who not only wrote about blogging, but helped to build the platform (WordPress) as well.

Now? Not so much.

Today b5media isn’t on the forefront, it’s a backwater. The saddest part is that it didn’t need to be. You see that I think that the plan to consolidate the individual channel blogs into super topic blogs was and is a smart one. The wheels were in motion to do this when I was still there in June 2008. It was smart then, but now b5 has lost momentum. I don’t think about b5 when I think about cutting edge commentary or content. I follow a lot of blogs and even more sources on Twitter and very rarely does a post from a b5 site ping up on the radar.

Yes, the drop in ad revenue hurt badly. Yes, there were structural issues that needed to be fixed. However, look at sites like GigaOm and ReadWriteWeb, niche players who tapped into the talent they had to launch subscription services. There was more than enough talent at b5 to do that not long ago.

Now? Not so much.

It’s really sad to see bungled communication that has now cast a pall over what might have been a great entertainment site. It’s a bungle that even if it happened during Jeremy’s watch, he would have owned up to it and talked about it. Even just to say sorry.

I think that it’s only a matter of time before b5media starts to fire sale it’s online assets and fades away. And I don’t think that time is very long from now.

I hit a big milestone tonight with Using WordPress, reaching the 75% mark finishing writing chapter 13 tonight. I still have to format them in the Pearson Word style, take some screenshots, and record the audio-video parts, but the hardest part is done. This book has certainly been a whirlwind thus far, a huge difference from Create Your Own Blog. There is a bit of an unknown to manage–when WordPress 3.0 comes out and how much of the book will I need to update.

I knew this would be part of the juggling act with this book. I planned for WordPress 2.9 and the new image editor, but I know that WordPress 3.0 brings the merging of WordPress and WordPress MU. Options?

Well I could ignore it like it isn’t going to happen shortly after I’m to finish handing in chapters, but that isn’t a terribly professional thing to do. The smarter thing, which is exactly what I’m doing, is playing with WP 3.0-alpha. Thus far you wouldn’t notice much of a difference (if any at all) between WordPress 2.9 and 3.0 except for the little extra menu item under Tools:

WordPress 3.0 alpha New Blog Network Settings (click for full size)

Yes, this is the merging of WordPress and WordPress MU. How easy is it to make the switch? Pretty painless. After this screen, you get a second screen (the change over is actually complete already) to paste in a new wp-config and new .htaccess info.

Is this ready for non-devs (or authors) to use? Nope. I still have to work out a couple issues on the multi-user version that I have running already. However, I am happy that what I’m seeing right now (with the exception of the very cool looking new default theme) isn’t going to force a major re-write of any chapters nor cause me to have a minor stroke in the process.

Also, thanks to the exceptionally patient folks in the WP dev IRC channel for answering my question (and a little OT banter).