Nollind Whachell

Below is an email I sent to David Weinberger back on Feb 28, 2002 due to a flurry of thoughts that I woke up with in the middle of the night at 2 AM on Feb 27, 2002. While we were both interested in these thoughts that seemed to just flow out of me in a torrent that morning, we really couldn’t figure out the importance of them, although David strongly suggested I read Chris Locke’s book on Gonzo Marketing which I did. I am reposting these notes today because I keep seeing things today that keep relating back to these thoughts I had so long ago. For example, a lot of the words I use in my notes below, such as “energy” and “flow”, have remarkably strong connections to my current research on permaculture and how I believe it relates to the Web as well.

—-

David,

Instead of trying to reword and make my notes pretty, which seems to just confuse me even more, I’ve decided to just dump everything here in raw form for you to see.  This is pretty much exactly word for word my scribblings from yesterday morning.  For you to make sense of some of it, here are some assumptions you need to know first.  Take note that when I reread my scribblings, I was even confused at some of the stuff that I wrote, as it just seemed to flow out of me.

Also, if some of what I’m saying sounds confusing, ask me, and I’ll see if I can explain it better.  If some of it makes a lot of sense to you and gives you a “leap”, I’d obviously like to hear that as well.  In a conversation about it, hopefully more things will emerge.

Actually, I almost wish I didn’t go to work yesterday because more ideas were coming out of my head which solidified what I scribbled down even more.  By this I mean, the more holes I tried to make in it, the more I solidified it.  However, since I didn’t have a notepad and was getting into work, I decide to shut my brain off to it and hoped to pick up later.  Unfortunately, the flow disappeared and I forgot what I thought about walking into work.  Hopefully, though, as I said above, a conversation on what I scribbled down will stimulate it again.  We’ll see.

Nollind

—-

[assumptions]

Word: Below
Example Usage: “The sites below you.”
Explanation:  I realize the Web is not hierarchal because of links get rid of hierarchies.  By below, I mean the sites that link to you.

Word: Above
Example: “The sites above you.”
Explanation: Refers to sites that you link to.

Word: Power/Energy
Example: “It is a very powerful site.”
Explanation:  I’m assuming this refers to the level of interest, attraction, or maybe even traffic of the site.

Word: Flow
Example: “The flow of energy between sites.”
Explanation: No idea why I used this word.  It just seemed right at the time.

——-

[start]

[1]

A powerful site has a lot of other sites connected to it but more importantly those other sites have high “connectivity” of their own.  When such a site connects to another site, it shares its power to the other site and they both increase in power.

Recently Added Notes: Connections are what is is all about. The more connected something is, the more powerful it is.

[2]

A weak site has no power, even though it is linked to, because if the sites linking to it are not linked themselves, then no “flow” is created.

[3]

Is the Web like a body or organism?  Is it is kept alive and made stronger by this “flow” of interests?

[4]

Google says that your sites rating is based on how many sites connect to your site.  The more sites connecting to your site the higher your rating.  The higher your rating, the more powerful your site is.

Recently Added Notes: Again this ties in with being connected. The more connected we are, the better we feel, the more we can do, the more awareness we have about the things going on around us.

[5]

The beauty of the Web is that you gain more power by giving, not by hoarding or controlling/looping the flow of energy inside.  When this happens, the energy dwindles and eventually dies.  Constant flow with the Web as a whole needs to be maintained to maintain a strong and vital energy for a site.

Recently Added Notes: Connectedness isn’t just about everyone pointing at you but what you point at as well (as you are bringing awareness to others). That’s why highly connected sites are so popular (i.e. search engines, Boing Boing, etc).

[6]

When a large site flows its energy to a smaller unknown site, a huge amount of power is transferred to the smaller site.  Yet, if the “interest” of the smaller site is high then the energy of the larger site is increased as well because the people going to it know it is a good power/starting point for finding interesting things, particularly those of particular interest to them.  Thus more people will converge on the site.

[7]

This is why good search engines are so important and visited by people as a starting point because it is more likely that you will find something of better interest there then anywhere else.  Search engines are extremely powerful points on the Web.  This is why people go to them.

[8]

Search engines like Google make money by taking ads because companies want a higher interest rating to their site which means more power to them.  Google knows sites with power without people even having to use Google.

Recently Added Notes: Awareness network. People create links to bring awareness to something and thus make it connected. Sustainable.

Advertising of the future will provide connections or links that are meaningful instead of meaningless. They won’t just be links off a site but will instead show a direct correlation and context between connector and connectee. We are taking a step closer to this with Googles Adsense. Ads on sites now relate somewhat to what you are talking about. Talking about games? Then your ads will probably be related to games. Ads of the future will take a step further though. Instead of getting ads for just any game, ads of the future will tie in directly with what you are talking about. Talking about Half-Life 2 and how great it is then all the adds on the your site will relate to Half-Life 2. It needs to go farther than this though. The ads need to be specific and define by the person talking, so that he can show the ads that are in context with his discussion. Amazon Affiliates programs works like this to a degree. I can specifically create my own ads for items that I think relate to and matter to my content. Even more so, Amazon only pays me money when an actually product is sold.

Can Google do this? Yet how can Google show a valid interest and connection with their site? Sure if someone buys a product off their site then the link should be paid back for their help. But what if a sale isn’t made? How do you define if someone is actually interested in site? Even more so, how do you prevent this determination method from being abused (i.e. continually clicking link to site)?

[9]

Companies are paying Google to pay other sites to link to them. (?)  Why would a company pay to support a site?  Because in supporting that site, they are supporting their own.  By giving to those under you, you strengthen yourself.  Therefore, in the same way  a gaming company would support a large fan site, so too will the large fan site support smaller fan sites unde
r it, especially those that are doing well with higher interest ratings, as they will help the large site even more.  This sustainability is bestowed to those below you by yourself which is self replicating.  (Like a virus?)

Recently Added Notes: The first sentence of “Companies are paying Google to pay other sites to link to them” is definitely confusing.  Not sure why I wrote this. I think it may have something to do with the fact that I saw companies paying Google to link to them thru advertisements and I thought that these communites should  be able to get a cut of this money because they themselves link to the companies as well (but get nothing in return for their support).

[10]

Although support is passed down to those sites under you, that support doesn’t always have to be cash based.  It could be services based or another form.  PlanetQuake (www.planetquake.com) offers hosted sites a wide variety of services in exchange for increased interest to its site.  So why pay cash to someone below you?  It all depends if you want as much power/energy from that site as possible.  If you pay them cash, you not only support the site, you support the people running the site.  This means they can dedicate more of their time on their Web site (almost to the point of being a full time job).  When they have full dedication to the site, it makes their site better and in return makes your site better (as higher interests are passed upwards).

[11]

So a gaming company spending their advertising money instead on fan sites under them will benefit in multiple ways.  Not only will they benefit from the loyalty and gratitude of the fan site they help, they will in return get more attraction to themselves (which is what they want in the first place).

Gaming companies would want to support gaming news sites as well, since Blues News (www.bluesnews.com) and Voodoo Extreme (www.voodooextreme.com) promote more new daily traffic than anyone else for them.  Imagine if companies who were frequently linked by Blues News paid him each $100/month?  Can you imagine what he could do with this site?

[12]

About maintain integrity.  Its not about placing an ad to get/promote attraction, its about paying sites for their existing attraction.

Sites can take money to place a link but it should more about supporting/paying for those who link freely.  People know BS when they see it.  If you place a bad link on your site, it affects your site’s interest rating (as you turn people off).  Maintaining high quality links is more important.

[13]

This is why search engines like Google place more emphasis on maintaining the integrity of their site listings as it will maintain a higher user interest to their search engine.

[14]

What about companies that don’t have sites under it to support it?  Then they need to start creating conversations around themselves to help promote the creation of such sites.  In doing so, they create more interest and attraction to themselves.

[15]

Money crosses over from the Real World to the Web World.  Companies that have high attraction make money from Real World products or services.  This helps support the sites under them in the Web World.  At the same time, a site in the Web World can be successful enough to support things in the Real World.

[end]

Note to self. Stop hyping things. I wanted to make a note of that because I keep talking about things I’m planning on doing and being all secretive about them but, in actual fact, these things really aren’t that big a deal. Why? Because as I said before, what I’m talking about here is a change of thinking instead of a change of technology. There is no fancy new interface or design. It is just the same content but represented in a different way.

So what’s my change of approach? Well I’ve been talking repeatedly about how I don’t like the format of blogging, that you have to keep grinding the wheel daily to make a blog successful. Well, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to live 24/7 online. However, I do want to get my ideas online so that people can access them and spread them to other people if they find them interesting. Most importantly of all (which is why I went off the deep end in frustration for a couple of days) is that I’d like for my site to sustain me so that I can continue sharing my ideas with others. I believe I can now do this with an approach that Seth Godin calls a NowBlog which he mentions in his latest e-book called Squidoo that also happens to be the name of his new online venture.

Sometimes we need a starting point, not a movie. We need a nowblog.

TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW.

Point me in the right direction.

Put all the clues on the table at once. Tell me at a glance whether I can trust you and how I can discover the meaning I seek. That’s what most Web surfers want.

That’s what everyone often wants.

And that’s been missing from the Web.

We need a nowblog. A place where a stranger can go to get insight and meaning—and then leave that site and go somewhere else. Leave to go back to work, or leave to read your best blog posts, or leave to go transact somewhere else online.

A nowblog is a place, the best place to start. I call this place a lens.

So, here’s the deal: I want you to go build some lenses.

Now when I read this, I immediately realized that Seth had literally read my mind. This is what I had been looking for and I immediately understood the importance and impact of his new approach. Instead of creating a blog where you’re talking about a topic over and over again repeatedly, until the cows come home, with a nowblog you are creating just a single page that focuses on a single topic. In my case, each post within my nowblog will be a single topic that I will talk about and reference as much as I can but also as briefly as I can. Remember the trick here is to make these pages like a focused overview of the topic with which to start from. I guess you could almost think of them as mini-Google pages or at least the search results you would like to see back from Google. Therefore, not only will I briefly describe what the topic is about and my own viewpoint on it but I will also be providing links to an assortment of other things related to the topic. It could be links to books, movies, podcasts, news articles, websites, or whatever! The key is to create your own cluster for the topic that interests you.

Ok, so you’re thinking what’s the big deal? I just create a page with a bunch of links on them surrounding a topic? That’s it? Not at all, the important thing is the richness of those links. Remember the key here is to "polish" these "lenses" occasionally, as Seth calls them, so that they become extremely well focused on the topic they are pointing at. Of course, the more focused and rich your links are, instead of just being a random collection of links on the topic, the better your "lens" will be and the more traffic will come through it (because of your higher PageRank). So instead of creating a blog where you are continually broadcasting something different everyday, with a nowblog you are instead refining your single topic at your convenience. As I said in my previous post, this totally reminded me of tending a garden. You plant the seeds and let the garden grow naturally, tending it occasionally with some "weeding" and "grooming" now and then. This is exactly the type of approach that I’ve been looking for. Not only because it means less daily work but it also allows me to start doing something I’ve always dreaded doing but which this new approach allows me to do in a more logical and natural way. What’s that? Advertising!

You see I hate advertising! Yet obviously it is a necessity if you want to create a sustainable site and, more importantly, a profession out of working the Web. The thing that I have always hated about advertising though is that it was so intrusive and most often times unrelated to what I was searching for or reading at the time. I mean I could be reading about computers and up pops an advertisement for a new car. Get the hell out of my face! I didn’t ask for this crap! Yet what I realized when I read Seth’s idea is that this is the perfect opportunity for advertising to become so focused that it actually becomes the content and focus of what you are talking about. And course when that happens, no more annoying ads (well as long as they aren’t flashing in your face) because the content becomes the ad which is what the person wants to read or view. Here’s a quick example of what I mean. One of the my nowblog topics is going to be the culture of the Web and how it is transforming not only the culture of business but the culture of the world as well. Now after I give a summary of what this topic entails, all of the information below it will relate and hopefully justify my beliefs on my topic. For example, the origins of this idea sprung from The Cluetrain Manifesto, were later discussed somewhat in Small Pieces Loosely Joined, and then were even touched upon in Gonzo Marketing. Therefore, in putting these books down as "related books on this topic" I’m actually helping the person coming to my nowblog find and discover more about this topic of interest. However, what I’m doing is actually advertising because these books I’m showing will include links to Amazon.com which will allow the person to purchase the book if they so choose.

I mean think about this for second with other topics. What if you loved gardening and knew a way to grow a beautiful one compared to others? What if you love baking pies and all your friends rave about them? Can you see what I’m getting at here? For the person who bakes amazing pies, they could not only list some of their recipes from their blog but they could list their favorites sites (where they got their best cooking tips) as well as list various links to cooking utensils or pans that they use that make a big difference in their cooking and of course some of their favorite cooking books. The key here is to make the ads as directly related to your topic so that, as I said, they no longer become ads. They instead become things that people will actually be looking for. I mean already I’m thinking about creating a specific nowblog for Harman Kardon stereo equipment that I myself own which will provide articles links (that I’m aware of myself in using the product) that talk about the ups and downs of the equipment and allow me to place direct ads to the products that I think are my personal choices or recommendations.

Anyways, I’m raring to go! Obviously "planting the garden" with these nowblogs is the hard work but afterwards it is just a matter of "tending the garden" now and then, "weeding" out mediocre links for better ones that come along.

Oops, sorry! That’s not true! Gordon Campbell doesn’t discriminate like George Bush does! You see Gordon Campbell doesn’t care about children in general (at least in British Columbia anyways)!

Sorry but I have to rant about this fricken idiot premier especially in light of the recent BC teacher’s strike. All I hear about is how great the provincial government is because they "care" about students while the teachers don’t care because they are on strike. Man, I wish the media would grab a fricken brain! Why the hell do you think the teachers are on strike in the first place you moronic twits! Focus on the real issues here! They are on strike and are complaining about the situation because they do CARE about the kids they are teaching. Why is the media pushing so much about parents having to come up with daycare for their kids? How about asking those parents if they care about their child getting a good education? I mean stop worrying about that kid being out of school for a couple of weeks and start looking at the long term consequences of that child’s poor education because of a system that is falling apart.  I mean do you honestly believe that getting teachers back to work and for them not to strike again in future is going to make everything better? The system is still screwed Gordie. Only thing different is that the teacher’s can no longer force you to do something about it, since they are no longer allowed to strike.

So what’s my point here? Well if Gordie CARES so much, then let’s see him put his money where his mouth is? Fine don’t give the teachers a raise to finally put them on par with the increase in inflation over the years but what about investing money in the education system Gordie to reduce class sizes and restock school supplies that are almost a non-existent joke? Why do you think kids, parents, and teachers are always on fund drives? You said you wanted BC to have the best education system, right? Well, you got this surplus Gordie. What the frick is your problem? Too busy spending money on giving raises to your own members?

I kid you not. Wait a couple of years. You will see a few things happening due to the idiocy of this government. You will see teaching conditions continually getting worse and you will see less people getting into the teaching profession because of that fact. People go into teaching because they have this idea in their head of what teaching should be (i.e. helping kids). Once they get in and have to deal with the bullshit politics of less and less funding each year for them to do their job then they will say enough bullshit and leave. I mean, how do you think you’d feel in the same situation if no one gave a shit about you and they just said "Shut up, quit complaining, and just do your job!" That’s pretty much what Gordie’s doing right now. Making something an essential service doesn’t mean that you care. It means that you don’t have to care anymore because those people in that profession can’t complain anymore about the conditions they are working within (well other than to quit that is or move to another province where teachers and the education system are treated much better). Way to go Gordie! Your doing a great job of driving teachers out of our education system you moron! Nice way to greet someone after five or six years of university education, with the hopes of getting into a professional career, you idiot!

Oh but don’t worry! I predict that Gordie will come charging in on his white steed to save the day near election time. I’m sure you’ll hear a big announcement by then of the provincial government investing lots of money into the education system (but he probably still won’t give teacher’s shit for the cost of inflation that they’ve had to deal with themselves over the years). All his cronies will pat him on the back and he’ll hand out raises again for everyone in his cabinet. You rule Gordie!

Oh and as for breaking the law, give me a break. They made up the law and passed it immediately so that the teacher’s strike would immediately be made illegal. I mean I’d love to create my own law that says idiotic premiers should be arrested and jailed for life, pass the law today, and get Gordie thrown in jail tomorrow but that would be idiotic wouldn’t it? This law, that was just passed, is no less idiotic.

Related Web Articles:
Why B.C. teachers are leaving their classrooms
How are you coping with no school?
Teacher Dropout Rates Escalate
The New School War
Defiant Teachers Stick To Their Guns

Oh ya! I’m back baby! And this time I think for good. So why the change of heart and mood? Because I think I’ve finally figured out a way where I can talk about everything I want to talk about (in other words, the things that matter most to me) without blogging my head off everyday (because I’m sick of talking about the same thing over and over again). Even better, I think this new approach may even be able to support me financially assuming I take the right path with it. I’ll talk more about this later but one more thing before I go. This journal will now become sort of like my site news and thus will probably be only updated on occasion from now on. The "meat" of my site will lay elsewhere. And hopefully if all goes well, I’ll be able to relaunch by Monday (at least that is the plan). Stay tuned…if you can put up with me that is.

Cya around! Uh, maybe.

James Torio’s thesis entitled Blogs: A Global Conversation (via Doc Searls).

It’s good to remember people complain about things they care about and are interested in. Companies should only be afraid when customers are not saying anything at all.

And therefore you can say that since I’ve complained about a hell of a lot in the past, it is only because I cared a hell of a lot. I mean if I didn’t care, why complain right?

One of the reasons I spent so much time researching my ideas and sharing them on this weblog was that I hoped it would eventually lead to getting a job with someone. I assumed that once people read my ideas, they would see that I was passionate about them and would want to hire that passion to work on projects of a similar nature (i.e. building online communities, social software, etc).

Well not only did no one take interest in hiring me but very few took interest in what I had to say, at least as far as I can tell anyways because very few people care to comment on my ideas and thoughts on my site. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m too far out there with my thoughts or what, as I’m usually talking about future thinking stuff. I mean I’ve even considered removing the "comments" link from posts because I mean what’s the fricken point right if barely anyone is commenting? Anyways, I’ll keep them in for now to see if my radical deviation in flight trajectory has peaked anyone’s interest at all.

And finally I’ve decided what the hell, I’ll throw up my resume (ZIP’d PDF 57K) online as well to let people take a look at it. Personally I think it’s crap and doesn’t justify what I’ve done in the past. So why not just change it? Because that’s the hard part. How do I show that I’m more of an idea person than a technological person? Resumes usually focus on showing off your technological skill sets but that isn’t my greatest strength. My greatest ability seems to come from being able to help a company solve problems throughout the entire company (not just with web development work) by coming up with ideas that provide solutions for them. For example, here’s an excerpt I sent to someone in an email about what I did in my last major role within a company.

Now the strange thing to note is that my transition to Senior Web Developer while happening quickly, almost occurred naturally (which is why the official title came later). In addition, as I’ll explain below, it is also why I had so many other official and unofficial titles in the company. You see I became the unofficial team lead first because people naturally seemed to gravitate to me for advice and guidance with regards to problems or doubts they may have been having. It wasn’t like I was looking to be the team lead (or even thinking about it). I instead just focused on helping as many people in the company as I could because that’s what I liked doing. And this is why I later got titles like Usability & Community Architect and also became a Business Advisor for the company as well. Actually management themselves were even having a difficult time because they couldn’t figure out what the hell to give me as a single title because I did so many things for them besides just web work. For example, a typical day for me might be doing my own web work, helping other developers with their own work, making recommendations to the Project Manager on a course of action on an existing project as well as stating the needed requirements of information for upcoming projects, assisting staff with computer/printer problems, setting up computers for new staff members, assisting management with creating a streamlined operations process, doing research on new upcoming web technologies and software, assisting the marketing people in reviewing their client proposals, counselling people with regards frustrations they were having at a company level, and, most importantly of all, helping in guiding the overall direction and goals of the company. And that’s only the stuff I can remember off the top of my head. 🙂

Now the really funny thing in all of this is that people would always tell me that I’m an amazingly talented individual. Um, whoopdie do! What good is talent if it can’t be utilized? That’s pretty much how I feel like right now. I’ve got all these ideas in my head and there is no outlet for them. I would love to work with others on projects but I need to get paid so I can pay the bills. That pretty much scratches out working with just a few individuals on our own because everyone would have to support themselves till the project came to fruitition. Therefore, my only real option left is to go work a company. And again we’re right back where we started. How do I show my ability and talent on a resume when I have a hard time trying to explain it myself? I can sit there and tell stories about myself all day which is exactly what I would love to do because those stories help communicate what I did better than a resume ever could. Grrr, it’s so frustrating. I’m sick of this. Oh well, whatever. Back to getting a part-time job again I guess to tie me over till I can find something better.

I’m sick of this. Blogging that is. Or maybe more aptly what it should be. From now I’m going to write whatever I have on my mind. Therefore, as noted in my sidebar warning, please feel free to jump ship anytime you’d care to because it may be a bumpy ride ahead.

First off. I’m depressed. No I’m not suicidal or anything. Craig is though. Which is why I went over to talk to him on his site. And in talking to him, in letting out my own feelings, I realized what I had to do. I had to start opening up and just letting all the crap that’s been building up inside of me out.

I’m sick of how I’m supposed to blog in a certain way for the convenience of everyone else. This site is for myself first and foremost. I love and value hearing people’s feedback on things that I write about but you just have to realize that I’m unloading all of my thoughts and feelings more for myself than for you.

Second of all I’m totally sick of how people seem to keep raving about how technology (i.e. Web 2.0) is going to make the world a better place. It isn’t technology that is going to change the world, it is people like you and me that are going to do it. Therefore, if you’re looking for more posts on technology you probably won’t find many here in future. I’ll be sticking to my ideas more than technological plumbing as much as possible from now on.

Anyways, I have no idea where I’m going to go from here but, as I said above, get ready for a bumpy ride.

How’d you sleep?

Sweet dreams…