DavidCary

David Cary

Welcome to the Visual Language wiki. Have fun. Play nice.

I am David Cary, the first editor of the Visual Language wiki.

LionKimbro set up the hardware and software for me. You can help by adding content.

2004-10: trip to Europe. See http://wikitravel.org/en/article/User:DavidCary for details.

2005: I'm back.

todo

make some sort of "promotion" or "evangelism" (LinkBuddy ?) webpage here. What should I name it ? That page lists websites that "should" link to Visual Wiki, and what day the webmaster was most recently contacted (or "soon" if someone probably should contact them). In particular: http://visualpractitioner.org/resources/websites.htm should point here (perhaps directly to VisualPractitioner ). But I don't think anyone has contacted that webmaster yet.
make "WishList" page
Check User:DavidCary
make http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?VisualLanguage point here.
make promised edits to http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?VisualLanguage .
make edits I promised to make at DavidCary
check out SVG examples: http://www.mycgiserver.com/~amri/samples.html ; add a link to the "rotating globe" section to EarthMap.
try out SodiPodi http://www.sodipodi.com/
read The Humane Interface book by Jef Raskin about human interface design, or at least the associated website: http://humane.sourceforge.net/
Check out the graphical algorithms on other wiki, such as http://developers.coedit.net/ProcessingImagesAndVideo
Check the TitleIndex here.
split off the "links vs. ideas" discussion on this DavidCary page onto its own page.

WikiMailBox

Feel free to leave comments at the bottom of this page. ( WikiMailBox ).

Unless, of course, you want to talk about the site license (TheLicense ? WikiLicense ?). This site is currently Public domain, but that could change tomorrow. (Alas, http://wikilegal.wiki.taoriver.net/moin.cgi/VisualWikiLicense is offline at the moment -- 2005-05-10)

Logo Contest Conversation

Dear LionKimbro: I'm a little disappointed that only 1 person has submitted a logo so far. Go ahead and stick this one up as the logo. I'll probably change it later. But I think this wiki is exactly the right place to discuss what it is that makes a good logo, and the importance of simple familiarity with the old logo, vs. switching to a technically superior logo. (How do I stick a copy of this logo over on page LogoContest, so people can see all the proposed logos even after we switch from one to another ?) -- DavidCary

Don't be disappointed- it takes time for wiki to start. It's only been around for, what, 2 weeks? 3 weeks? That's a very tiny time, for a new wiki.

Use this time without other people around to your advantage- you can structure the site how you want, and get the ball going in directions that you like. You can figure things out.

If you're eager for people now, tell people about the wiki. There are myriad social wiki and mailing lists and newsgroups out there. Go to them, and post a note telling what a wiki is, and that this is a wiki for visual language (and associated concepts.) Find where other people are, who are interested in the same thing, and tell them about it. Be available, and be seen. Keep track (here!) of the various places you advertise to, and check back up on them. Link them. Be courteous, informal, and respectful. Advertise only in places where people are interested.

Also, don't forget off-line groups as well. You likely have friends who are interested in visual language- no? Tell them about the site.

But if I were you, I would only be doing a little of that kind of stuff, right now. I'd definitely post a note to Usenet groups, and to related pages on various wiki. (For example: VisualLanguage should probably feature a note saying "there's a wiki dedicated to this stuff over at http blahblahblah..") But I wouldn't go more aggressive than that.

Your primary work, right now, I think, would be to research things about visual language that interest you, and then write them up here. Or, just write what you know. Or, just write what you don't know. But write - write about visual language.

Telling other wiki about visual language is like staking a "claim." Writing the initial pages ("seeding" the wiki) is like making something here interesting, setting up a little town. Then, you can more seriously advertise, and when people come here, they'll have something to think about, chew on, and ultimately: Interact with.

When I said that this was "your wiki," I meant: You'll be the one primarily doing this kind of labor. It's a lot of work. If it's not something that you want to do, that's okay- it's totally fine.

I'd do it, but I don't have the time to do all the upkeep and organizing and integration and advertising and stuff like that. I love the subject, and think it's worth doing. I just happen to be busy with Inter-Wiki, and Wiki Nodes, and Wiki Features, and CommunityWiki, and MoinMoin, etc., etc.,. (As well as: family, work, etc.,.)

My immediate contract is almost up, and so I'll have more time to work on things. Maybe I'll be able to put more time into the Visual wiki. But the point is- this is your labor right now.

Okay- as for the logo:

HelpOnActions/AttachFile tells you how to link to attachments on other pages- do familiarize yourself with HelpOnEditing. And, don't forget that you can search the entire wiki for a word. (I found HelpOnActions/AttachFile by putting "attachments" into the search box.)

Alternatively, you can download it from the FrontPage, and upload it to the other page.

Okay- got a lot of things to do. Today's been quite a day so far..!

-- LionKimbro

We're moving right along. I still have more stuff on my static web pages that I plan to move to this wiki.

I've already fired off email to a few personal friends who I thought would be interested.

Keeping a list of the various places I advertise on is probably a good idea. Keeping that list here is an excellent idea.

Hang on, let me open a window to C2 ... OK, I've added a link to VisualLanguage . (Well, look at that -- there's a note with my name on it. I'd forgotten my promise to refactor that page at C2.)

-- DavidCary

[note moved to http://firstwiki.org/index.php/User_talk:Max ]

other WikiMailBox

(conversation moved to User_talk:KuniShiro http://www.symbolwiki.org/index.php/User_talk:KuniShiro )

You can do free links in MoinMoin like this: This is ["a free link"] in the middle here.

-- LionKimbro

long collections of links

Say, David. A lot of these pages are just long collections of links.

I have an idea. Keep compiling collections of links, but put them in special pages- end the page name with "Links."

So for example, instead of "FontsAndTypography," make it "FontsAndTypographyLinks."

Don't bother going back and changing all the old pages; Just perhaps consider it in the future when you make huge collections of links.

I worry that someone will have something to say, and then encounter a link page, and say, "Oh, I couldn't possibly delete all that..." I want people to feel an invitation to talk about something.

I also hope you'll do it, so that I can easily see from RecentChanges whether it's going to be a links page or not. I'm not terribly interested in the links collections; I'd much rather read and respond to people's own words about what is important in VisualLanguage, and stuff like that.

But at the same time, it's very nice to have the collections of links, and they will no doubt be helpful.

Just some thoughts. Feel free to regard or no.

-- LionKimbro 2004-04-27 08:24:28

Yes, I want to encourage people to talk. I don't know if a separate "...Links" page will help or not. I'll try it in the future and see if it works or not. -- DavidCary

Hello David,

Thanks for stopping by that wiki experiment I am working on. I left a message there for you. I hope you understood the spirit of it: basically, that these people are self-professed newbies to the internet, and they have some notions or expectations, and inhibitions... I think using the wiki is going to be a challenge for them, so I need at least these next two weeks to kind of initiate them, and speak on their terms. Yours and Lion's interaction there was unexpected, so I didn't know how to manage it exactly. I don't want to nix it or remove it at all. Because I want them to see the potential for communicating with people outside their circle, you know?

Anyway... thanks very much for stopping byt. I'll keep you posted on how things are going.

-- HeatherJames 2008-07-04 14:22:00

take a look at 'the Coccinella' jabber client - see what you think. looks very interesting. -[[StevenCooney]]

Thanks for telling me about The Coccinella "Jabber chat client with whiteboard communication" http://hem.fyristorg.com/matben/ . It looks very cool. -- DavidCary

I find myself reacting to a pattern that I find really annoying. I think it's what's driving my beligerent responses.

It goes like this:

"I read a book, by a famous guy."
"His concusion was FOO."
"So FOO's probably true."

I can't tell you how much this annoys me.

It doesn't help me to understand the concepts.

What I want are explanations, reasons, stuff like that.

Not links and research. Ideas.

(If that makes any sense?)

So, when I hear something like this, I want to pick it to death. That's just something of my gut reaction to it.

So, I'm sorry for being difficult.

But, honestly, I have near zero fun with the idea of building a link registry, whether there are some words attached or not.

I'm interested in learning ideas.

If this makes any sense?

-- LionKimbro 2004-06-30 09:09:14

That helps me understand where you are coming from.

I think I get the same reaction, even when someone specifies the famous guy (but not which one of his many large books the conclusion was in). Or when someone says "I read on the internet somewhere that ..." but doesn't give the URL or enough of a quote / enough keywords for me to recognize it when I Google for it.

I try to balance

the "Not Invented Here" ego trip of always making up my own explanations for things, vs.
the "X said it so much better than I ever could" LinkLanguage, showing people the best explanation I've ever seen. (This is *different* from "argument from authority" -- I'm showing people where the explanation is written down, not name-dropping). Too much of this and my ability to explain things on my own atrophies -- QuotingNotThinking.

-- -- DavidCary 2004-07-22 03:46:07

I've long since forgotten the original context, but, ...

It's not "NotInventedHere," because usually I'm interested in a summary of arguments. Original arguments on the web tend to be long, unsummarized, yadda yadda yadda. When talking with someone, a link usually means: "You're going to have to read 10 pages of non-hyptertext to understand 2 paragraphs worth of idea." A homework assignment was just dropped in your lap.

LinkLanguage is different than giving references, I think, because you the target of the link is usually directly about whatever the phrase was. And, it's hypertext. (So, you can figure things out quicker, jumping to related concepts and getting more detail.)

But, again, I've lost all track of the context of the discussion. I just like talking about LinkLanguage.

-- LionKimbro 2005-05-11 06:21:22

C2: "Tell Me What He Says Not What People Thought Of What He Said"
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Greetings! erm hi David! Just wanted to say hello and keep up the work! Hmm i guess i am missing a map function of this wiki heh well you said you like maps. ill be back with a link for you... something about 2gb images ower the world.. heh..

oh here comes the update with the link, hmm did i say 2Gb images.. ops on me i meant 2Tb images... heh enjoy! Unfortunally it requres a plugin hope it works it is sweet. http://www.earthetc.com/imagery_list.aspx?ETC_LOCATION_ID=2 // Xerxes Rånby

Thank you.