Vinu’s Online Cloud

The citizendium website introduction as of now says:

Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a “citizens’ compendium of everything,” will be an experimental new wiki project that combines public participation with gentle expert guidance. It will begin life as a “progressive fork” of Wikipedia.

Goto it from Smartmobs:

One of the two original creators of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, who had left in anger over a dispute about the nature of the encyclopaedia, today announced that he will start his own project called Citizendium at the end of the month. [via we-make-money-not-art ]

The main site goes on to add this at the end:

To learn more, read an introductory essay, “Toward a New Compendium of Knowledge,” or see the FAQ below.While waiting for the wiki to be set up, what can the ordinary rank-and-file future authors or editors do? Three things: first, join the project forums or a project mailing list (the list called Citizendium-L at least); second, contribute your thoughts to the discussion; and, third, wait for the announcement that the wiki is ready to edit. Also, a donation at this crucial juncture would help get this venture off the ground.

I am personally hoping (if time is available) to keep track on the progress on how this project kicks off from a community angle. How to foster it, grow etc. The angle that its a fork from a ‘mega’ success project is something to keep in mind.

I somehow happened to land at google code today and thought let me check out the J2me apps on google code for my phone. Pointing out some apps I think would be good:

• gdata-mobile
• jm-msger
• rss reader - looks good, authors blog post and midlets
• mobilemarker - grading on the go? {project looks empty - but I am sure that would be a neat tool especially something in a country like india}
• stealthms - for the operator email-to-sms gates. useful in US not much in India
• moboggle - a possible mlearn tool. Anyway after tetris, this is my second favourite!

Fortune (CNNmoney.com) talks about disorder, disarray and uncertainity at Google. A great read … ‘Chaos by Design‘

He {Schimdt} draws a series of connected clouds representing the history of the computing industry, from mainframes to minicomputers to PCs to today’s mobile devices. The gist of the illustration is that there’s practically no money left to be made in computers, not in hardware or software. The money, instead, is all in Web applications, a trend Schmidt had been predicting since his days as chief technology officer at Sun a decade ago. Users won’t always be traveling to the Web on the PC, which is why he scribbles lines for cellphones, cable set-top boxes, Treos, BlackBerrys, and so on. Schmidt’s most compelling point — and the most visible glimmer of a method to Google’s madness — is the power behind the not-so-secret data centers.

And of course a great ending of the article by Adam Lashinsky

With so many moving parts, it’s natural to wonder if Google is truly a company for the ages — or whether it’s the next Galaxy, that fast-moving, arrogant, one-hit wonder in Shona Brown’s book. To believe that Google will find its second act, you have to accept the hubris and the chaos, and that the brainiacs who got lucky once will do so again. Google desperately wants to believe its nonlinear approach is all part of the plan. But as the company’s big thinkers are the first to admit, most of the questions about Google aren’t answerable. Try as they may, no one can truly control chaos.

Anyway my personal belief from experience tells me - chaos and structure should mutually co-exist. Chaos for creation and power. Structure for focus and channeling the power. Both together help you find breakthroughs and keep propelling ahead of you reach the end of a ‘S curve’. Will make a case sometime later in a post. When, where and how much of chaos and structure depends on comfort level, stamina {chaos is tiring and structure boring!} and  job {you obviously don’t want chaos while cleaning a stadium!}. more later - have a good week folks …