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Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart

I have been working on a series of in-depth articles for our journal on the subject of nonprofit knowledge management. In the course of that writing, I have gone back and reviewed some of my favorite books on the subject. Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart, by Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O'Day, is one such book. I appreciate their efforts to get people to focus on "know-why" before they focus on "know-how". If you look at the agendas of the conferences in our field, you can understand their concern: We tend to brush over such issues as measurable objectives and requirements development, let alone developing our understanding of our communication contexts. This book emphasizes systems thinking and strategic questions. I particularly recommend the chapters on Framing Conversations about Technology, Nurturing Home Grown Expertise, and How to Evolve Information Ecologies. Posted: 2/3/06; 1:05:27 PM #

Videocue

Vara Software is the developer of the remarkable and powerful Wirecast webcasting application that has found its way into my regular workflow and has been the subject of several reviews, including the centerpiece of my Everyday Software article on how we webcast our online workshops. Unlike Wirecast, Videocue (Mac only) is not an every day tool for me. Videocue is a slick combination of recording software and a desktop teleprompter. This would be an ideal system for anyone who likes to work from a script, whose workflow is so tight for time that they have to, or has other people write material for them to deliver. Your face (or other images, slides, or video that you can weave in) appears in a window right next to the slowly scrolling text of your speech. You have control over size and pacing of the prompt, as well as a wide range of video and audio settings. Plus, it has an utterly intuitive transition and titles management system. I only wish I used scripts more often, that's how much I like this software. It would be perfect for video podcasting. Posted: 2/3/06; 12:48:42 PM #

The R Project for Statistical Computing

Every now and then, I need to do some serious statistical analysis or some complex modeling prior to development of a new tool. In those cases, I often turn to The R Project for Statistical Computing (cross platform). This is by no means a point and click application. Rather, it is a sophisticated environment for implementing statistical techniques. It has the added benefits of being open source and massively extensible. The range of free add-on packages available has proven very useful to me, since it includes versions of Bayesian tools and genetic algorithms that have interested me recently. Posted: 2/3/06; 12:01:25 PM #