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Hi All,
(An email to the bitflux moblog mailing list )

I just read about the list on Margin Walker

Just a self intro, I don't have a mobile, don't plan on getting one until
absolutely needed. But I know that everyone else does, and all those young
whippersnappers are pretty crazy about this moblogging thing, (and I do
enjoy looking at other peoples photos) so I made Mfop...

To tell the truth, I made it because I thought it was a good idea and would
be fun. What drives me most is that it is fun. Upon further reflection as
to *why* I liked the idea, I come this reason why I think it is "good".

Most of the people who read my site would never even *think* of trying to
install a moblog script. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to
moblog.

I really like the idea of blogging, but I don't think it is anywhere near as
"influential" as many like to believe. I also don't really think it ever
will be. But... the easier it is to make various types of blogging
available to non-techies, the more blogging will influence the next
technology, which will influence the next technology after that... and so
on, each step having the effect of moving closer to not just sharing of
knowledge and information, but sharing of ideas and ideals, and doubts and
fears, and glimpses of lifestyles.

I'm waiting for the wireless connection with a chip in the brain allowing
ESP like communication. I think the more we know about our neighbors
secrets, and the more they know about ours, the better off we all are.
Moblogging is a step in that direction, allowing me to see snapshots of
people's lives in real time (or at least we can look back at the exact
moment they saw it). The grass is always greener when we compare ourselves
to people on TV and in movies (and everyone does), but more we can see real
people's lives without speculation the more it brings us back down to earth,
and lets us examine ourselves in a little more realistic light.

But mostly I think it's cool and fun :-)

As for technical aspects. Since I have been working alone (with the help of
some very patient beta users) in my spare time, it has taken a couple weeks
to get everything (interface and backend) up to speed. The back end is so
very simple. Most of the problems my users have are a result of poor
usability, and poor instructions on the registration page. Once this is
cleared, I would like to begin thinking about how mfop can grow. It'd make
it a whole lot easier if we can work together.

I don't see mfop as being a centralized service on one system. People
should be able to choose their moblog gateway, which means mfop should be
available for download and install to anyone who has the know-how and access
to install on their server. This would hopefully allow or a wide variety of
uses to develop in different places, and hopefully, if it gets widespread
enough, other relevent software makers will add any needed APIs or support
for it. For example, some of my users have asked for gallery support. It
is an almost trivial matter to adapt it for Gallery, but it would be a lot
easier if Gallery offered an API for Mfop.

Then there are the other fun goodies... I know there is "facerolling" now,
but if I visit too many sites that have it, I get sick of seeing the same
photos of the same people ;-) What about Moblogrolling? Instead of showing
faces of the people whose Blogs you link to, show something more dynamic...
their last moblog photo!

There are a few sites out there that accept moblog images and display it for
the user, and that is cool, but it is centralized. What if there was a page
that read some feed and displayed the 50 or 100 or whatever latest moblog
photos from other peoples sites? If Mfop is on one server it is easy, but
if it is on servers around the world, it takes a little planning to make it
easy.

Add location to that, and the viewer would be able to view other recently
updated moblogs from within xx km of another photo. This would really be
great for breaking news. I mentioned on my site about Fuji erupting. If it
did, and there where hundreds or thousands of people moblogging it, it would
most likely take over the "most recently updated moblog" section, and even
if there was some competing news, say a war in Syria, the viewer could click
on either "Fuji" or "Syria" image and see hundreds more shots from all
different perspectives of whichever news they are looking for. As technology
advances, this would be like having hundreds of CNNs.

People who aren't interested in that, but would rather see what is going on
that moment in their own home town could restrict their distance setting to
100 km and only show moblogs from 100 km away.

I'm getting carried away though...

Anyway. I hope this list gets big, and I hope I can help.

BTW as I send this mail to your list, I am also CCing it to mfop for posting
on my site which explains anything you might think is odd... such as the
formatting around Margin Walker

trackback[http://blog.bitflux.ch/b2trackback.php/476]

Kevin Cameron
kevin@kevincameron.net
http://www.bastish.net
http://www.bastish.net/mfop/

Hi Kevin

Nice to meet you on our mailing list. It's great to hear from the creator of mfop (^_^)
As your great mail is quite long, I need some more time to absorb it fully.
There are a lot of good ideas which I like, especially the moblogrolling
or the geourl-moblog connection.

I also thought about combining the powers of FOAF and Moblogging.

We are working already on a combination of gallery-style pages and the moblog.
Well, without the moblog, we just did that for our latest client site, an intranet.

Best
Roger

Kevin,
Wo~w! You went off. That's kewl .. reading your brainstorm.
I think I remember (sorry the alcohol got to me) a conversation on your concepts of Moblogrolling at Moda.
I would love to work with you on this and hope I can help you, especially since we're both in Tokyo.
chriskk

I don't think there was anything new in what I said... I'm sure it's all be said much more elequently, by others (wont know till I re-read what I wrote though... may be some gems in there :-) ) Anyway, I'm glad you liked it Chirs.

Anyway, anyone wants to help, or wants to be helped, let me know.

It is always a challenge to adapt to the changes going on around us and to us. And especially

in my case - hair loss! (See pic below - I'm the guy with

the acoustic guitar - Yikes!)

The cure for me is to think YOUNG. This thinking seems to work out fairly well but I've also

noticed that I need to hang out with those who are young. I’ve found just the place to do it.

It’s called THE ROCK. It meets every Saturday from 6:30 to 8 pm @ the Rockland District

Middle/South School. Let’s see....It has a live band, creative challenges, and a

non-manipulative atmosphere. They have excellent standards and the environment they have

created is so beneficial for families, singles, & teens. The best thing I like about it is

that you can encounter God and make unbelievable friendships.

galleries