August 21, 2002

The script to post these blogs

I've put up a somewhat sanitized version of the script I use to post entries to this blog via jabber. It is a perl script using the Net::Jabber modules and the Net::Blogger modules. It should be pretty easy to set up for your own blog:

  • Get all the modules and install them
  • Create a new jabber user at your favorite Jabber server (like jabber.com)
  • Put that user's JabberID and password into the script
  • Figure out what BlogID to which you'll be publishing
  • Put in your Blog username, passowrd, and BlogID into the script
  • Run the script(it doesn't have to be run on your webserver, it can be anywhere)
  • Add the new jabber user to your buddy list - it will immediately ask to put you on its buddy list.
  • Send messages to the new "buddy"! You'll be posting to your blog.

I've also been experimenting with an intersection of the blog space and IM - go check out Experimental Conversations. You can try out the interface and participate in the conversation by adding conversations@jabber.sputnik.com to your buddy list. Then go ahead and send it messages! You can change the subject of the conversation by sending a full-fledged message with a subject, or you can participate in the conversation by just opening up a chat window and typing. Of course, don't forget to refresh your browser window every now and then!

Imagine if you had this facility going directly to an intranet page - something semi-private. The auto-logging of conversations is wonderful, and the potential for knowledge management and capture is huge. Of course, it isn't the best interface for truly interactive discussions (f2f or voice or even IM/IRC is better for that) but this way you can easily add notes to a document collection, for example, or make comments on a memo or document that you're passing around.

I think there are a lot of possibilities here.

Blogged

Ack, Doc blogged me - here and here. He's brilliant, can't say enough about how smart, funny and charismatic he is... Ok enough of the brown nosing.

One of the things I really enjoy when speaking with Doc is that you always feel like you're right there in the thick of it - right at the cutting edge. Surfing the bow wave of the ship, feeling its spray.