Internet Identity Workshop Dec 3-5

Just finished installing OpenID into the IIW MediaWiki - please see http://iiw.idcommons.net/

This was much harder than it should have been, as there are multiple OpenID plugins that claim to work with MediaWiki, and several of these claim to work with the latest OpenID-2.0.0-rc5 but finally the new version 0.7.0 of the standard MediaWiki OpenID extension fit the bill perfectly after dropping back to the v1.2.3 library.

Week Two in Mt. Lebanon

It's my second week here at our new house in Pittsburgh, PA on Roycroft Avenue, and much has changed. Perhaps the best part (for me) is that I'm no longer sleeping on the floor (as I did the first days here). No, the best part for me is that we're now cooking and eating at home. No, the best part for me is how much my five-year-old son Steven loves it here.

Well, OK, there are a lot of "best parts for me." Like the fact that this place is ours, and it's coming together into a wonderfully livable place. What a house!

IIW, Day One

Day one at the Internet Identity Workshop, or IIW2007, began with Eugene Kim - Chairman-elect of Identity Commons ("2.0", now with rounded corners), asking those attending their first IIW to stand up - over two-thirds of the 150 or so people in the room stood up. This is a great trend - the word is getting out!

Dreams become Reality

At the first CivicActions "off-site" in Amsterdam, we created a vision for ourselves and for the world. As a new father and provider for my small family, and as someone who has unfortunately never broken into the real estate market, I was pleased that this item made the list with general consensus: "every member owns their home or has the ability to".

Show me (where) the money (comes from)

From Ethan Kiczek's blog:

Cool campaign finance flash thing, via techPresident:

The New York Times has produced a great Flash feature that lays campaign contributions (unfortunately, only those over $200) over a map of the United States, divided by candidate.

the "poor mans i-name"

Phil Windley blogged about FreeYourId.com, a full service OpenId provider that gives you access to services off of a single .name URL. This starts to give a taste of what i-names can do, though it is - while clever - somewhat simplistic.

Don't forget Reputation

Many of us celebrated when it was announced that AOL has embraced OpenID. Does that bring us any closer to the goal of secure, privacy protected user-centric digital identity that empowers users, leveling the playing field between them and service providers to the great benefit of both? (OK, that's my goal, but maybe some of you may share it.) I say: no.

What is this?

This is the blog of Fen Labalme, a 50-year-old geek who sold his first computer program - a copy of the Lunar Lander game in Focal - in 1969. My thesis at MIT was "NewsPeek: a knowledge-based open access news and information retrieval system" which (AFAIK) was the first electronic personalized (newspaper) media. Since then, I have been designing and implementing systems that enable personalization while supporting one's right to privacy. Some recent forays into the field include:

User-Centric Identity coming soon to Drupal

When you log into a community site, say LinkedIn or Tribe, you provide them with information about you which they now control.

95 Theses of Geek Activism

I came across this today, and really enjoyed it: 95 Theses of Geek Activism.

Perhaps it helps that I identify as a hacker in the manner described in the first thesis. Geek Activism is really all about being smart, thinking for yourself and not simply accepting what others say just because they happen to be on TV or run the corporations or government (the differences between these are fading).

Read them. Follow the links.

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