[New-imc] Application question for an unusual Indymedia project

Wed Oct 19 08:40:19 PDT 2005

This dialogue is really getting somewhere here, I can add a little maybe. 

It is my general impression that the easier, more memorable and more understandable a web address is to say, the easier it is for word to travel about it.  It might even be a good thing for us to think outside 'the box' as it were, and consider options that are not in the traditional blank.indymedia.org format.  Out of all the sites we are part of, I think Indybay is perhaps the easiest to talk about to the uninitiated.  as in "just go to Indybay.org" 

Also, it is probably necessary to have one overarching identity for the site even if other names for it exist.  I would like to propose a little brainstorming on the name maybe and propose the possiblity of 

Indywire.org 

as the overarching identity, perhaps it is already taken. but then maybe, 

indyfeed.org

However, Robert should have a weighted decision in this lest he feel the project is dictated by those who can't write code to save their lives like me.  

A sidenote: I think RSS is a buzzword for the net literate but "wire" has more history in the public psych.  I think we might want to consider the whole wide world if this thing is going to play to the whole wide world, and ties to fascism is worrying.  The idea is brilliant and I think it could go far in helping us all get more traffic, eyes, people, minds, souls, etc. 

Thanks Rob!

-Pete

Robert <robert at riseup.net> wrote:
Hey everyone,

Thanks clara, boud, and Anivar for your responses. Certainly appreciate
it and sorry I didn't get back to it sooner.

To address boud and Anivar's concerns briefly, thanks for pointing that
out. I had no idea. Thanks boud especially for the examples. After
checking the resources though and thinking about it, given that googling
RSS or even 'RSS' on Wikipedia is first met with definitions of
syndication, I don't know if this concern applies to everyone, globally
thinking. RSS is the buzzword these days, and I think completely dropping
it would be a loss.

HOWEVER. If there are people or communities to whom "RSS" is more closely
related to facism than syndicating website content, well that's pretty
serious. So please don't think I'm brushing it off. I feel like the
solution to this -- and this is ahead of itself seeing how I haven't
applied yet -- would be to setup rss.indymedia.org, rdf.indymedia.org, and
feeds.indymedia.org, mirroring the site and giving every community the
option to promote whichever one they are most comfortable with.

Clara, your reply got me thinking about long term goals for the site, and
I think with these in mind the site offers some features the standard
sites cannot.

- Custom feeds: A global indymedia where you customize the feeds on the
sites, a login to save personal settings, and the option to export an
OPML file based on their selection for use in an external aggregator.
- A global map: A visual representation of every indymedia around the
world, tied into the ability to quickly view that site's or that
country's feed.
- Feeds only: Since the headlines from around the world are the highlight
of the site, it becomes a much more customizable daily view of what's
going on.
- Widget: I've already built a 'Widget' (Mac OS X 10.4) for the site
(still beta, not submitted to Apple), another way for people to access the
feeds, access Indymedia.
- Tutorials: Pages on the site to instruct Indymedias how to get listed if
they're not, how to setup RSS on their codebase, how to write better for
RSS and the web, and what RSS and Indymedia are for visitors.

So, I think the site could bring something new that taps into new
technologies and new trends, instead of attempting to meet these trends
through minor alterations our current presentation. Yes, it is an overlap
of what's available but given that the process is automated, I'm sorry but
I don't see the problem in creating another portal for people to access
Indymedia.

Of course, I have been reviewing the stats of syndication as I'm setting
up this site as well, definitely something I'll be posting on the wiki
and/or sharing with the www-features crew, whatever's most helpful.

Anyway, I still haven't formally applied, but thanks again. Totally
helpful.. I guess I'll submit something formal pretty soon.

Stay curious,

r

clara wrote:
> hi,
>
> as far as I see, that already exists but can certainly need somebody to
> give it a bit more energy.
>
> The newswire on www.indymedia.org consists out of featured articles from
> all IMCs, collected through their rss feeds. all articles are also
> imported into the global site, and members of the www-features working
> group have access to them, so that they also can be used for the middle
> column.
>
> but... quite a few IMCs are not presented there because they did not
> include their rss feeds there. (the rss feed needs to be included
> somewhere in the contact database, and then everything goes
> automatically...). And while it has been on peoples mind to follow up on
> those IMCs, nobody has actually contacted those that are missing and
> helped them to do it.
>
> The other issue is that currently the layout of the global page is not
> doing these articles much justice, but already small things like making
> the column wider and including the whole abstract (or a given number of
> characters for those sites that don't have abstracts) would already be a
> big improvement.
>
> Maybe you can discuss this further with www-features? Sometimes a new
> person with new energy to do the job is all it takes to get things going
> again...
>
> love and solidarity
> clara
>
> Robert wrote:
>> Hey all,
>>
>> My name's Rob.. I'm a longtime volunteer with Boston Indymedia.
>>
>> I've setup a new project: RSSIndymedia.org. The site is another way of
>> looking at global Indymedia, utilizing available RSS feeds to pool
>> together featured articles from around the world. The site's real goal
>> is
>> to bring more visibility to RSS and give people another way to access
>> Indymedia.
>>
>> I'd like to begin the process of applying to be an official IMC,
>> possibly
>> moving the site to rss.indymedia.org sometime. The site, however, isn't
>> exactly a traditional Indymedia. It's fairly automated in its setup and
>> while I'm definitely looking for people who might want to contribute on
>> a
>> technical/coding level, there's no physical community behind, it needs
>> no
>> contributors. So I'm not sure how to handle that in the application, or
>> if one is necessary.
>>
>> If anyone wants to check out the site and has any pointers all things
>> considering, please let me know. I'll probably submit a formal
>> application later this week or early next based on ideas.
>>
>> Thanks everyone,
>>
>> r
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> New-imc mailing list. Lista de correo New-imc
>> New-imc at lists.indymedia.org
>> http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/new-imc
>>
>

_______________________________________________
New-imc mailing list. Lista de correo New-imc
New-imc at lists.indymedia.org
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/new-imc

---------------------------------
 Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/new-imc/attachments/20051019/489f6c17/attachment.htm 