Diaspora Alpha
Diaspora releases set of invites for its alpha: baby steps to identify problems and iterate; http://eicker.at/DiasporaAlpha
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Gerrit Eicker
Disney Digital Media: Accomplishments Wiki
Cheng explains how a wiki is the hub for the digital media department at Disney; http://j.mp/1T8epn
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Gerrit Eicker
FC: “Albert Cheng, executive vice president of digital media at Disney-ABC Television Group, is showing off his team’s latest creation. An online sneak peek of the Lost finale, perhaps? Behind-the-picket-fence footage of Desperate Housewives on a cell phone? No, something even more revealing: Behold the staff wiki. – ‘I’m not sure you can write this up,’ he says. ‘I’m not kidding.’ With a mischievous grin, Cheng, 36, resumes the wiki tour on the computer in his corner office in Burbank, California, the heart of TV land. – His team didn’t ask permission to create the internal Web site, with staff profiles and a section called ‘Cool Stuff We’ve Done This Year.’ They just did it. And truth be told, Cheng is rather proud of that. The project captures what his 20-month-old incarnation of the digital-media department is all about. Speed. Collaboration. Gumption. ‘I see us as a Silicon Valley startup within a big company,’ he says. … The wiki isn’t an act of defiance directed at the Big Mouse, and it isn’t a goof. Rather, it’s a nifty tool for a fast-growing 150-person virtual department. The digital-media crew is spread across the company’s television units – ABC, ABC News, Disney Channel, ABC Family, and a handful of its other cable channels. The members work in three cities, five buildings in L.A. alone, and four locations in this particular high-rise on West Alameda, about a mile from ABC headquarters. The Web site allows team members to review new social-networking applications, compare vendors, and share their latest projects.“
Gerrit Eicker 11:55 on 24. November 2010 Permalink |
Diaspora: “Today we’re releasing the first set of invites for the Diaspora alpha at joindiaspora.com. Every week, we’ll invite more people, starting with our Kickstarter backers, and then moving through our mailing list. By taking these baby steps, we’ll be able to quickly identify performance problems and iterate on features as quickly as possible. – We are proud of where Diaspora is right now. In less than five months, we’ve gone from nothing to a great starting point from which the community can keep working.”
TC: “After the money came in, the team sequestered themselves for the Summer to work on the project. Despite some hiccups, they were able to unveil the source of the project in September to mixed reviews. Meanwhile, a user-facing alpha launch was promised for October. That came and went, and they pushed the launch to Thanksgiving. Well, we’re two days away from turkey day, and Diaspora has delivered this time. … But the service is also quick to hedge their bets. ‘It isn’t perfect, but the best way to improve is to get it into your hands and listen closely to your response,’ they note about the aspects idea. They then go on to list five things they know they could do better, including: security, better APIs, better documentation, easier upgrades, and cleaner code. Yeah, that’s quite a few major things.”
Mashable: “Since the initial flurry of interest, we’ve been waiting to see how the project would pan out – and if the guys would give us a clearer picture of what it would look like. Back in September, the Diaspora team released their source code to developers, receiving less than enthusiastic reviews. According to the guys, however, dev feedback has been extremely helpful when it comes to fixing bugs and security holes. … In the meantime, however, we have to wonder if it will succeed. Facebook – despite the previous security crisis – is still going strong, and the alternative social network market is becoming more competitive…”