Build your network and connect using FOAF">Build your network and connect using FOAF
Published October 2, 2010 | 
">Bruce WhealtonFOAF is a way to connect with others, network, and to be discovered by others. This can help as a means to post a resume and links to a resume, your contact information, business websites, friends’ websites, blogs, chat ids, email addresses (which can be encrypted to protect against spam) and more.
FOAF is defined as meaning in one sense, Friend of a Friend. More specifically it is a vocabulary for describing people and the relationships between people. The vocabulary allows for specifying websites, online accounts, all the people you know… the various ways that define our network. These days of computer networks can make the word network sound complex but in a way it is just as simple and intutitive as we might think of the word. We have a support network, a friends network, a work network, family network, etc. The vocabulary lets you also describe websites, documents and other resources. You can list your publications and link them to this file. You can have one biographical file and link to that in that one file.
Why this matters
So, why does this matter to you? Computers help us in many ways. The web is made up of computers talking to each other, using software that is layered on other software, such as it is on your computer. This technology that is associated with FOAF is related to the semantic web. This technology helps computers help us to better accomplish our goals. One example is in searching for information. There are other vocabularies that supplement FOAF or otherwise address other information. However, one of the things that we search for is information about people and who best to tell us about the people around us than our friends and the friends of others? The FOAF vocabulary lets you specify the people you know. It’s very simple, Bruce Whealton knows Bruce Smith (imaginary name here).
About FOAF files.
These files can be in an xml based format, which means it is meant to be read by computers (aka machines, aka software). I put mine in a few places that I hope search engines will find. One of the benefits of this is that in the foaf file you can list, among other things, who you know with a link to their foaf.rdf file or other pages that are associated with that person, e.g. their blog, or a website that they are a part of or contributor to, or co-owner of. In addition, the foaf file will have other data about you, your work, your schools, websites, activities… blogs, publications, etc… whatever one wants to share.
How do you create a foaf.rdf file: go here: http://www.ldodds.com/foaf/foaf-a-matic
There is a form that you can fill in and it will generate a foaf.rdf file. You select all, copy and paste that into a text editor then upload to a server in a place where it can be referenced. You could put in links within your websites, in the header, to link to the foaf.rdf file like this:
I hope this helps, let me know if you have other questions.
My file is here: http://brucewhealton.us/foaf.rdf
and http://futurewavedesigns.com/foaf/brucewhealton/foaf.rdf
Bruce
My Poem is accepted for "The Love Book"">My Poem is accepted for "The Love Book"
Published September 8, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonThe poem appears below. I’ll get details soon as to how to order copies and where it is being published, etc.
Captivated
For Elnaz Rezaei Ghalechi
You are the river
that flows through me
like relaxation…
the place I go
for comfort…
the dream that inspires me
and reminds me
of those things I had forgotten
and everything
I see
hear
and feel
is some part
of you.
To be in your presence
is to be
in trance.
By Bruce Whealton
Internet Semantic Web Web 3.0">Internet Semantic Web Web 3.0
Published September 5, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonImportance of the semantic web for dealing with overwhelming quantity information, data, etc.
Intro to the Semantic Web">Intro to the Semantic Web
Published September 5, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonLet’s start with a definition of Semantics. Semantics is closely related to syntax. The syntax is how we say something and the semantics is the meaning behind what we say. Take a sentence in English as an example. The sentence is made up of punctuation, spelling, and the letters. The semantics is what the sentence means.
When we talk about syntax and semantics we are talking about communication. The Internet gave a way for computers to communicate with one another. It gave them a voice so that they could talk to one another. However, just as a parrot can mimic human speech, a computer on the web can only mimic human information. It does not understand what the information means.
The web is made up of web pages that use a syntax that tells how to display or present documents or information for us. The need for the semantic web is because computers and the web were not designed to understand the meaning of what is contained on a web page. Computers can recognize the syntax of web pages, i.e. how to display the information on a web page but not the semantics of what is contained on a web page.
The semantic web is about things, people, events, places and any concept you can think about. The semantic web is not only about understanding the meaning of what is contained on a web page but how these things are related to one another. Two technologies for embedding semantic information in web pages are microformats and RDFa. So, this is not about something that will happen in the future, it is about technologies that exist now… and are happening now.
Once a computer and the web can understand what a person, a place and an event is, it can start helping you interact with these things. A good example is in semantic web searches. Search engines would be more accurate. You could tell the search engines whether you are searching for a person, a place or a song. They wouldn’t only depend on keywords but also the semantics contained within web pages. It is about helping computers get us what we want.
See http://microformats.org/about and http://rdfa.info/about by the web consortium.
Post by Bruce Whealton
http://futurewavedesigns.com
http://brucewhealton.com
What is Web 3.0? Semantic Web & other Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English">What is Web 3.0? Semantic Web & other Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English
Published August 24, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonThis is what I have been writing about lately… web 3.0, the semantic web.
The Evolution of Web 3.0">The Evolution of Web 3.0
Published August 24, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonGreat presentation on the evolution of the web and what it means for us.
Virtual volunteering – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Virtual volunteering – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Published August 24, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia’s content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (March 2010) Virtual volunteering is a term describing a volunteer who completes tasks, in whole or in part, offsite from the organization being assisted, using the Internet and a home, school, telecenter or work computer or other Internet-connected device. Virtual volunteering is also known as online volunteering, cyber service, telementoring, and teletutoring, and various other names. Virtual volunteering is similar to telecommuting, except that, instead of online employees who are paid, these are online volunteers who are not paid, and they are working to benefit a nonprofit organization, school, government program or other not-for-profit entity, as opposed to a for-profit business.
Contents
[hide]
[edit] In practice
People engaged in virtual volunteering undertake a variety of activities from locations remote to the organization or people they are assisting, via a computer or other Internet-connected device, such as:
- translating documents
- researching subjects
- creating web pages
- editing or writing proposals, press releases, newsletter articles, etc.
- developing material for a curriculum
- designing a database
- designing graphics
- providing legal, business, medical, agricultural or any other expertise
- counseling people
- tutoring or mentoring students
- moderating online discussion groups
- writing songs
- creating a podcast
- editing a video
- monitoring the news
- answering questions
- tagging photos and files
- managing other online volunteers[1][2][3]
[edit] Early history of the practice
The practice of virtual volunteering to benefit nonprofit initiatives dates back to at least the early 1970s, when Project Gutenberg began involving online volunteers to provide electronic versions of works in the public domain.[4]
In 1995, a new nonprofit organization called Impact Online (now called VolunteerMatch), based in Palo Alto, California, began promoting the idea of “virtual volunteers”.[5] In 1996, Impact Online received a grant from the James Irvine Foundation to launch an initiative to research the practice of virtual volunteering and to promote the practice to nonprofit organizations in the USA. This new initiative was dubbed the Virtual Volunteering Project, and the web site was launched in early 1997.[6] After one year of operations, the Virtual Volunteering Project moved to the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. In 2002, the Virtual Volunteering Project moved within the university to the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
The first two years of the Virtual Volunteer Project were spent reviewing and adapting telecommuting manuals[7] and exi
sting volunteer management guidelines with regarding to virtual volunteering, as well as identifying organizations that were involving online volunteers. By April 1999, almost 100 organizations had been identified by the Virtual Volunteering Project as involving online volunteers and were listed on the web site.[8]Due to the growing numbers of nonprofit organizations, schools, government programs and other not-for-profit entities involving online volunteers, the Virtual Volunteering Project stopped listing every such organization involving online volunteers on its web site in 2000, and focused its efforts on promoting the practice, profiling organizations with large or unique online volunteering programs, and creating guidelines for the involvement of online volunteers.
Until January 2001, the Virtual Volunteering Project listed all telementoring and teletutoring programs in the USA (programs where online volunteers mentor or tutor others, through a nonprofit organization or school). At that time, 40 were identified.[9]
[edit] Current state of the practice
Virtual volunteering has been adopted by at least a few thousand nonprofit thousand organizations and initiatives.[10] There is no organization currently tracking best practices in online volunteering in the USA or worldwide, how many people are engaged in online volunteering, or how many organizations are involving online volunteers, and studies regarding volunteering, such as reports on volunteering trends in the USA, rarely include information about online volunteering (for instance, a search of the term virtual volunteering on the Corporation for National Service‘s “Volunteering in America” yields no results.[11])
The United Nations runs an online volunteering service, formerly a part of NetAid, that allows organizations working in or for the developing world to recruit online volunteers, and does have statistics available regarding numbers of online volunteers and organizations involving such through its service. Several other matching services, such as VolunteerMatch and Idealist, also offer virtual volunteering positions with nonprofit organizations in addition to traditional, onsite volunteering opportunities. VolunteerMatch currently reports that around 5 percent of its active volunteer listings are virtual in nature. As of June 2010, its directory included more than 2,770 such listings including roles in interactive marketing, fundraising, accounting, social media, and business mentoring. The percentage of virtual listings has dropped since 2006, when it peaked at close to 8 percent of overall volunteer opportunities in the VolunteerMatch system.
Wikipedia and other Wikimedia endeavors are examples of online volunteering, in the form of crowdsourcing; the majority of Wikipedia contributing volunteers aren’t required to undergo any screening or training by the nonprofit for their role as researchers, writers or editors, and do not have to make a specific time commitment to the organization in order to contribute service.
Micro-volunteering is also an example of virtual volunteering and crowd-sourcing, where volunteers undertake assignments via their PDAs or smartphones. These volunteers aren’t required to undergo any screening or training by the nonprofit for such tasks, and do not have to make any other commitment once a micro-task is completed.[12] Micro-volunteering was invented by a San Francisco-based social enterprise called The Extraordinaries in 2008.[13][14][15]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ “What are examples of virtual volunteering?”. AIDSvolunteers.ca. http://www.aidsvolunteers.ca/vvfacts/general.html#examples. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ “examples of virtual volunteering”. University of Texas at Austin. http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/examples.html. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ “Make a Difference From Home: Be a Virtual Volunteer”. theextraordinaries.org. http://www.theextraordinaries.org/2008/11/make-a-difference-from-home-be-a-virtual-volunteer.html. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ Cravens, Jayne (Spring 2007). “Online Volunteering Enters Middle Age – And Changes Management Paradigms”. Nonprofit Quarterly (Nonprofit Quarterly).
- ^ Green, Marc (Fall, 1995). “Fundraising in Cyberspace: Direct E-Mail Campaigns, Virtual Volunteers, Annual Fund Drives Online. Does the Information Superhighway lead to new horizons or a dead end?”. The Grantsmanship Center Magazine (The Grantsmanship Center).
- ^ Cravens, Jayne (February 2001). “who funds the virtual volunteering project?“. The Virtual Volunteering Project (University of Texas at Austin).
- ^ Cravens, Jayne (April 2001). “related resources“. The Virtual Volunteering Project (University of Texas at Austin).
- ^ Cravens, Jayne (February 2001). “Virtual Volunteering Project“. The Virtual Volunteering Project (University of Texas at Austin).
- ^ Cravens, Jayne (February 2001). “[http://www.serviceleader.org/old/vv/orgs/mentor.html agencies and initiatives that involve online volunteers as mentors or tutors]“. The Virtual Volunteering Project (University of Texas at Austin).
- ^ Cravens, Jayne (Spring 2007). “Online Volunteering Enters Middle Age – And Changes Management Paradigms”. Nonprofit Quarterly (Nonprofit Quarterly).
- ^ volunteeringinamerica.gov. Retrieved 09/24/2009.
- ^ http://nonprofit.about.com/od/volunteers/a/microvol.htm
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106118736
- ^ http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Responsible-Tech/2009/0804/smart-phone-app-lets-you-do-good
-deeds-in-your-spare-time- ^ http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=7162300
[edit] External links
- The Virtual Volunteering Project
- The Virtual Volunteering Guidebook
- Virtual Volunteer opportunities at VolunteerMatch.org
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_volunteering“
This is a great idea for non-profits. I wonder how one finds volunteers? This is something that I want to discover.
Bruce Whealton
http://brucewhealton.us
About Bruce Whealton">About Bruce Whealton
Published August 23, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonBruce Whealton – Web Developer, Writer, Poet, Publisher
Bruce Whealton is an American poet, publisher, editor and web designer/developer. Bruce Whealton is co-editor with Jean Arthur Jones for the online magazine Word Salad Poetry Magazine. Bruce Whealton lives in North Carolina. He has seen many of his poems published in various books, journals/magazines and on the web. Bruce Whealton is also here on Wikipedia and onWordopedia: Bruce Whealton
Education
‘Bruce Whealton attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and received his Bachelors Degree in Electrical/computer Engineering in 1989. Bruce went on to receive his Masters in Social Work from the University of South Carolina in 1996.
Career and Professional Information
Bruce has combined his interest in technical matters with his creativity as expressed in efforts such as this poetry magazine, his own poetry, and as a Web Developer/Designer. Bruce Whealton is the owner of Future Wave Designs, a successful web development, web design and consulting company in Carrboro, North Carolina, near Chapel Hill, NC in the Triangle Area of North Carolina – the Research Triangle area.
Poetry
Bruce Whealton”’ began to think of himself as a poet beginning back in 1992, when he shared his poetry at a poetry reading for the first time. This was at the Coastline Convention Center overlooking the Cape Fear River, in Wilmington, NC. He began Word Salad as an online poetry magazine in 1995.
You can read blogs by Bruce Whealton: http://brucewhealton.us and On Being a Poet and Other Existential Ideas: Bruce Whealton
Publications and Recognition
- Bruce Whealton can be found featured on the Port City Poets section of the Star News Online, as seen here.
- Bruce Whealton has been publishing Word Salad Poetry Magazine since 1995, with the magazine being in its sixteenth year in 2010.
- Bruce Whealton was featured in “‘The Simple Vows Anthology” with his poem Genealogy.
- More links to where Bruce Whealton has been published are available here on Word Salad’s website.
- Four Poems by Bruce Whealton appeared in “And Now the Nightmare Begins: The Horror Zine,” Rivers of Blood, I Dreamed I was A Ghost, and The Name.\
- Four Poems by Bruce Whealton appeared in “Twice the Terror: The Horror Zine,” Sensuous and Strong as the Serpent, Shelter, Becoming, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
video Bruce Whealton, Word Salad Poetry Magazine, Poetry Event – bruce whealton, word salad poetry magazine, poetry magazine – videos Tom's Hardware">video Bruce Whealton, Word Salad Poetry Magazine, Poetry Event – bruce whealton, word salad poetry magazine, poetry magazine – videos Tom's Hardware
Published August 23, 2010 | ">Bruce WhealtonInteresting place to find a video that was for Word Salad’s aniversary event. I am the publisher and co-editor of Word Salad Poetry Magazine and I do the Word Salad Online: http://WordSaladPoetryMagazine.com
http://facebook.com/WordSaladPoetry
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