Trying to unstall the roll out of OMN

Published Date 5/12/17 11:55 AM

Building up alt/grassroots media would be nice to get a reply 🙂

Hi guys,

Good to get a reply about this project from you.

OMN is a network of Open Media Sites.

The currency (value) of the web is the link without linking content (no matter how good) it has little/no value online and will likely not be seen offline.

Left wing and progressive sites DO NOT LINK and share content with each other. This leads them to have little or no value outside the bubble/echo chambers. And we are surprised and depressed when we always loose, there is nothing surprising about this, but there is something depressing about it.

Why is the OMN different to all the other activist tech failed projects.

The top 5:

1) It’s based on the #4opens, meaning it doesn’t have the buy-in issue of NGO’s and dotcons and can spread as wildly as the original WWW if people start to use it/build it out.

2) It’s KISS, that is simple and standards based, so open to be built-out in unseen directions and open to wide creativity.

3) It’s not under the control of one group and is a universal in its subject matter, so can build and link many niches to link a real alternative.

4) It solidifies a morality of co-operation and trust rather than fear and compation.

5) It gives the tech/grassroots #fashionista’s something useful to do and promote at their events.

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Hi Hamish,

Aren’t Real Media doing this anyway, linking all media groups together? Afraid I’m not techie enough to understand what OMN is, how it’s different, or any of the points you’ve made, but I’m happy to go along with what everyone else decides if it can be explained in plain English!

XXXX

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Hi XXXX,

We have done some “user story’s” https://github.com/Openmedianetwork/OMN/wiki/user-storys hope this helps get away from the tech 🙂

This is a part list of current working roll-out https://github.com/tomspost/OMN/wiki your content already appears as links on all these sites as you post it.

The realmedia site/project is version of the visionontv project we were fund-raising and trying to build 10 years ago. Fine for the silo it is but the world has moved on.

All current successful projects are networks or in the case of the #dotcon social networks (closed) sudo networks.

Currently the OMN is the only bud of a network we have in place in the alt/progressive.

What dues the OMN mean for the XXXX

Nothing has to change in what you do if you don’t want to do more.

To be part of the network you add a easy OMN sidebar/section/page to your existing site with the content flow you are interested in from any OMN site.

At the moment the is just the one/first that covers the best of grassroots media from a UK focus so use that one http://omn.openworlds.info:8080

That’s it, you can do more if you like but don’t have to.

What this means is that your site will link and share content with other grassroots/alt media sites on there sidebar/section/pages.

Your content as you publish it on your site will appear (you do not have to do anything for this to work) on many other OMN sidebars/sections/pages on other sites and blogs.

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XXXX

What we are talking about is building huge distribution outside Facebook. You can, and should continue to use Facebook etc. what the OMN dues is start to build independent and horizontal alternative that runs/expands in parallel, its working now.

Am more than happy to help set-up the embed in your wordpress site, will take 20 min.

Be the first of the 4 alt/grassroots media sites to take the step 😉

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Just in case you are worried about security of your site all scripting is striped from the articles and links and the embed is a standard plug-in that comes from the wordpress market that 1000’s of people have been using for years with out any issues.

Its mature and safe tech that just works.

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Fashernistas

Published Date 4/18/17 11:53 AM

I have been talking about the fashernisatas for the last few years, its an idea/group that I have been struggling to work with my whole time in the alt/grassroots. So what is a #fashernista?
A group of individuals who value/push their own individual advancement over the needs of the croup and community, generally they do not realise or see that they are doing this. This has the end effect of diluting and killing off possible alternatives and selling “grassroots” to NGO’s and corporatist agenda’s. #fashernista taking over projects in hand with the #geekproblem has lead to endless dead-ends in all alt/grassroots tech. Most recently this has manifested in encrypt everything, bitcoin/blockchain ect. This is a dead end.

The #OMN linking project is basic tech that I have been working on for more than 10 years, in past times the has been more interesting tech/social problems in alt/grassroots media to work on so linking has taken a back seat as it’s basic stuff. At this stage, we only have the basics left. Let’s take a first step linking alt/grassroots producers, and build tools to push this into a #rebooted #openweb to start the needed move out of the #dotcons ghetto’s. Let’s try as hard as we can to avoid #fashernisa take over of this basic #reboot. Fashernistas will set up parallel projects, raise parallel funding, push these into the traditional media and dominate the #dotcons conversation. None of this inevitable pointless #fashernista noise should distract from the basics, as it will just flash bang and fad into nothing. Keep the basics going, linking, building. In the long term the rest is noise, distraction, for the conspiracy minded it’s our very own “false flag”.

Hummm… how to spot drift into the #fashernisat agenda?

There is a strong anti-dote in the #4opens

Power Politics of the undead left

Published Date 2/1/17 2:07 PM

I have found memories of fighting the Power Politics of the “undead left” during the London Social Forum many years ago – lots of knotted strings of organic garlic around the top “taking the power table” to highlight the uncomfortable “undead left´s” grasping for power.

Then the ad hock crew taking away the top table altogether during the lunch break and arranging all the chairs in a circle. Their faces were a delight, coming back after lunch and it kinda/might have worked… but the splits of “not thought of here” took over and the undead were permissioned to take back the space at the next meeting.

The ESF movement faded and now is a shadow – no alt was built.

The use of cultural myths and traditions will mediate and disempower “power politics” but it’s a chicken and an egg to get these embedded in groups that are already ensnared in “power politics”.

The rainbow gatherings used to work this way till they were “disrupted” by the digital shift and capture by the #dotcons now the gatherings themselves are broken due in part by being organized through #failbook

The #OMN could fail from the same issue. The myths and traditions are in place PGA and #4opens. But the project does not have deep roots to weather the inrush of success. And on the other hand will likely not last the slow growth needed for the roots to dig deep.

Starting/Doing the “Risistence Expo project is unsettling for the same resion.

Rebooting Alt Grassroots Media

The OMN Beta is a subset of the full open project.

Its a just the linking part. A first step to the data soup and open per2per network.

A single node will facilitate existing alt/grassroots media projects to link to each other. This will hopefully, partly overcome the #geekproblem to brining in talented developers to roll the rest out in a open way.

If this is blocked and stalls (possibility) the is away the evil of “funding” but its a many edged tool that cuts in all to predicable ways.

The BETA will roll out

Implemented
* Basic content flows by tag

Coming Soon
* Basic video player flow embed by tag
* Basic audio embed flow by tag

* Basic “blog/site/project list flow” by tag
* Basic “personal” grouping/flow by tag

Many of the existing radical alt/grassroots media sites (PGA hallmarks, #4opens) will be feed into the network (opt out) and all of the sites invited to become a active parts of the OMN by embedding sections/sidebars.

For the geeks http://omn.openworlds.info:8080

Outline of the OMN

Comments please and could do with some help to turn it into a coherent doc for outreach.

Many people ask what is the Open Media Network (OMN)

For activists it might be useful to see it as a rebooting of a “indymedia” project from were it should have been 5 years ago when it died.

A #4opens bounded network motivated by the PGA hallmarks.

At a basic level, Publish once and your article appears in many places linking back to your site/blog.

User stories
Link to um (LINK)

Tech
Its Many websites and a few aggregaters sharing a common open “data soup” built with people to people (trust) based tagging.

From this human community/data network many “new” radical powerful things can grow.

Its builds KISS from the legacy web (RSS) and moves us into the per2per semantic web (GNU social)

Thought (LINK)

Licensing – #4opens

What is ethical aggregation?

Its networking other peoples content in a respectful way to build a network wide anufe to start to compete with the failing #dotcons

* Sections/sidebars of OMN links should be prominently displayed on each members site, preferably on every page if small.

* There should be no no-follow tags on valid links to member sites.

* The content is read (by link) on the original host site, comments are made on the original host site.

* This behaviour can be different for apps were the full content could be read in app. This should be agreed by both partys (can have a opt out tag for this as with many other parts of the network)

* The original source (RSS feed site) is always shown under the content title as a live link

* (Optional) the tags should be visible under the full article

* For apps no adverts should be placed next to CC non commercial full content (with out agreement), fine to have ads on a page next to links.

* A OMN badge is (optional) next to the link section and/or on the site about page – this can LINK to the OMN aggregate that the site gets its data flow from OR to the OMN project site.

If you haven’t realized yet the aggregating hubs/nodes are the new “indymedia” sites

* These can be by subject, country, region or city etc.

* Much of the “centralizing” parts of the IMC network are no longer needed as this is inherently a “open” project, rather than a centralizing project. Sites that would like to see them selves as IMC can of course follow these “unneeded” parts if they desire – this will lead to a “natural” grouping of IMC focused sites with in the “open data soup”.

* Existing indymedia sites can continue “outside” the network as their content can be brought in via RSS if sites are interested in it. Just to repeat nobody has to do anything.

* Posting is generally via individual site/blogs, but can be through existent portal/silos like indymedia or existing group sites such as https://www.opendemocracy.net if users prefer to publish on them.
The function of “nodes” will organically grow

* Publishing sites are the source of content these will likely just input a RSS feed up to the next level.

* Aggregating site, these are subjects, locality etc they will take in feeds from publishing sites and output (trusted) quality feeds to the next level.

* News/link portals will be regional, national, big subject sites, these will mostly get their trusted feeds from aggregating (middle) sites and a few trusted publishing sites.

As you can see from this publishing is the hardiest job as you need to create the content, second is aggregation as the is much work quality controlling and adding semantic data (tags) to the flow of content.

The easeast to setup and run are the “top” sites to add value to these will be more of a challenge. One way could be to create articles of linking overviews covering stores from the flows – this content can of course be feed back into the lower sites.

Every thing links to everything else.

What do these “nodes” do to be part of the OMN?

* They host flows of content based on tags from other OMN sites on subject that interest them.

* This content is brought in vier RSS from external sites and by atompub from OMN sites.

* They can tag/retag this flow of objects to direct it to other nodes/site sidebars.

* Other sites can get taged based flows (with embed codes if needed) from there chosen “nodes”

* (Optionally) they can archive this content if they like.

KISS meta-taging

This will seem stupid to many geeks, lets use simple text “twitter” tags to do the categorization of data objects in the OMN flow.

* @ before a tag means a person, that is, a RSS object with an enclosure that is a file contenting a open “contact” format file.

* # before tag is means a bookmark link to a site, the title will be the link.

(optional) Need a “symbol” for video, audio, photo etc.

These objects are tagged just like any other object and are stored/flow through the network just like text articles.

(optional) Can try having a different publish pages for each format that automatically add these tags?

It would be normal to create a new format to for each part of the OMN and geeks/fashernistas have done this over many times over the last 10 years.

Its KISS “stupid” for good, empowering, “normal” people to work on and create new products/services/connections in a “data common soup”

Geek talk – The future of OMN content flows

What has power is the non branded, non owned, KISS implementation of the #OMN that its not part of the “geek problem” and only tangentially connected to the #fashernista agenda’s.

Move to mobile is key for real growth of atl/grassroots media. This is relatively easy as the will be a “open data pool” of semantically enriched content to dip into for quality new, video and audio content flow for building apps. But content is not king in this case, what has real power is the ability to publish direct from mobiles photos, video, audio and text direct to a node of the OMN (this could also be your source, blog/site/portal) in this we empower a move away from “journalism” on the #dotcons and back onto the “openweb”.

Get people (CMS’s) to publish in “markup” (as well at html/corporate silos formats) so that content can be loaded/displayed natively on aggregating sites/apps in the formating of the aggregate site/app and display cross site comments – all from the original host. In this we are not only sharing links we are sharing content and discussion across the OMN.

There is nothing original in this all the #dotcons are doing this already and the are many open standards (mark-up being one) that allow this. The originality is in the “just doing it” and the KISS implementation of this push.

I don’t see this as radical, though I see the outcome as revolutionary.

Foundations of alt grassroots projects

Published Date 12/29/16 4:07 PM

All projects am working on at the moment are based on:

PGA hallmarks

1. A very clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; all trade agreements, institutions and governments that promote destructive globalisation.

2. We reject all forms and systems of domination and discrimination including, but not limited to, patriarchy, racism and religious fundamentalism of all creeds.
We embrace the full dignity of all human beings.

3. A confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker;

4. A call to direct action and civil disobedience, support for social movements’ struggles, advocating forms of resistance which maximize respect for life and oppressed peoples’ rights, as well as the construction of local alternatives to global capitalism.

5. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.

https://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/pga/hallm.htm

The #4opens

1. Open data – is the basic part of the project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_data with out this open it cannot work.

2. Open source – as in “free software” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software this keeps development healthy by increasing interconnectedness and bringing in serendipity. The Open licences are the “lock” that keep the first two in place, what we have ain’t perfect but they expand the area of “trust” that the project needs to work, creative commons would be the start here.

3. Open “industrial” standards – this is a little understand but core open, its what the open internet and WWW are built from. Here is an outline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard

4. Open process – this is the most “nebulous” part, examples of the work flow would be wikis and activity streams. The project is built on linking trust networks so open process is the “glue” that binds the links together. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process

LINK for projects

The OMN an easy project for everyone

Published Date 12/24/16 6:18 PM

The OMN an easy project for everyone

Producer groups have to put in minimal effort only puting a linking sidebar on their site and providing a RSS feed into the network.

These can be:

* Tag based content list “you might be interested in this”

* Tag based site link list “blog roll”

* Tag based video player embed “good films”

Optional: a site can add a badge to say its a member of the network.

What do they get out of it?

Google juice from the wide links back to their website and their content.

Clicks and content audience for all sites of the network rather than just their own.

More commenting from cross site conversations in their CMS comment system

On social media (the #dotcons)

They get a wider sharing of their content to work its way round the FB algorithm restrictions.

More “likes” on their #failbook pages to help boost the 3% organic reach.

Well a warm fashernista feeling of being part of something whole/bigger.

A geeky feeling of doing something real geeky.

We join together to push the “undercurrents” up and into the “mainstream”.

Badging the OMN

Is based on the #4opens to get a badge a site has to embed at least one linking embed somewhere (relatively) prominent on their site to become a member of the network. The Badge will link to the OMN project page, maybe this could have a list of OMN sites, as well as hosting the basic project docs.

Gold – 4opens

Silver – 3opens

Bronze – 2opens

We need some one to design these “badges” its up to site owners if/were they use them.

The OMN is a project of the 4opens and the PGA hallmarks.

The Witches Cauldron open activist archive

Published Date 12/23/16 1:26 PM

The Witches Cauldron

The open activist archive is a data “commons” based on the #4opens and motivated by the #PGA hallmarks.

We are aiming to create a data soup of metadata enriched digital items hosted on redundant federated network of hosts/servers around the world. The project will start by hosting the majority of the content from the expo on http://archive.org

Anyone can be part of this federated network which will be built out using the tools of the Open Media Network #OMN and #KISS to facilitate DIY is at the core of the project.

In this as a general statement we REJECT arrogant “expert’s” and “better” technological solutions that move us away from this core #KISS and #DIY ethos of The Witches Cauldron project. Simple and human scale or we will #FAIL should be in our minds as new people grow the project.

You do all know that posting polatics on failbook is a pointless circle of nothingness

Published Date 12/20/16 9:20 PM

You do all know that posting polatics on #failbook is a pointless circle of nothingness. Please stop and do something more usefull.

We have a clective Liberal fantasy in the is an idea that #dotcon can be social useful. Its not what the money (billions) was invested in. They “invested” into a silo/portal for capturing data and capturing users. Letting this “value” free is a liberal delusion in the sense it dues not payback for investment. Your talking an act of enlighten philanthropy or old fashioned nationalization to keep the value for the people who created it – the users.

We now have a problem that most of our best alt media producers are children of the #dotcon and have little or no understanding of the #openweb We need to express positive views of value. #linking #4opens etc all very basic stuff and not hard to do. I wont practical open ideas on were to start on this.

#moveon

The Roman Empire is old hat

Comparing the US global role to the Roman Empire is an old hat. Today we are seeing the “declining” face of this comparison. Trump is selling off “offices” to the highest bidders and drawing power around him self and his family.

The White House will be filled with toads and hangers on, the “court” made up of greed distracted by “reality TV” display with power politics hiding its ugly face behind this show.

In the US the left is lost/divided/bickering without any alt when/if Trump “dynasty” plan fails it is likely to be challenged by the next demagogue who will be more militant and corrupt.

In the UK the “open’ish” left wing Momentum (http://www.peoplesmomentum.com/) failed in its foundation to embody “openness” growing out of the shadows of the Labor Party left/right trench war. Ones a project is in motion it becomes hard, soon, impossible, to have openness at its core. The first lies, the first power politics used to shape outcomes, each is a step, that closes openness as an organizing option.

The undead left have nested and are now ripping at the core of the Momentum project tearing and dispoling to draw all power around their shadow selves. The “open’ish” crew are likely to flee leaving the innocent youth drown into the one’s bright surfaces and shadowing interea shell of “Momentum”. This idealistic flow will be drained of blood and energy in till momentum, broken and dull, is used up and discarded.

The predatory undead left move on, every seeking, young blood to fill their dusty/empty veins. Dogmatism (magnetism) and manipulation of power (mysticism) bureaucracy to grab, gut and drain the possibility of the left.

Am actively working on two projects based on commons and open process, the first is self defined and drawing interest the #OMN with the #4opens at its core could stand up to the “closed” negative. The second the Activist Expo and Archive has been setup with the #4opens, but they were not strongly embedded. As new people arrived the opens fell away, were pushed away, “closed” was a process that became normal.

It is now a challenge to bring #4opens back into place, ones “closed” has a foot hold and the pushing and pulling, grabbing and ripping starts it blocks open because in an open space “pushing and pulling, grabbing and ripping” can be seen, people are naked in their power plays. Shit stinks and nobody want to be seen covered in it.

Open has the power to keep the left from “ripping apart” what we do then is up to us. This would be a nice place to be.

I don’t have solutions for the USA. Unless Momentum has a squad of vampire slayers to pull the shade away and let the sun in, its future is likely to be drained into an empty husk. The #OMN if the first raft of tech works could be a part of the world we won’t. The expo is in crises, shit is seeping in from the old cracks, the course we have: paper them over and carry on to NGO burn out little outcome/failer or lay a soled foundation of “open” to build a real left on.

If the left in the UK cannot #reboot into something useful, we are facing our own “Trump” as the climate crisis hits home. The undead “left” vampires are a tiny number and powerless in face of sunlight (open). The OMN hopefully will embed the #4opens strongly unf from the #bootup that the commons can be sustained as it grows. The expo is tilting between “closed” and “open” the is an obvious need for mediation, am going to keep opening the “curtains” lets see what outcome can be achieved.

The left failed is sad and bad, and will be fatal for million of people over the next century.

The world is open for change

* Old paths have visibley vanished
* People are up for doing things different
* Funders are up for funding different
* The new “commons” is infernat and as much as the #dotcons grab the is more.
* Socerty is being #reboot ‘ed (trump, brixet etc.)
* Our planet is likely to #reboot with out us (climate change)

We don’t have to be slaves, we do have to create a new path, am suggesting the #4opens as a way of mediating the path we have to take. Trump etal is suggesting the #4closed I think 4 is a nice number anyone think of what the #4closed are?

Am I being flipernt, nop, am not. I am being seruase, the one thing Trump made obvues was that if you repeat something anufe it comes into existences – try thinking about the #4opens then repeating it a lot – its a bit like casting a spell – words have power.

If you wont to “take” the world the #4opens is a way to do it ethically and it has power to get round meany of the current #blocks

Some thoughts on the OMN idea

Published Date 10/14/16 2:15 PM

You would have to be very out of touch not to see that echo chambers are inherent to #failbook and historically less on #twitter though they have changed over to a algorithmic time line you have to opt out of. The OMN is only moderated by humans. It has a built in “market” that rewards trust thus actively builds out human networks. Groups that link will grow, thoughs who do not will slide back as others move forward.

Arrogance & Ignorance and how to get past this blocking is the issue. You don’t overcome A&I that’s not an option. But getting round it is well possible. The OMN is built on the human condition of trust and serendipity. Both hard human sells, but both the only values we have if your not up for shooting people dead to get your way.

Echo chamber is just a #fashernesta word for feeding prejudice in this it’s the same as buying a tabloid in the old days or listing to R4 and only shouting at the radio when you disagree. The OMN opens – echo chamber closes. Of course we understand that “open” is not a solution, but it is better than closed…

Its easy to misses the point about “open data” you don’t have any control of the machine network that the #dotcons work with. And if you understand the issues with geeks you will likely never have power over complex digital tools. The way out of this is in the #4opens this “forces” the geeks lose of the power they desire and need to be motivated. In this you have a riddle which is not solved by logic – maybe solved by emotion? The OMN cannot be built with logic, It might be able to be built by emotion. I think this is likely the root of many missing understandings? You can’t stop the geeks/fashernista desire to fuckup but the is hope of mediating it with the #4opens that’s about it.

There are issue’s with algorithmic options in general “who guards the guardians” the #4opens are a safety feature that the #dotcons will remove. You would have to be very deluded to believe that #failbook works in a society sense, no matter what individuals say, you should know this.

The Q. Is how to get a KISS project past alt apathy, geek complexity and fashernista … well just fashernista… #fashernista= “stupid individualism” if you’re reading my older posts.

Part 2

Am more a #fuckup rather than #conspiracy type of guy, but the lack of linking is a clear issue to be addressed.

The data, it’s a soup, the sites are just spoons that dip. You get to choose by linking where the value is. Every one can have a spoon if they like (but talent will out, some spoons will have more value than others) so it’s #4opens to linking and content. A silo is a single site like #failbook and the sites listed in this post. On the web the value is in linking content is just something to link to.

Silos host/horde content, if they don’t link they have limited value.