I was all prepared to like Ning.  This service provides the ability to create, without charge, one’s own public or private social network. Your newly created network may include links to blogs, rss feeds, forums, photos and videos … just to name some of the more prominent features. Your members can add to most of this content.  I even created a Ning … you can view it at eContent.Ning.Com. Consider my Ning a sandbox to join and play around in.

Okay … if I like the feature set and concept, how come I give Ning a partial Ding? 

• The administrative interface needs work. It was not obvious to me at first how one could delete individual entries … important if one makes mistakes or objectionable content gets posted. I kept searching via the "Manage" menu.  I expected to find a link to each feature which would list the various entries … with the option to edit or delete. It took a visit from one of Ning’s administrators (see comments) to point me in the right place.  If one drills down to each piece of content, you ultimately get the ability to make changes.
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• The system is sllllooooowww.  Ning needs to optimize their code, or get more bandwidth.

I’ve included five annotated screen shots which take you on a quick tour of my Ning. Just click upon the thumbnails to view. If you’re interested, Ning does give you the ability to edit source code, however, personally I’ve got better things to do than learn another scripting language. 

This company is worth monitoring.  They are on to a good idea, but I’ll wait for the next release. Take some time and watch this short Ning demo from the Scoble Show. In addition, here is a link to Ning’s Blog.
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If you only explore one podcast series which I recommend this year, Pop!Tech should be that one podcast. For the last few years, Pop!Tech has been one of my favorite sources for leading edge material. Briefly stated, Pop!Tech is a thought leaders conference held annually each October in Camden, Maine. I would love to attend, but the high cost doesn’t fit my budget. Last year’s conference just became available via podcast.

This morning, while driving into work, I listened to Chris Anderson (Editor: Wired Magazine) speak to the topic: What Happens When Everything Becomes Free? Last night I watched Thomas Friedman explain why today’s energy crisis is "not your parent’s energy crunch". Note how I said "listen" and "watch". These talks are available without charge via podcast or streaming video. Finally, make certain you take in all the sessions.  Don’t only attend the topics which correspond to your own social views and morals.  This is the perfect series to expand your mind and viewpoint.

• 2006 Pop!Tech Podcasts

Prior year’s Pop!Tech Podcasts: 2005 | 2004.

Welcome to Nerdcast – Take 06: A Second Life!

In this podcast, I interview two gentleman from PA Consulting, Marco Tippmer and Claus Nehmzow. Their company has a leading business presence in Second Life (SL). With more organizations exploring virtual realities, and SL in specific, I believe you will find this podcast useful. My interview focus is practical business applications of SL.

• Nerdcast – Take 06: A Second Life

Background Data

• eContent (this blog) Second Life Links … including a tutorial !
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• PA Consulting Links: Company Site | Wikipedia Entry

Claus Nehmzow: Claus has almost twenty-five years experience in technology and strategy consulting as well as operational management experience. The majority of his industry experience is in Financial Services, New Media and Mobile.  He has worked with some of the largest corporations as well as small VC-backed innovative start-ups. 

Claus has broad international experience in global business development and consulting as well as from having lived for many years each in Germany, Switzerland, USA, and the UK. Claus was Managing Director of Viant Germany, an Internet consultancy, Partner and Vice President at Booz-Allen & Hamilton in London and New York, Senior Manager at Accenture/Andersen Consulting. In Zurich, New York and London.

Marco Tippmer: Marco has over eight years experience in IT Consultancy working for Government bodies, utilities and finance organizations. His focus is on IT Strategy Development, combining established and emerging technologies to create innovative solutions and solve complex business problems. In addition he has extensive experience in Business Process Management and Project Management.

Nope, I’m not crazy! The answer is a free iPod. Take a look at the attached screenshot (expand the thumbnail). Unfortunately, you needed to travel through the London City Airport before the end of March to have a chance to win. The iPod is even customized in Harvard Ideacast colors. I like this series … see my prior post … I guess Harvard is open to some new marketing ideas! (kinda cool)
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In my earlier posting today, I mentioned that ESPN needed to visit Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute, and learn more about software design and test.  Sometimes one needs to swallow one’s own medicine … thus I spent some time on SEI’s web site. Part of SEI’s web presence includes their extensive collection of reports … essentially free eBooks in downloadable pdf.

Thus, I’ve incorporated the SEI content into my Google Co-Op eBook search engine. You may access all of my search engines via this link.

Here are the direct links to SEI’s publications:

• SEI Publications Search Engine
• Browse SEI Publications