In a long conversation with a friend of a friend who was thought might find us some work, I was slapped in the face with a basic truth of the Information Technology industry that perhaps says more than anything else about why I'm better off getting out of the whole scam.

Our talk had turned to how, very often, complex problems only seem complex if looked at using the wrong paradigm, but when viewed from another angle, the solutions would almost write themselves, and what hit me back was how my boyish attitude of doing it right the first time was not only naive and adorably cute coming from a middle-aged greying man, but how it was, apparently, completely contrary to the way things are done in the world of real men.  read more »

Dear Fans and Clients,

An end of an era is drawing near. The Teledynamics Communique has enjoyed a 20-year-long run in advocacy of a three-pronged new-economy business strategy of small-is-beautiful, of rural economic development and in free software, but the current business climate has not been kind to us. While thousands enjoy the Communique every day and thousands more subscribe to our mailing lists and RSS feeds, Teledynamics Communications finds itself in dire straights and facing an impending collapse.

In a nutshell, we must raise $35,000 to cover our operating debts for 2003, and if we can't hit at least half of this goal by the end of November, TCI must close its doors forever. We bet the farm on our strategies, and while we still believe the nanocorp model and community software are the future of the digital economy, we were unable to foster enough change in time to meet our obligations.

no excuses

The fault, I am certain, is ours. We are not marketing gurus, we are not great networkers, and apparently, we are not great pursuaders. We still believe in the distinct and significant advantages in our message, and those who have listened do endorse us, but for the greater majority of internet projects, the combined status quo of granting contract tenders to the large name-brand consultancies and the attendant expensive proprietary licensing, the tacit expense assumptions conditioned by decades of one-of custom ICT systems financing, and a general fear of the community trust required to step into the free software future, all these have set a hurdle before us we simply did not have the skill or capacity to scale.  read more »

The Hoita Kokoro Centre has contracted Teledynamics to create a new social software portal for the teaching and discussion of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tai Chi, Yoga and other alternative therapies. The new site, which soft-launches this Labour Day weekend, features events and essential information about the Centre, their staff and their services, with discussion forums and weblogs hosted by each of the Kokoro Centre practitioners, latest news on TCM and alternative therapies, reviews of resources and a blogroll of related websites.

While there are excellent online resources for practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are few forums and resources for the western lay public to discover and discuss these treatments. Sensei John Hoita sees clear advantages in the peculiar knowledge sharing and peer-support orientation of the Drupal web engine:

"We are all broken in different places and at different times, therefore, the best we can do is ... those of us who are broken less, help those who are broken more."

This isn't knowledge management, this is knowledge sharing as the means for community growth, and that definately sounds like a job for social software!

[ Source: The Hoita Kokoro Centre ]