Re: [Zm-developers] Happy 2010

[Daniel Zukowski]

Let me start by following M00R1Z's lead.

*Great stuff*. *Thank you* to everyone here in the developers list, and *thank
you* to all who are contributing tirelessly across the movement in so many
aspects. I *appreciate* all of you for providing a welcoming community and
making the atmosphere cordial and inviting to all whose paths we cross.

I'm damn excited to see what this growing army of developers is going to
bring to The Zeitgeist Movement in 2010 and beyond.

Over the past couple of days I've seen several of you in the Int'l Chapters
meeting and the Communications Team meeting. It's been exciting to listen to
all of the projects and ideas going on all over the world.

What I found especially relevant to us here was that practically every
project had some development aspect to it--be it a website, a custom browser
widget, tweaks to opens source systems for better communication, or
whatever. The point is that every Team and nearly every Project will, sooner
or later, need developers--professional, helpful, and wickedly smart
developers dedicated to the tenets of the movement. You and me.

In a recent Programming Team meeting, Gman asked us to think about what this
team will look like in 5 years.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Here's just one perspective:

This is a movement born of the internet and living through the internet. The
technology by which this movement thrives is the stuff we know how to build
and maintain. We're the iron workers during the Industrial Revolution, the
aerospace experts during the spaceflight revolution, and the developers and
engineers of the Internet Revolution. This Team in the coming years will
establish itself as a critical pillar of the movement, providing most if not
all of the technical support for our movement's infrastructure. Until we
reach the next level and begin building hardware, for this stage our
infrastructure is nearly all digital, and it's our responsibility to make
that infrastructure the best it can be, the most interconnected and "smart"
it can be.

In 5 years, we'll have thousands of developers registered online with
profiles showing each of our specialties, interests and availability. In
addition to our own Projects within the Programming Team, other Teams will
create Projects that require development consulting, planning, or actual
coding work. These Projects will interface with our Team for collaboration,
through meetings and through a system where projects can be automagically
matched with people, and people with projects, according to skills, interest
and willingness to help.

To use a Star Trek analogy, when a problem arises and community is in need,
"away teams" are sent to the area with all the expertise and organizational
structure and support needed to effectively solve problems. The teams do
their work and depart, leaving the communities equipped with healthy long
term technological solutions. Our Team could similarly be an agile,
supportive and creative force within the movement, holistically integrated
into the overall framework, providing technological solutions for the
greater good, in our movement and stretching out into the world.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In order to achieve such a vision, we first need to be recognized by the
movement and have our organization centralized in certain aspects.
This may sound like a political frivolity that we shouldn't concern
ourselves with, but its just a simple step that we should consider so we can
advance and realize our goals while contributing to the fullest.

To become recognized, I propose these 3 steps:

1) Draft a Programming Team Charter, a document that states our intent in
relation to the movement, and describes our structure and function.
2) Draft a Programming Team Protocol, outlining meeting guidelines, how the
project cycle works, etc.
3) Hold weekly meetings in Teamspeak. (This can be in addition to any other
platform.)

Notwithstanding our intellectual stances on the above, it is evident that
within the current structure of the movement completing these 3 steps and
presenting such documents to Peter Joseph and other high level organizers
would be a positive step towards integrating our team in a greater capacity.

I bring up these 3 points not necessarily to debate whether they are correct
or ideal, but to ask all of you to consider whether you agree that, within
the movement as it exists today, completing these steps would benefit the
relationship of our team to the other existing teams, and the movement as a
whole.

I look forward to your responses and to discusing these ideas in our next
meeting.
As stated on our Wiki page, our team meetings are held in
"Mumble,
Sunday 18:00 UTC (for the moment;
details
)".
See you there.

Thank you for enduring my lengthy post. :)

-Daniel




On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 7:11 AM, Dalo 9FZ  wrote:

Re: [Zm-developers] Happy 2010

[Dalo 9FZ]

HEy Vince,


I had some goals i would like to finnish pretty soon , 

here's a small list , 

1 Translate that "last-bit" of pootle 

2 Think of a "map" / take a tour ID to push a map of our "cyber city" so that 
they know WHAT there is to do , and WHERE there is need for help and How to get 
there 
"i think GMAN was talking bout this , i'm gonna check this"

3 find a holistic system wherein there is less nation-devision and more 
language "separation" and then thru Pootle (maybe a better way soon ? who 
knows)  make it all 1 and everyone comes to  the cybercity 
and can click on activities near you (exaggeration) 

4 get a new load of new members with our new INFO -Packet -> pootle  +lectures 
+ etc.


5 start them up and grow exponentially -> i do believe there's moor people 
online then we think , and if we would consider a huge facebook / beesh's thing 
(forum) then we need to be central holistic 


6 say GREAT STUFF and THANKS and APPRECIATE to everyone i meet online 





Thanks 
hope this makes sense 

THANKS GREAT STUFF APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS 


Greetink'
M00R1Z



Op 4 jan 2010, om 20:09 heeft vince spicer het volgende geschreven:

> Hey all,
> 
> The holidays are over and now it is time to get back work!
> 
> I had one question for the team.
> 
> What is our goal for 2010? 
> 
> Or what are some suggestions for team goals.
> 
> Vince
> ___
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~zm-developers
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Re: [Zm-developers] Happy 2010

[Daniel Zukowski]

Great question.
Here are some thoughts:

1) Complete the official ZM Project Protocol.

What constitutes an official ZM site or development project? This document
(already emerging in the wiki) would answer this question, describe the
organization structure of the Programming Sub-Team, describe how meetings
are conducted, how ideas should be presented to the group, how a project is
proposed, submitted, accepted, developed, integrated, maintained, etc. This
protocol could extend perhaps into design/layout specifications in order to
promote a cohesive appearance across all ZM web projects, lending an air of
legitimacy and stability to the movement overall.

2) Unify websites and user data across the movement.

It is widely recognized that ZM users have splintered off into various areas
of the main site, various 3rd party sites, and elsewhere, establishing
distinct and separate logins, profiles and communities, self-organizing and
self-directing in ways that may or may not be in accordance with the goals
of the movement. While the proliferation of ZM-related sites is positive and
contributes to the growth of the movement, it can also have a negative
effect on organization and communication. To achieve unification across the
movement requires a centralized medium for the flow of data. This could be
realized as an API to the main database that allows read and write access to
user info and profile information. Such a system would allow all existing
and future external apps/websites to tie into the central database,
strengthening the network and preventing splintering/pyramiding of web
communities. The main website and its database should serve as the central
data hub to which all externally developed apps are required to interface.

3) Improve guidance to newcomers.

After filling out the initial email form on the main site, a new user is let
loose to explore the site, relatively unguided. Free exploration is great,
but we do have a goal. We want to engage our newcomers, identify their
interests and guide them toward opportunities for communication,
contribution and activism. By capturing some additional information about
our new users, we can deliver a customized roadmap of interest-specific
information that guides them through the next steps of involvement: Creating
a full profile, getting onto IRC, setting up Mumble, joining Teams, etc. A
step-by-step checklist to answer the ubiquitous question: "What do I do
now?"

This information exists in various areas, but organizing it all into a
document that is delivered via email and appears on the page immediately
following email registration will give the bewildered masses a sense of
direction. There's a ton of information on the site, and it can be
overwhelming for newcomers. Let's work to improve their experience and
provide some friendly hand-holding.

4) Programming Team Newsletter.

We're doing a lot of great work. Many on this team are working ungodly hours
on important projects and ideas. Despite this, people continue to ask us why
we're not doing anything. We need to communicate our progress and our
successes to the community. This could be done through a periodic news
report on the main site and an e-newsletter (or subsection of the main ZM
newsletter) summarizing recent achievements.

5) Solve the forum moderation issues.

Replacing politics and personal decision-making with automated moderation,
where possible, will decrease conflict and lead to a happier community.

6) Minimize operating costs.

Obviously important to an all-volunteer, effectively income-less
organization. Several ideas are developing on this front.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In summary, I would like to see our goals be centered around organization
and communication, starting with the main ZM website.  I believe the main
site and its constituent parts (forums, wiki, etc) should receive the bulk
of our attention as this fledgling team grows. It is there that the movement
starts and ends for the majority of visitors. The site to-date is an amazing
achievement of several dedicated, selfless contributors. Opening up
development to the community, as is occurring, will further nurture the site
into its next stage of evolution. Once we have achieved a healthy,
user-friendly, seamless main website we can redirect our attention to
external, supportive projects.

TheZeitgeistMovement.com is our face to the world. Let's make it shine for
2010.

-Zuke


On Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 11:09 AM, vince spicer  wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> The holidays are over and now it is time to get back work!
>
> I had one question for the team.
>
> What is our goal for 2010?
>
> Or what are some suggestions for team goals.
>
> Vince
>
> ___
> Mailing list: 
> https://launchpad.net/~zm-developers
> Post to : zm-developers@lists.launchpad.net
> Unsubscribe : 
> https://launchpad.net/~zm-developers