This is the start of a section on all sorts of technical things that we are currently using to help us run projects and communicate with people. From posting on the website and updating the calendar, to using images from our image libraries (or adding to them!) and creating email groups.
We are also posting information on specific things here: http://www.transitiontownbrixton.org/category/groups/web-development/support/. For example, how to get tweets on your mobile when this website is updated.
The idea is that it will start with one page and expand to include tutorials, videos and a Frequently Asked Questions list. It would also be good to have an ‘incubator’ section for sketching out technical projects and advertising them to students and others interested in developing a technical project that is useful for sustainability and community projects.
As I come from a computing research background, I am also interested in developing the Sustainability and Computing field. For me, this is examining the overlap of two areas, each of which, in their different ways, will have huge impact on human endeavour in this century. There is currently a group, Computational Sustainability, but this has a narrower focus. The following is taken from the website http://www.computational-sustainability.org/
Computational Sustainability is an interdisciplinary field that aims to apply techniques from computer science, information science, operations research, applied mathematics, and statistics for balancing environmental, economic, and societal needs for sustainable development.
Focus: developing computational and mathematical models and methods for decision making concerning the management and allocation of resources in order to help solve some of the most challenging problems related to sustainability.
Thus, the focus of this group is much narrower than their definition, so there is much potential for expanding its work. However, it is not clear whether this group is willing to expand or whether we need to create another one.
It could be, many years hence, that the role of computers will diminish for a variety of reasons. However, in the interim, there are many ways we can see for computing to assist in ‘transition’ projects and surely many to be discovered.
Current working notes on software we are using for TTB:
(later these will be transferred to other pages as they build up)
Image software
Currently we have images stored in 3 places: in our dropbox, on Flickr, and on this site. Issues are:
- The dropbox files are not displayed as thumbnails so it is hard to browse. There is a photos folder that can be viewed in gallery mode, but it has the possibility of being public, so is not secure for general storage.
- The Flckr account has reached its limit for being free and so it has been extended to a Pro Account. This does not cost much and then provides limitless uploads. However, it would be better to archive the old ones and keep only the current ones, to avoid having to pay.
- This website does not have much in the way of image manipulation facility, but that could be added.
Picasa Web Album – a Google application, has been recommended, but we have not looked at this yet.