Harvey Kirkpatrick: HELP!blog News

Fri, 08 Aug 2003 19:13:19 GMT

HELP!blog for Homework?
The eBN editors mention HELP!blog relative to "homework."
"Hmm - How about Homework Help Blog? I can hear the plagiarism alarms already."

The bBN is "sponsored by the Bay Area Writing Project [less equal]and Weblogger.com , the Educational Blogger Network (eBN) "is a community of teachers and educational professionals and supporters who use weblogs for teaching and learning. The network assists members to advance weblog integration in education."

Maybe there is way to do this not risking plagerism, but to, well, help kids get unstuck. I dunno. What do you think??

Tue, 05 Aug 2003 14:54:49 GMT

Today: August 5th: AM
A post to Lost & Found: Places, Tech-Computer, & Real Estate.
Please spread the word of HELP!blog...um, thanks for your help !

Tue, 22 Jul 2003 18:47:01 GMT

HELP!blog: we need it: now give it! (please)
HELP!blog appears at 45 on Popdex: the website popularity index.
Thanks for helping us get some visiblitity. Grab a badge folks; it's Simmons' Law.

Tue, 22 Jul 2003 11:58:26 GMT

Thanks whoever you are
Some passed on in the sponsor form that I had some HTML errors on the home page. I appreciate that gesture very much.
How great that the blogging community helps one another.
And more to come right here at HELP!blog no doubt.
Help us get the word out!

Sat, 19 Jul 2003 17:56:34 GMT
Why Not a BB? : Comments on !
Dan Shafer wrote in to ask me why blogs would be a decent application for a help site. And he's right that bulletin boards work well, perhaps better.
But here's what I saw:
1. Some control of the posts to ferret out noise.
2. RSS which is the highlight of the idea.
3. Permalink's - giving you URL's that you can reference.
4. Static web pages being published for the same reason.
5. UI design considerations (who know's maybe Bryan Bell will do us a custom template for HELP!blogs.). I was looking for a template that had the clean lines and good use of space like a basic Moveable Type one so I worked on Bryan's Moveable Radio: blue since I am using Radio.
So these are a few of the benefits in my mind. It will be interesting to see the functionality differences as we go forward. It would be nice to be emailed or RSS'd the comment responses to a post as they come in. In sme respects, I want RSS everything. Bring it to me, baby!
And Cecil, who has a very nice French site, asked about where are the Comments. I had intentionally not added them to the category pages. I have intentionally added them now. I changed my mind. Some help topics lend themselves to this functionality well; some may not. Well, move forward and learn.
Here's a question I have?
Is Google able to spider Comments in a blog as well as the blog. I don't know.

Fri, 18 Jul 2003 16:43:56 GMT
First request is listed in Tech-Computer.

Thu, 17 Jul 2003 15:22:12 GMT
HELP!blog is Now Open
Since 1995, I have been receiving requests from people all around the world from the itown.com website who need help of one form or another. Usually it has been a request often a plea to help them find someone or someplace, and as in most things, I didn't have a clue.
As I started blogging a while back, I would occassionally post these requests. Sometimes no. I really had no way to help folks with their needs. And I still don't, but some of you out there in the world do.
It seems to me that we just need additional ways to connect folks with needs with folks who can help. And even better if it can be somewhat convenient. Blogs and their resulting newsfeeds are a beautiful way to "push" information out to folks who can help.
All any of us have to do is just subscribe to one or a couple of the HELP!blog category feeds or bookmark the blog page. Who knows you may have the perfect answer to a need that someone posts. Just think how you'll feel about helping someone solve something!
There's an incident in computer company lore that I just can't get out of my head. Do you remember when Steve Jobs of Apple Computer (yea, his first stint at Apple years ago) was courting John Sculley to leave Pepsi and come be Apple's CEO. Remember what he said that Sculley said was the kicker?

"John, do you want to change the world or just keep selling sugared water?"

Maybe the best line Steve ever uttered.
My point is let's always be about the business of finding a way to improve the dandy people and things that we have been given. Smart folks are giving us cool tech tools like blogs, newsfeeds, & newsreaders. We're just trying to use these good gifts.
That's the spirit and the beginning story of HELP!blogs.
What can you do to help us?
1. Tell folks about HELP!blogs.
2. Monitor your HELP!blog category choice(s) or better grab the feeds.
3. Maybe consider being a HELP!blog business or personal sponsor. (Still working on these ideas.)
4. Tell folks about HELP!blogs... forgive me for saying it again, but this is the key. Grab a badge.
And naturally, thanks for your help!
Harvey Kirkpatrick